Cirque du Soleil raises big top at Great Park

By SEAN EMERY | THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

IRVINE – Cirque du Soleil is busy turning an asphalt expanse at the Great Park into a bustling big top, as Irvine leaders welcome a touring production they hope will bring a wider audience to the developing park.

About 80 workers on Wednesday braved rainy weather as they helped raise Cirque’s trademark blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau – or big top – on the Great Park’s newly constructed 14-acre festival site.

Performances of Cirque’s traveling production of “Kooza” are set to begin on Friday, Jan. 8, less than a year after Great Park leaders persuaded the world-famous performance troupe to relocate from their long-time local residence at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Cirque represents the first high-profile private performance group to call the Great Park its home. Previous performances, dances and events – including the park’s summer entertainment series – have been funded by the Great Park itself, and often carried out with the help of the Irvine-based Barclay Theatre.

“It is about the best indication of the credibility we have established as a great venue for world class performance art,” Irvine Councilman and Great Park Chairman Larry Agran said of Cirque’s arrival. “We have had our concert series and dances, but with Cirque du Soleil it is hard to imagine a more credible organization, and they are making the Great Park their home.”

Kooza, which will perform in Irvine between engagements in Santa Monica and San Diego, represents a return to Cirque du Soleil’s origins, creators say, combining the circus traditions of acrobatic performance and the art of clowning.

Cirque still has several days’ worth of preparation before the site is performance ready, including the installations of bleachers, acrobatic rigging, lighting and sound equipment.

“It’s a well oiled machine,” said Jessica Leboeuf, assistant to Kooza’s general manager. “For us, as long as we have enough space to set up our village it feels like home.”

Cirque leaders say they were drawn to the Great Park because of its central location and available space.

“It’s also under development, so we are thinking long term,” Leboeuf said.

Unlike their previous Orange County agreement – which called for Cirque to pay $500,000 to the OC Fairgrounds – the Great Park arrangement includes no lease fees, and allows Cirque to keep all ticket, concession and retail revenue. Cirque’s agreement with the Great Park allows it to use the festival site for up to eight different runs before January 2018.

The Great Park is expecting to raise at least $300,000 from parking fees tied to the performances.

Having drawn up to 5,000 attendees per night to the park’s summer concert series earlier this year, Great Park officials say they can easily handle the approximately 2,500 attendees each Cirque performance is expected to bring to the former El Toro airbase.

The festival site is across the road from a renovated hangar turned event center and the Orange balloon ride, which have become the focal point for Great Park development, including a recently approved $65 million construction plan, which is expected to bring farm land, sports fields, community gardens and improved roadways.

“Our philosophy is to open the park to visitors and programs as it is being developed, as we have done with our concerts and events held in the current park space,” Great Park CEO Mike Ellzey said. “Cirque’s wide audience base will draw new visitors to the park and help them associate quality productions with the Great Park.”

Great Park leaders hope the new festival site will continue drawing interest from local event organizers. Two festivals – the Bee Hive Family Festival and the Family & Pet Expo – are already scheduled for March, Ellzey said, and park staffers hope to eventually lease the space year-round.

Irvine officials say they are also expecting a boost to the local economy, pointing to a Great Park commissioned study determining that Cirque du Soleil and visitors to the county will bring $2.4 million per season and 300 seasonal jobs, as well as $88,000 in tax revenue for the city’s general fund.

The Kooza production includes 125 cast and crew members, Leboeuf said, along with 100 local laborers hired to assist with the show.

To purchase tickets for Cirque du Soleil’s traveling production of “Kooza,” which makes its home at the Great Park in Irvine from Friday, Jan. 8 through Sunday, Jan. 31, call 1-800-450-1480, or visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/kooza.

https://www.ocregister.com/articles/park-226409-great-cirque.html