What is the deal with Criss Angel Believe? — Page 2

If you want to say it's an incredible spectacle, I certainly won't disagree. But this may be the show where you might want to consider refraining from gushing about how incredible it is that they are almost always able to perform it without someone dying.

No show is going to go without injuries and Cirque is top notch when it comes to safety. It is unfortunate that a performer lost her life, however, Ka has performs 10 times a week and has so over 4,500 times in the past decade with 0 serious injuries. For such a highly technical show that relies on so many moments of precision, that's quite remarkable and I applaude Cirque for being able to maintain the show's level of difficult while at the same time keeping everybody safe.

Updated On: 6/29/14 at 11:22 PM

I actually am a circus performer myself and have lots of connections within the Cirque du Soleil world as well as many other circuses internationally. In addition, I also know a handful of artists currently performing in many of Cirque's Las Vegas shows, including Ka.

As for your statement about the show, I think you took my statement wrong. I am no way undermining the tragic loss of a life. As a circus performer, I have lost dear friends over the past few years of similar situations if not worse, and even though I did not know Ms. Guyard, the loss of her life was felt strongly. However, I do not think negatively of the show nor do I have any less respect for Ka and all the many crew members and artists that work so hard on the show.

Also, thank you for catching my spelling mistake. I wouldn't have been able to sleep without knowing you had done so!!

Cirque, like most circus acts, has injuries daily - way above and beyond what you deal with in the theater or dance world. And although they touted they have had no deaths on stage until the KA incident, they have lost performers and technicians outside of performance.

I pretty much agree with Haterobics and Brian. I'm a big Cirque fan. I've seen every domestic US touring and sit-down Cirque since they opened at the Olympics Arts Festival in LA in 1984 when no one had ever heard of them here. The only one I missed was Banana Shpeel. I had tickets in NY and San Francisco and it was cancelled both times before I got to see it.

I saw Believe two years ago and though the magic was interesting, the show itself was mediocre and not up to the standards of the other Vegas Cirques. I came out of the theatre and saw video screens showing dancers and acts that weren't in the show. They were still playing the old promos even though these Cirque elements had been taken out. A while before I got there they had cut the show down to Angel's magic acts and some peripheral characters who interact with him (to save money on not renewing contracts I believe). I felt doubly cheated.

I was in Vegas a few months ago and the Cirque branding has almost disappeared from the ads for Believe. To be catty, I guess they're trying to distance themselves from it cause unless you're a big Criss Angel fan, it was a pretty sorry evening when I saw it two years ago.

Here's my 2 cents to add to what Haterobics said about the Vegas Cirques...

1. O - In my opinion, one of the most amazing live theatrical productions ever. The staging, the acts and performances, the clowns, the music, the aesthetics - everything is stunning.

2. Ka - I was bowled over by the physical production of Ka. I don't know where you'll see a more amazing theatre with fire balls coming out of a pit and a stage platform that rotates 360 degrees and vertically. The show has more of a story than other Cirques and perhaps fewer acrobatic acts. But it's a marvelously conceived piece - using major technology blended with art and still tipping its hat to shadow puppetry around a campfire.

3. Mystere - the perfect blend of what Cirque is all about - great acts, colorful, humorous and fun.

4. One - I was not expecting much having seen the touring Michael Jackson Cirque and the Elvis show which was uninspired to be polite. But I was surprised to find the One was really entertaining and varied in its acts and spectacle and a wide range of songs from visual-and-audio-overload rock to hip beats and fanciful numbers. It's difficult not to feel emotion for Michael Jackson who passed away too early, but in my opinion this show could have failed like Elvis or just been an attempt to recreate the "Michael Jackson concert that never was" like the touring show. It was quite different from the Michael Jackson touring show and I think it succeeds in evoking some real emotion and wonderful moments.

5. Love - Love is entertaining, immersive and fun especially if you're a Beatles fan. I enjoyed it but I thought it went all over the place. I saw it close to opening and I believe they've changed it since then.

