Cirque Berzerk photo credit: Brion Topolski

Cirque Berzerk, a wild, sexy, decadent and demented alternative circus, that isn’t exactly for kids, makes its triumphant return to downtown Los Angeles for an exclusive engagement debuting June 18, 2009, and running through 4th of July weekend (at least). The event of the summer will take place at the Los Angeles State Historic Park 1245 N. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. All ages are welcome. Tickets will range in price from $25 to $80.

For Immediate Release: April 20, 2009

Cirque Berzerk Returns to Downtown LA
For Seven Performances per Weekend
At Los Angeles State Historic Park
June 18 – July 5, 2009
.
Parental discretion is advised.

“Equal parts trippy and sinister, Cirque Berzerk seems like the sort of phantasmagoric
spectacle Tim Burton would dream up, if he quit filmmaking to join the circus.”

Los Angeles Times, July 2008

LOS ANGELES, CA – Following the amazing success of last year’s completely sold-out and held-over engagement, Cirque Berzerk, a wild, sexy, decadent and demented alternative circus that isn’t exactly for kids makes its triumphant return to downtown Los Angeles for an exclusive engagement debuting June 18, 2009, running through 4th of July weekend.

As Los Angeles’ only established circus troupe, Cirque Berzerk promises an even more twisted big top experience than ever before, adding several new acts under an even bigger big top. The 35-artist troupe is a tight-knit “family” of professional performers and musicians. Instead of typical circus fare emphasizing live animal acts and wholesome family fun, Cirque Berzerk features jaw-dropping acrobatics, stunning male and female aerialists, sexy, fiery burlesque dancers, gothic stilt walkers, punk rock clowns, psychedelic vaudevillian tomfoolery, and one very voluptuous contortionist.

Cirque Berzerk performs cutting-edge choreography by Neal Everett set to an entirely original live musical score composed by Cirque Berzerk co-founder Kevin Bourque. “Stylistically, we’re a little grungier, darker, rougher and more theatrical than a typical circus,” says Bourque’s wife and co-founder Suzanne Bernel. Attendees from last year’s show described it as a “circus on acid,” “French burlesque meets ‘Sweeney Todd’ meets Cirque du Soliel” and “P.T. Barnum’s worst nightmare.”

To accommodate the anticipated crowds, Cirque Berzerk has commissioned and imported a massive custom-built new big top tent from Italy, which can accommodate over 1,500 spellbound guests. Cirque Berzerk’s three-weekend engagement begins Thursday, June 18, 2009 – with one performance each Thursday at 8:30pm, two shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 and 10:00pm and two shows every Sunday at 5:00pm and 8:00pm – scheduled to run through Sunday, July 5, 2009.

To get into the spirit of the evening, revelers are encouraged to arrive early before the show to dine (and drink with valid ID) picnic-style around the big top – bring your own or purchase dinner on-site – and enjoy interactive carnival-themed attractions before entering into a whole new big top ‘surreality.’ After the nightly performances, the audience is invited to party with the Cirque Berzerk circus troupe and enjoy a live performance by Vaud & The Villains at the nightly post-show party held in the “The Berzerk Lounge,” a club-like atmosphere adjacent to the big top that will enable guests to continue their Cirque Berzerk experience well into the night.

Since its debut at Burning Man in 2005, Cirque Berzerk has been entertaining audiences – large and small – with their signature spin on contemporary circus theater, blending hardcore circus choreography with the sexy and comedic undercurrents of cabaret and vaudeville. Spearheaded by husband and wife team Suzanne Bernel and Kevin Bourque, Cirque Berzerk’s astounding acrobatic feats and bawdy circus sensibility has entertained various types of events and clients including Carmen Elektra’s New Year’s Eve Bash at Paramount Studios, Best Buy, PlayStation3 Computer Entertainment System and a host of private shows at locations ranging from nightclubs to the Ritz-Carlton. Stunts include aerial performance, contortion, and various stunts involving fire.

Cirque Berzerk takes place at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Formerly known as “The Cornfield,” the last vast open space in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, The Los Angeles State Historic Park spans 32 acres, sits adjacent to Chinatown and is easily accessible by bus, rail, car or bicycle. Recently, the Not a Cornfield project transformed the area from what was historically a brown patch of earth into a blooming mecca of springtime flora. The big top tent will sit in the heart of the park, providing ample space for anyone wishing to picnic.

Alternate forms of transportation are encouraged. The circus is offering a 10 percent discount for those arriving by bus or rail. Just show your Metro pass or ticket for the discount.

Significant marketing partners have joined forces with Cirque Berzerk this year to help promote the show through various media and marketing programs. Partners to date include: Clear Channel, American Express, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) and Flaunt magazine.

Online ticketing will begin the week of April 20th, with ticket prices ranging between $25 and $80. For more information please visit http://www.cirqueberzerk.com.

