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Cirque du Soleil Heads to Broadway

The rumors from March this year were true and Cirque du Soleil is set to move into the Lyric Theatre, which will soon be vacated by On the Town . The show begins previews April 16 at the Lyric ahead of an opened set for June 2, which is after the eligibility cutoff date for the 2015-16 Tony Awards.

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Canadian acrobatics troupe Cirque du Soleil have created their first show specifically for Broadway – and they’re going to bring it to the Great White Way this spring. Paramour is set in Golden Age Hollywood, where a young poet is forced to choose between love and art. With professional actors in leading roles alongside gravity-defying acrobats, aerialists, and circus performers, the show will be presented on a grand scale with a cast that numbers 38.

At this point, it is slated to be a long-running show in the spacious venue, Broadway’s second-largest in seating capacity and previously home to the equally high-flying Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark.

“Paramour”, its first show conceived expressly for Broadway, will test the company as it seeks to diversify beyond its signature acrobatic spectaculars to take on the world of musical theater.

Tickets are available now via ticketmaster.ca or by calling 877-250-2929.

Artistic guidance will be by Jean-François Bouchard, with Pascale Henrot as associate creative director and West Hyler as associate creative director and scene director.

Cirque will reportedly spend about $25 million to mount “Paramour” – pricey for a Broadway show, but not a massive investment compared to what the company spends on many of its spectacles.

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Cirque announced earlier this year the sale of a majority stake to the global private equity firm TPG in what Cirque said was a bid to fuel growth and expand its markets.

Ethan Miller | Getty Images