ZUMANITY Has Just Permanently Closed and it was My Day Job for 17 Years!

The far-reaching tentacles of the pandemic have made their way to my heart.

I was the guitarist and part of the Zumanity Orchestra since 2003. I relocated to Vegas to join the show and I was one of a handful of artists who remained until it was announced via a 20-minute zoom call on Monday, November 16 that the show would be permanently closed.

Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity" was the highly anticipated third show to arrive in Vegas, on the heels of the innovative and spectacular productions “Mystere and “O”. It was completely sexual in nature and for mature audiences 18 years of age and over. Its goal was to “evoke, invoke and provoke.” It was not unanimously lauded as its predecessors. There were periods in the first couple of years when ticket sales dipped and attendance was low, but with Guy Laliberte at the helm, he was a visionary who took bold risks, persevered, and at that time had very deep pockets to see it through its rough period.

As a musician entering the Cirque world, it was completely immersive and unlike any gig I had done before. My previous experience was as a touring guitarist who sang backup vocals for artists launching their careers to headliners with millions of fans. We were the main event, a band on a large stage with an attractive but stationary backdrop. With Cirque, it was the other way around. Our main job was to follow the visual, to change sections when the artists did, to stop playing to emphasize an acrobat’s dramatic tissue drop, or to insert a substitute song if there were technical delays.

I arrived at Cirque’s Montreal Headquarters (HQ) in April 2003 in the midst of one of the harshest snowstorms in the history of the city. The HQ’s enormity made me feel like I was at the Fashion Show Mall on the strip. Everything was in-house: costuming, wigs, acrobatic rehearsal facilities, a gym with a ceiling that resembled the height of an airplane hanger, a cafe, and rehearsal sets for upcoming shows in creation.

Us musicians were in a trailer next to the part of the building where Zumanity dancers experimented with visual concepts, props, and projections. Handpicked established acts did their refinements. The 4 person clown troupe Spymonkey wrote material that reflected sexual comedy. Highly skilled aerialists were paired and the result was death-defying magic and dazzle on white silks. The music was one important element among many. The primal sexual energy hovered and prevailed like a mating season in Mauritania! The camaraderie and atmosphere in a tight space created a unity unlike any other!

We were basking in the Golden Years of Cirque du Soleil, the apex of its ascension. Celebrities visited. We had free access into the hot clubs like Pure and Tao by waving the keys to the city around, our employee ID cards. Medical coverage bordered on concierge and the parties were the stuff of legend. Offended audience members walked out during the earlier “edgy” numbers: Two Men, where two gorgeous men of exact opposite skin color passionately kissed at the end of their number; S&M hoedown by Spymonkey in leather garb, another number where performers came down from the ceiling on hooks, and an aerial act that simulated autoerotic asphyxiation.

As time went on, performers came and went and the edge was softened by newer choreography and more comedy.

In the Zumanity Orchestra, the core pieces composed by Simon Carpentier were staples with constant revisions to accommodate the ever-changing acts.

In 17 years, we went through many personnel changes, stage accidents, milestones, the scare of an active shooter, demolitions, and lots of new construction. Kids that were babies went off to college. We attended weddings, baby showers, and funerals together.

It lasted longer than any of my personal relationships. It gave me more security than my fragile and fragmented family.

To the public, it might be another show that has come and gone, but for me, it was my life. And initially, I only wanted to stay for one year.

Thank you, Guy Laliberte, Cirque du Soleil, and Zumanity. You showed me what mind-blowing innovation looks like, how differences can be celebrated to the point of being magical, and where passion and love held us together.