Cirque du Soleil Ovo is opening tonight at the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia. This incredible show will only be in town for the next four days. We had a behind the scenes tour today, and based on what we saw, this show is one of a kind! Eagle Bank Arena is located on the George Mason campus at 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax, VA 22030.
Cirque du Soleil Ovo
There are only 6 remaining performances in Virginia, click this link to buy your tickets. Remember, everyone age 2 and older needs a ticket. The remaining shows are:
- Thursday, August 17, at 7:30 PM
- Friday, August, 18 at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, August 19 at 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM
- Sunday, August 20 at 1:30 PM and 5:00 PM
Once the performances are over in Virginia, the show will travel in 20 semi trailer trucks to Baltimore, Uniondale, NY, Boston and then Quebec. After the Quebec performance, the trucks will travel by boat to Europe. October 5th will be the first European performance in Zurich, Switzerland.
The mini blogger and I enjoyed a 2 hour behind the scenes visit to Ovo today and wow, this show has so many moving parts. Check out the video that we made of all the happenings back stage. We would like to thank Ashley Arias, and both Heather Reilly and Nicolas Chabot from Cirque du Soleil, for sharing so much information and for allowing us to have a sneak peek of the magic of Cirque du Soleil.
- There are 100 people in the Ovo tour, 50 are performers on stage and 50 work behind the scenes.
- 20 different countries are represented in the group! Each countries flag is proudly on display backstage.
- Ovo travels in 19 semi trailer trucks and one food truck to a different city every week. They travel for 2.5 months and then have 2 weeks off.
- All 100 people on tour, stay at local hotels which they reserve 9-12 months in advance.
- The flyers practice with harnesses, but during the performances, they do not use any harnesses.
- Two physiotherapists are on staff with the show and no one has gotten hurt more seriously than a sprained ankle.
- It takes 8-12 hours for them to setup in an arena. If they are setting up a big-top show it can take 8-12 DAYS.
- All the music is LIVE during the show, with 7 musicians as well as a band leader who plays bass.
- The casting department for all Cirque du Soleil shows is in Montreal. Many performers are found on YouTube or referred by other performers.
- Every act gets some time on the stage to practice technical validation before a live performance.
- A portable gym travels with the show so that everyone can stay in shape.
- 6 washers and 2 dryers also travel to handle all the laundry after each show.
- Each performer does their own hair and makeup!
- This show has a “bug” theme and each set of bugs has their own dressing room. This sign really cracked us up!
- They bring everything they need for every performance and want you to Keep it Tidy and BE NICE!
Update:
We saw the show last night and it was spectacular! Each act was fantastic. The music and costumes were amazing. OVO takes place in a colony of bugs. A foreigner (the blue fly) comes to visit the bug community and he falls in love with the ladybug. The bugs have the most detailed costumes I have ever seen.
I’ve always wanted to see a Cirque show. It always looks like a ton of fun. I never would have guessed they have laundry people with them.
It is so crazy all the stuff they bring with them. Our tour guide told us they try to bring everything they need so that they do not waste time when they get to a new city. It is most convenient to have it all with them!
I would love to go see a Cirque Du Soleil show. Ovo sounds amazing. I will have to see if I can make it to a show this year.
Ovo is headed to NY in a few weeks! Make sure you catch a show, it is amazing.
Cirque is such an amazing circus. It’s amazing what those performers can do, and the colors are so vibrant!
The colors, the music and the costumes all work so perfectly together. We loved the performance.
See Cirque three times have been three of the best times in my LIFE! I am 48 so that is saying a lot! I have yet to see Ovo and plan to!
I totally agree with you! This was my second Cirque show and I still remember the first one I saw about 15 years ago. Make sure you catch OVO before it heads to Europe.
We live in Las Vegas and have attended more than a few Cirque shows. They never disappoint and this one looks especially fun! Love the bug theme.
You are lucky, you live in a great place to see shows. We loved the bug theme of Ovo. The costumes were amazing and the show was excellent!
Oh my goodness! Of all the places to get to take a behind the scenes tour, this has to be the best! It sounds like so much fun – I’ve never even seen one of their shows before.
It really was a super fun behind the scenes tour. You must try and catch a Cirque show, it is an incredible experience you will never forget.
Oh my gosh I LOVE cirque and can’t wait to see it again. Awesome photos.
Thank you! I hope you can catch a show on the East coast before this cast goes to Europe!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE Cirque du Soleil!! I got lucky enough to see Saltimbaco years ago, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. The acts, songs, stories, it’s all just amazing.
I agree with you, the entire production is awe inspiring from start to finish!
What a cool behind the scenes tour! I only saw them once in Vegas, but I was a fantastic show that I will never forget.
Thank you! Cirque du Soleil really is the kind of show that stays in your mind for a long time. We had so much fun at the opening performance last night that we could hardly fall asleep!
It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen a Cirque Du Soleil show. They had shows here a few months ago and I feel sad that I missed it.
The shows travel around the world, so hopefully you can catch a show next time it is near you.
We’ve seen quite a few of these in Vegas. NOw I know how it looks like inside. I wish we could have watched the Cirque Du Soleil.
You must catch a show in Vegas! I promise it is something that is worth attending.
I wanted to see this when we were in Vegas a few years ago but we never got round to it, I think they are coming to my area soon, super excited!
You must go see it if you can!
I have always wanted to see this show. Their talent is amazing and very impressive. We will have to see if they are coming to our area soon.
You should really try to catch a show if they come near you. It is such an amazing experience!
Wow, even a portable gym! That’s awesome! I’ve always wanted to go see a Cirque du Soleil show.
Yes, they have everything they need and it travels right with them! It was such a cool backstage visit.
I have always enjoyed Cirque du Soleil! It is such an interesting and interactive show! I can’t wait to go see it again.
I am so glad you are a fan! It is a fabulous show.
I have only ever seen one Cirque du Soleil show and it was amazing!! I would love to see this one if I lived closer!!
I find it amazing how memorable a Cirque du Soleil show can be! Everyone should see at least one production!
I’ve never been to one of these shows but they must be good as Cirque Du Soleil has been exploding in popularity. I just heard their company bought the Blue Man Group so they must be bringing in the cash from their performances. This was a nice read with lots of interesting background info about the performances. Glad I came across it.
Yes, I just heard that they bought the Blue Man group. I am so glad you found the post interesting. We had a great time visiting backstage.
I’ve never been to a Cirque show and I’d love to experience seeing one. It looks like you had tons of fun and that bug theme sure is wonderful.
You need to see a Cirque show! It is really a once in a lifetime experience.
Such amazing costumes! I’ve heard how entertaining and fascinating a Cirque show is. I would love to watch it one of these days.
You should really try to see a Cirque du Soleil show. There is really nothing like it!
This is awesome. I have always wanted to see Cirque Du Soleil live. But, I have only ever been able to watch them on television. What an amazing experience.
If you have seen a Cirque show on tv you know how amazing it is! In person it is even better!
Our batch of youngest kids are just about to the point where they will have a blast at a circus. We’re planning to take them before it’s too late!
Yes, you should take your kids to the circus! It is such a memorable experience.