Franco Dragone was an Italian-born Belgian theatre director.
24 Facts About Franco Dragone
1.
2.
Franco Dragone was the founder and artistic director of Dragone, a creative company specializing in the creation of large-scale theatre shows.
3.
Franco Dragone was known for his work with Cirque du Soleil and Celine Dion.
4.
Franco Dragone died from a severe chest infection in Cairo, Egypt, on 30 September 2022 at the age of 69.
5.
Franco Dragone was born in 1952 in Cairano, a small town in southern Italy.
6.
Franco Dragone remembers that being an "artist" was not treated seriously by the mining community in La Louviere.
7.
Franco Dragone's father was broad-minded and enrolled Dragone in a liberal lycee.
8.
Franco Dragone then created, directed and produced a show for the end of the school year.
9.
Caron, in turn, asked Franco Dragone to join as a creator.
10.
Franco Dragone directed Cirque du Soleil's first motion picture, Alegria, in 1999.
11.
In 1999 Franco Dragone directed the music video for Lara Fabian's song "Adagio".
12.
In 2005, Franco Dragone debuted his fourth production on the Las Vegas Strip with the opening of Le Reve at the Wynn Las Vegas.
13.
Franco Dragone worked on an adaption of the Divine Comedy with composer Ennio Morricone.
14.
Franco Dragone was in charge of the opening ceremony show for the 2010 South American Games that took place in Medellin, Colombia on 19 March 2010.
15.
In 2010, building on his previous experience using aquatic stages in O and Le Reve, Franco Dragone directed a Macau-based show entitled The House of Dancing Water in the City of Dreams.
16.
On 29 March 2012, Franco Dragone was awarded a doctor honoris causa degree for general merits by the University of Antwerp, in recognition of his innovative and cosmopolitan approach to theatre.
17.
Franco Dragone added that he was ready to change his business' structure to provide more transparency.
18.
In early 2013, Franco Dragone produced, created and directed Story of a Fort, Legacy of a Nation, a show that ran from 28 February through 9 March 2013 as the centrepiece event of the Qasr al-Hosn festival in Abu Dhabi.
19.
In 2014, Franco Dragone opened The Han Show in Wuhan, China, celebrating the essence of the Han culture.
20.
In spring 2015, Franco Dragone created a new show in Paris for the cabaret Le Lido, titled Paris Merveilles.
21.
In 2017, Franco Dragone's show La Perle opened in Al Habtoor City, Dubai, in a custom-made 10-story theater.
22.
Franco Dragone seeks to invoke a common language of "emotional archetypes" in his theatrical productions.
23.
Franco Dragone has objected to comparisons of his work to Salvador Dali or Federico Fellini, noting that he travels frequently and has been influenced by a great many painters.
24.
Franco Dragone's shows tend to have a very large scale.