Michael Jackson‘s estate has made a deal with Cirque du Soleil, much as I predicted on November 11, 2009: http://tinyurl.com/y5rolc5
But the Cirque du Soleil deal is going to have many branches, from what I’m told. The feeling now is that the shows will use three choreographers. Two will be well known. A third may be selected from a reality show competition that would also yield dancers.
“Michael was always looking for new talent,” says an insider. “We would find it through a reality show.”
The Cirque deal will be a bonanza for Jackson’s estate. But it’s got to be a blow to AEG Live’s Randy Phillips and director/choreographer Kenny Ortega. They put together the “This is It” show and movie. But from the beginning, I am told, executors John Branca and John McClain were taken with the Cirque gestalt. Plus, as one observer put it, “AEG would have to get sponsors. Cirque du Soleil just writes the check.”
The Cirque shows, by the way, will feature holograms, 3D gizmos, and a futuristic theater that has moving seats. Michael would have loved it.
