I remember standing in line for Maker Faire in San Mateo several years ago. We arrived a half-hour early, so we had plenty of time to chat with the people around us. Turns out the guy in front of us was a Blue Man, and he was there because they were always on the lookout for interesting bits to add to the show.
Both BMG and CdS have succeeded for so long due in part to their constant tooling with the latest tech. A couple of years ago CdS released a video called Spark exhibiting their take on drones. [0]
Many, many years ago, I was at a random party where there were some people from Broadway (mostly from behind the scenes people). One small group was impressed that I, a non-theater random, knew what a dramaturg did when I eventually asked what they did. [1]
During the course of our conversation, they told me that the original Blue Men who started the original Blue Man Group had families in Japan and elsewhere who literally mortgaged their own properties (or whatever the equivalent is) to get the original show off the ground.
The genius of Blue Man Group, to me, was always that their branding made the person performing the role irrelevant (outside of standard physical characteristics). Having no speaking roles, they were all Blue Men. They were all part of their same planet.
What are the most interesting new developments in this realm? I'm aware of Drip (https://ilovedrip.com/) by one of the Blue Man Group people (every audience member might get drenched in paint, the nerves that this show has.. wow :-D), and just interactive and immersive theatre in general. But I haven't heard of any emerging big shows that rival CdS and BMG.
I'd say Punch Drunk (https://www.punchdrunk.com/) is a big (up-and-comer?) production group in that space. In NYC and Shanghai they put on Sleep No More (consists of an entire multi-story old hotel gutted with stage detail work almost at the level of a spec of dust).
Edit: I'll add another 2 production groups heavier on the physical comedy/circus-side: Strut&Fret -- mainly AU-based but tour int'l. http://www.strutnfret.com, and spiegelworld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegelworld) --mainly in NYC and Las Vegas (put on Absinthe).
Not sure it's the same realm, but I've recently watched (on TV) Mourad Merzouki's Pixel, which is a mix of modern dance with digital projection, and I found it interesting and well done.
Ahhh, wonder if this is why Disney hasn't yet said what is replacing La Nouba in Orlando after its last show - they were waiting for the acquisition to clear.
I see a lot of synergy for Disney acquiring Cirque. For example:
1) Disney just built PandoraLand... Cirque has a new show based on Avatar: Toruk.
2) Disney is an entertainment megacorp whose weakness seems to be live entertainment... enter Cirque whose strength is exactly that and has global recognition for it.
3) Disney is going to China (Park in Shanghai)... Cirque is building a resident show in HangZhou.
4) Cirque is weak at merchandise and character building... which happen to be two of Disney's superstrengths.
5) Disney doesn't have a presence in Canada, a rather progressive family-oriented country that generates a lot of traffic in at least DisneyWorld... Cirque is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest brand in Canada.
6) The Canadian $ is low, the American $ is high.
7) The two companies already work together on projects and have been doing so for at least 15 years.
8) Cirque already has a show smackdab in the middle of Downtown Disney.
The obvious answer is that enough people found it interesting, and upvoted it.
If your question is really "I don't get why do HN users find this interesting?", then I'd recommend reading up about Cirque du Soleil. They're a very interesting business, that got started by 2 street performers who are true hackers, even if their medium of predilection is performing arts rather than computers.
In times where many circus businesses are bleeding money and folding due to shifting consumer expectations, Cirque du Soleil has managed to established a solid brand that many people associate with quality shows. They've effectively disrupted the circus industry, moving it away from sad animals and unfunny clowns, and making tons of money in the process.
"24 October 2000, The Register, New Intel Adverts Are Cr"
At the same time as I feel that thirty years of my life just blitted by unmeasurably fast, the above headline from just 17 years ago seems like a true relic of a different era.
And oh how much I'd love to feel like my computer was going to be really fast come my next upgrade. Thank goodness I am just enough older than to have been learning only while everyone and dog knew what Moore's Law was.
"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity."
[+] [-] johnhattan|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] two2two|8 years ago|reply
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C8OJsHfmpI
[+] [-] wallflower|8 years ago|reply
During the course of our conversation, they told me that the original Blue Men who started the original Blue Man Group had families in Japan and elsewhere who literally mortgaged their own properties (or whatever the equivalent is) to get the original show off the ground.
The genius of Blue Man Group, to me, was always that their branding made the person performing the role irrelevant (outside of standard physical characteristics). Having no speaking roles, they were all Blue Men. They were all part of their same planet.
[1] www.lmda.org/dramaturgy
[+] [-] mvidal01|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Jensensen|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] parkaboy|8 years ago|reply
Edit: I'll add another 2 production groups heavier on the physical comedy/circus-side: Strut&Fret -- mainly AU-based but tour int'l. http://www.strutnfret.com, and spiegelworld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegelworld) --mainly in NYC and Las Vegas (put on Absinthe).
[+] [-] spchampion2|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icebraining|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] goldenkey|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] spydum|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] octygen|8 years ago|reply
1) Disney just built PandoraLand... Cirque has a new show based on Avatar: Toruk.
2) Disney is an entertainment megacorp whose weakness seems to be live entertainment... enter Cirque whose strength is exactly that and has global recognition for it.
3) Disney is going to China (Park in Shanghai)... Cirque is building a resident show in HangZhou.
4) Cirque is weak at merchandise and character building... which happen to be two of Disney's superstrengths.
5) Disney doesn't have a presence in Canada, a rather progressive family-oriented country that generates a lot of traffic in at least DisneyWorld... Cirque is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest brand in Canada.
6) The Canadian $ is low, the American $ is high.
7) The two companies already work together on projects and have been doing so for at least 15 years.
8) Cirque already has a show smackdab in the middle of Downtown Disney.
Am I crazy?
[+] [-] thebiglebrewski|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saneshark|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gcb0|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andymcsherry|8 years ago|reply
From the Guidelines:
> Please don't submit comments complaining that a submission is inappropriate for the site.
[+] [-] GuiA|8 years ago|reply
If your question is really "I don't get why do HN users find this interesting?", then I'd recommend reading up about Cirque du Soleil. They're a very interesting business, that got started by 2 street performers who are true hackers, even if their medium of predilection is performing arts rather than computers.
In times where many circus businesses are bleeding money and folding due to shifting consumer expectations, Cirque du Soleil has managed to established a solid brand that many people associate with quality shows. They've effectively disrupted the circus industry, moving it away from sad animals and unfunny clowns, and making tons of money in the process.
[+] [-] fatjokes|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] amygdyl|8 years ago|reply
At the same time as I feel that thirty years of my life just blitted by unmeasurably fast, the above headline from just 17 years ago seems like a true relic of a different era.
And oh how much I'd love to feel like my computer was going to be really fast come my next upgrade. Thank goodness I am just enough older than to have been learning only while everyone and dog knew what Moore's Law was.
[+] [-] duskwuff|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unfunco|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] retox|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] archildress|8 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html