Criss Angel Believe Buzz

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CraigMitchell
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Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 27th, 2008, 3:39 pm

Some great updates following the first preview of Believe:

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/lux ... ing-sales/

"Tickets for Mindfreak magician Criss Angels new live show are disappearing even faster than some of the incredible illusions he performs. Cirque du Soleil officials told me at the Luxor last night (Friday) as the curtain went up on the very first preview of Believe that theyve sold a mind-boggling $5-million worth of tickets right out of the gate!

Im on Cloud 9, said an ecstatic Criss moments after the premiere preview ended and his 15-year-dream had come true.

A Cirque executive told me: Ticket sales are fantastic-- and ahead of when we launched KA at the MGM and Zumanity at the New York-New York resorts. Almost on a par with the Beatles Love at the Mirage but that was an exceptional worldwide phenomenon of a 40-year legacy We couldnt be happier with Believes great start -- sales are more than we expected and hoped for. We are already up to 1,100 tickets a day at the box office and that ramps up daily -- now word is out that Believe has actually opened.

...But suffice to say Criss has extraordinary magic up his sleeves - and when he escaped from a straight-jacket, hanging upside down in the theater ceiling right above the audience 15 rows from the stage, the stunned fans were in total silence as a countdown clock ticked to zero. He made it with a half-second to spare - and then topped that by adding an unexpected Dive of Death plunge right into the crowd. This was more chilling than the crashing chandelier at Phantom of the Opera!

...I am also not going to report on all of his magic until the October 31 premiere, but will note that one illusion where he battles a monster that comes to life from broken parts on the stage is an extraordinary highlight. Fans were still talking about that in reverential tones in the casino an hour after the curtain came down on Night 1 of his 10-year run there!

The onstage energy from the entire cast is exhilarating -- especially when they show up in the aisles throughout the theater. The musical score is sensationally superb, the dancing is all-out fabulous, the costumes are magnificently incredible. The theater itself with the two giant gold rabbit side frames and the exploding clock with three additional rabbits on the top center frame is a visual and mechanical stunner.

Post Script: Criss refers to Believe as "This show is the most detailed complicated show ever mounted. Even more complicated with how it works than KA." That may be pushing poetic licence just a tad ;-)

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 7:17 am

Besides Robin Leach's puff piece - initial fan reaction has not been good:

"Criss Angel fans flew in from as far away as London to see his new Cirque du Soleil show open at the Luxor on Friday. The verdict by many? Creatively, "Believe" is a possibly unsalvageable "waste of time" and a "dead end" that literally bored some audience members to sleep.

On Saturday night, reaction was even worse.

"Everyone in the bathroom was chanting 'bull----'" from the urinals, Damon Ranger of Chicago told me Saturday. "It was absolutely awful. You can 'Believe' how bad it is -- because it's terrible!"

People streamed out of the theater on Saturday screaming about how poor it was. A group of six women was led by a woman yelling furiously, demanding their money back.

"Dude, it's a train wreck," Ranger said. On a scale of 1 to 10, he declared "Believe" a zero."

Full article at the LVRJ:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/29875759.html

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby MaxNY » September 29th, 2008, 9:48 am

There were a lot of comparisons to his television show. Ouch! Hence the problem that I have been shouting about...you can't edit the time line, if it is a time line sensitive illusion...CGI doesn't work live, and builds up your reputation so large, that you can't possibly live up to the expectations.

This would be billed as Karma.

I don't work for free. Anyone else need advise?

The Street thugs are dead. Long live well performed magic.

Thanks Criss for raising the bar so high that magic as performance art may be damaged for decades.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 29th, 2008, 9:55 am

The review says the stagework, set, dancers and music are fine. Is this a case of Fitzkee vs Devant?

How does this compare to Doug Henning in Merlin?
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Richard Kaufman » September 29th, 2008, 10:59 am

It has nothing to do with Doug Henning's show Merlin.

But, Jeez, those commments are withering. Of course it was the first preview, and there will be many tweaks with timing and lighting and so on, so comments about wires and traps being seen are premature--all of that stuff will be taken care of by opening.

