Padd Solutions

We arrived at the lobby at around 6:00 pm. Unlike other Cirque du Soleil lobbies, this one was modern and simplistic. The walls were all painted either red or grey. Mirrors were also scattered around. Many of these were two-way mirrors, so when they were lit from behind, you could see through it. They would use this to have bunnies appear and disappear every so often. Past the ticket scanners, there’s a long dark hall lined with paintings of demented scenes, some of them holographic. Because of the previews, this is where we had to check in any cameras or cell phones. There were absolutely no exceptions to this rule as we had to go through metal detectors and security wands. After security are the concession stands selling over priced food and drinks. Craving thirst, we bought some bottles of water for $4 a pop, and these were the mini kind! Ridiculous. From here there were the entrances that took everyone to their desired section of the theatre.

The theatre itself had a rather normal layout; one level that slopes up and split into two terraces. Every seat seemed to have a rather good view of the show. We were seated about 3/4 the way up and almost dead center middle width wise. The stage itself had a classic red curtain, but sort of tattered with. Around the curtains was a metal gold frame with lots of detail of bunnies and other magician related imagery carved into it, and at the top, a clock that would chime every few minutes during the preshow. The preshow consisted of these character “ushers” showing guests to their seats while doing some rather odd acts. When the clock would chime, they would stop whatever they were doing, quickly run to the stage, and introduce a bunny that would appear and would quickly have to catch before it escaped. They do this a few times as the audience makes their way to their seats, but with the final introduction, instead of the bunny, Criss Angel appears and the show starts off in a completely different direction.

Gone is Cirque du Soleil and in is an MTV-style Mindfreak rock concert magic show. It’s very loud and in your face; very un-Cirque du Soleil. He interacts with his “fans” (possible cast?) in the audience, shows some clips from his Mindfreak show, and attempts a failed trick that almost got him killed on his TV show. He fails and dies. The show stops, the stage goes dark, the house lights come on, emergency personal come on stage, and it’s dead silence. They proclaim his death and carry him out. The stage goes dark and the original red curtains are back. The audience is confused. A puppet bunny comes out stating that the show must go on, states all the rules and regulations, and a random house light drops from the ceiling and crushes it to death. Soon, demented bunnies put on a dancing act around Criss Angel’s dead body, they attack him and rip all his limbs apart and scatter them all over the stage. The rest of the show follows in the same confusing fashion, but with Criss Angel being brought back to life, hanging out with the ushers, falling in love, dancing with dolls, doing some unimpressive illusions, and finally, gets married.

A clip of the "Homage to the Rabbits" dance routine on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.

It’s a very odd premise all around. The magic is also confusing in a sense because the audience has a hard time distinguishing the line between magic (no wires and trap doors) and Cirque du Soleil theatre (which is full of wires and trapped doors). And it’s all dancing too; almost no acrobatics (Shock! I mean, it’s Cirque do Soleil!). Then there was the chaos of retrieving our electronic goods from the tables set up in the exit hall. A huge mess of the standing crowd colliding with the exit crowd in a narrow hall. The good side about the show is that the costumes, sets, and music are absolutely amazing, but that doesn’t make up for Criss Angel, the lack of acrobatics, and a very weird show in general (not even the good kind of weird). However, the show was in test and adjust mode, so hopefully it will improve before the Halloween opening. I may give it another try sometime in the future.

✗ Brian