During our stay here In Las Vegas we thought we thought we'd touch for a moment on the tsunami known as Cirque.
If you come here, will invariably be tempted to see a Cirque du Soleil show.
These shows have taken over nearly all of the large casino showplaces. They have no standout "name" stars. They employ large casts of beautiful, athletic performers and stunning special effects and illusions. Each show is organized around a central theme although there is often no discernible storyline and no dialogue as the shows are usually performed in mime. They incorparetd elements of the crcus and elements of the simplest, often most whimsical forms of entertainment. For the most part they are designed to be dazzling visual feasts. And one more thing: Each show has an unusual name -- usually French or vaguely foreign.
The last time we were here in Las Vegas we saw one of the best known Cirque shows, called simply O. It was big -- VERY big. And it had many performers. But it was dark and eerie and somewhat obscure. We can't say that we ever caught the "thread" of the show. And, despite all the athleticism and incredible special effects, it left us underwhelmed.
It left us cold. We felt no real connection with any of the performers and/or characters, such as they were.
These shows are manufactured.
They all come out of a huge show factory in Canada.
And you can't come to Vegas without being confronted by a Cirque show. So, if you must -- go. And if you like what you see, go see the others. You'll spend a ton of dough to get into the shows but you won't see or hear any star entertainers and you may not even experience any live music.
We worry that the Cirque phenomenon will suffocate real, old-fashioned entertainment: real personalities, live music, real song and dance.
And we also wonder when enough is enough -- which is to say how big Cirque can grow before it effectively destroys itself.
So far, there seems to be no end to Crique's dominance. And while these shows are most ubiquitous here in Las Vegas, on any given day various Cirque companies are performing in various forms in numerous cities all over the world. It's entertainment as business -- totally manufactured, with no divas or prima donnas to worry about, many interchangeable parts and no recognizable language or language barriers.
You can't avoid it -- unless you really, really want to.
After all (for now, anyway) you DO still have a choice.
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