Of course, the Las Vegas Review Journal has a score to settle with Criss because he threatened to blind one of their columnists, Norm, who only has one eye to begin with!
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Chris Bailey » September 29th, 2008, 11:56 am

Ouch. I'll be more interested to hear what people think after the official opening. There is something to be said about becoming famous via a TV show where you use a lot of "TV tricks" to make the effects work. It would be hard to live up to that in a theater where you weren't able to resort to that kind of manipulation.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 12:01 pm

The true test are the reviews post opening ... having said that though, the majority of those attending the previews were likely Angel fans and thus 'should have' been fairly favourable especially knowing the show was still being tweaked.

Alternatively the LVRJ article is seriously skewed to only reflect the small minority of the audience who disliked it ...

Time will tell - hopefully someone will post some detailed feedback soon

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 12:06 pm

Further comments:

"I Give the Show Two Months. Tops."
A group of us in town from Boston saw the Criss Angel show last night. I had a free ticket and I still felt ripped off. It is sad to watch Cirque, which I generally have enjoyed over the years, put their name on something so awful. There hasn't been a great Cirque show in Vegas since "O" and that was 10 years ago. The Criss Angel show sets a new low.

Unlike "Le Reve" or "Ka" or some of the other Cirque-like shows that started bad but they have tinkered with and made fairly good, the Criss Angel show seems unlikely to be fixable because the concept itself is so flawed. Magic is about taking the ordinary and, when it is touched by this one special figure, it becomes unusual. That's why magicians come off as these ego-driven, pseudo cult figures - for which Criss Angel could be the archetype.

Cirque, on the other hand, is about transporting you to a place and a group of people who are otherworldly from the get go. Things appear and disappear out of no where. The stage is nothing but trap doors. "

http://magic.about.com/b/2008/09/28/rea ... eviews.htm

And:

"As a big fan of Chris Angel's Mindfreak and of Cirque....I was truly excited about seeing this show...which I did tonight. Wow! What a big disappointment. This show bombed on several levels. Do not expect ANY mind blowing magic. Very basic stuff. Mostly the use of trap doors on the stage. There are a couple of moments that shine, but that would consist of about 10 minutes of the show. I am clearly not alone in my opinion. The audience , at best, could only muster "polite" applause at any given time throughout the show. I chatted with a few people after the show....everyone was disappointed. One guy went to the box office for a refund.....I followed him, only to find several (6-8) people requesting the same thing. I did not request a refund, but I do BELIEVE" that this show is more of a losing streak, than a mindfreak. Seriously.....I hate to say it, but skip this show."

http://las-vegas-hotels.tripadvisor.com ... evada.html

And:

"I saw it last night. It is awful. Worst show I've ever seen in Vegas by several orders of magnitude. Only upside is it gave the group I was with something to talk about over dinner ("Could you believe how awful it was when he..."). People were walking out (I'd estimate 10% of the audience was gone within the first hour). There was an eerie lack of applause when Criss Angel finished lip synching his silly theme song. Parts were offensive. Most was boring. Repeated the same trick over and over and over again. Almost none of Cirque's traditional acrobatics or athleticism, which was disappointing. Several people in the audience were heckling: "This sucks!" Ugly.

I really don't think it's fixable, but I hope there's a miracle worker out there for those of you with non-refundable tickets. Seems like one very expensive mistake for the Luxor. If you go, make sure you sit close. Show is too "small" for the size of the theater. I think you'd miss half of it if you weren't within the first 20 rows. Back of the theater may be a good place for a nap if you've checked out of your hotel room and are waiting for your flight.

Finally, they're giving out free and _extremely_ discounted tickets. I'm not a high roller or anything (wasn't even gambling this trip), but was given free tickets. No one I talked to had paid more than $30. Even if you're a huge Criss Angel fan and have a compelling need to see this show, don't pay anything close to full price."

