Echo Marks Cirque du Soleil's First South Florida Show Since 2019

Echo by Cirque du Soleil is the world-famous circus' 51st show and the only one that brings out its technicians for a curtain call at the end of each performance. It's a testament to the technical prowess required to pull off such an ambitious, complex, big-top production.

The show features a two-story cube spinning, floating, and transforming, all while the artists perform acrobatic stunts inside and on its surface with glowing firefly drones maneuvered around the tent.

"The crowd goes up a level when the technicians come out," says Chantal Tremblay, the show's creation director, of the technical bow. "They're really appreciative [of their work]. This show isn't just about the people in the front."

Echo opens at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach on Thursday, February 22, and runs through Sunday, April 7. The storyline revolves around our relationship with nature and the animal kingdom and conveys how our actions impact the planet.

But the audience shouldn't expect an hour and 40 minutes of preaching and finger-wagging. This is Cirque du Soleil, after all. The story is told via acrobats, hair-hangers, clowns, and a contortionist. For many, the highlight of the show is the human juggling (AKA Icarian games). It's performed by a pair of Ethiopian acrobats. (Echo's 52-person cast is made up of 19 nationalities, with one-fifth of the performers hailing from Ethiopia.)

"I've seen the audience on the edge of their seats. I've seen people standing up," Tremblay says about the response to the Icarian games, adding that the crowd reactions at Cirque shows never get old. "To see people appreciate the hard work, that's the payment for your efforts."
The performers wear modern vests, long coats, and tailored suits that one might wear on their way to the office, only these stylish outfits are white and look like they're made of crumpled paper. To distinguish the humans from the animal characters in the show more easily, the humans' white outfits have a splash of color while the all-white animals wear headgear. The show's six onstage vocalists — the most singers ever for a Cirque du Soleil show — wear all black.

"Visually, we go somewhere else," Tremblay says about the difference between Echo and other Cirque du Soleil shows. "It's minimalist and not very colorful. It has its own identity."

Echo was supposed to make its world premiere in March 2020 under the name Under the Same Sky, but the production from writer-director Es Devlin was canceled due to the pandemic. The show used the pause to go in a different direction creatively, led by Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar, who was brought in to help just before the cancelation. Mukhtar reworked the production but held onto the universe and cube concept created by Devlin.

In April, the show that was supposed to take the standard two-and-a-half years to create finally made its world premiere in Montreal, where Cirque du Soleil's headquarters are located. Echo has since gone on tour with stops in Atlanta and Washington, D.C..

South Florida is the fourth stop on the tour and marks Cirque's first official show in the area since 2019.

How does a big-top show compare to a theater show?

"When you go into a big top, it smells like popcorn," Tremblay says. "You see more collectivity. It's more intimate, and you're closer to the stage. To me, a big top feels more like a traditional circus."

Echo by Cirque du Soleil. Thursday, February 22, through Sunday, April 7, at Gulfstream Park, 901 S. Federal Hwy., Hallandale Beach; cirquedusoleil.com. Tickets cost $55 to $302.