On Wednesday, May 25th,  Paramour, Cirque du Soleil’s first made-for-Broadway musical, opened at the Lyric Theatre.

According to the official press notes, Paramour:

…spins the thrilling tale of a beautiful young actress forced to choose between love and art in the glamorous world of Golden Age Hollywood. Featuring eye-popping acrobatics and sumptuous music and dance, [the production] is a groundbreaking new event that will transport you to a sublime world of emotion and awe as it walks the exhilarating tightrope of the heart.

According to Playbill, the company features a cast of 38 singers, actors, dancers and internationally renowned aerialists, acrobats and circus arts performers.  Paramour is a $25 million production that is a traditionally-styled Broadway musical, mixed with routines that are  normally seen under a big top.

On Wednesday night, there was a large and impressive Red-carpet before the show.  Clay Aiken was one of the first celebrities to walk on the red carpet and be interviewed on the live twitter coverage of the event.  Clay was dressed for the event in an up-to-date outfit…checkered vest and jacket, skinny jeans and some great, colorful sneakers.

Clay was interviewed by Leslie Margherita and Christopher Hanke on the Red Carpet.  He was introduced as one of the biggest pop stars and both of the interviewers said they had bought all his CDs.  They were surprised that Clay had never seen a Cirque du Soleil performance and asked if he had a trick that would help him try-out for a place in the show.  It was at this point where Clay turned his feet backwards.  Oh My!!  It was a fun interview!

Paramour tweeted the following note and picture:

@clayaiken is all smiles before watching his first @Cirque show! Welcome to #ParamourBway, Clay! #OpeningNight pic.twitter.com/fhHkPlIJY0

I love that Cirque du Soleil put a picture of Clay’s shoes on their Broadway Opening Night Picture collection

If you would like to see Clay on the Red carpet, the video is on the twitter page for Cirque du Soleil.  I will post the link…however, I never know how long the link will continue to be active.  Clay is the 2nd person interviewed and the time of his interview  is -34:25.   You can see it HERE

I wish we could report that the opening performance got wonderful reviews…unfortunately, the critics did not enjoy the show.

The New York Times said the show was…simultaneously frenetic and tedious.

The Guardian says:  a three-ring circus of artistic muddle, miscalculation and mayhem. And zombies.

Entertainment Weekly says:  The musical is trying to be many things at once, and it doesn’t fully succeed at any of them.

I hope that the director and the cast work on making the show more fun for the audience and that the $25 million show becomes a success.

It is fun seeing all the pictures and comments about Clay.  I hope we see his shoes again…soon!!