Dragone, who most recently transformed French-Canadian singer Celine Dion into a Vegas icon, is fine-tuning the underwater show in what the Antwerp studio hosting preparations describes as "the world's biggest rehearsal space".

In northern Antwerp, better known as the world's largest diamond market, the son of a former mine and steelworker from Italy is putting through their paces some 80 artists from 20 countries chosen from more than 1,000 candidates.

Backed by scions of two gaming dynasties, it will eventually offer more than 500 casino tables and 1,500 gaming machines, as well as top-end restaurants, boutiques and hotels -- in a bid to usurp Vegas as a global travel destination.

Dragone's untitled but extravagant production is planned to sit at the heart of a lavish, 2,000-seat entertainment venue with a giant swimming-pool forming the heart of the Macau 'stage' when the show gets up and running.

In a joint venture between Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gaming tycoon Stanley, and James Packer, son of the late Australian media and gambling magnate Kerry, Dragone was hired on a mandate to complete a total entertainment experience.

Macau already takes in more gaming dollars than Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined, but worries over money laundering and corruption and unease about Chinese cash being vacuumed up by foreign operators led mainland authorities last year to stem the flow of visitors.

"The spectacle will tell of Macau's discovery after a Portuguese shipwreck," said Dragone, 57. "The hero, a young stowaway, and his valet, the only survivors, will encounter a strange and wonderful world -- Chinese civilisation."

The show's creator, who no longer works for Cirque du Soleil, is promising to lean on the work of such artists as late French mime legend Marcel Marceau and Italian Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo, best known for his 1970 play "The Accidental Death of an Anarchist".

"Showbusiness" can become art, explained Dragone, whose career also saw him direct the opening ceremony for the European football championships held in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000.

As his young stars and starlets leap, dive and pirouette in the rehearsal hangar's pool, a team of professional divers offer underwater security for the performers while also doing the work of traditional stage-hands.

"Among loads of other issues, we've had to teach them to perform under water -- sometimes even to swim," casting chief Mathew Jesner said of his performers.

More than 50 million tickets worldwide have been sold for Dragone's shows to-date, which include 10 Cirque du Soleil seasons.

The new production is scheduled to be staged 10 times weekly when phase two of the City of Dreams development opens later this year.

AFP/Expatica