Michael Jackson-Cirque deal

DOUBLE-DOWN DEAL: Michael Jackson will follow in the footsteps of the Beatles and Elvis Presley when Cirque du Soleil mounts a show dedicated to his music… Actually, make that two shows. The Jackson estate announced the deal yesterday, confirming rumors that had been circulating for months. The first production, scheduled to open in fall 2011, will be arena-scaled and modeled after a Jackson concert. After a brief run in Vegas, the company will take it on a worldwide tour. The second show, targeted for a year later, will be a permanent attraction at a space owned by MGM Mirage, according to a joint statement from the estate and Cirque picked up by the N.Y. Times. “In both shows you will feel Michael Jackson in the room, but they are going to be very different kinds of shows,” estate co-executor John Branca told the paper’s Ben Sisario. (4/21a)