Las Vegas : News & Views
Everything Under the Soleil
By Phil Hagen
Aug 21, 2008

Cirque du Soleil ran away from the circus a quarter-century ago and never looked back. Hatched in Quebec City, the mind-blowing troupe hit the road in the ’80s and today performs in 40-plus countries each year. But when a Cirque train parked in Las Vegas in 1992, a most unexpected phenomenon was born. Not since the King ruled the Hilton has an act been so ensconced in Sin City—yet there was only one Elvis act, and it had long ceased to evolve.

Cirque opens its sixth show on The Strip this month, having already enchanted Vegas with its virtual family of postmodern entertainment. Like sextuplets who are the same only different, each production tells you a little more about the personality of the whole clan. With that in mind, we offer a chronological primer to Vegas’ permanent Cirque shows, from the first production that landed to the next one on the trapeze.

1. December ‘93
MYSTÈRE
Treasure Island | 800-392-1999; treasureisland.com

This first impression of Cirque is that it’s a spectacle of motion. Mystère is a constant, mesmerizing movement of bodies and props and colours. Even the stage moves—sometimes like a turntable, other times morphing into a dark pit or steep cliff. The spectacle revolves around choreographed acrobatics and gymnastics, becoming sublime when joined by the production’s otherworldly live music, settings and imagery, plus a good dose of humourous mischief. All of these elements add up to an important cultural proclamation: The circus is dead; long live the circus!

2. October ‘98
O
Bellagio | 888-488-7111; bellagio.com

Cirque’s original Vegas encore drops your jaw a little lower, thanks to its special co-star—a nearly 7 million-litre pool. This, of course, is more than a giant tank of water; it’s a medium for the surreal. What else would you expect with Cirque exploring the concept of infinity? The water element adds some fresh intrigue and a splash of elegance, but what makes this show perhaps the most popular of the bunch is how the pool serves as an endlessly diverse playground for the daring cast to perform in, on and high above. From diving to synchronized swimming, it blows away whatever you watched in a Beijing pool last month.

3. September ‘03
ZUMANITY
New York-New York | 866-606-7111; nynyhotelcasino.com

As its name implies, these humans on display reduce their essence to the most basic of instincts. No, not hunting and gathering: the naughty one that necessitates an “adults only” sign at the box office. Cirque calls it “sensuality,” and that term is as loose as its cabaret-style acts—a homoerotic tango, a Tantric hand-balancing duet, an aerialist with a thing for leather, a couple bathing in milk and oil… now you know why Cirque doesn’t need a sideshow.

4. February ‘05
KA
MGM Grand | 866-774-7117; mgmgrand.com

Except for sensuality, every Cirque trait gets intensified in Ka . There seems to be more motion than in Mystère , thanks to multimedia projections, pyrotechnic spectacles and martial arts aplenty. The sound is most amazing, thanks to ear-level speakers in every seat. And more so than O , the stage is a major player—at times the 50-tonne platform takes over the show, methodically twisting, turning and hoisting. At one point it even sprouts pegs and tilts so that performers slide down like pachinko balls. Yet somewhere amid the mechanical madness, a human drama unfolds.

5. June‘06
LOVE
The Mirage | 800-963-9634; mirage.com

While Cirque’s musical taste is New Age-y, its whole experience falls in the realm of the psychedelic. And the Beatles, with their twisted lyrics and experimental sounds, are the ultimate psychedelic band. Love was a match made in… well, wherever John and George are, and Beatles fan or not, you’ll agree after you’ve seen the two forces together. Cirque’s magical and mysterious qualities mesh with a special (and Grammy Award-winning) mix of songs that—almost hauntingly—sound as crisp, clean and relevant as if they were recorded yesterday.

6. September ‘08
CRISS ANGEL Believe
Luxor | 800-963-9634; luxor.com

Again Cirque latches onto pop culture for its latest evolution, opening this month. Instead of music, it’s magic. And instead of a time-honoured international icon like the Beatles, Cirque goes to the fringe for punk prestidigitator Criss Angel. In Believe , the “Mindfreak” will play up his goth side as “a surreal, enigmatic Victorian noble” in some kind of bizarre, Houdini-inspired storyline that will be beside the point. And that point, of course, is the collision of two avant-garde artistic forces in what will inevitably be a theatre spectacle for the ages. At least the younger ages.

7. Coming November ‘09
ELVIS
CityCenter

The show is being developed so there aren’t many details. But with the next reinvention of The Strip—the opening of CityCenter in November 2009—Cirque will revive the King, whose long-reigning iconic status here has everything to do with something the new Vegas is very much not about: kitsch. But perhaps irony is just what the troupe needs to pull off a seventh masterpiece.