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby LV720 » September 29th, 2008, 12:10 pm

Well, I've seen it 2x, and I enjoyed it both times. Once in a "Lion's Den" and the 2nd Preview. Miles different and much improved within the span of two or three days. I hardly pay TOO much attention to reviews as it's purely a subjective thing. I HATED Titanic...my wife LOVES Titanic. As far as Cirque is concerned...I liked O better than Mystere, opposite for my wife. I didn't like Cirque's show: LOVE...AT ALL...but it got a standing ovation when I went.
I went on Saturday and Criss and Cast got a standing O...it was sincere and earned and word was that CA would be signing autographs and there was a remarkable crowd of maybe 100+/- or so in waiting by the Believe shop.
I'm sure that these 40 days of previews will yield improvements as Cirque and Criss receive feedback and implement changes. It's NOT the A&E show, maybe that's what the people want. Who knows.
It'll find its stride...I'm going to the gala premiere on 10/31 (gave up MC seance that week to go)...we shall see...

dgd

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 12:15 pm

Hi LV720 - looking forward to your full review once the show officially opens ( I can imagine how frustrating it must be not to be able to give us all the details until then ;-)

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 29th, 2008, 12:19 pm

I don't understand this rush to judge a show from it's first previews - especially when the show is scheduled to open for Halloween a good month away.

What I'm looking for in this discussion is an idea of how well Criss does in performing with the Cirque players and how well the show flows as an entertainment.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 1:40 pm

From the Cirque side - things appear to have been very positive ( with greater focus now on dance than the usual acrobatics ) Great costumes, lighting, music, stage et al ... the biggest disappointment from early reviewers has been the magic ( Criss' side )but quite a few effects have yet to been finalised, still to be added or still being polished ... so there is still hope.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » September 29th, 2008, 4:11 pm

LA Times has feedback:

http://vegasblog.latimes.com/vegas/2008 ... -at-a.html

"That said, this show has serious challenges that are impossible to ignore ahead of it. I will offer my thoughts in a moment on those challenges. But my opinion is not important compared with the paying audience. And, though less jaded than I, the audience also saw the obvious problems with "Believe." Vegas audiences are usually very forgiving; look at the people who still applaud the living remains of Wayne Newton. But the audience that saw "Believe" with me was appalled, based on the comments I heard. And Doug Elfman of the Review-Journal was outside the theater the night I was there and the next night recording audience reactions that were uniformly negative.

Whatever the problems with "Believe," the show is not "unsalvageable." The costumes, look and music of the show are impressive props. The dancers are talented. The problem is the very confusing premise that I think is at the core of the show, and even that premise is promising. Illusionist Angel, through an accident, winds up in a Cirque-created world of magic. But if that is the story of "Believe," then Cirque has to reconcile itself to having a headliner whose personality puts over the show. Right now "Believe" loses energy the moment Angel enters the mystery world of Cirque and becomes, for the most part, a spectator. He possesses mighty powers, hangs out a little and returns to our world healed enough to sing along with a taped version of his television theme song as the audience walks out. Where is the man's dialouge? Does he have thoughts of what is going on with his body in the "real" world or what he is viewing in the land of Cirque creations? We never learn. Angel turns mostly silent."

and some telling comments on the need to integrate the world of Cirque with that of Angel:

"But "Believe" dodges this question by depriving Angel of almost any dialogue in response to the visually lush, dark and heavily symbolic world he lands inside. Angel and his compelling personality may be the center of the show but they are not at the heart. Instead, Angel is at the side figuratively and literally for much of the show. He can not dance as well as the dancers, move as well as the acrobats or meet the talent demands of any of Cirque's routines, and so he is a spectator when not brought out for an illusion. This results in two shows in desperate need of a writer to bridge the gap and offer the audience some sort of compelling story that pulls the production together in a way not clear yet from viewing it.

Another issue is the basic illusions Angel offers in Cirque's world. To varying degrees, they are tricks that are familiar, surprisingly predictable on the Strip. The illusions include escaping from a straitjacket while suspended in air, making birds appear in his hands and having a dancer crawl out of his stomach (this is an illusion staged in Vegas for years by many, including mediocre and forgotten talents). If these are the illusions' caliber, why get Criss Angel to perform them? Of course, two illusions were not presented while I was there. They may also have helped make the story clearer."

