Cirque du Soleil is known for its slick, death-defying aerial choreography. Acrobats flip through the air, hanging precariously from strings as they hit their marks, eliciting gasps from the audience far below. The entertainment company has produced a host of jaw-dropping contemporary circuses with themes ranging from eroticism (Zumanity) and Michael Jackson (Michael Jackson One) to the bond between humans and nature (ECHO). But country music has never entered their proverbial big top – until now.
Cirque du Soleil Songblazers (A Journey Into Country Music) will open in Nashville on July 2 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Packed with songs, including Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart,” Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup,” Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and Sam Williams’ original song “Carnival Heart,” which he wrote for Songblazers, the production leans into country music’s legacy to follow two characters as they strive for country music success.
Videos by American Songwriter
Songblazers Combines Death-Defying Stunts with Country Hits
As an up-and-coming country star, the son of Hank Williams, Jr., and the grandson of Hank Williams, Sam Williams knows what it’s like to be part of the genre’s legacy while he works to be recognized on his own merit. “Songblazers” made that dream a reality.
“That moment when you realize that every moment someone called you a freak growing up resulted in you being a face of an iconic global entertainment company’s CIRCUS about COUNTRY MUSIC,” Williams wrote on social media. “‘Carnival Heart’ for @cirquedusoleil is out now. MY CARNIVAL HEART, IT SINGS AGAIN. DREAMERS KEEP ON DREAMING.”
Cirque du Soleil Songblazers is a collaboration between Cirque du and Universal Music Group Nashville. Amy Tinkham wrote and directed the production.
Sam Williams is “The Perfect Bridge”
“For Sam, this is similar to his family’s history,” said Cindy Mabe, chair and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville. “His grandfather played at these tent revivals and did all of those things. This is this moment in time that allows him to put one hand in the past and one hand in the future. Ironically, that’s the story of what this whole piece about country music is. Sam Williams is that perfect bridge to all of it and can speak to the generations that came before him.”
A media preview in early June showcased a glimpse of the dancing, music, and acrobatics that will be completely unveiled in July. An actor turned Keith’s hugely popular “Red Solo Cup” into a highly choreographed cup-flipping trick in which he skillfully tossed many of them into the air and caught them in a stack. The nod to Keith comes at a particularly poignant time, just months after his death.
“We got to see a little bit of Toby Keith coming back to life,” Mabe said. “And in this moment, it speaks to the fun of what that has been.”
Mabe said the label’s job was to help guide the music and the storyline, pairing songs with eras in country music to accentuate the Songblazers story.
“We Got to See a Little Bit of Toby Keith Coming Back to Life”
“My dream is just to bring these eras back to life and to frame it because think that we’re, at this point in time, that it’s really important that we protect what’s happening in country music,” Mabe said.
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” elevated two high-flying female acrobats who spun in circles while suspended upside from a bar in the rafters over the stage. The women gracefully climb up and down each other’s bodies and meet in perfect splits.
Songblazers music producer Seth Roberts said the acrobats arrived in Montreal in mid-April to start training, and the rest of the cast followed soon after to start working on staging and writing. Roberts described his job as developing the “sonic vision” for the show and said that he uses songs to punch up the moments and make them more dramatic.
“It’s ear candy and a little more pulse,” he said.
Songblazers Has Something for Everyone
While the show is built around the country genre, Roberts believes anyone who loves music, theater or Cirque in general will be able to find special moments within the production.
“That pretty much covers anybody interested to go see something live,” he said. “I think there’s something for everybody in this show. And for me, country music is really about community, and … we’ve got this steel player from Carolina, a fiddler from Texas, a guitar player from Nashville, and then you put them together. And that’s country music.”
Photo provided by Songblazers
