First the Beatles and Elvis, now Michael Jackson. The acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil announced Tuesday that it will put on a live touring show featuring the songs of the King of Pop starting late next year. That will be followed by a permanent production in Las Vegas in 2012 at a property owned by MGM Mirage Inc. The casino company did not say which venue will host the show. Cirque and Jackson's estate will each own 50 percent of the projects and share equally in the cost of putting them on. The estate will also receive royalties from the use of Jackson's music and other assets. Jackson was described as a “huge fan” of the French Canadian performance group. He saw their first tent show in Santa Monica, California, many years ago with longtime lawyer and now estate co-executor, John Branca. And he visited their Montreal headquarters in 2004, Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre said. The touring show, which will begin in North America before branching out around the world, will be a simulation of a Jackson concert, while the Las Vegas show will be more theatrical and more technologically advanced, Lamarre said.
