Quidam

Quidam ( ) was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. "Quidam" originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America. It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.
The entire show is imagined by a bored girl named Zoé who is alienated and ignored by her parents. She dreams up the whimsical world of "Quidam" as a means of escaping the monotony of her life.
The show's title refers to the feature character, a man without a head, carrying an umbrella and a bowler hat. Quidam is said to be the embodiment of both everyone and no one at the same time. According to Cirque du Soleil literature "Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past... One who cries out, sings and dreams within us all."
Set and technical information.
The minimalistic stage was designed by Michel Crête to represent a monolithic structure such as an airport or train station where people are always coming and going. The major set element includes the five, all-aluminum, 120-foot (36.57-meter) arches above the stage, known as the téléphérique. These allow performers to be transported onto and off the stage from above. Each rail of the téléphérique has two trolleys: one to raise and lower the performer or equipment, and the second to transport it onto or off the stage.
The stage floor is made of aluminum decks with a perforated, rubber-type mat. The perforations, of which there are over 200,000, allow light to pass through from below the stage, creating visual effects.
The original Quidam stage was redesigned and incorporated into the Bazzar (Cirque du Soleil) grand chapiteau tour. The show premiered in November 2018.
Cast.
The cast of "Quidam" has a cast of 45 acrobats, musicians, singers, and characters, some of which are detailed below.
Acts.
"Quidam" combines a mix of acrobatic skills and traditional circus acts:
Awards.
"Quidam"'s diabolo act won a Gold Medal at the 1995 Festival du Cirque de Demain. The show's banquine act won the Golden Clown at the 1999 International Monte Carlo Circus Festival.
Costumes.
"Quidam"'s costume designer, Dominique Lemieux, drew inspiration from Surrealist art, particularly the works of René Magritte and Paul Delvaux. The costumes convey the alienation of the characters and represent an urban landscape through the use of painted textures and fabrics. The dominant color is grey but is supplemented by deep, rich, warm colors and embellished with metals. "Quidam" was the first Cirque du Soleil show to use everyday clothing for the outfits, although those in the acrobatic acts are modified. The fabric chosen for "Quidam" is primarily stretch linen, but also includes leather, jute, linen crepe, wool, velvet and 42 types of cotton.
"Quidam" has approximately 249 costumes, 500 costume accessories, and 200-300 shoes: Each artist has anywhere from 2 to 7 costumes, of which there are at least 2 spares. The costumes, although washed every day, can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.
Music.
"Quidam"’s music was composed by Benoît Jutras and has been released in three album editions featuring additional songs, alternative new cover designs, and higher quality sounds. The first CD was produced by Carl Marsh. It was co-arranged by Marsh and Jutras and released on January 14, 1997. () The album features the voices of Audrey Brisson-Jutras and Mathieu Lavoie, with the exception of two bonus tracks sung by Brisson-Jutras and Richard Price on the extended CD released in 2001 (recorded live in Amsterdam, 1999).
Below is a list of tracks as featured on the original 1997 release, alongside each of which is listed the act that the track accompanies. The two tracks on the 2001 extended album are also included at the end: "Misère" and "Enfants d'Acier".
Additional songs in the show not included on the album:
Tour.
"Quidam" started as a Grand Chapiteau touring show before being fully converted to an arena touring show in 2010. For a short time in 2009, "Quidam" toured the UK and IE in arena format before switching back to the Grand Chapiteau for its South America tour. After this, in 2010, "Quidam" was converted into the arena format where it began a North American, European and Asia-Pacific tour. However, during its run in Seoul in 2015, Quidam was temporarily reconverted to play under the Grand Chapiteau for three months before continuing its farewell tour in the arena format for its run in Australia and New Zealand. The show's 20-year tour visited 241 cities in 42 countries before it ended on February 26, 2016 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Cirque du Soleil started using a customized tour bus as a method of helping to advertise "Quidam" during its tour in northeastern North America during the fall of 2011. During the show's stops in cities, the tour bus makes appearances at local merchants, allowing people to meet part of the crew.
The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:  Europe  North America  South and Central America  Asia/Pacific  Oceania
 Africa
Grand Chapiteau tour.
2015 schedule.
 Seoul, SK - From 10 Sep to 8 Nov 2015