*Sigh*
I so wanted this to be a post extolling the virtues and wonders of the new Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show. Alas, this was not to be.
Those of you that have been paying attention know that I went on a short vacation to Las Vegas last week with a friend of mine. The main reason we decided to go to Vegas was to take in 'Believe', the new show at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, by Cirque du Soleil featuring Criss Angel.
Before I get into it, a little background. Prior to seeing this show, I had the good fortune to take in four other Cirque du Soleil performances: 'O' and 'Zumanity', both in Las Vegas, 'Varekai' in Vancouver, and 'Saltimbanco' here in Kelowna. I love Cirque's performances. The music, the acrobatics, the dancing, the costumes - all second to none. So let's just say I was going into 'Believe' with a certain set of expectations.
I'm going to start with the pluses for 'Believe'.
As usual, the music, costumes and dance sequences (all choreographed by the incomparable Wade Robson) were excellent. Some of you may have seen this preview on So You Think You Can Dance US last summer:
There was a second dance sequence featuring moles that was equally killer.
Unfortunately, that's where the good ends.
Prior to going into this show, I had made the (mistaken) assumption that it would be primarily a Cirque show with some of Criss Angel's illusions worked into it. What a great show that would have been.
Sadly, what the show turned into was a venue for Criss Angel to talk out of his ass and promote his television show.
When entering the theatre area in the Luxor, there is a parental warning stating that the show is not suitable for those under 18 due to the 'dark' nature of the show. Aside, from some swearing and penis jokes from Angel, that was about it for unsuitable material. It wasn't particularly dark (and I know dark). It wasn't disturbing. It didn't make me uncomfortable.
Every illusion that Angel performed came with a reference to what season of his show (Criss Angel: Mindfreak on A&E) it was originally seen on. There was no original material from him. He made sure to reference the season each time, just so you'd know which ones to buy on DVD.
When he was speaking to the audience (which happened a lot), he was crass, rude, obnoxious and arrogant. Then he'd go into an act and try to play the tortured artist. I certainly didn't buy it and it didn't seem that anyone else did either.
Ultimately I was incredibly disappointed with this show. And it seemed the rest of the (small) audience was too. A significant number left before the show was over! Never, have I seen that happen at a Cirque show before.
If I had my way, I would have Cirque du Soleil and for that matter Wade Robson completely disassociate themselves from this show. Take their names, logos, everything off of it. License the costumes, music, choreography, whatever, to Criss Angel for use in his show and never have the show reference them again.
If I had attended this show with someone who hadn't previously seen a Cirque du Soleil show, I would have felt obligated to buy tickets to another show just to show them exactly what a real Cirque show is all about. If this had been my first exposure to Cirque, I wouldn't be buying tickets to any of their other shows.
So in closing, I will say this: If you were thinking of seeing this show, DON'T. It's a waste of your hard earned money and nowhere near the kind of art that is normally presented by Cirque du Soleil.
I so wanted this to be a post extolling the virtues and wonders of the new Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show. Alas, this was not to be.
Those of you that have been paying attention know that I went on a short vacation to Las Vegas last week with a friend of mine. The main reason we decided to go to Vegas was to take in 'Believe', the new show at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, by Cirque du Soleil featuring Criss Angel.
Before I get into it, a little background. Prior to seeing this show, I had the good fortune to take in four other Cirque du Soleil performances: 'O' and 'Zumanity', both in Las Vegas, 'Varekai' in Vancouver, and 'Saltimbanco' here in Kelowna. I love Cirque's performances. The music, the acrobatics, the dancing, the costumes - all second to none. So let's just say I was going into 'Believe' with a certain set of expectations.
I'm going to start with the pluses for 'Believe'.
As usual, the music, costumes and dance sequences (all choreographed by the incomparable Wade Robson) were excellent. Some of you may have seen this preview on So You Think You Can Dance US last summer:
There was a second dance sequence featuring moles that was equally killer.
Unfortunately, that's where the good ends.
Prior to going into this show, I had made the (mistaken) assumption that it would be primarily a Cirque show with some of Criss Angel's illusions worked into it. What a great show that would have been.
Sadly, what the show turned into was a venue for Criss Angel to talk out of his ass and promote his television show.
When entering the theatre area in the Luxor, there is a parental warning stating that the show is not suitable for those under 18 due to the 'dark' nature of the show. Aside, from some swearing and penis jokes from Angel, that was about it for unsuitable material. It wasn't particularly dark (and I know dark). It wasn't disturbing. It didn't make me uncomfortable.
Every illusion that Angel performed came with a reference to what season of his show (Criss Angel: Mindfreak on A&E) it was originally seen on. There was no original material from him. He made sure to reference the season each time, just so you'd know which ones to buy on DVD.
When he was speaking to the audience (which happened a lot), he was crass, rude, obnoxious and arrogant. Then he'd go into an act and try to play the tortured artist. I certainly didn't buy it and it didn't seem that anyone else did either.
Ultimately I was incredibly disappointed with this show. And it seemed the rest of the (small) audience was too. A significant number left before the show was over! Never, have I seen that happen at a Cirque show before.
If I had my way, I would have Cirque du Soleil and for that matter Wade Robson completely disassociate themselves from this show. Take their names, logos, everything off of it. License the costumes, music, choreography, whatever, to Criss Angel for use in his show and never have the show reference them again.
If I had attended this show with someone who hadn't previously seen a Cirque du Soleil show, I would have felt obligated to buy tickets to another show just to show them exactly what a real Cirque show is all about. If this had been my first exposure to Cirque, I wouldn't be buying tickets to any of their other shows.
So in closing, I will say this: If you were thinking of seeing this show, DON'T. It's a waste of your hard earned money and nowhere near the kind of art that is normally presented by Cirque du Soleil.
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1 comments:
More posts please.
*grin*
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