Goldberg's 'Cirque' comes to town

Broadway Theater welcomes 'Jungle' show

By SAM THIELMAN

The road to Broadway doesn't usually start at a pharmaceutical confab. Still, that's where Neil Goldberg made the first connection that would take his corporate entertainment company, Cirque Prods., to theaters around the country and the world, and eventually land his show "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy" at the Broadway Theater for a 10-week run -- a feat that, coincidentally, has eluded a certain other Cirque.

In 1993, Goldberg met the marketing VP for the multi-locale Bally's Casino at the Sandoz Pharmaceuticals conference and parlayed what had been solely a corporate entertainment company, serving clients like GM, GE and Coke, into a show at the Atlantic City Bally's location.

From there, Cirque Prods. grew rapidly through a partnership with NETworks Presentations (which tours shows like "Annie" and "The Wizard of Oz," in addition to Broadway-grown fare like "Rent"), expanding overseas into casinos and hotels in locations including Lebanon, Germany and Dubai.

It's probably a good thing the South Florida-based upstart did develop its touring operations in far-flung territories, because back home, the other, larger Cirque didn't much care for the name of Goldberg's company.

In 1999, Cirque du Soleil filed suit against Cirque Dreams and a number of other companies using the word "Cirque" in their names or titles, most of which quickly folded under pressure from the Montreal behemoth's legal team.

Cirque Prods., however, used its international profile to stay afloat abroad while the lawsuit dragged on in the States. After six years of hammering away in the courts, the company won the right to keep its name in a victory based on the decision that the French word for "circus" cannot be trademarked.

Meanwhile, the international focus and revenue from the shows abroad (and the corporate events Cirque Prods. continues to host) made it necessary for founding artistic director Goldberg to build a couple more entities.

First, the company became its own travel agency, with resources devoted to acquiring visas, booking performers out of international academies like the Mongolian State School of Contortion, and flying them back to the show's home base in Ft. Lauderdale.

Second, in 2003, that base expanded into a training studio where the performers can rehearse before they go on the road, and Goldberg can experiment with new acts. The self-sufficient operation even manufactures its own elaborate costumes.

The studio is one of the chief assets that will give the new Broadway production a good shot at profitability: "Economically, it's very viable because the show's already been produced," explains general manager Alan Wasser of "Jungle Fantasy," which has been touring the U.S. since last year.

The show appears by special arrangement with the various theater workers' unions that require Broadway houses to use only unionized performers. Since "Jungle Fantasy" doesn't compete for many Tony categories (it would probably fall into only the special theatrical event slot and possibly some design races), it's not perceived as a threat by local legiters.

In fact, one of the best reasons for the show to appear on Broadway is simply to add the Broadway label to its tour marketing. After Goldberg's run wraps in Gotham, he'll be able to book "Jungle Fantasy" in other cities, claiming something no Cirque du Soleil show can: His production comes direct from the Great White Way.

Cirque du Soleil has shown interest in Broadway over the years, but the closest the company has gotten is Madison Square Garden. Broadway theaters aren't built for large-scale semi-aerial spectaculars, and theater owners have been reluctant to greenlight the kind of structural changes necessary to accommodate a gigantic Vegas-style show.

Goldberg may have had the last laugh simply by virtue of being smaller and more nimble: "I would love to have an unlimited budget," he muses. "What theater person wouldn't love to have carte blanche? Rip out the walls! Raise the ceiling! Take the floor out! But this is exactly the kind of stage we're used to performing on."