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 1st, 2008, 4:04 am

And a layman's take from Tripadvisor:

http://las-vegas-hotels.tripadvisor.com ... evada.html

"...When the show starts he comes out and talks to the audience and mentions Mindfreak and shows on a screen what amounts to a commercial for it. The clowns that wander around the audience and quake when the clock chimes seven and keep repeating his name over and over get you in the mood for something scary, not what you actually get.


When Criss gets "electrocuted" early on in the show, it's actually funny. The fan sitting next to me was horrified, but many people giggled (myself included). We were supposed to believe that the contraption on stage was producing 6,000,000 volts of electricity. You know, that thing they have at every science museum that makes a large continuous spark? Yes, every night for 10 years, Criss & Cirque are going to take the chance of sending a 6,000,000 volt bolt of electricty into the audience. RIGHT!


When the show starts you can see where the trap doors are in the floor (they are going to have to fix this). When people float out, you can see the wires.


Now here's my interpretation of the show. (and obviously we're all entitled to our opinion) It looks like Criss is unconscious and what we are watching is what he is dreaming while he is out. I guess his camerawoman (who comes back in his dream as an evil female demon) was supposed to have rigged the accident. Now I may be wrong, but this is what I took away from the show.


So in his dream, Criss must be one sexy guy because every dance either involves a woman putting her face in his crotch, or simulated sex. Uh, I find Criss creepy, so it was hard for me to watch. I wish he would have stuck with the magic. I wish Cirque would have more input in this show than Criss.


I liked the Cirque dancing. I liked the huge scary monsters than came out and then separated into dancing mole/anteaters(?) and the scene with the windstorm. But, as far as magic goes, I didnt' pay all that money to see him put on a large jacket and pull doves out of his sleeves. One trick that involved him running behind a large screen an coming out with a different colored costume on got old after the third color. He did rely on the large TV screen a lot and some of the tricks were done farther back on the stage. It was just disappointing. I kept waiting for a "WOW" moment and it NEVER came. I do feel like I wasted my time and money. I went with an open mind and left disappointed. His loyal fans stood and clapped at the end, but everyone else stayed seated ..."

What is particularly humorous on the same thread is mention by another contributor of DC stooging his encores ;-)

"As for people in the front row you describe as "loyal fans" I would be suspicious of them. Last year we saw Copperfield and were in the front row. Prior to the show a member of the crew came to us as well as others near the front and asked if we would be "part" of the show. Our "role", in short was: at the end of the show Copperfield would throw a handful of sand in the air, at this point our table as well as others near the front were suppose to stand and start a boisterous sustained standing ovation. It was kind of funny because we were actually told that it was up to us to get the crowd up to ensure a "really amazing encore trick". We just laughed thinking that if a standing O happened or not maybe DC might have something to do with it. Needless to say the show was alright but not great. As the sand flew our table remained in our seats as did the huge majority of the theater. A few people near the front stood-up and cheered wildly doing their best to ensure an encore which never happened."

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Brandon Hall » October 1st, 2008, 4:12 pm

Great, now I'm jaded
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Dave V » October 1st, 2008, 5:46 pm

I just heard another unsolicited report from a layperson who went to the show last night.

"Waste of time, wasted evening."

The set was gorgeous and the dancers were good. It seems everything about the show was okay, except for the parts that Criss was in.

