Le Théâtre
The Theater

"O", a phonetic play on the French word for water - "eau", is a baroque world filled with disturbing images, impressive acrobatics and amazing technical design. The theater built for the show, Cirque's first aquatic show, is also a revolutionary conceptual space. Taking approximately two years to build (February 1996 to January 1998) and reportedly costing $42 million US (70 million CAD approx), it sports an innovative theatrical design making the 1800-seat space the first of its kind. What makes the theater so special? At the heart of the 155,300 square-feet show space is a 1.5 million gallon (6-million liter) pool used for its stage. And that is pretty innovative, if you ask me!

You'll find the Bellagio theater "tucked away in a seemingly normal looking hallway on the casino floor," but nothing can prepare you for what you'll see inside - a marvel of innovation masked by exquisite beauty and detail.

Take for example the Cupola, or rounded ceiling vault. At some point your eyes will dart skyward and you'll find a breathtaking ceiling washed in turquoise, indigo and blue. But take another glance... underneath that beauty lies an innovate framework of galvanized metal mesh with a trellis (or frame of latticework) that allows for an infinite array of lighting effects to be used. Cirque uses this space to place scores of different colored lights to not only light the theater but also the stage below. The Cupola also comes with a space used for overhead performances, which is utilized during the beginning of the show. A winch by Fisher Technical makes the performance possible.

While the ceiling itself is a wonder to behold, how many of you have sat with mouths agape as the curtain is drawn back into the depths of the theater for the show's explosive beginning? If so, you're not alone. The curtain impresses many who have seen the show. So, how does it work? That amazing feat is done by another winch by Fisher, a 20- horsepower F200 model that draws back at a speed of 14-feet per second! At that velocity one would imagine the curtain would flutter noticeably. But believe it or not, Cirque keeps the curtain from fluttering with a series of weights that hold it in place timed to release with the curtain's upward motion. This keeps the curtain taught throughout the entire drawback sequence.

It moves away to reveal another innovation of the theater, the pool itself.

The stage consists of a 150-foot by 100-foot pool reaching a depth of 25 feet. While the pool itself is an interesting marvel, haven't you ever wondered how the pool becomes a stage? Below that liquid surface lies a series of hydraulic lifts built specifically by Handling Specialty of Grimsby, Ontario. There are four of these lifts, each with a 1-million pound capacity. What's in them? Vegetable Oil! The lifts can quietly rise, thanks to temposonic probes, and lower the pieces of the stage in mere seconds (5 to 25-feet per second). Those pieces are made out of a resilient rubber-like material in a series of 4-foot by 8-foot panels. Each panel contains 5,000 plus holes to allow water to pass as the stage is raised or lowered. But the speed of their disappearance and sudden reappearance can fool you into thinking that the lifts and the stage are quite light. In fact, the combined weight of the system is a hefty 460,000 pounds!

But the lifts are only part of the innovation. Many of the problems with the show's development came because of the water itself. Ask yourself a couple of questions: How would the noise of the splashes be contained? How could the temperatures between the water and the air be comfortable for both the performers and the patrons? How could the smell of chorine be contained? Important questions to solve, because even with all the technology surrounding the theater and the pool, the answers would determine if the two could be fused together.

The solutions are novel in their own right. First, the noise of the water is absorbed by a series of rocks scattered around the ring of the pool. The rocks, used in conjunction with special matting from 3M called Nomad, help absorb the sound of the water as it splashes about. Second, the 87-degree Fahrenheit water is counter-balanced with a special HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) system design that pumps 55-degree Fahrenheit air directly under each seat. This mixture of air keeps the humidity down while resulting in a comfortable 72-degree temperature. Thirdly, using Bromide in the water averts the chlorine smell.

There are many other technical advances of Cirque du Soleil's theater at the Bellagio that remain secret behind Cirque's closed doors. And perhaps that's the way it should be. Giving away too much takes away from the marvel of the show, does it not?

The Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998 to much fanfare and press, opening the theater of "O" for the very first time. The spectators were taken to it, awarding Cirque du Soleil and Scéno Plus for their ingenuity. For their collaboration on the Bellagio theater, the pair has been awarded: New York's prestigious Eddy Entertainment Design Award in 1998, the Canadian Institute for Technology's Award of Technical Merit in 1999, and the Las Vegas Best Theater of the Year Award.