Set to Puccini’s memorable score, artistic director Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly chronicles this timeless love story in an arrangement by John Lanchbery. The production unfolds dramatically on Peter 
Farmer’s picturesque sets, which beautifully evoke the mystery and languor of 19th century Japan.
Premiered by The Australian Ballet in 1995, Madame Butterfly was Mr. Welch’s first full- length ballet. The two-act work tells the story of the beautiful geisha Cio-Cio San who renounces her faith and her family to wed Lieutenant Pinkerton, the handsome American naval officer who is betrothed to another. The centerpiece of the work is a ravishing wedding night pas de deux for Pinkerton and Cio-Cio San, which closes the first act.
The band came together and started in Decatur, Illinois by vocalist Ariel Bloomer and guitarist Shawn Jump. When the two met in 2007, Bloomer, discovering Jump played guitar, initiated a musical collaboration between the two of them. When the need for a drummer arose, Jump recruited Adam Kronshagen, an old friend he jam sessioned with as a member of the local party scene (
Jump was six months clean at the time). Bassist Joshua Davis joined and the band when it was officially formed in November of that year, choosing their name as a satirical comment on the state of the music industry.
The band played their first show in a local club before an audience of family and friends. Bloomer has been quoted as saying of the performance, "Our passion for music was there; whatever we lacked in sound we made up for with enthusiasm."
Over the next two years, the band toured throughout the Midwest and released two EPs, the self-titled Icon for Hire EP in 2008 and The Grey EP in 2009. During that same year, Davis left the band.
In an alternate yet familiar past, in a place where wonders abound for those who trust their imagination, a Seeker discovers that in order to glimpse the marvels that lie just below the surface, we must first learn to close our eyes.
In his larger-than-life curio cabinet, the Seeker is convinced that there exists a hidden, invisible world – a place where the craziest ideas and the 
grandest dreams lie waiting. A collection of otherworldly characters suddenly steps into his makeshift mechanical world. When the outlandish, benevolent characters turn his world upside down with a touch of poetry and humor in an attempt to ignite the Seeker’s imagination, his curios jump to life one by one before his very eyes.
What if by engaging our imagination and opening our minds we could unlock the door to a world of wonders?
• To make the Accordion Man’s attire,
the costume-maker spent an entire
week sewing inside the costume.
• Rima Hadchiti, the artist who plays
Mini Lili, is 3.3 feet tall and weighs 
41 pounds. She is one of the 10
smallest people in the world.
•
The mechanical hand weighs 750
pounds and measures 15 feet by
6.8 feet.
• More than a hundred costumes were
created to dress the cast of KURIOS.
• There are 426 props in the show, the
most of any production in Cirque du
Soleil’s history.
• Some 65 trucks transport close
to 2,000 tons of equipment for
KURIOS™ – Cabinet of Curiosities.
• The 122 tour members come from
23 different countries. Some have
been touring with Cirque du Soleil
for more than 15 years.
• This is the fi rst time that Cirque du
Soleil presents a welcoming act on top
of the big top before the show starts.
When weather permits, 3 artists climb
up the big top and greet the guests
from above while playing music and
acting. Guests get a taste of the
KURIOS experience as soon as they
enter the site.
• It took the team of props makers
approximately 250 hours to build
Mr. Microcosmos’ round belly.
• All performers are responsible for
applying their own make-up every
show, which can take them between
40 minutes to two hours