Home for the 'Holidaze': Cirque Dreams show bringing acrobatics and music to Lakeland

LAKELAND — For many folks, there are certain sights and sounds that signal the arrival of the holiday season. For the members and crew of Cirque Dreams Holidaze, that means a stop in Lakeland.

For the 2023 holiday season, Lakeland’s RP Funding Center will be the first stop of a seven-week, 70-city 2023 tour — broken into three separate branch tours — for Cirque Dreams Holidaze and its crew.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze is a Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group company and an affiliate of VStar Entertainment Group, Minneapolis. It was launched in 1993 and regularly performs on Broadway, in casinos, theme parks, resorts, cruise ships and theatrical venues around the world. Its performers blend choreography and visual storytelling through contemporary circus feats and acts.

From Minneapolis, Rebecca Shubart, Cirque Dreams Holidaze artistic director, said VStar Entertainment has a history of rehearsing for shows and kicking off tours in Lakeland. That will again occur Nov. 18 when the circus-like act takes to the RP Funding Center floor with a world-renowned cast of performers, including an ensemble of aerial circus acts, jugglers, rope skippers, acrobats and other contemporary and traditional circus acts.

Shubart, who has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years, said the Cirque Dreams Holidaze show centers on the cast, who bring traditional holiday storybook characters to life. The performances will be accompanied by original music and new takes on seasonal song favorites such as “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Carol of the Bells.”

Shubart said the 4 p.m. production joins singers and dancers with “stunt penguins, toy soldiers and reindeer,” who perform storylines in an array of acrobatics and stunts among a backdrop of new sets and scenery.

The Cirque tour company and members will be rehearsing in Lakeland for 10 to 11 days before the show.

“Cirque Dreams Holidaze” was last at the RP Funding Center in November.

“We love coming to Lakeland and kicking off tours there. We love Lakeland, the buildings there, the people there, we have a really good history of opening shows there and it’s something that we look forward to going back to,” Shubart said.

Shubart said there will be a lot of new content for 2023. However, much of the show consists of favorite standards, such as aerialists who perform hanging from the ceiling, a variety of vocalists and dancers and new artists performing new acts. There will also be skilled hula-hoop performers, tumblers and “dance trapeze artists” in the 90-minute show, with a 15-minute intermission.

In total, “Cirque Dreams Holidaze” consists of 27 performers, a production crew of 10 and three managerial positions. It takes the crew less than a full day to load in and do a show at night. It’s an international cast in “Cirque Dreams Holidaze,” with members coming from the United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, Hungary and other countries.

“We also have artists who hang from their hair,” Shubart said. “We’re very excited to have a nice variety of performers so you won’t see the same act over and over and over. You’re going to see different apparatuses – some of them are on the ground, some are in the air and then around that we have spectacular dancers and singers.”

The entire show is coordinated to a recorded soundtrack with classic standards and some music written specifically for the production. The music and sets are designed to appeal to a variety of generations who come to see “Cirque Dreams Holidaze” as a holiday tradition.

“The show really speaks to all ages, so grandparents can bring their grandkids, adults can have a great time. There’s a wide variety of visuals and music and acrobatics. Everybody can have a great time,” Shubart said. “It’s a way for families to come together and create a memory — have a great time, enjoy the show and walk away, talk about it and remember. It’s the holiday season and this brings families together and creates memories.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Cirque Dreams Holidaze

WHEN: 4 p.m., Nov. 18

WHERE: RP Funding Center, 701 W. Lime St., Lakeland

COST: Tickets start at $32, convenience fees and taxes will apply; Groups of 10 or more can reserve tickets at www.rpundingcenter.com or 863-834-8111. Parking, $10

INFO: 863-834-8100, 863-834-8111; www.rpfundingcenter.com

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This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 'Cirque Dreams Holidaze' kicks off 2023 tour in Lakeland in November