6. Zumanity - I saw the show about a year after it opened and it's undergone a lot of changes since then. It was good, but like Haterobics said, some of it is no surprise or nothing new to us gay guys. I don't know what it's like now cause I haven't been in almost a decade.

7. Viva Elvis - Uninspired. Yawn and it's gone.

8. Zarkana - Ugly, dark and what the heck is it about. I understand that in New York it had more of a theme or concept and they spoke English rather than jibberish.

9. Le Reve at the Wynn - Yeah, I know it's not a Cirque, but it was created by Franco Dragone who directed O, Mystere and many of the touring Cirques. It's really unusual and stunningly conceived with some amazing diving and acrobatics. It's a different version of O in the round. And what's not to like about a dozen wet gymnasts in speedos doing acrobatics for an hour and a half.

Updated On: 7/1/14 at 11:45 AM

I saw Le Reve, O and Love in the same trip. I thought Love was unique and beautiful and I'm eager to see it again. I found Le Reve to be the superior version of O. Unfortunately, I saw Le Reve first and afterwards, O just seemed slow and dull. Mystere was the only other Cirque show I've seen in Vegas, but that was back when it was the ONLY Cirque show in Vegas just a few days after it opened, so I really enjoyed it at the time.

I don't know how expensive it is to run Believe, but illusionists are one of the signature attractions in Vegas. Lance Burton played the Monte Carlo for 16 years.

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I also enjoyed La Reve at the Wynn. I'm not sure what it says about Vegas audiences, but the close seats where you might get wet and be next to the stage were the cheaper ones (and they said it was because you might get wet, not that it was a bad angle or anything), so I sat up close, got a few drops on me, and had a nice time of it.

" I'm not sure what it says about Vegas audiences, but the close seats where you might get wet and be next to the stage were the cheaper ones (and they said it was because you might get wet, not that it was a bad angle or anything), so I sat up close, got a few drops on me, and had a nice time of it."

I'm sure they are aware that if people get wet they are less likely to stay in the casino afterwards and gamble and drink, instead going back up to their rooms, or even worse, to their room in another hotel or home, to change. The reason the casinos host these shows is to get people in the door and spending, and losing, money.

Thanks, Brian. I think some higher power was saving me from Banana Shpeel based on the reviews I read. But I still would have liked to have seen it.

Great comment on wet zone for Bette, Haterobics.

Re wet zones - I've seen O and Le Reve from the front row and further back. Of course there are pluses and minuses to both. If one has the opportunity and saves up enough you can do both. I don't spring for the premium center sections. I usually go for next price level down seats on the right or left side aisles. If you are on an aisle you usually have a clear view. You get the big stage picture further back which is important at the Vegas Cirques.

But I also like seeing the performers and costumes up close from the front. Sometimes you are underneath and have to look up at performers which isn't always the best. But when you can sit in the front row and not have to pay the center section or Tapis Rouge premium price, I go for it. You don't get that wet. It's not Splash Mountain

Updated On: 7/2/14 at 12:25 PM

This might sound weird but I have always loved the way cirque theatres smell. They just have a lovely aroma. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

OMG glad you moved a little further back. On my first visit to Pippin when it was at A.R.T. in MA I was about half way back. View was great. On my second visit to Pippin I was in the Mezz (Broadway). Third visit I was in the second row and it was too close. Great to see the expressions but for this show I really think you need to be further back a bit to take in just how much is going on everywhere.

Fisherman: I do work for Cirque (Las Vegas) and what has been said about our safety record is true and the standard we hold is the best in the industry. KA was an unfortunate incident, but nowhere near what we consider a norm. Accidents do happen, especially when it was a computer-controlled glitch that caused this particular incident.


I also agree with those here who have complimented Dragone's Le Reve at Wynn. It's a stunning show and was worth every penny that Steve Wynn paid for it.

Updated On: 7/3/14 at 05:12 AM