The trucks are arriving. The first half-dozen were at the back door of CN Centre by Monday morning and a total of 18 will convoy through the loading bay by the time Cirque du Soleil opens the front doors Wednesday.
It took an extraordinary amount of preparation but that was exactly what CN Centre's general manager Glen Mikkelsen had in mind when he and Cirque agreed to bring their groundbreaking new show Crystal to Prince George.
You could probably better call the show icebreaking, for its unique use of skating and acrobatics, but CN Centre staff have done an unprecedented amount of ice making to get ready for this event. The acro-skating athletes need much different conditions than hockey players or curlers, and the light projection equipment also has its needs, namely a sheet of pristine white.
"We shaved it down almost to the logos (the Cougars' sponsor signs and centre ice C embedded below the skating surface), put a few layers of water back on just to smooth it all out, then we painted and painted to make it white. It took about a day of painting," said Mikkelsen. "They needed at least an inch-and-a-quarter of ice above that white paint layer, so we are building that up now."
When the Cougars or Prince George Minor Hockey kids play at CN Centre, the typical depth of ice is about 1.25 inches. For Crystal, the depth will be a full inch thicker than that.
The ice is also at maximum refrigeration during this buildup process. Once the gear is all put in position, that will be adjusted to the specifications of the show.
"The ice has to be kept at minus-8 consistently," said Julie Demarais, spokesperson for Crystal. She also reported that those trucks were hauling 75,000 pounds of equipment that had to be set up inside. A lot of that would be hung from the rafters high above the ice. Demarais said 28 projectors would emblazon the ice and other surroundings with various kinds of colours and images
"You can change the environment without changing space," using the lifelike scenes now possible with projection technology.
"That's a big part of telling the Crystal story."
That is why the ice had to be whitewashed, to turn the surface into a screen for the imaging equipment towering high above.
Mikkelsen said the building was constructed for this kind of purpose.The only technical alteration the rink had to make was removing the three-foot ring screen that is normally attached to the score clock. The bulky clock cube was out of the way once it was hoisted into off-season position in the CN Centre rafters, but the extra screen at the bottom needed to be detached and stored separately, but again, Mikkelsen said this was all part of the natural course of preparation.
"This show had the largest call for rigging staff that I've ever seen," Mikkelsen said. "They'll have 20 up and 10 down for the setup of this show. That's roughly double what most shows use. The rigging company we use for our main events here is Sideshow Productions, and they are coming in from all over the province. A lot of them have worked on this show already. They are prepared for this."
A semicircle of flooring has been added, ringing the hockey boards. Upon that will be placed seating for about 160 people who bought premium tickets to get so close to the Crystal action that the ice comes right up to their feet.
Every inch of performance space is being used and so, too, is every inch of backstage space being used. Mikkelsen said they even had to work around the zamboni, since it can usually be parked outside the arena if it's a music or theatre production going on. But this show needs it, so stay it must.
"A Cirque show uses every inch of storage in our capacity," he said.
"The Cougars are generously providing their medical facilities and training equipment so the Cirque performers have everything they need, and some of their stuff is being stored away to make more room. It was super of them to help us out like that."
Crystal runs from Wednesday to Sunday, with a total of seven performances. Tickets are still available for some dates and sections, available online at the Tickets North website or in person at the CN Centre box office.
