Cirque Éloize’s HOTEL to make its Penn State premiere Oct. 3 at Eisenhower
Montreal’s Cirque Éloize will welcome audience members into a timeless hotel, a meeting place for strangers from all walks of life, when it performs its new contemporary circus production, HOTEL, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in Eisenhower Auditorium.
The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State co-commissioned HOTEL, which features a cast of 12 artists who perform a variety of circus acts. Some of the performers also play musical instruments in the 85-minute production, which is presented without intermission.
Purchase tickets, which are $42 for an adult, $15 for a University Park student, and $32 for a person 18 and younger. A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.
HOTEL, the troupe’s 25th anniversary production, brims with stories. From the overwhelmed maître d’hôtel, to the mischievous maid to the devoted handyman and his inseparable dog, Carpette, the hotel’s staff members are witnesses to an ever-changing collection of humans.
“HOTEL is a glamorous Art Deco world,” wrote director Emmanuel Guillaume, “where circus, dance, music and song come together around these human stories—just like life, but even more colorful and vivid.”
Watch a preview of HOTEL.
Carried by the voice of the client on the top floor—who comments, testifies and tells the story—the audience will encounter lovers who still don’t know they’re meant to be, improbable travelers and a celebrity who reveals the depth of her being.
Musical director, composer and arranger Eloi Painchaud said he took inspiration for the original music of HOTEL from the rooming house, with a French restaurant, where he grew up.
“The thrumming gypsy guitar, the piano that seems to have a life of its own and the incandescent brass section, they sketch out the humanity that brings the music of this hotel alive,” he wrote.
Cirque Éloize made its Center for the Performing Arts debut in 1995. The company will be performing for the sixth time at Eisenhower. Including HOTEL, the Center for the Performing Arts has co-commissioned three Cirque Éloize productions.
Access more details about the production, and see a list of Center for the Performing Arts investors who helped make the co-commissioning possible.
In addition to the Center for the Performing Arts, the co-commissioners of HOTEL are Les Productions Neuvart Inc., Les Nuits de Fourvière, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Place des Arts–Montréal, Gouvernement du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Conseil des arts du Canada, Le Volcan–Scéne Nationale du Havre, Hancher Auditorium, Central–La Louvière, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Festspielhaus St. Pölten and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
TIAA sponsors the presentation at Eisenhower.
Artistic Viewpoints—an informal moderated discussion featuring Jeannot Painchaud, Cirque Éloize president and chief creative officer—is offered one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.