O (Cirque du Soleil)

O
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's O
CompanyCirque du Soleil
GenreContemporary circus
Show typeResident showing
Date of premiereOctober 17, 1998[1]
LocationBellagio, Las Vegas
Creative team
Writer and directorFranco Dragone
Director of creationGilles Ste-Croix
Set designerMichel Crête
ComposerBenoit Jutras
Costume designerDominique Lemieux
Lighting designerLuc Lafortune
ChoreographerDebra Brown
Sound designersFrançois Bergeron
Jonathan Deans
Artistic swimming designerSylvie Fréchette
Aerial acrobatics designerAndré Simard
Rigging designerJaque Paquin
Make-up designerNathalie Gagné
Other information
Preceded byQuidam (1996)
Succeeded byLa Nouba (1998)
Official website

O is a water-themed stage production by Cirque du Soleil, a Canadian circus and entertainment company. The show has been in permanent residence at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, since October 1998. O, whose name is pronounced the same way as eau, the French word for "water", takes place around and above a 1.5-million-US-gallon (5,700 m3) pool of water. It features water acts such as synchronized swimming as well as aerial and ground acts. The O theatre, which is designed to resemble a 14th-century European opera house, has 1,800 seats, thus allowing the performance to be watched by 3,600 people a night since the performance usually plays twice in a given day. The theatre was also designed to meet the special demands of the show.[2]

O was inspired by the "infinity and elegance of water's pure form," which pays tribute to the beauty of the theatre. A group of 150 stage technicians assists in the production of the show, the cast of which is 85 performers: international acrobats, synchronized swimmers, and divers. Some of them are former Olympic athletes.[2]

  1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". O by Cirque du Soleil. Bellagio Las Vegas. Retrieved 22 April 2016. 'O' has performed exclusively at Bellagio since its opening on 17, 1998.
  2. ^ a b "Press Releases - Cirque du Soleil - O, 4/10/2014" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2014-04-10.