Working with Franco Dragone comes with all the drama expected of theatre.
The Italian-Belgian director, known for his extensive work with Cirque du Soleil, Celine Dion, and his self-titled creative company, is behind the forthcoming aquatic spectacle La Perle in Dubai, which will open its doors in Al Habtoor City on August 31.
But a production this ambitious doesn’t come easy. Dragone put his performers — 65 flyers, acrobats, divers and actors from around the world — through 10 weeks of high-pressure training, 10 hours a day, to prepare their bodies for the show.
According to Dragone, his team has never complained, because he always operates from a place of empathy. Michael Brennan, composer and long-time collaborator of Dragone’s, says he’s not exempt from the visionary’s disciplinary measures.
“He’s tough on me too, in a great way. It’s certainly not easy. I have to go home now [at midnight] and write and re-write four or five things, just based on discussions we’ve had tonight,” Brennan told Gulf News tabloid! in an exclusive sit-down interview last week.
So far, he has written about three hours of music for the show, despite the fact that it only runs for an hour and a half without intermissions. The production keeps evolving, and with it, so must the score.
“I’ve been here for three months, writing every day,” said Brennan.
THE PROCESS
La Perle is a water-based show featuring acrobatics, aerial performances, 360 projections and visual illusions to tell a story infused with flavours of the UAE. It will take place on a purpose-built wet/dry stage, twice a day, five days a week, all year long in Dubai, with tickets starting from Dh400.
It began with a book of visuals, called the white book, which chronicled Dragone’s vision. The creative team — who received the design for the 1,300-capacity theatre before it was built — began to dream up what the production will look like.
Brennan worked in tandem with them; at a keyboard, he wrote 30-45 second demos. Dragone is so fast, he said, that he “will react right away if he likes something or doesn’t like it.”
The music was created with computer software and live studio recordings. It features English, Arabic and Italian in traditional and contemporary styles and will be performed live by a vocalist and three-piece band, who play keyboard, guitar, accordion, drums and banjo.
If there’s a technical problem, “the band will jam along for a few minutes until the problem gets solved. It happens all the time.”
Plot-wise it’s difficult to pin down what La Perle is about. When quizzed, Brennan said: “Where’s an esoteric story [but] it’s not a musical, so we like to shy away from that — the lyrics of the song are not furthering the plot of the story.”
He also works closely with the choreographers, but because the show is constantly changing, it’s a challenge to keep on top of the latest version of it. During a media preview, for instance, Brennan was able to see for the first time what one bungee strap act was going to look like.
“I was ready to kill myself, because the music is so repetitive… [But] now that we know what it is, I’ll take the video of tonight and put it in my system, and we’ll rearrange it so that when the performers fly, the music changes,” said Brennan.
BREAKING RULES
The UAE-based electronic duo Hollaphonic — made up of Greg Stainer and Olly Wood — are collaborating with Brennan on remixing certain tracks from the show; Brennan has been a huge fan of electronic music since he was a kid.
“The first thing I did was buy their album. I was really impressed. They had so many different styles and I knew we’d be able to do something really cool,” said Brennan.
The unlikely collaboration was a dream come true for Hollaphonic, who said that they have never seen something like La Perle in the 27 combined years they’ve been in the UAE.
“The ultimate goal for us is the cliche, maybe, of being somewhere like Abbey Road with an orchestra, and we feel like we’ve just leapt past that coming into this massive theatrical production. We’re not used to working with orchestral stuff, but Michael said, ‘Do whatever you’ve got to do with it.’ We’re like, ‘Really? You don’t mind if we chop it up and mess it up?’” said Wood.
He and Stainer received a fantasy brief from Brennan that boiled down to two words: “Go crazy.” They were able to break the rules of the genres they usually operate within, which are primarily dance and house, and didn’t have to worry about when the audience would bounce or when the pyro was going to go off.
LASER POINTER
Cantata in F Minor, a hip hop-infused La Perle remix, wouldn’t go down well at the kind of festivals they typically perform at, added Wood.
“At the end, there’s a little piano riff that’s a bit like a toy music box — so we have [the sound of] a box closing, and we were like, ‘We could never do that at Creamfields,’” he said, laughing.
“This doesn’t have to end on four bars. Should we add thunder? I’ve always wanted to add thunder,” Stainer recalled thinking.
The duo plan to remix more tracks that will ideally end up on a La Perle soundtrack album that audiences can buy. The remixes may even end up in the production, said Brennan.
In the meantime, the Hollaphonic boys have yet to get a first-hand taste of Dragone’s tough love. They’re content to watch his genius from a distance.
“We’ve come and seen the creation sessions and that’s crazy to watch. We just see a little laser pointing — we haven’t had that pointed at us yet,” said Stainer.
