Cavalia Odysseo in Chicago

EVENT: Cavalia Odysseo
Where: Soldier Field – The Big White Top
Address: 1410 Museum Campus Dr. South Lot
When: Now – Through May 7th
Tickets: Click HERE
15% off ticket price use PROMO Code: SOCIAL

I’m a noisy Chicagoan. If something is going on in my city I want to experience it, be a part of it, and of course share it. WELL….I definitely have something to share with you guys! What’s underneath the BIG white top tent in the Solider Field parking lot is the Cavalia Odysseo theatrical show! The show is the world’s largest touring production with the biggest stage and beautiful effects. I would say Odysseo is a thrilling esquestrian arts show that combines theatrical and visual effects that rival shows in Las Vegas and New York.

The show has been traveling world wide and made it’s stop in Chicago at the beginning of April and has been extended till May 7th! I went to see the show on a Wednesday evening and let me just say I was blown away! I think the best way to experience the show is through the VIP Experience. From the beginning to the end I felt like I was on a journey through the Valley’s and beyond!

Going the VIP route there’s a lot of added benefits that truly adds to the experience of the show. The show starts at 7:00pm, but VIP’s get to the show at 5:30pm for a meet and greet cocktail reception in the Rendez-Vous Tent. Following the meet and greet we were treated to a Gourmet buffet dinner. So tasty!

VIP Dinner Buffet

Ji Suk Yi (Windy City Live) and Tavi J

The performance starts at 7:00pm and intermission is an about an hour. During Intermission VIP’s get served a buffet dessert! You know dessert is my favorite and I thoroughly enjoyed ALL of them. 🙂

Dessert from the Buffet Table

Act II starts around 8:30pm and the finale was excellent! Following the show VIP’s are escorted for an exclusive backstage visit with the horses and performers.

Back Stage with the Artists and the Horses

Artists Point of View Back Stage

Tavi J and Chelsea Harvey

The show is wonderful, but in my opinion the VIP route is the way to go. Lucky for you I have a code for 15% off the ticket purchase price by using the Promo Code: SOCIAL. Cavalia Odysseo has been extended till May 7th. Get your tickets now before their gone! Want to know more about the show???? Read on below for more details and Frequently asked questions.

THE SHOW

Odysseo: Larger Than Life

The horse has marked human history and progress more than any other animal. Horses have taken us to the ends of the earth, enabled us to build bridges between cultures and expand civilization. It is the beauty and harmony of this ancient relationship, this meeting of two worlds – those of horse and man – that inspired the creators of Odysseo. As friends, partners and inseparable performers on stage, 65 horses and 45 artists lead the viewer on a great journey in yet another world – a world of dreams – where, together, they discover some of the planet’s most unforgettable landscapes.

Odysseo marries the equestrian arts, stage arts and high-tech theatrical effects at never-before-seen levels. A veritable revolution in live performance, Odysseo comprises a list of superlatives: the world’s largest touring production and traveling big top, the biggest stage, the most beautiful visual effects, and the greatest number of horses at liberty.

Scenography and Visual effects

To give life to this extraordinary equestrian adventure, a 17,500 square feet stage was created in the middle of which rise a three-story tall hill. Some 10,000 tons of rock, earth and sand are trucked in and then sculpted to create the vast space of freedom where humans and horses come to play in complicity. Above the stage hangs an imposing technical grid capable of supporting 80 tons of equipment including, a full-sized merry-go-round, far beyond anything attempted to date on any touring show and comparable to the best-equipped theaters of Las Vegas, London or New York.

QUICK FAQ ABOUT ODYSSEO

Odysseo features 65 horses of 11 different breeds including the Arabian, Holsteiner, Lipizzan, Lusitano, Mustang, Paint Horse, Portuguese Cross, Quarter Horse, Selle Français, Spanish Purebred (P.R.E.) and Warmblood.

The horses are from Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, The United States and Canada.

There are 48 artists – riders, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and musicians.

The artists are from around the world including the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, Guinea (Africa), Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Japan, and Italy.

There are 350 costumes and 100 pairs of shoes and boots in the show. Artists may have up to seven different costumes.

An artist may have no more than 30 seconds to do a quick costume change between numbers.

A team of 13 dressmakers, one property master, one designer and one shoemaker worked in the Odysseo studios to create the costumes.

Materials used in the costumes include linen, silk, cotton, leather and some imitation fur. The use of natural fibers gives the clothes sheen and lets them fall in a way that synthetic fibers simply cannot match.

The costumes are adapted to the artists’ needs, especially those of the acrobats and riders, to facilitate their onstage movement while not compromising their appearance.

The on-tour costume department consists of one wardrobe person and three dressers who launders, mends and cares for the costumes. At times during the show, they juggle 15 simultaneous wardrobe changes. They have two sewing machines, one shoe-repair machine and one overlock machine.

ODYSSEO’S WHITE BIG TOP

Standing 38 meters tall, the White Big Top is a traffic-stopping addition to the skyline of each city Odysseo performs. When visitors enter, they are immediately transported into a lavish and intimate environment reminiscent of any permanent theatre.

Following the instant success of the company’s eponymous show in 2003, creator and artistic director Normand Latourelle began to dream of how to break through the limitations of a big top tent. The biggest challenge was to open up the performance area. Latourelle knew that such unprecedented flexibility would allow him to showcase more horses and acrobats to create mind-boggling scenes. This involved removing supporting masts from the stage, a common staging issue in tent shows. A specially-designed big top was created in Europe, where the weight of the structure shifted from masts to three arches above the tent. The Italian firm Canobbio, in collaboration with Normand Latourelle, designed the tent and supervised construction. Asteo of France and Genivar of Canada oversaw engineering operations. The arches that support the massive structure were built by Show Canada.

More than twice the size of the structure created for the first production, Odysseo’s White Big Top is the size of a CFL football field. The 1,626 square metres stage, larger than a hockey rink, and the 15 meters wide backstage area offers a vast playground for more than 30 cantering horses. The grandiose stage also offers incredible possibilities for large-scale staging.

A total of five tents comprise the Odysseo village. The White Big Top houses the stage and backstage, seating and lobby areas under a single roof. The Rendez-Vous tent hosts VIP ticket holders for dinner, an open bar and photo opportunities with the artists. This package includes a private tour of the stables and the best seats in the house. The horses live in a climate controlled stable tent complete with showers, tack shop and a blacksmith department. Between the stables and White Big Top, the Warm-Up tent is where the riders rehearse with the horses before and after the show. This area also includes wardrobe, makeup and dressing areas for the human artists. A staff kitchen tent prepares more than 300 meals daily.

Assembly of the White Big Top

• There are 3 arches that support the White Big Top. Each arch consists of 8 sections that are 2,5 metres wide by 9 meters long. Once assembled, each arch is 27 meters high by 62 meters long.

• The masts of the big top have been specially engineered to be able to lift the arches into place.

• The canvas is held in place by 1,310 one-meter long stakes holding down the 250 anchor plates

• 26 motors are needed to raise the canvas onto the structure, resulting in the White Big Top.

• The length of all the steel cable used to attach the structure to the ground is equal to 5.8 kilometres.