EMPIRE Takes Over Canberra Beginning Tonight

After rave reviews, sold out performances and standing ovations in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, Spiegelworld will bring its all-new show EMPIRE to Canberra, pitching its opulent spiegeltent at Civic Square for a limited season from tonight, October 10 2013.

EMPIRE smashes the boundaries of circus, cabaret, vaudeville and burlesque, reinventing the genres for a 21st century audience and presenting the sexiest, most daring artists from across the globe. The show had its world premiere season in New York City during the summer of 2012, where it was the first tented show ever seen in Times Square.

The 700-seat antique spiegeltent, complete with bevelled mirrors, velvet-upholstered seating booths, a speak-easy style bar and the most intimate stage in town, will host the most jaw-dropping and outrageous night out you'll experience this year.

The Canberra season of EMPIRE follows spectacular engagements in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth that left audiences amazed and breathless. EMPIRE is a 90-minute theatrobatic adventure performed by the greatest international talent ever assembled in one tent. The MCs, Oscar and Fanny, steer the show while an eccentric cast of characters help Oscar rebuild his empire; the seductive Gorilla Girls from Ukraine form perfectly balanced pyramids on top of each other and the Ethiopian foot juggler Black Flintstone throws and impossibly catches his brother Big Mac Boy on his feet.

Other performers include the Lime Green Lady and Carrot Man who beautifully and sensuously balance each other, the Half Naked Asian Dude Wearing Pigtails from Japan who is the world champion wheelmaster, rolling dangerously past the audience; Miss A in a Bubble contorts gracefully inside an aerial sphere and the 3D Graffiti Guy from Canada creates amazing structures, balanced entirely on a feather. Miss Purple is the resident vocalist and is backed by the Viking of 6th Avenue, Moondog.

To create EMPIRE, Spiegelworld Impresario Ross Mollison assembled a stellar Australian creative team of director Terence O'Connell (numerous Australian comedy greats at The Last Laugh in Melbourne through to Circus Oz), choreographer John 'Cha Cha' O'Connell (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby), and designer Angus Strathie (Academy Award for Moulin Rouge).

Spiegelworld first presented its annual summer season in New York City on Pier 17, South Street Seaport with acclaimed shows including Absinthe, La Vie, Gazillionaire's Late Night Lounge and Desir. For the world premiere season of EMPIRE last year, Spiegelworld relocated to a premium vacant lot right in the heart of Broadway. Spiegelworld is also currently presenting Absinthe on the forecourt of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, now in its 20th sold-out month and recently extended through to 2015.

EMPIRE at Spiegelworld
From TONIGHT, October 10 2013
Under the spiegeltent, Civic Square, London Circuit, Canberra (in front of Canberra Theatre Centre)
Performance Schedule: Tuesday - Thursday 8:00pm; Friday & Saturday 7:30pm & 9:30pm Sunday - 7:00pm

Tickets: Tue/Wed/Thu: $59.00 - $129.00* Fri/Sat/Sun: $69.00 - $149.00*. *A special VIP Ticket is available which includes seating in the front two rows, VIP entry and a complimentary beverage. Bookings: Ticketek - www.ticketek.com.au; Canberra Ticketing - www.canberraticketing.com.au or call 6275 2700. Tickets on sale 9AM Saturday August 17 2013. FB: https://www.facebok.com/EmpireOz; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/spiegelworldtv.

CREATIVE TEAM:

DIRECTOR - Terence O'Connell

Since graduating from NIDA's Directors Course, Terence has staged some 150 productions in theatres, concert halls, circus tents, Comedy Clubs and cabaret rooms across Australia and internationally. For The Production Company at Melbourne's State Theatre, he has directed acclaimed versions of They're Playing Our Song, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Crazy For You, The King & I, 42nd Street and Kismet. His national touring productions include Steven Berkoff's Decadence, Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story, Kissing Frogs, The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, The Rocky Horror Show, Bouncers, Barmaids, I Only Want To Be With You- The Dusty Springfield Story, Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Certified Male, Circus Oz, Busting Out, Dumped! and Minefields And Miniskirts-Australian Women And The Vietnam War. Terence has worked extensively as Guest Director/Artist In Residence at Singapore's LaSalle College Of The Arts, Ballarat University Arts Academy, National Theatre Drama School, Showfit and Western Australian Academy Of Performing Arts. His 2012 projects include Motherhood-The Musical (National Tour) and Barassi (Athenaeum Theatre).

CHOREOGRAPHER John 'Cha Cha' O'Connell

An internationally acclaimed choreographer for film, television and the stage, John O'Connell is probably best known for the international box office hits Shall We Dance, Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom and Australia. Most recently, John Choreographed this year's Academy Awards (the Oscars) in Los Angeles. Earlier in the year he choreographed The Rocky Horror Show for New Theatricals in Sydney. Other films choreographed by John include Enchanted (for Disney), Razzle Dazzle, Romeo & Juliet, Muriel's Wedding, Peter Pan, Passion, The Quiet American, The Matrix Revolutions, Scooby Doo, Children of the Revolution and Me, Myself & I. John's latest feature film is Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby.

PRODUCTION DESIGN Josh Zangen

Zangen has been the production designer for Spiegelworld's Absinthe, Empire and Desir productions. Other credits include Concert/Tours: Kylie Minogues' Aphrodite-Les Folies and USA 2009, Rihanna (Baku), Jonas Brother's (Radio City Music Hall, NY), Britney Spears' Circus, and Nickelodeon's Storytime Live!. On the West End, Zangen designed The Hurly Burly Show, and for theatre has designed John Lithgows' Sunny side of the Street (New Victory, NY), James Lapines' Mrs. Miller Does her Thing (Wyly, Dallas), and Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice (NYMF 2011), which awarded for its production design). On TV, Zangen has designed for Rihanna (SNL, American Idol, VMA's). Zangen was also the lead designer of Macy's 2010 award-winning Christmas windows Yes, Virginia; and has also worked on corporate events for companies such as ESPN, HBO, Nascar, History Channel, Nike, I-Robot and CNN.

MUSIC PRODUCER Jamie Siegel

Jamie is a New York City based music producer whose recent projects include working with Sting, Bruce Springsteen and Jennifer Hudson. He has previously worked with Spiegelworld on Absinthe at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.

COSTUME DESIGNER Angus Strathie

Angus Strathie has had a long professional career in costume design. A friend and longtime colleague of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, one of his earliest projects was the cult favorite Strictly Ballroom, a romantic comedy produced in 1992. In 1999, Strathie began work on the film Moulin Rouge which won him an Academy Award in 2001 for Best Costume Design. Strathie's other credits include Queen of the Damned, Catwoman starring Halle Berry, Alien vs. Predator, Requiem, and the hit Syfy miniseries Tin Man which earned Strathie a 2003 Emmy nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design. Strathie went on to design Baz Luhrmann's Broadway production of the famous Puccini opera La Boheme, earning a nomination for the 2003 Tony Award for Best Costume Design. In addition to his achievements in film, television and theatre, Strathie also designed costumes for the 138th and 139th Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in 2008 and 2009. Recently, Strathie has moved into more television work, designing multiple Nickelodeon TV movies as well as pilots for USA's Fairly Legal and CBS's Heavenly.

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