Harvey “Moon” Donnelly managed to turn something he was good at into a pretty good paying gig.
He began training on the trampoline at an early age in his hometown, the seaside city of Bournemouth, in the south of England, and won five straight British South West Championships, between the ages of 11 and 15. At 13, he qualified for nationals, placing high in annual competitions throughout his teens.
In 2011, he sent an audition tape to casting scouts for Cirque du Soleil, and is now one of the house troupe acrobats on the world tour of Michael Jackson: The Immortal, which is paying a flying visit to North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena today and Wednesday.
“I’ve been with the show since the beginning,” Donnelly says. “I’m one of the originals.”
A team of 10 choreographers, some of whom worked with the late “King of Pop,” created the show by fusing visuals, dance and Jackson’s music and lyrics (some members of the live band had also worked with Jackson), and, in some cases, according to a news release, “literally turning his signature moves upside down.”
They didn’t choreograph anything special for Donnelly but, he says, “We were involved in the creation; we had a little bit of input into how [the numbers] were molded.
“I guess my favorite is [a segment titled] ‘Dancing Machine,’ because I spend most of the number in the air,” he adds. “It’s near the beginning. You have dancers on the stage, machines moving around and acrobats flying through the air above the dancers.”
The tour has taken Donnelly around most of the world over the past three years.
“I’m glad to be back in the States,” he says. “We’ve toured everywhere, Japan, all over Asia, Australia, but something about the U.S., I just feel comfortable. We’ve had good reactions from the crowds in the U.S.”
Although Cirque du Soleil has not announced an end date for the tour, Donnelly, who just turned 23, is keeping in mind how his talents might be useful to them in the future.
“That’s what we’re looking toward at the moment - different areas of different shows, what interests me,” he says. “It’s a cool world to live in.”Cirque Cirque du Soleil’s
Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour
8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, today-Wednesday, Verizon Arena, East Broadway and Interstate 30, North Little Rock
Tickets: $52.50-$152.50 plus service charges
(800) 745-3000
ticketmaster.com
Style, Pages 28 on 04/22/2014