Vegas Phantom

Thanks for the review! It was a lot more clear than some reviews I read. :)

I saw Phantom in Vegas 2 years ago and really enjoyed the tightened-up, somewhat shorter version. Also saw Ka, loved it. More dramatic and serious than other Cirques but visually stunnng- esp. when the stage goes vertical. (A friend of mine saw it and hated it!) Hope you enjoy both shows.

It's so fun and dumb. I had a great time.

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Are the Cirque shows in Vegas better than the touring ones? I have only seen Corteo, Delirium, and Alergria on tour, and I was slightly disappointed in all of them... I am thinking of trying one in Vegas when I go again. I really like the music from Zumanity, but I read it is kind of just a tacky burlesque show. Any thoughts on which shows are the best in Vegas?

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I LOVE Jersey Boys. One of my top ten favorite shows! I will definitely catch the Vegas show if/ when I go to Vegas anytime soon. Is the show shortened at all?

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"Are the Cirque shows in Vegas better than the touring ones? I have only seen Corteo, Delirium, and Alergria on tour, and I was slightly disappointed in all of them... I am thinking of trying one in Vegas when I go again. I really like the music from Zumanity, but I read it is kind of just a tacky burlesque show. Any thoughts on which shows are the best in Vegas?"


Being that I was born and raised in Vegas, I've seen every Cirque show so if you want honest opinions here we go. hahaha!

"O": Still my favorite. There's something brilliant about the use of water and the way the stage operates in that show that never gets old to me.

Mystere: Without a doubt the most incredible use of the human body you will see on a stage. I love Mystere a lot and it's the longest running Cirque show in Las Vegas for a very, very good reason.

KA: Probably the most incredible technical spectacle you'll ever witness in live theatre. Pieces of the stage tilt completely vertical with actors and acrobats engaging in combat on the wall. It's amazing to watch, but if you appreciate amazing dance and acrobatics more, then O or Mystere are better choices. If you enjoy spectacle more then KA is your show. Basically, O and Mystere would be like seeing Anything Goes on Broadway and then KA is going to be like seeing Miss Saigon. hahaha

Le Reve: LOVE it. It's the darkest of the Cirque Shows and actually has a plot. Albeit obscure and difficult to read at moments, it's intriguing and I absolutely LOVE that show.

Zumanity: Eh. The music is really great and the choreography is freaking brilliant, but I just never got into it. The only claim to fame the show has (and should have) is its nudity. That's about it.

Love: Absolutely amazing. The music of the Beatles is so brilliantly incorporated into the show and the show is just visually stunning in both performance and technical aspects.

Believe (with Chris Angel): Even if someone offers you free tickets, DO NOT GO. Wade Robson's choreography is the only decent thing in this show, and it's a shame that the work of such a talented choreographer got put into such a steaming pile of crap. Wade Robson is brilliant, Believe is anything but brilliant.

Viva Elvis: Not bad, but not incredible. I got free tickets and I don't know that I'd go again, but I definitely enjoyed myself! I liked it, but it just wasn't my absolute favorite.

If you want a recommendation, you cannot go wrong with O, KA, Le Reve, Mystere or Love. Any of those will be amazing. :)


As far as Jersey Boys in Las Vegas, yes, I love the cut version. It really is missing like two scenes and only takes out 15 minutes, but It's perfect.

Phantom in Vegas, meh. I've seen it 3 times and I guess I just dislike ALW so much that I never have an enjoyable time.

Also, as a side note you can never go wrong with Blue Man Group while in Vegas. Make that happen at some point.

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Updated On: 9/12/11 at 03:24 AM

Phantom in Vegas is GREAT. The chandelier is worth the ticket price alone. When we saw the final show of the full length Phantom tour at The Pantages last Halloween, I was thinking some of the Vegas cuts weren't too bad after all.

I'm in the minority it seems, but while I LOVED the additions to the staging, I missed all the cut bits.

Sorry to offer the only dissenting voice here on the Vegas Phantom. We absolutely hated that production regardless of its shortened playing time. We found every drop of subtlety and nuance absolutely erased from the portrayals of the leads (though I'm comparing them to my golden memories of the original Broadway cast back in 1987, which could be suspect). They were all emoting up a storm up there like the final night of American Idol, doing some dreadful takeoff of the original show.

In addition Maria Bjornson's brilliant impressionistic set design for the Broadway production had been bowdlerized into a cheesy and literal cartoon of its former self: everything implied in the original had now been spelled out in tacky painted drops and fully dimensional theater walls. I suppose the assumption was the unwashed tourists to Vegas wouldn't appreciate the gilded but skeletal grandeur of the original, and needed everything underlined in detail for them. We found it insulting and pitied Hal Prince for lending his name and efforts to such a sell-out (and not in the boffo-box office sense).

On a happier note, we agree with all those above who nominate "O" and "Love" for best Cirque de Soleil shows EVER. I've seen "O" four times over the years-- I go back each time almost like a religious experience, it's that good. "Love" has a weaker second half (with some oddly racist overtones in 2 or 3 numbers) but is absolute genius for the first hour or so.

We found "Ka" sort of like the "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" of Cirque shows-- a hollow triumph of money and machinery over anything human, though awe-inspiring to look at. "La Reve" bored us to tears (sorry, B'wayFuture462). And "Zumanity" was simply gruesome-- hated the whole tone that wanted to make alleged sexiness dirty again instead of fun. To us it was the opposite of sexy. (For true sexiness, watch the underwear-clad boys and girls in "O" gleefully high-dive off of spinning swings into the pools in unending succession-- pure lust at its finest.

Sorry, Brody. I knew I had done draftings on the Broadway set back in mid-'87, but never checked my playbills before posting. It appears I saw the Broadway production 4 times: twice in '88, then in '92 and '94. Dates notwithstanding, my point of comparison with the Vegas production still stands.

The actors really need to be replaced. They've been playing the same characters for years and years and last time I saw it they were beyond bored. The shows technical aspects are awesome, but the performances left a lot to be desired.