A Party With Celebrity Muscle

Hollywood was well represented under the blue-and-yellow big top Friday night, turning out for the U.S. premiere of the Cirque du Soleil’s latest production, “Dralion.”

The show fused ancient Chinese circus tradition with the troupe’s trademark avant-garde approach--an East/West mix mirrored in the imaginative post-performance party held in an abandoned Santa Monica warehouse that was once the Kramer Motors Body Shop.

Who Was There: Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Martin Sheen, Donald Sutherland, Rene Russo, Jennifer Tilly, Dick Van Patten, Rich Little, Juliet Mills, Maxwell Caulfield, Eddie Albert, Peter Guber, Barbara Rush, Lesley Ann Warren, Nanette Fabray.

The Buzz: Differing opinions about where this show, the first directed by Guy Caron and his new creative team, fits into the Cirque’s 12-year string of Los Angeles productions. Unanimity about the appeal of the 35-member Chinese acrobatic team, with some members as young as 8, who dazzled the crowd with incandescent beach balls, hoops, springboards and jump ropes.

Female Fave: Ukrainian Viktor Kee, whose anatomically perfect, body-stockinged torso brought back memories of Vladimir, the Flying Man, from the Cirque’s 1990 show. “I could watch him all night, whether he could juggle or not,” one woman commented during intermission. More than a few men agreed.

“First” Moment: “Air Force One’s” Ford catching up with “The West Wing’s” Sheen, trading some presidential pointers, no doubt.

The Scene: Event coordinator Claudia Taylor’s Food Inc. transformed the warehouse into a mystical, whimsical lair, featuring sunken dining areas, a dancer silhouetted in a massive Chinese lantern and Indian films projected on one wall. Guests noshed on dim sum, sushi, lamb kabobs and chicken samosas served by waiters with glitter makeup and pipe cleaners in their hair. “How do you entertain the Cirque, which is tops at what they do?” Taylor said. “I didn’t try to outdo the show--I just continued its multicultural motif and used it for visual ideas.”

The Crowd: Though the party was a bit short on celebrities, it didn’t lack for style. “I don’t know who these people are, but they look like they’re from central casting,” noted radio talk show host Michael Jackson. “It’s ‘Hollywood’ the way we’d be portrayed in a European film--wonderful, strange, wild.”

What’s Next?: Cirque founding president Guy LaLiberte speculates that the toughest turf may lie ahead. Having created three new shows in the past 12 months, he’s taking time off to consolidate his vision. “It’s easy to challenge the status quo,” he said of his Montreal-based operation, which forgoes traditional circus fare like animal acts in favor of multimedia theatricality. “We’ve moved beyond being the flavor of the month and developed a love affair with [the public], so now we have to deal with power. Tonight, however, is about enjoying ourselves. We’re happy people who love to party--and the first night is always a killer.”