The worst part in her opinion was when he tried to sing.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 1st, 2008, 6:40 pm

Well, everyone should already knows what it sounds like when he sings, since he sings the title song of Mindfreak on every episode.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby ChristianCagigal » October 1st, 2008, 7:29 pm

This is off topic but, speaking as a person who holds DC in complete idol worship because he always did it better than everybody else and most can't begin to understand how good he really was however, 4 or 5 years ago I saw DC. The show and the new material in it were disappointing. Yet at the end of the show we could hear wild amounts of applause from behind us. We looked back wondering what that sound was. Oddly enough there was nobody behind us. We were in the last occupied row of a half empty Orchestra section.Maybe it was just an echo from the Balcony above.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 1st, 2008, 7:58 pm

Maybe it was pre-recorded sound track. Siegfried and Roy used to have that at their show--loud applause and so on, mixed right into the music at the end of the show.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 1st, 2008, 8:43 pm

Dave V wrote:...
The set was gorgeous and the dancers were good. It seems everything about the show was okay, except for the parts that Criss was in.

The worst part in her opinion was when he tried to sing.


Merlin? Sounds like Merlin... with a twist of Lidsville.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby John Carney » October 1st, 2008, 9:36 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote: he sings the title song of Mindfreak on every episode.


that song always makes me cry.

jc

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Michael Close » October 1st, 2008, 9:56 pm

John Carney wrote:That song always makes me cry.

jc


Especially if you know anything at all about music...

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 2nd, 2008, 9:13 am

The chorus of negative reviews grows louder ... Cirque have their work cut out for them !

http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/elfman/Criss_ ... me_In.html

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 2nd, 2008, 9:17 am

John Carney wrote:
Richard Kaufman wrote: he sings the title song of Mindfreak on every episode.


that song always makes me cry.

jc


When you play it at home you can replace it with the theme song to "Mr. Ed" if that works better for you.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 2nd, 2008, 11:19 am

From Craig's latest link to the Las Vegas Journal Review, this online response is interesting--it's wicked in its criticism:

Foster Grant wrote on September 29, 2008 02:25 PM: A lack of practice is NOT the problem with this show. I saw it Saturday with rabid Angel fans and they were embarrassed. Angel should have been embarrassed. Cirq folk were WONDERFUL!!! But Angel (and his obvious doubles) kept taking the stage.

Fans of his muscles should note that "cumberbund-like" belt hides more than just his "flying" harness.

Funny how collapsible capes and hoods cover Angel at the same 3 points on the floor for EVERY disappearance, or watch to see him dash up-stage through smoke. And if the body on that chain-saw table looks human to ANYONE, you need to look at more people! I suspect the torso was cast from Angel 10-15 lbs. ago, or "touched up" - it's the only time one sees what is supposed to be his "waist."

I expect the only "mind freak" going on is Angel backstage just before the start of this bomb each night (Oh, be good if he could improvise his patter to reflect when there are and are NOT two shows nightly, but that's obviously beyond this clod's skills.) It's hard to sort out which parts are most uncomfortable in this show for the audience - when Angel speaks, or when he performs "tricks." Both made me queasy.

Finally, neat trick with the "Surprise" 'We love you Chris' banner, with Angel usually out of synch with the supposedly live video on screen. Time lag can be sold as a tech effect, but the words and movements STILL have to match, and they don't. Oh, and Chris, don't start peeling off one costume before disappearing behind the video screen. And we know your double sometimes comes out the other side.

It's as if this guy has done only TV magic. Sadly, sloppy magic on stage can't be "cleaned up in post."
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 2nd, 2008, 11:34 am

If its any consolation to Criss ... Le Reve was panned by critics when it opened - and some 3 years of continued changes later - I'm told that they've finally got it right ...

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Brad Henderson » October 2nd, 2008, 11:43 am

I saw Le Reve two years ago and it was awful. Weakest show if its kind I have seen.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby ChristianCagigal » October 2nd, 2008, 2:38 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:Maybe it was pre-recorded sound track. Siegfried and Roy used to have that at their show--loud applause and so on, mixed right into the music at the end of the show.


I didn't wanna say it myself...
I still don't know if it's extremely clever or a bit sad for performers at their level to do that.

As for La Reve, I have a buddy in that show. Brad's comment explains a lot.

As for CA. Wow! I hope magic happens between now and "Opening Night". But, these audience reviews are not looking good.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Terry » October 2nd, 2008, 4:41 pm

On TMZ last night, they quoted an audience member saying, "Angel makes David Copperfield look good and he's an old guy".

