Show Calling & Contingencies

Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil

As a show caller for Cirque du Soleil, you are required to memorize thousands of possible contingencies. For each cue in the show, there are several alternate plans depending on what has gone wrong. Some contingencies are used frequently. Others may never happen, but you still have to be mentally ready for them to occur at any time.

Here are two show call videos of the act “Jam” for comparison. In the first video, everything goes smoothly and cues are called as planned. In the second video there is a problem with Mephisto, the large piece upstage center, which causes it to be out of position throughout the act. At the time of this video, I had been calling the show for over five years and had periodically refreshed this scenario in my head, but had never actually had this happen during a performance. Excellent communication by all technical departments allowed us to keep the show moving forward safely.

  • AQ330- PVC out, Pod 5 Lift down, Lift 2 down w/ towers, Mephisto traverses

  • AQ335- LX Booms in to deck in wings

  • AQ337- Pod 5 Lift pops up to stage

  • AQ340- Mephisto traverses upstage to clear for flights

  • AQ345- Pod 3 Lift down to pick up paparazzi artist

  • AQ350- Jam Flight #1

  • AQ352- Mephisto traverses downstage

  • AQ353- Jam Flight #2

  • AQ354- Pod 3 Lift pops up to stage with paparazzi artist

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