LOS ANGELES — The Feld Family has gone nuclear.   
   
On Dec. 15, patriarch Kenneth Feld of Feld Entertainment announced the launch of his newest touring property — Nuclear Cowboyz, a theatrical freestyle motocross show set to tour U.S. arenas beginning Jan. 2 in Pittsburgh.   

Nuclear Cowboyz is the first motor sports property to be created by Feld since acquiring the division from Live Nation for $175 million on Sept. 9, 2008. The new show combines Feld’s penchant for lavish production with the high-style antics of AMA freestyle motocross, with about 18 riders defying gravity off four ramps.
   
While there were many tween and teenage boys in attendance for dress rehearsal, the show is clearly not geared toward the youngest of audiences. Nuclear Cowboyz is a mix of huge pyrotechnic displays, high-volume hard rock and an apocalyptic storyline where the lead character finds himself in a battle between two Mad Max-style biker armies. The show also features over a half-dozen dancers, adding a high level of sexual energy to the show.

“Not only is freestyle motocross an unbelievable, amazing sport, but it has a lot more potential. Working with (producer) Mickey Diamond, we wanted to come up with a concept to deliver the sport in a new presentation to people all over the world, beyond just enjoying the competition,” Feld said. “We’re hoping this is the beginning of a new era in freestyle motocross. We’re hoping that every year, we can come back with a brand new production and give something to the world like they’ve never seen before.”

The show debuts at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh and then heads to the Richmond (Va.) Coliseum.  Feld’s Bill Powell said the show will play weekends only, traveling to new markets each week with load-ins on Wednesday or Thursday and load-outs on Sunday or Monday. Seven big-rigs with 57-foot trailers move the show from city to city.

“For me, this is like paid practice,” said rider Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg. “I practice every weekend, and then we go home during the week and prepare for competitions. We really don’t have events until after the tour has wrapped.”

The show will play two dates at arenas, and single dates at its three stadium stops — Reliant Stadium in Houston, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Tickets range from $50-$25 for adults, while kids tickets range from $50-$10. A $5-off discount is available for most shows. Feld said the show is also considering international touring, taking advantage of the company’s network of offices in 63 countries.

“It’s non-lingual entertainment,” Feld said. “If it works here, it’s going to work in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Everyone understands adrenaline.”

Directing the new show is Barry Lather, choreographer for Rihanna’s “Girls Gone Bad” tour. Feld recruited Lather for the show after Lather completed the recent season of Dancing With The Stars.

“It’s like dance, but it’s through the air and there is so much more danger involved,” Lather said. “The riders have been really receptive to staging and direction. The whole experience has been terrific and very collaborative.”

The show did a nine-day rehearsal run in early December at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Feld said he expected the show’s 18 professional riders to be a marketing asset for the tour — each rider is a champion freestyle rider in his own right, with eight riders holding X-Game medals. While the show is marketable to boys 13 and up along with their dads, the target demographic is dirt bike enthusiasts, a segment that has seen its numbers increase over the last three years.

“The sport has grown at a very rapid pace,” said two-time Motocross champion Mickey Dymond, the show’s rider choreographer and stunt coordinator. “With foam pits, competitions and X-Games, the sport has grown unlike any other sport in the world. What we’ve put together here is an opera of sorts, using motorcycles and a story that is fitting of the groups and individuals that do this sport.”   

Todd Jendro, the show’s senior director of Operations, said he has directed all of Feld’s motorcycle properties including Monster Energy Supercross, AMA Arenacross and Freestyle Motocross.
   
“The challenge was to transform an empty arena into another world,” Jendro said. Arena jump ramps were built to spec inside the facility, while the landing ramps were designed at Feld’s Palmetto, Fla., background set-design shop by the same team that designs sets for the circus and Disney On Ice.    
   
“Our landing surface for this show is rubber mats, and we’re used to the dirt,” said show captain Nate Adams, X-Games Gold medalist and World Freestyle Motocross Champion. “At first they had some type of finish on them, but as the days go on, they’ve gotten much more tacky.”   
   
The show will remain the same for each venue, although the riders will tweak the tricks and offer slight jump variations to consistently elevate the quality of the show.   
   
“Everything is not to the book,” Adams said. “If they say to do a backflip Superman here, and then I do a backflip, double-grab, Superman, who’s going to complain? Our style is called freestyle because it’s free.”­

Interviewed for this story: Kenneth Feld, (703) 448-4000; Barry Lather, (323) 957-6680; Mickey Dymond and Todd Jendro (630) 566-6100