MICHAEL JACKSON THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - WRITTEN AND
DIRECTED BY JAMIE KING - TOUR BEGINS IN OCTOBER 2011

Exclusive Presale Window Starts Today for Cirque Club Members and MichaelJackson.com subscribers

General Onsale Begins Saturday, November 6 in 30 Cities

MONTREAL, Nov. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - The Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil announced today the official international launch of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour™ written and directed by Jamie King, the leading concert director in pop music today. This once-in-a-lifetime electrifying production will combine Michael Jackson music and choreography with Cirque du Soleil creativity to give fans worldwide a unique view into the spirit, passion and heart of the artistic genius who forever transformed global pop culture.

A riveting fusion of visuals, dance, music and fantasy that immerses audiences in Michael's creative world and literally turns his signature move

s upside down, Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour unfolds Michael Jackson's artistry before the eyes of the audience. Aimed at lifelong fans as well as those experiencing Michael's creative genius for the first time, the show captures the essence, soul and inspiration of the King of Pop, celebrating a legacy that continues to transcend generations.

THE IMMORTAL World Tour takes place in a fantastical realm where we discover Michael's inspirational Giving Tree—the wellspring of his creativity. The secrets of Michael's inner world are unlocked—his love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature.

The underpinnings of THE IMMORTAL World Tour are Michael Jackson's powerful, inspirational music and lyrics—the driving force behind the show—brought to life with extraordinary power and breathless intensity. Through unforgettable performances Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour underscores  Michael's global messages of love, peace and unity.

In selecting Jamie King as Writer and Director for Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour— which will feature 60 international performers— The Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil chose a director Variety called one of the most influential "movers and shakers" in the music industry, and the "Jerry Bruckheimer of tent-pole concert tours". A multiple Emmy Award® and MTV Video Music Award® nominee, and greatly influenced by his early years working for both Prince and Michael Jackson, he has choreographed some of the most popular music videos and directed some of the highest grossing concert tours of all time. For the past 12 years, he has served as Madonna's creative director, having most recently directed her 2008 Sticky & Sweet world tour, as well as her 2006 record-breaking Confessions world tour and hit music video, Sorry. He most recently directed Rihanna's Last Girl On Earth world tour, Celine Dion's Taking Chances world tour, The Return of the Spice Girls reunion tour, Britney Spears' Circus tour and Avril Lavigne's Best Damn tour. He previously directed and choreographed world tours for Madonna (Re-Invention and Drowned World); Asian superstar Rain (Rain's Coming); Ricky Martin (Black & White and La Vida Loca); Pink (Try This); Christina Aguilera (Back to Basics and Stripped); and his first collaboration with Britney Spears (Oops! I Did It Again). He has worked with an array of superstars including Mariah Carey, Shakira, George Michael, Elton John, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez and even Ellen DeGeneres. This is Jamie's first show with Cirque du Soleil.

Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour will call on the diverse talents of the following creative minds: (see last page for creators' bios)

Guy Laliberté - Creative Guide Jamie King - Writer and Director Chantal Tremblay - Director of Creation Mark Fisher - Set Designer Zaldy Goco - Costume Designer Kevin Antunes - Musical Designer Martin Labrecque - Lighting Designer Olivier Goulet - Projection Designer François Desjardins - Sound Designer Scott Osgood - Rigging and Acrobatic Equipment Designer Germain Guillemot - Acrobatic Performance Designer Michael Curry - Props Designer

Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour will begin in Montreal in October 2011 and travel to select North American cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Additional cities and dates will be announced.

For three days only, Cirque Club members and MichaelJackson.com subscribers will have exclusive access to purchase presale tickets online beginning Wednesday, November 3 at 10am Eastern Daylight Time.

Cirque Club membership is free and benefits include access to advance tickets, special offers and exclusive behind the scenes information. To join, go to www.cirqueclub.com.

Starting Saturday, November 6 at 12pm local time, tickets will go on sale to the public for the cities and dates listed below.

For complete tour and ticket information, visit
www.cirquedusoleil.com or www.MichaelJackson.com
The tour schedule is subject to change.

2011 TOUR SCHEDULE

October 2-3  October 7  October 12  October 15  October 18  October 21  October 26  October 29  November 1  November 4  November 9  November 18  November 29  December 3-11

Montreal, QC - Bell Centre Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena London, ON - John Labatt Centre Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena Seattle, WA - KeyArena Portland, OR - Rose Garden Salt Lake City, UT - EnergySolutions Arena Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay Events Center

2012 Tour Schedule

January 6  January 10  January 13  January 18  January 21  January 24  January 27  February 10      March 2  March 24  April 3   April 10  June 29

Denver, CO - Pepsi Center Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena San Jose, CA - HP Pavillion at San Jose Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena San Diego, CA - Valley View Casino Center Anaheim, CA - Honda Center Los Angeles, CA - STAPLES Center Houston, TX - Toyota Center Miami, FL - AmericanAirlines Arena Quebec City, QC - Colisée Pepsi New York, NY - Madison Square Garden Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena

In April 2010, The Estate of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil announced an unprecedented arrangement for the creation, development, production and promotion of Michael Jackson projects, featuring touring and permanent shows, based on the music and songs of Michael Jackson. The two entities will each own 50 percent of each Michael Jackson project, sharing equally in the cost of creating, developing, building and producing the projects and in the profits from each project. The Estate of Michael Jackson will also receive royalty payments on various aspects of its intellectual property used in the Michael Jackson projects.