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For more information, photos, or to arrange interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Images:

Paradox Media, Vau de Vire and Cirque BerzerkThe Edwardian Ball – Los Angeles on Saturday, January 31, 2009. A splendid San Francisco tradition flies south for the winter, presenting an elegant, turn of the century celebration of music, theatre, dance, circus arts, DJs, ballroom dance, fashion, technology, and of course, the art and stories of Edward Gorey. Costumed attire is requested! Held in the historic Tower Theater, and hosted by LA’s own big top phenomenon Cirque Berzerk in partnership with Edwardian Ball co-creators Rosin Coven and Vau de Vire Society, the night promises an unforgettable blend of audience and performance with humor, darkness, and style. Also featuring Helios Jive, DJ Xian (LADEAD), Jill Tracy, Miz Margo, Dark Garden Corsetry, and many special guests.

presents

LOS ANGELES, CA – Paradox Media, Vau de Vire and Cirque Berzerk presents The Edwardian Ball – Los Angeles on Saturday, January 31, 2009. A splendid San Francisco tradition flies south for the winter, presenting an elegant, turn of the century celebration of music, theatre, dance, circus arts, DJs, ballroom dance, fashion, technology, and of course, the art and stories of Edward Gorey. Costumed attire is requested! Held in the historic Tower Theater, and hosted by LA’s own big top phenomenon Cirque Berzerk in partnership with Edwardian Ball co-creators Rosin Coven and Vau de Vire Society, the night promises an unforgettable blend of audience and performance with humor, darkness, and style. Also featuring Helios Jive, DJ Xian (LADEAD), Jill Tracy, Miz Margo, Dark Garden Corsetry, and many special guests.

Tower Theater is located at 802 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014. For more information on the venue please call 213-629-2939 or visit http://www.towertheaterla.com. Doors open and show begins at 8:00pm, and all ages are welcome. General admission tickets cost $25, and a limited amount of $75 VIP tickets are available that include reserved balcony seating and hosted absinthe bar, courtesy of Obsello Absinthe (21+ only). Tickets can be purchased at Necromance (7208 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046; 323-931-2997). For more information and online tickets, please visit http://www.edwardianball.com.

Since 1999 The Edwardian Ball has steadily grown from an underground club phenomenon into a full-fledged festival of arts and culture, focusing on the esteemed works of the late, great author/illustrator Edward Gorey. Now, with the blessings of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, this one-night-only Los Angeles event of everything under the midnight sun reaches across cultural boundaries to include audiences of all ages and backgrounds, where literary fans are as welcome as goth club goers, where the high flying trapeze and steam-powered machines create the backdrop for elegantly dressed ballgoers waltzing their way into the antique portrait studio. Event producer/founder, Justin Katz, muses, “No one city can contain this celebration where the old-world meets the world-to-be with an unforgettable tip of the top hat, curtsey, and a splash of absinthe poured over a silver spoon… So we’re thrilled to bring the Ball to LA.”

For almost a decade, The Edwardian Ball has been featuring Gorey tales brought to life on stage. A truly prodigious and original artist, Edward St. John Gorey (1925-2000), gave to the world over one hundred works, including The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Doubtful Guest and The Wuggly Ump; prize-winning set and costume designs for innumerable theater productions from Cape Cod to Broadway; a remarkable number of illustrations in publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times, and in books by a wide array of authors from Charles Dickens to Edward Lear, Samuel Beckett, John Updike, Virginia Woolf, H.G. Wells, Florence Heide and many others. His well-known animated credits for the PBS Mystery series have introduced him to millions of television viewers. Gorey’s masterful pen and ink illustrations and his ironic, offbeat humor have brought him critical acclaim and an avid following throughout the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey).

Heralding dozens of various performers, Cirque Berzerk has been performing since 2005. Spearheaded by husband and wife team Kevin Bourque and Suzanne Bernel, Cirque Berzerk is a tight-knit family of performers who have banded together to put their unique spin on the face of contemporary circus theater. Complete with their own big top tent (and still buzzing from their sold-out, multi-weekend “Beneath” shows at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in summer 2008), they have performed for various types of events and clients including Carmen Elektra’s New Year’s Eve Bash at Paramount Studios, Best Buy, PlayStation3 Computer Entertainment System and a host of private shows at locations ranging from nightclubs to the Ritz Carlton. The troupe’s signature style blends hardcore circus choreography with the glamorous themes of cabaret and vaudeville. Stunts include aerial performance, contortion, various stunts involving fire and incredible stilt action. More information on Cirque Berzerk is found at www.cirqueberzerk.com.

A hidden gem in downtown LA’s Broadway movie palace district, The Tower Theater was the first theater designed by renowned architect S. Charles Lee. The Tower opened in 1927 as the first movie palace in downtown LA wired for sound films, and was the sneak preview location for the Warner Brothers’ classic, The Jazz Singer (1927). The theater’s opulent exterior and interior feature French Renaissance motifs with lavish Spanish, Romanesque and Moorish influences. Popular with film industry location scouts but rarely used for live events, the venue owners saw how special this production was and on January 31st… so will enthralled audience members.

For more information, images, or to set up interviews with the event producers or any of the cast and crew, please contact Green Galactic’s, Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.