All in a day's Cirque

The GM of ‘KOOZA’ talks storylines, green touring and the Wheel of Death

INTERVIEW. Cirque du Soleil’s latest production, “KOOZA,” comes to Boston for a month-long run. Metro caught up with general manager Scott Wallace, 42, a Boston native, who worked for the Boston Ballet before joining the Cirque almost 10 years ago.

What’s “KOOZA” all about then?
The term Kooza is Sanskrit for treasure box. There’s a character called The Innocent being led by The Trickster, but Cirque’s intention generally is not to really give you the thru-line. This is very much back to the roots of Cirque du Soleil. Very theatrical, but very intense, extreme acrobatics.

How extreme?
We have what’s called the Wheel of Death, which is like two hamster wheels attached in a center hub. As it spins, the two men build inertia and they get on the outside of the cage and jump rope and do all sorts of amazing acrobatic tricks while this thing rotates through the Big Top.

It must be a fine balance of theatrics and story or ideas.
It’s very well integrated. Because of the vision of Cirque, it’s not meant to feel separated.

So the spectacle and emotion are equally powerful?
Absolutely. It all leads up to the intensity of the act itself.

You say that ‘KOOZA’ is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil.
What it refers to is going back to the range, with very strong acrobatics, the concept of the cutting edge of circus.  

Cirque du Soleil was originally embraced for bucking traditional circus practices, such as using live animals. Recently there was controversy over Criss Angel’s use of live birds in the Las Vegas show.
I’m not aware of any of that or anything to do with “Believe,” because it’s a separate division of our company. It’s our resident show division.

What keeps Cirque exciting for you?
I love the productions. The constant travel; it’s been fabulous. I like the social values of the organization. It has a big social heart and social commitment. We’re also looking into reducing our carbon footprint as a touring organization.

Green touring is difficult.
Absolutely. We’re looking into the same things that the rock shows are in the ride-along programs and different initiatives that have come up. It’s baby steps; you can’t take one leap and solve all the problems. You take it one step at a time to achieve the goal.

‘KOOZA’
Friday through Oct. 5, 8 p.m.
Bayside Expo Center
200 Mt. Vernon St., Columbia Point, Boston
MBTA: Red Line to JFK
$38.50-$215, 800-678-5440
www. baysideexpo.com