Tonight in Las Vegas is the official gala opening of Criss Angel: BeLIEve, a multi-gazillion-dollar collaboration between the goth-punk illusionist and Cirque du Soleil. In theory, the show should be spectacular. Criss Angel is the most popular magician of his generation, known for making onlookers shriek in disbelief at his otherworldly "demonstrations" on the A&E show Mindfreak, and Cirque du Soleil is the world's most eye-popping acrobatic troupe. So one would think a show that combines the talents of both proven entities would be an overwhelming success. But one would be wrong.
I saw the show live at the Luxor Hotel a few days ago during a little holiday in Vegas, and my mind was decidedly un-freaked. I was mind-befuddled, mind-bored and mind-disappointed, but certainly not mindfreaked. To call the show a train wreck would do a disservice to real train wrecks, which at least have the decency to not charge a fortune for viewing. The show is a disjointed, unfocussed hodge-podge of mediocre magic, ham-fisted storytelling and acrobatics that fall way short of Cirque's high standards.
This is a real shame, since I'm a confirmed magic geek and I've been genuinely impressed with many of the feats Angel has pulled off on his TV show (though I could happily do without his rockstar swagger and bling).
But his schmaltzy new Vegas show contains only a handful of illusions, none of which is particularly puzzling or entertaining. And the whole shebang is wrapped in such a preposterous, indecipherable storyline (the basic premise being that we, the audience, are transported to the inner recesses of Angel's mind, which is mostly inhabited with rabbits and clowns, creepily) that audience members are left scratching their noggins in confusion. When Angel does break from the storyline to speak directly to the audience, his monologues come across as rambling and desperate, punctuated with occasional swear words in apparent hopes of getting some kind of reaction. The collective response of the audience seemed to be "Eeeeeesh." The show almost falls into the so-bad-it's-good category, but not quite.
Thankfully, I was forewarned, having read lots of reviews by disgruntled people who had seen the show before me. Most reviews had a similar tone: "worst show I've ever seen," "worthless and... offensive," "a rotten experience start to finish" -- and here's my personal fave: "Go see Donny and Marie instead because even if you hate them... you'll still be better off." I didn't see Donny and Marie, but did check out a different duo, Penn & Teller, whose magic show was infinitely more entertaining than Angel's.
Considering that Angel signed a 10-year contract to perform BeLIEve at the Luxor, I seriously hope he and his Cirque squad do some serious rejigging (and to be fair, I saw the show while it was still in previews, which are meant to be rejigged). But the show seems so irredeemably flawed, it seems the only humane fate for it would be a swift demise. Then Criss Angel can focus his efforts on doing the mindfreaky stuff he does very well. Stuff like this:









