The Staying Power of Mystere
For a Las Vegas show to earn the description "long running," it must have a number of things going for it: brilliant concept, extra-ordinary artists and a top-notch crew. Then it needs a good Artistic Director to keep it fresh. For Cirque du Soleil's "Mystère," that would be Ria Martens.
Ria has a clear understanding of how to keep a show interesting year after year and it never involves pandering to the audience. She said, "You do not do things because of the reaction of the audience. You do things because it makes it more beautiful; it makes it more interesting; it makes it more dynamic. The contrast is bigger. That's why you do something. And then automatically it creates the reaction in the audience."
"We tighten up the transitions. That's it. We change the focus much quicker. What was there worked, but I always think you can make things better. So you do a wonderful lift and the audience still looks at the couple, and then suddenly the bungee drops so that the energy goes up and comes back down. To me, it's a dynamic."
"It depends what's going on, first. If the main focus is an act in a transition, then the act has to finish, but you don't want to keep the audience looking while the act goes down, so you have a couple of seconds and then you bring the rest in. So you don't wait too long."
Ria says the main way the show stays fresh, technicalities aside, is through the enthusiasm of its performers. "The show evolves...so each time that there's an artist, new, coming in they have a new challenge for themselves and it's a new person. So that changes the whole dynamic and energy of the whole group, of the whole cast. So it doesn't necessarily change the concept, because we do not change the concept, but with the artists and the growth of the artists themselves, it changes. And that's basically how we keep the show fresh, is by new artists coming in, new energy. It's by moving the artists who are there, who want to try something else, who want to become a character, who want to try bungee let's say, for this show, to see if they're capable in doing that. To broaden their horizons and to make it limitless. Do you know what I mean?"
It also helps that Cirque is known for the outstanding treatment of its performers. Ria said, "Look, in every Cirque du Soleil show we have a physical therapist; we have a massage therapist; we have a Pilates person. Everything is done to keep the artists healthy. For us, it's a given. We take care of our artists and the better care we take of the artists and the better they feel, the better they perform. It's as simple as that."
And apparently Cirque is also good to Ria. She said, "I never am bored. So this is my tenth year. There's never a day that I went,'Oh, do I have to go and do this job now?' Because there's always something. You cannot plan your day. There's always something that happens somewhere. It's unbelievable."
Mixed into that hectic schedule are planned rehearsals, not only for the dancers but also with the acrobats. Ria spends time moving acrobats away from a competitive mentality to an artistic one, further heightening the beauty of the whole production. "You have to try to make them understand if they are more artistic how much more beautiful they look onstage. And eventually they get it and they see it and they feel better. It's not about just doing a trick. It's being in a character and they're always in characters. And once you have that understanding, then you can go, 'Well, you're going to have to stretch your leg. And you have to present. And you cannot look down.' You know what I mean?"
"I really feel, and that's also the Director's philosophy, is that a Cirque du Soleil show, we're there to bring the audience into a ninety-minute different world. Whatever age, gender, race, cultural background, whatever you are, you will pick something up that you need at that moment."
And there's so much to see. You can see a Cirque show over and over and still find something you missed the last time. They must be doing something right because, as Ria will tell you, in her ten years with the company, not one of Cirque du Soleil's 12 shows has closed. Some recommendation. So it's easy to understand why Ria would say, "Why would we change something that works?" With sold-out crowds thirteen years into its run, "Mystère" has obvious staying power, and for obvious reasons.