Viva Las Vegas...Part Deux

The plane touched down at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport last night at 6:00 p.m. I gathered our bags and headed for the car. When the doors opened and I stepped into the cool crisp air all I could think of was that it was GOOD to be home. I had spent the previous seven days in Las Vegas attending class and taking an exam. The class lasted from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. everyday. On Wednesday we went until 6:30 p.m. After being in classrooms, casinos that smelled like a smokers used car, and the artifical atmosphere of an airplane cabin filled with passengers, the 42 degree air, with a light breeze out of the Northwest, was a Godsend. Home, Sweet, Home!!!

However, we did see two Cirque du Soleil shows while we were in Vegas, and that is the subject of this post. Tuesday night my wife and I saw "LOVE" at the Mirage. For those of you who watched the Grammy's last night, you saw nothing!!! Cirque du Soleil theatres are customized to their needs, and the Staples Center has nothing that this troupe needs. For those of you who are familiar with Cirque du Soleil, the show "LOVE" is far and away the least acrobatic and athelitic of their shows. It is much more music, dance, multi-media and theatre. "LOVE" is a tribute to the music of "The Beatles". For those of us who grew up in the sixties, this tribute to the greatest band of our era was absolutely wonderful. The sound system is incredible. There are even small speakers in the seats for an additional layer of sound. The show features much of their music that had political and social undertones rather than the traditional feel good, love songs. This production is theatre in the round. Actually it's an "X", so some of the seating has stage elements on on two sides of the audience. The costumes and performances are as imaginative as you would expect form Cirque du Soleil. You will leave the theatre feeling good, and for us that are children of the sixties, we leave feeling very fortunate to have lived with that music when it was originally created. The Beatles belong to the Boomers.

After I got out of class/exam on Saturday around noon, my wife asked me what I wanted to do that evening. Wednesday evening she and the wife of my collegue went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian, so she said she would like to do anything I wanted. We pondered the idea of a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, dinner at Bobby Flay's "Mesa Grill", or dinner in Hugo's Cellar in the Four Queens on Freemont Street (these dinners were going to exceed $150.00 per couple). The truth is, I have always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil's presentation "KA" at the MGM Grand. So we got tickets at the last minute to the show and I am sooooo glad we made that choice. The KA theatre seats around 2000, there is not a bad seat in the house and is an incredible piece of architecture. It is the most intricate Cirque du Soliel theatre I have ever been in.
Then there is the performing platform...OMG!!! One section of the platform raises and lowers to various heights while the other (larger) platform rises, lowers, rotates 270 degrees, and tilts 90 degrees!!! Words simply cannot describe the technology, architecture and engineering required to pull this off. The story is based on a Chisese Prince and Princess that are separated as children and the journey they take to reunite. The music is fantastic, the acrobatics are unbelievable and there are even major pyrotechnics at the finale. At the end of the performance, I found myself walking out of the theatre and asking the question, "How do I explain or describe to anyone, what I just saw." I can't. The only thing I can tell you is that these are the only shows that I have ever attended, that cost me over $100 per ticket, and I would galdly pay to see them again and again. So far, we have seen "La Noubia" in Orlando and "O", "KA", and "LOVE" in Las Vegas and I think that my order of preference is "O", "KA", "La Noubia", and "LOVE". That's primarily because I like the acrobatics. The next time I go to Vegas, I will see "Mystere" and that will wrap up my tour of Cirque du Soleil. The next time you are in Las Vegas make every effort to see one of these shows. You will not be disappointed.
So, I leave you with this promo and performance clip of the last act in the "KA" show. The clip is a little long, but it's the only way I can begin to answer that question, "how do I explain to you what I saw". Enjoy!

Viva Las Vegas

Tomorrow my wife and I are leaving for Las Vegas. I have to take a class and she is coming along for the R&R. The class I am taking is related to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Enviornmental Design). I know, go figure that there would be a class on energy design in Las Vegas. The city uses enough energy to power ther remainder of the country every day. Anyway, at the end of the week, there is an exam and if I pass, I will be a LEED commissioning agent. That means that any client that wants to build a LEED certified building can contact me to manage the paperwork required for the certification process. I know you're thrilled about this and can't wait to read more about LEED. Maybe I'll do that another day.
One thing that we intend to do while in Vegas is go see the Cirque du Soliel show "Summer of Love", tribute to the Beatles. I have reservations for Tuesday night. For those of you unfamiliar with Cirque du Soliel, they are quite possibly the most amazing troup of acrobats on the planet. Ther performances consist of a combination of live music, dance, acrobatics, and story telling. It is done within the framework of a European circus. The technology required to build thier sets, stages, and some of their aparatus is mind boggling. A couple of years ago we saw "O", which is a water themed show, and I am still amazed at the engineering required to make that show possible. The entire performance platform is a pool in which the depth can be adjusted from virtually zero to over fifteen feet deep. One simply cannot describe it.
Earlier this year I saw a Larry King interview with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Their reaction to the music in this tribute show was that it was better than anything the Beatles ever did. The advance in electronics has made it possible to hear instruments that were in the original recordings but not heard. As a teenager of the 60's, I can still remeber when the first Beatles song "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" had its debut in this country. I was not a Beatles zealot. At the time, I was still a fan of the Beach Boys, Johnny Rivers,The Animals, and The Stones (Rolling Stones). A couple of those names will mean nothing to you younger readers (under 40), if I have any younger readers. I liked the Beatles music, I just didn't buy many of their albums. Now, some forty-five years later, I'm going to take my wife to see a musical tribute to their work. I can't wait.