Real difference in edited TV and a live show.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby shaena engle » October 3rd, 2008, 12:20 am

The press nights for Believe have been changed numerous times and we have been assured that Oct. 30 is now set as the official press night. Journalists, including myself, have been provided press seats for Oct. 30, before the grand opening on Halloween. The Cirque pr folks told press that they are "still working out the kinks" in the show. So far, I have only heard negative reviews about the show. After the 30th most of the reviews from press will publish.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Steve V » October 3rd, 2008, 1:43 am

Okay...I'm in desperate need of employment so since Criss can't hack it I, yes I, volunteer to replace him.
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby LV720 » October 3rd, 2008, 8:14 pm

This was printed in the Las Vegas Sun today...Interview with Criss regarding Believe:
See below:

LAS VEGAS SUN:
October 3rd, 2008

Criss Angel has 30 days to make believers.

His Cirque du Soleil show, "Believe," premieres at the Luxor on Halloween, leaving a month to put the finishing touches on the $100 million production. The show opened softly Friday to a sellout crowd and previews of the work-in-progress will continue until the Oct. 31 premiere.

"Believe" originally was scheduled to open Sept. 12, and some have suggested the delays indicate deep-rooted and serious problems are afoot. It isn't the first Cirque show to be delayed: "K" was delayed about seven months before it premiered in 2005 at the MGM Grand.

Critics have taken swings at "Believe" as the preview performances ramp up.

A column in Mondays Review-Journal called "Believe" an "unsalvageable waste of time that literally bored some audience members to sleep." Though columnist Doug Elfman said he didnt see the show himself, he talked to several people who saw the show Friday and Saturday. He also eavesdropped on ticketholders as they left the theater to reach his conclusions.

"Not one person I talked to said it was good," he said during a phone call Wednesday. "I wasnt trying to stack the deck one way or another I put in all the positive stuff I got."

Tuesday night's crowd wasn't as tough.

Cheryl and Randy Dalton, of Canton, Ohio, sat in Row M of Section 102. After the 25 percent preview price discount, their tickets, came to just over $100 each.

It was definitely worth the money, Cheryl said after the show. "(Angel) tied everything together, made it more of a performance, a story," she said. "I didnt think there was going to be a storyline. It was kind of like an extra treat."

Said her husband, Randy: "I wouldve liked to see a little bit more illusions, but still it was very good."

Jason Koehn, Celeste Mansanz and Shawn Reiter came to Las Vegas from St. Paul, Minn., to see "Believe" and do a little gambling. Masanz said "Believe" was the highlight of the trip, while Reiter said he felt there was "a little too much of the TV stuff," but he still enjoyed the show.

When asked Tuesday night about the magic to song-and-dance ratio, Angel said there are more illusions in the show than most people realize. By his count, the show has about 25 significant so-called "mindfreaks" in the 90-minute performance.

Angel has learned a few things in these preview shows. The illusionist noted some aspects of the show that never were intended to be magic have been misinterpreted as illusions-gone-wrong. Case in point: the cables used in one sequence that suspend costumed Cirque performers above the stage.

"I never set out to try to fool anybody. Those people are hanging from a line," Angel said. "Theyre not supposed to be levitating or flying. Theyre hanging from, you know, a typical Cirque rig."

The 40-year-old Angel sat cross-legged on his dressing room couch, joking about his show being under a misguided microscope. "People in the audience are sitting there like, 'Oh, look at that girl flying like a bird! You can see a line!'" he said.

Yes, you can see the line! Im not trying to hide a line. The line is like this big, he said, laughing as he held his fingers and inch or two apart to show the line's diameter.

He cracks jokes as he discusses the ups and downs of the creative process. Still, he said theres a lot that remains to be done before the show opens next month.

Is the show done? No, its not done, he said. We have a lot to do in the weeks coming.

He said two or three illusions have yet to be worked into the show, while other aspects still need tweaking.