CREATORS BIOS

Jamie King - Writer and Director
Jamie King is the leading concert director in the world of pop music today. In 2006, Variety named King one of the most influential "movers and shakers" in the music industry, branding him the "Jerry Bruckheimer of ten-pole concert tours". A multiple Emmy Award® and MTV Video Music Award® nominee, and greatly influenced by his early years working for both Prince and Michael Jackson, he has choreographed some of the most popular music videos and directed some of the highest grossing concert tours of all time. For the past twelve years, he has served as Madonna's creative director, having most recently directed her 2008 Sticky & Sweet world tour, as well as her 2006 record-breaking Confessions world tour and hit music video, Sorry. He most recently directed Rihanna's Last Girl On Earth world tour, Céline Dion's Taking Chances world tour, The Return of the Spice Girls reunion tour, Britney Spears' Circus tour and Avril Lavigne's Best Damn tour. He previously directed and choreographed world tours for Madonna (Re-Invention and Drowned World); Asian superstar Rain (Rain's Coming); Ricky Martin (Black & White and La Vida Loca); Pink (Try This); Christina Aguilera (Back to Basics and Stripped); and his first collaboration with Britney Spears (Oops I Did It Again). He has worked with an array of superstars including Mariah Carey, Shakira, George Michael, Elton John, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez and even Ellen DeGeneres. This is Jamie's first show with Cirque du Soleil.

Chantal Tremblay - Director of Creation
At the end of the 1980s, while living in New York pursuing a career in dance, Chantal Tremblay decides to join Cirque du Soleil after having seen one the company's shows. Chantal started out as a dancer on a Cirque project and then became choreographer Debra Brown's assistant on the creation of Mystère. Chantal has worked on many Cirque projects including the shows Alegría, La Nouba and Mystère for which she once was the Artistic Director. Later on her solid credentials helped her land the position of Director of Creation on both The Beatles LOVE and OVO.

Mark Fisher - Set Designer
British architect Mark Fisher's interest in building temporary structures and inflatables caught the attention of Roger Waters and led to his first rock 'n' roll commission for Pink Floyd's Animals tour in 1977. Mark has since earned an international reputation for his spectacular concert designs. His best-known work includes The Wall and Division Bell for Pink Floyd, Steel Wheels, Bridges to Babylon and Bigger Bang for the Rolling Stones, as well as Popmart for U2. Most recently Mark was Chief Designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and U2's 2009-2010 360° tour. This will be Mark Fisher's third collaboration with Cirque du Soleil following KÀ and Viva ELVIS.

Zaldy Goco - Costume Designer
Zaldy is one of New York's most celebrated and innovative designers.  Since 2001 he has created custom looks for entertainment icons such as Michael Jackson, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J Blige, Will I. Am, Rufus Wainwright, Scissor Sisters, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Halle Berry, Parker Posey, Gabourey Sidebe, and Mick Jagger among others. In 2009 Zaldy was named head designer for Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series as well as Lady Gaga's first North American Monster Ball Tour. He was the man behind Gwen Stefani's label L.A.M.B. collaborating with Stefani for nearly four years while maintaining his namesake label. This is his first collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.

Kevin Antunes - Musical Designer
Kevin Antunes is a musical designer, musical director, keyboardist and digital audio programmer. His most recent tour was working directly for Madonna on her record breaking Sticky & Sweet world tour. Kevin produced the stereo and surround sound audio mix for the live stadium concert from Argentina released on DVD in 2010. Kevin has also worked with Justin Timberlake for the past 12 years starting with *NSYNC, which then transitioned into Justin's solo career. The stereo and surround sound audio of Justin's HBO Live Concert Broadcast of his FutureSex/LoveSounds (which was released on DVD) was also mixed by Kevin. Throughout his career Kevin has performed with Janet Jackson, Timbaland, Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Snoop Dogg, Christina Aguilera, Lady Antebellum, P Diddy, Pharrell Williams, Enrique Iglesias, Backstreet Boys, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch, and the New Kids on the Block, among others. Kevin has performed on many major television events and music award shows including The Grammy Awards, The Academy Awards, two different Super Bowl Halftime Performances, HBO & Showtime Original Live Concerts, Hope for Haiti Now benefit concert, Canadian SARS benefit concert, Amnesty International, Rock-n-Rio, MTV Awards, The Brit Awards, The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live. Kevin is working with Cirque du Soleil for the first time.

