The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2009–2010
Cirque du Soleil tried vaudeville — Banana Shpeel closed two months early
Banana Shpeel, Cirque du Soleil's vaudeville show, opened in New York April 2010 after three postponements and closed on June 27, two months ahead of schedule.
Cirque du Soleil · 2010-06
What happened
In 2009 Cirque du Soleil, the company that had built a global empire on wordless acrobatic spectacle, tried something new: a talking, joke-driven vaudeville show. Banana Shpeel, written and directed by clown David Shiner, premiered at the Chicago Theatre on 19 November 2009 and was mauled by critics, who found the humour insipid and the show shapeless.
Cirque pulled the show back for extensive retooling and postponed the New York opening three times between February and April 2010. Banana Shpeel finally opened at the Beacon Theatre on 29 April 2010 — and the reviews were scathing again, New York Post calling it a 'clown flop'. On 14 June the company announced the New York run would end on 27 June, two months ahead of its scheduled 29 August close.
A last attempt followed: a limited engagement at Toronto's Canon Theatre from 18 September to 10 October 2010, which drew mostly poor reviews. The day the Toronto run ended, Cirque cancelled the remaining tour dates — San Francisco and Costa Mesa — to 're-evaluate the tour plan'. The experiment of putting Cirque on a theatre stage with dialogue was over in under a year.
Why it happened
- Cirque's brand was wordless spectacle; a dialogue-and-clown vaudeville show alienated its own audience.
- Three postponements and a heavy retool between Chicago and New York signalled a show that never came together.
- Reviews stayed scathing in every city; ticket sales could not sustain a tour.
The lesson
Cirque du Soleil postponed Banana Shpeel three times to fix it, retooled it, and moved it city to city — and every audience agreed it didn't work. A year from Chicago premiere to cancelled tour.
Aftermath
Cirque returned to its core spectacle format; Banana Shpeel became the standard example of the company's rare outright creative failure.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Banana Shpeel (written and directed by David Shiner; premiered 19 November 2009 at the Chicago Theatre; New York opening delayed three times — originally scheduled 5 February 2010, finally opened 29 April 2010 at the Beacon Theatre; run originally scheduled through 29 August ended 27 June 2010; Toronto limited engagement 18 September – 10 October 2010 at the Canon Theatre; remaining tour dates in San Francisco and Costa Mesa cancelled to 're-evaluate the tour plan'; scathingly poor reviews citing insipid humor and lack of cohesion)
- Variety, 14 June 2010 — 'Banana Shpeel' splits (NYC Beacon Theatre run to close two months ahead of schedule on 27 June 2010; generally downbeat New York reviews; troubled production history including significant retooling after poorly reviewed Chicago tryout; national tour had been planned for the fall)
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