Cirque du Soleil raises the roof with their 30th Anniversary Concert

After wowing over 150 million spectators in more than 300 cities worldwide with their critically-acclaimed shows since 1984, Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil has crafted a new 75-minute greatest-hits concert taken from the music of their 35 shows – including the global phenomenon Alegría – to celebrate the company’s 30^th anniversary.

This hugely-popular concert series has been packing in audiences at Montreal’s grand and historic 2,000-seat Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in the heart of the city’s hip Plateau Mont-Royal district, and continues until Dec. 28.

The music in the Cirque du Soleil’s shows echoes the emotional narrative of their acrobatic acts and guides spectators along, underscoring the level of difficulty, feeling of lightness or the thrill factor. This concert features 35 songs taken the Cirque’s 35 shows, including a show-stopping group a cappella version of Because from the Grammy-winning The Beatles Love show; Love Me Tender from Viva Elvis; and Michael Jackson’s Earth Song from the Cirque’s Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, featuring a huge 70-voice choir.

In addition to the excellent choir (popular Montreal performer Gregory Charles is their Artistic Director), the show features eight soloists – singers Paul Bisson, Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Domenic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras and Roxanne Potvin – whose voices soar accompanying the seven-member house band and 21-piece orchestra.

All the soloists are veteran Cirque du Soleil performers, but Francine Poitras especially brings down the house with her monumental vocal on Kayala and The Poppies from the show Believe. Another highlight is Hymn of the Worlds from the show Zed.

The concert moves along at a brisk pace, thanks in part to the atmospheric lighting and projections. The show also makes good use of the Casavant organ inside the grand Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church. The cast is dressed in vivid, colourful costumes created with the Cirque du Soleil’s trademark style.

Some 20 composers/arrangers have written and scored the music for Cirque du Soleil shows, drawing on world music, rock and jazz, as well as contemporary sounds, each lending their personal imprint. But no show Cirque du Soleil show has sold more units than Alegría: composer René Dupéré received a platinum disc for this album in 1995 and a double platinum disc in 2001, and the Cirque du Soleil’s 30^th anniversary concert closes with a glorious rendition of the titletrack from Alegría, with the full orchestra, choir and soloists performing onstage together. It brought the audience to their feet, and marked a fitting end to the hugely entertaining Cirque du Soleil 30^th Anniversary Concert.

The Cirque du Soleil 30^th Anniversary Concert continues at Montreal’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church until Dec. 28.

Photo credit: Cirque du Soleil