‘Cirque Dreams Holidaze’ director creates magic in production that’s heading to Wichita

Think it’s difficult to get one Christmas program together? Try being the force behind three holiday productions that are out for a nationwide tour.

That’s the job description for Rebecca Shubart, artistic director for “Cirque Dreams Holidaze,” which lands for two performances this week to kick off the 2024-25 Broadway in Wichita season.

Shubart said in a phone interview that the three companies basically cover the East and West coasts and Midwest.

“They’re all a little bit different, and one of the reasons for that is if we come back and play the same market again, we’re able to provide different stories, different acts, different costumes,” she said. “You can see it again and it can be all new and exciting and something you haven’t seen before.”

“Cirque Dreams Holidaze” has a 15-year history, and Shubart has been the artistic director since the relaunch following the pandemic.

Creating the show, she said, is an 11-month endeavor.

“It’s really a year-round production,” Shubart said. “We close the show basically on New Year’s and pick it up again in February. Although the basic structure stays the same, we’re always looking to bring more to our audiences every year. That includes what the acts are going to be, the costumes, updating the music. We make tweaks every year to elevate it year after year. It’s got amazing costumes, sets and acrobatics.”

Cirque Dreams, which also has a non-holiday show called “Celebrations” and just completed a show specifically for the Middle East, accepts applications year-round for performers.

“There are some amazing artists out there who can do some incredible acrobatics, they hang from the ceiling by their hair, they twist and turn ropes,” Shubart said. “When we’re putting the show together, we make certain we have some variety, so we don’t have everyone with the same apparatus.”

While TikTok stars with unique skills and interesting acts are found on TV series such as “America’s Got Talent,” Shubart said those performers are not scouted for Cirque Dreams productions.

Instead, personnel go to circus competitions, including one held annually in Las Vegas, and visit “circus gyms” across the country. International performers who want consideration can send recordings of their performances digitally.

“It has gotten a lot easier now that we can do digital, but we can see the potential in artists. It doesn’t have to be super slick,” she said. “We have a huge contingent of international artists who come to us from all over the world. I don’t know if we’d have seen them in casting if we didn’t have digital submissions.”

Countries represented in the current casts include Spain, England, Argentina, Ethiopia, Ukraine and Canada.

There is a certain amount of turnover from year to year, she said, with the most veteran performer a contortionist from Ethiopia, although not in the production coming to Wichita, who is in his 10th year.

“Cirque Dreams Holidaze” includes the “classics everyone loves to see,” Shubart said, including acrobats performing on silks hanging from the ceiling, flying through the air from one row to another, “acroskipping,” with a series of jump ropes, and lyra, a hula hoop-style circle hanging from the ceiling.

The music and the settings make all of these holiday-themed, she said.

“The big factor is music. It’s very Christmas music-forward, and the costuming is very whimsical and holiday-forward. They’re spectacular and our costumes are over-the-top wonderful,” Shubart said. “We embrace the craziness of the holiday season. We’ve got gingerbread men and polar bears and all sorts of wonderful things that come along with the holiday season.”

The biggest challenge in Shubart’s job, she said, is “all the moving pieces,” including getting 35-member companies, including 27 in each cast, from date to date during their six-week, 60-stop tour.

For many of the international performers, she said, it is their first taste of life in the United States. The first instruction she gives them is to get a heavy coat – not a sweater, a coat, she emphasizes – through an unpredictable late November and December.

“They love traveling, seeing the country, getting the chance to perform for all sorts of new audiences,” she said.

‘CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE’

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 26-27

Where: Century II concert hall, 225 W. Douglas

Tickets: $40-$89, from selectaseat.com, 316-755-7328 and the Century II box office