The opening
scene of “Zaia”
at the Venetian
Macao, the
first permanent
Cirque du Soleil
show in Asia.
By Kenneth Kiesnoski
In a case of “show business separated at birth,” the friendly rivalry
between Cirque du Soleil and ex-creative director Franco Dragone
that began six years ago in Las Vegas is also playing out more than
7,300 miles away, in Macau.
The tiny special administrative
region of China — an hour by
hydrofoil from Hong Kong and
Southeast Asia’s gambling and
entertainment equivalent to our
own Sin City — is, similarly, host
to rival productions from the upstart Dragone and his former employer, Montreal-based Cirque.
The Cirque show “Zaia,” which
debuted in August 2008 at the
10. 5 million-square-foot Venetian
Macao, had Macau’s new, rapidly
developing Cotai casino-resort
quarter to itself until September
2010, when the Franco Dragone
Entertainment Group raised the
curtain on “The House of Dancing Water” at the then year-old
City of Dreams hotel, dining,
gaming, retail and entertainment
development.
The opening strains of the lat-
ter’s overture one year ago were
music to Macau tourism offi-
cials’ ears. “Our goal is for visi-
tors to stay longer in Macau and
enjoy all the different entertain-
ment options that we have,” said
Joao Rodrigues, spokesman for
the Macau Government Tourist
Office. “Besides all the amazing
restaurants and historical sites,
Macau has a growing list of new
attractions; some examples … are
these two amazing shows.”
There’s plenty of audience to
go around in booming Macau.
The territory saw overall visits
grow 14.8%, to 24. 9 million, in
2010, and 9.8%, to 15. 8 million,
for the first six months of 2011
alone. More than 50% of visitors
come from mainland China.
“The House of Dancing Water” uses 11 10-ton
elevators to raise and lift scenery.
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