Tickets are now on sale for the Birmingham premiere of Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil proudly presents Saltimbanco under the imposing ‘Grand Chapiteau’ at StarCity on February 24^th, 2005.

Saltimbanco^™ by international company Cirque du Soleil brings together a cast of 53 artists from 13 nations in a dazzling production of awe-inspiring acts and characters with amazing acrobatics, stunning costumes and sets and theatrical artistry.  Cirque du Soleil has thrilled over 42 million spectators in more than 100 cities on four continents and its arrival in Birmingham with Saltimbanco will be one of the undoubted entertainment highlights of the year.

Seen by more than 7 million spectators worldwide including several sell out seasons at London’s Royal Albert Hall where it was first performed in 1996, Saltimbanco is the company’s first and most successful show. For its Birmingham season, the company will be constructing an imposing ‘Grand Chapiteau’ or ‘Big Top’ at StarCity featuring its own kitchen and school for cast and crew and will be employing around 150 local  people to assist with backstage and front of house activities.

Saltimbanco, an arcane 16^th century Italian word meaning “skilled street performers,” refers to the medieval street troupers and wandering minstrels whom often improvised a stage by seizing a bench.  Expanding on this theme of impromptu spectacle and urbane adventure, Saltimbanco celebrates life! Created as an antidote to the chaos and despair present in this day and age, it proposes a new vision of urbanity, overflowing with optimism and happiness.

Cirque du Soleil, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, started life as a small group of Quebec-based street performers and has grown to become a leading provider of quality entertainment. Still under the leadership of its founder, Guy La Liberté, the group now has five permanent productions – four in Las Vegas and one in, Florida – as well as six different productions touring ten countries on four continents.

Cirque du Soleil now has nearly 3000 employees and boasts over 600 artists from more than 40 different countries, many of them former Olympic and international athletes and gymnasts.

Directed by Franco Dragone, Saltimbanco reunites many of Cirque du Soleil’s acclaimed creators of past and present productions. This includes director of creation Gilles Ste-Croix, choreographer Debra Brown, composer René Dupéré, lighting designer Luc Lafortune, set designer Michel Crête, costume designer Dominique Lemieux, sound designer, François Bergeron and artistic director Serge Roy.

IBM and Celebrity Cruises are the official sponsors of the European Tour.

• 20,029,08 km have been covered by 950 trucks, using 60,087,24 litres of diesel in a road trip that has taken 250,000 hours.

• The truck drivers have drunk 95,000 cups of coffee, listened to their favourite trucking song approximately 3.009,600 times and had to contend with 23 flat tyres.

• Spare a thought for the 75.125,985,98 (yes, that’s 75 billion!) insects that smashed into the truck windscreens.

• Aah! Since the European premiere on Valentine’s Day in Amsterdam in 2002, ten women on tour became pregnant, 11 babies were born (and number 12 is on its way) and 3 couples got married!

• Almost 2.300 local temporary staff have welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors who have munched their way through more than 40, 000 kilos of popcorn.

• Forget the Atkins Diet! 130 Saltimbanco staff have eaten more than 13,000 kilos of potatoes and more than 14,000 croissants.

• During the show Saltimbanco’s drummer  has used more than 300 pairs of drumsticks

• The 50 artists spent approximately 1,250 hours putting on their make-up and wore more than 300 pairs of shoes and 3000 costumes while 3.500 litres of glue were used for a total of 6 Chinese Poles.

Buy tickets for events:

Performance Times:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 7.30 pm

Friday 4.30 pm* and 8.30 pm

Saturday 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm

Sunday 2.00 pm and 6.00 pm
(*Performances on selected dates)

Extra Dates:

Tuesday March 15 at 19h30 

Wednesday March 16 at 15h30 

Friday March 25 at 16h30 

Saturday March 26 at 15h30 and 19h30 

Sunday March 27 at 13h00 and 17h00

StarCity Entertainment Centre, Jctn 6, M6