Cirque's first show based on a Latin artist will be focused on the legendary Argentine rock band.
Cirque du Soleil is creating a show inspired by the music and story of Soda Stereo. Set to debut in March 2017 in Buenos Aires, the spectacle will be the first Cirque de Soleil production based on a Latin artist, coming after previous tributes to Michael Jackson, The Beatlesand Elvis Presley.
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"The sequence of Elvis, Los Beatles, Michael Jackson and now Soda Stereo is tremendous," Zeta Bosio, the bassist of the legendary Argentine rock trio, told the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarín during an interview from Montreal. "The contract has been signed and the project is in motion."
Bosio was in Montreal together with Soda drummer Charly Alberti and Laura Cerati, the sister of Soda frontman Gustavo Cerati, who died in 2014 after going into a coma four years earlier.
Soda Stereo, which gained popularity with their fresh pop-rock sound in 1980s Argentina, went on to enormous success throughout Latin America and, eventually, the Latin U.S. The band broke up in 1997 and staged a come-back tour a decade later, attended by millions of fans.
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"Soda is over," Alberti told Clarín's Walter Domínguez. "Gustavo is gone, one of the three of us is missing. There is no more Soda as far as producing new things is concerned. But what there can be is this ... I always rememer a conversation that we had with Gustavo when we were preparing the come back. [He said] 'Enough, let's not fight anymore. We will always be Soda. Let's enjoy the moment.' What's coming now is something different, based on our music. With our participation, produced by a group of people who don't need an introduction or explanation. What ever they do is spectacular."
Bosio and Alberti said that the show will feature Soda's songs and touch upon the story of the musicians and the times and the city that gave birth to the band.
"We are trying to transmit [to the Cirque de Soleil producers] each era, what each of us was searching for, what motivated us to do things," Zeta said. "And also we're telling them a lot about the people, the participation of the public, of this Latin component. They are trying to understand all of that, because they are trying to create a show that is faithful to what Soda represented. We are trying to take them through the world of Soda, so that the show won't be just the music of Soda and something removed from it. We want all of the emotion that we generated to be reflected in the show."
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The show will be a co-production between Cirque de Soleil, leading Argentine music promoter Pop Art and Triple, Soda's production company. Pop Art CEO Diego Saenz reveled to Clarin that the soundtrack to the live theatrical event will feature remixes by Alberti and Bosio of early material by the band, including Soda Stereo songs that have never before been released.
Cirque de Soleil and the Argentine producers plan to tour the Soda spectacular after its first run in Buenos Aires.