Boy, was I wrong. From the moment the show started, I realized Cirque has completely run out of ideas. Most of the acts were almost identical to those featured in other Cirque shows, but set to Elvis music. For example, I don't know how many times I've seen aerial acrobatic routines in which a couple of performers dressed in almost nothing pantomime intercourse. Or a giant wooden sculpture swinging from the ceiling that acts as a trapeze.
To make the show worse, I counted at least five blatant errors from the performers, at least two of which nearly ended in death or dismemberment. The signature Cirque audience reaction that makes you want to cover your eyes and think "I can't believe they're going to pull this potentially dangerous stunt off," was ever-present, but often because I was genuinely questioning the skill-level of the performers. Between falling acrobats and dancers who looked like they were bored or just found out they were at the bottom of the pyramid on Dance Moms Miami, I began to wonder if I'd missed some recent news piece about the show being canceled early. (The current plan is to close it by then end of 2012.)
Perhaps the only unique feature of the show was that someone decided the performers should be allowed to talk. Again: bad idea. Unless you're a triple-threat ala Leah Michele, no one should assume that being a good dancer or singer makes you a good actor. Holy crap were the monologues bad. And I mean Zach Morris bad.
From what I can tell, the only factor keeping this show open is the optimism of existing fans of Elvis' music and Cirque. I also enjoyed the lead vocalist, although the fact she was at least seven months pregnant and wearing a sequined Moo Moo was kind of distracting. Also, at the end of the show, they gave away these free fake satin Elvis scarves, probably as a apology:
Dunno, it still sounds more interesting than Holly's Peepshow.
ReplyDeleteThey are both terrible!
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