Martin Labrecque - Lighting Designer
Martin Labrecque's professional credits include more than a hundred theatrical productions, as well as circus shows. Martin contributed to the critical success of several Quebec shows. He has won many Quebec awards for his lighting design in addition to several nominations. Martin Labrecque created the lighting for two critically acclaimed circus shows produced by Cirque Éloize, Rain and Nomade, as well as Cirque du Soleil shows Corteo, KOOZA and Viva ELVIS. In 2009, Martin designed the lighting for an eleven-hour show by Canadian author, director and actor Wajdi Mouawad, which was presented in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France. He also worked on the show Paradis Perdu, directed by Dominic Champagne and presented in Montreal.

Olivier Goulet - Projection Designer
Active in the field of video design since 2001, Quebec producer, stage and video content designer Olivier Goulet specializes in video stage design. Since 2007, he has designed and produced video content for many productions and artists including Maria Carey, Alicia Keys, Joe Cocker, Michael Bublé, Tina Turner, Pink, the shows of Cher and Bette Midler at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas, as well as the production Paradis Perdu in Montreal. Olivier is the President of the Montreal-based video stage design company Geodezik, which collaborated with Cirque du Soleil on the shows DELIRIUM and ZAIA. Other Quebec (Gilles Maheu, O Vertigo Danse) and American (Linkin Park and The Killers, Justin Timberlake) artists turned to Geodezik to enhance their show through video imagery.

François Desjardins - Sound Designer
For nearly 25 years, François Desjardins has devoted himself entirely to enhancing sound environments in the music world. As a sound designer, he creates soundscapes that are tailored to each artist's expectations. Since 1992, François has toured with Céline Dion on all her live shows, He has also worked with several Canadian and foreign artists including Garou, Roch Voisine, Tragically Hip, Tom Cochrane and Pavarotti. As a crew chief, he has installed, maintained and operated the most sophisticated sound systems available in the industry. François also participated in a large number of events as Head Sound Technician of Solotech (Montreal) and Chief Technical Advisor of Solotech (United States). He was sound designer during the World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002 (Papal visit) and for the re-staging of Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco.

Scott Osgood - Rigging and Acrobatic Equipment Designer
Scott started his career as an acrobat as part of the Sailor Circus program in Sarasota, California. His disciplines included ladder, teeterboard, clowning and juggling. Scott picked up his knowledge of acrobatic equipment and rigging design from veterans in the business. He worked in the worlds of theatre and rock music, where his rigging expertise was in demand. At the same time, he continued to work around the world as a performer, appearing with many circus companies including the Ringling Brothers, and Barnum and Bailey. He also worked as an acrobat in theme parks including Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Scott's first assignment with Cirque du Soleil came when the Cirque show La Nouba was being created in 1997. He worked on the rigging design for that production. ZED was Scott Osgood's first mandate with Cirque du Soleil as Rigging and Acrobatic Equipment Designer.

Germain Guillemot - Acrobatic Performance Designer
A graduate from Centre national des arts du cirque in Châlon, France, Germain Guillemot started his career with the French troupe Cirque Archaos and toured with the company for two years. With other circus fellows he created the French circus company Les Arts Sauts where he worked both as a creator and performer for 15 years. Germain joined Cirque du Soleil in 2007 as a coach for the flying trapeze act on ZED and then became Acrobatic Training Manager for Viva ELVIS. This is Germain Guillemot's first collaboration with Cirque du Soleil as Acrobatic Performance Designer.

Michael Curry - Props Designer
Puppet Designer Michael Curry works widely in both conceptual and technical development with the foremost entertainment companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal National Theatre, Disney Theatrical Productions, LA Opera, and Universal Pictures. Michael has been the recipient of many prestigious awards from his peers, including several awards for his puppet and costume work on Broadway, Olympic ceremonies as well as his continuing innovations in the fields of visual effects and puppetry design. He has collaborated with Julie Taymor on many stage and opera productions. Among his numerous awards, he received the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design in recognition of his work for Taymor on The Lion King. Michael's other credits include an opera directed by Robert Lepage at the Paris Opera, an opera at La Scala, Milan, directed by William Friedkin, and the Broadway production of Spider Man with music by Bono and Edge, directed by Julie Taymor. After KÀ and Wintuk, Michael Curry collaborates with Cirque du Soleil for the third time.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: The photo accompanying this social media release is also available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information:

United States
Tim Choy
Davidson & Choy Publicity
323-954-7510 ext. 13
[email protected]

Jim Bates - for The Estate of Michael Jackson
Sitrick And Company
310-788-2850
[email protected]

Canada
Chantal Côté - Cirque du Soleil
514-723-7646, ext. 7326
[email protected]

Reggie Lyons - Cirque du Soleil
514-679-8755
[email protected]

Still images are available for download at
	http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/press/kits/shows/michael-jackson-tour
Video imagesare available for download at
	B-roll  uncompressed: http://media-www.cirquedusoleil.com/public-materials/michael-jackson-tour/cds-mj-pr-uncompressed.zip Promo clip English: http://media-www.cirquedusoleil.com/public-materials/michael-jackson-tour/social-mj-pr-en.zip