Las Vegas Weekly

February 2, 2010 · 10:51 AM

Cirque’s spectacular Ka celebrates 5th anniversary @MGM Grand

By Robin Leach

The Forest People of Ka.

Photo: Tomas Muscionico Costume: Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt Copyright Cirque du Soleil Inc.

More than 1 million people have seen the extraordinary Ka by Cirque du Soleil as it celebrates its fifth anniversary at MGM Grand this week. It was five years ago tomorrow that Cirque’s fourth and most unique show on the Strip premiered. It was said to be the most expensive production ever mounted in the history of theater, with a still never officially confirmed $170 million price tag. Subsequent Cirque shows The Beatles Love at The Mirage, Criss Angel’s Believe at the Luxor and this month’s Viva Elvis in Aria were each produced for about $100 million.

Ka’s celebrity spectators have included Barbra Streisand, Nicolas Cage, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Drew Carey, Paula Abdul, Britney Spears and Janet Jackson. Ka so overwhelmed Cher that she later apologized backstage for not applauding during the show because she was so mesmerized. Rosie O’Donnell was so taken by the show that she wrote a tribute to the show on her blog.

Perhaps the biggest celebrity fan of them all is Tom Cruise, who watched Ka three times last year. He brought Katie Holmes in April and afterward went backstage to meet with the cast. They posed for photos and signed autographs for the cast and crew. Tom even did a few backflips with a little help from the performers.

Photo: Michael Morales

Holly Madison with the cast of Cirque Du Soleil's Ka at MGM Grand on Jan. 29, 2010.

The most recent celebrity to visit last week was blonde beauty Holly Madison, star of Planet Hollywood’s Peepshow. Before she flew off over the weekend to visit The Girls Next Door girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson, Holly went backstage after the show to meet the cast. Holly jetted off to Kendra’s new home in Indiana, where she lives with husband Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Hank Baskett and their baby boy Hank Jr. The Colts are of course playing the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl on Sunday, and Kendra is set to host a soiree at Miami’s Passion nightclub.

Back at Ka, Holly said she was particularly impressed by the animal puppetry in the show, especially one contortionist in particular, who she greeted by saying, “You’re really flexible!” Holly discovered that she has fans among the cast and told them that she’s getting ready to resume Peepshow and simultaneously start filming the launch of her reality TV show Holly’s World on E! on March 1.

Ka combines martial arts, acrobatics, puppetry, interactive video projections and pyrotechnics to tell the saga of the Imperial Twins -- a boy and a girl -- who embark on an adventurous journey to fulfill their destinies. The remarkable show features 80 performers from 16 countries.

You know me with my thirst for fun facts, so here are some of the wonders of Ka:

*Each of the 1,950 seats in the Ka theater has two speakers built into the headrest for customized sound effects controlled for 16 seating zones.

*The video projections are a mix of computer-generated effects and human input that turns the performance space into a cinema screen.

*1,300 hours went into the making of each of the human-sized crab puppets.

*The Counselor’s Son has the most complex makeup involving 33 steps, eight brushes, four sponges and one powder puff.

*For the beach scene, the sand is created using 350 cubic feet of granular cork from Portugal.

*The Sand Cliff Deck and Gantry Crane have a combined weight of approximately 280,000 pounds, or 140 tons.

*Key distances: The highest grid ceiling to the lowest floor level is 149 feet. The stage level boardwalk to the highest grid ceiling is 98 feet. The stage level to the pit is 51 feet. The width of the performance area is 121 feet. The boardwalk to the back wall of the theater is 120 feet.

Photo: Tomas Muscionico

The Imperial Twins of Cirque Du Soleil's Ka at MGM Grand.

*The boat in the Storm scene weighs 1,800 pounds and is manipulated by the artists.

*The Climb scene runs the Sand Cliff Deck through a sequence of moves that has it rotating up to 12 degrees per second, tilting through 60 degrees. Artists fall up to 60 feet into air bags.

*There are 14 “trees” in the Forest scene made of corrugated steel tube. Each has a diameter of 4 feet and 80 feet tall and weighs as much as 3,000 pounds.

*The Wheel of Death in the Slave Cage scene weighs 10,000 pounds and is comprised of two independent sets of circular “cages” that rotate around a common axle. The movement is completely controlled by the artists in the cages.

*In the Battle scene, the artists walk on the Sand Cliff Deck at a perpendicular angle to the ground. This is achieved through individual high-speed winches for each of the 16 artists, who control their movements through wireless remotes built into their costumes.

*Ka has more than 3,300 lighting fixtures.

*To fill the theater with sound takes 524,150 watts of amplifier power pumping a mix of sound effects and music to 4,774 loudspeaker drivers in 2,139 cabinets. The sound system weighs 43,868 pounds. The main audio system covers nearly 2 million cubic feet of air space.

*Seventy specialists worked more than 35,000 hours to produce the first full set of Ka costumes at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal.

*All costumes, headpieces, 15 wigs, hats and 400 pairs of shoes are custom-made.

Photo: Tomas Muscionico

The Slave Cage of Cirque Du Soleil's Ka at MGM Grand.

*All Ka artists complete their own makeup, taking 45 minutes to 2 hours to apply. Many artists glue Austrian crystals to their faces as part of their makeup.

*The Chief Archer has the most complex makeup application, with 43 steps and 22 brushes.

*During the pre-show, 119 fireballs are fired, with each discharge measuring 30 feet and reaching 1,200 degrees.

*Ka has a 13,000-gallon storage tank for the 300-degree liquid nitrogen mixed with water to create the fog effects.

*For the Mountain Tribe scenes, snow machines and fans float soapsuds through the air to make snowfall.

*The Props and Puppet Department is responsible for more than 500 props, 10 larger-than-life puppets, 21 mini puppets and six butterflies.

*The Stick Bug puppet is more than 16 feet long and is operated by two artists. The Snake is more than 80 feet long.

*More than 110 arrows are shot through the air at each performance. The artists spent 100-plus hours in training to learn archery techniques.

*There are more than 160 harnesses for the artists made up of 21 types each hand-fitted to the individual artist and inspected daily.

Photo: Tomas Muscionico

The battle scene of Cirque Du Soleil's Ka at MGM Grand.

*Acrobatic safety nets are used for artists falling less than 20 feet. For falls more than 20 feet, air bags are used in addition to the safety nets.

*Eighteen winches are used to pull two safety nets into the many configurations for the show. Each winch rope has a tensile strength of 30,000 pounds.

*The Forest Grid truss, catwalk and track system that supports the scenic elements of the Forest scene and its component parts weigh more than 80,000 pounds.

This fifth anniversary week, from today through Saturday, each ticket for Ka will be reduced to $55. As Cirque founder Guy Laliberte has said, Ka is the most technically complicated mechanical show that Cirque has created and staged in its 25-year history.

Congratulations to all the cast and crew on your fifth anniversary!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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