Nightclub Design Evolution
One would think after all we’ve seen, from nightlife’s eponymous crobar to cameo theatre miami, LIV, Marquee Las Vegas and all other nightclub bar raising mentionables left out, that the evolution of nightclub design (and production) had set the bar so high as to wonder how anyone could continue to raise it. Perhaps this is the case, or perhaps not. It has been announced that Cirque Du Soleil’s newest venture is a nightclub, Light, opening April 26th at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. With that news, they will be attempting to set that bar ever so slightly higher. All the theatrics we’ve seen so far from nightclub production teams to the DJs and the festivals they appear in (ie. Deadma5, ULTRA music festival, etc.) have been impressive to say the least and so who more appropriate than Guy Laliberte to show them what more is possible when you combine the success of Cirque Du Soleil entertainment and the late-late-night, bottle popping, huge DJ line up, living like we’re all rich energy of a Vegas mega-club.
Bradley Martin of vegas.eater.com sums it up in a four adjective laden paragraphs…
“The mood is club-meets-theater with all areas stressing a focus on the LED screens, platforms and floating performers, but the look is colder and more industrial than usual Cirque productions. Cocktail tables, banquettes and chandeliers are custom designed. Dramatic red chandeliers are based on a sacred geometry pattern, known as the flower of life. Metallic finishes abound. Fleur-de-lis tin panels, pennies affixed to tiles and a back bar design made of chicken wire make up some of the other design elements.
This contrasts with lush carpets, fabrics in flame and brick, sapphire, gold and deep red leathers. A custom ornate, red paisleylike design is used for some carpets and that visual extends to a similar look on very large wall coverings.
While the DJ floats up and down, the main focus will be on the Cirque troupe. Two winches on either side of the stage area will lower and raise the talent. Any Cirque performance is far more involved than your usual go-go dance routine, so much so that a designated warm-up/training room is being built for backstage.
In the club, performers will be working in front of an “acrobatic wall” created from two clear layers to be filled with theatrical smoke. Light will dance off this floating landscape and shadows of the performers will be projected onto this shifting cloud backdrop. Rigging for props and scenery that hangs down is also being installed.”
For now the hype is pretty high and what comes of the intimate uniting of mega-club and full on cirque production quality remains to be seen. With Marquee topping the nightclub capital with 70+ million in revenue, we’ll be paying attention come late April to see if the bar raising attempts by this venture correlate into bar raising revenue.