We have work to do but its not unexpected, he said. We need a period of time to evolve and develop and to perfect and to utilize the audience as a barometer to be able to go through that process.

Once it opens, "Believe" will be performed twice a night, five times a week for the next decade, if not longer. For now, however, there is just one show a night, at 7 p.m., allowing the production team time to evaluate audience reaction and the performance itself and make changes as needed.

And changes are needed.

After gauging audience response over the first five "soft performance nights," Angel said he wants to modify the part of the show in which he gets sawed in half.

"People are having a very hard time responding to me getting cut in half because, you know, theyre applauding my death and they dont want to do that," he said. "Im going to come here tomorrow at noon and I will work with the director and try to kind of change the routine a little bit."

He said the shows music has to be adjusted, too, to allow for applause in areas where no one anticipated people to cheer.

Three things didnt go as planned Tuesday night: A chair didnt spin when it was supposed to and, twice, a streamer didnt shoot across the stage as scripted. Most in the audience didn't seem to notice when the relatively minor details didnt fall into place as planned.

Without going into details, Angel acknowledged one of the shows major illusions still needs work. He said Tuesday marked the first time he felt he pulled it off sufficiently, and even so, it's nowhere near where he wants it to be.

Im very, very excited about where were going and by Halloween were going to be 110 percent perfection, he said.

Angel's public relations rep, Steve Flynn, said the show is "very much still a work in progress.

The skeleton for the show is in place," he said. "Now we just have to put meat on the bones."

Angel said there are several things, both big and small, that need work.

"A major thing would be it rains in the show, and unfortunately, we couldnt stop it from raining in the show (on Sunday and Monday), he said. On Tuesday, the waterworks seemed to be in order and the rain machine stopped when it was supposed to.

He said the show is falling into place for the Halloween night debut.

"I think were in really good shape," Angel said. "People dont stand (and applaud) if they hate something. People dont stand if they feel that they didnt get their moneys worth."

"Believe" joins "K", "Zumanity," "O," "Mystre" and "Love" as the sixth permanent Cirque show in town. Tickets for "Believe" are available at the Luxor box office and online.

They range in price from $59 to $150, plus taxes and fees, but are discounted by 25 percent during the preview phase. The show is sold out through Oct. 6.

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CraigMitchell
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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 4th, 2008, 5:03 am

"Believe" will be performed twice a night, five times a week for the next decade ...

--> That is one serious show schedule ... we forget what a gruelling committment S&R, Lance Burton, DC and others make when joining the ranks of permanent shows ...

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 5th, 2008, 6:08 am

LVRJ continues its assessment that the magic in Believe is nothing revolutionary:

http://www.lvrj.com/living/30482954.html

It's getting harder to believe in magic.

The nice folks at Cirque du Soleil were kind enough to let me in to the new "Criss Angel -- Believe" last week without me sneaking around to buy a ticket, partly in response to poisonous exit interviews first-weekend patrons gave the Review-Journal's Doug Elfman.

I agreed not to review the show before its official Halloween debut, keeping with the newspaper's policy when preview tickets are discounted. "This is called a soft opening," Angel reminded the audience at the end. "It's still being evolved and developed."

But there isn't much time left to live up to promises made when the show was announced in March of last year. "Imagine if we could reinvent magic like (Cirque du Soleil) reinvented the circus," Angel said, pledging "an experience that redefines what magic is and what it can be."

"What we're working on and workshopping, the world of entertainment has never seen," added the show's director, Serge Denoncourt. "It's never been done before. I know that's hype but it's true."

They still have 26 whole days to put that stuff in. So far, Angel has made good on one vow: not to box in the tricks with cabinetry. But the illusions are otherwise the same ones seen up and down the Strip. (That's fact, not critical opinion.)

One, where a person appears to pass through Angel's torso, has its own Wikipedia entry explaining the secret. I wondered how any of these classics could be kept secret in the Internet era. Apparently, they can't.

It could be Cirque didn't go to the right people. A handful of behind-the-scenes illusion builders are recognized as the go-to guys for the major magicians. It's said they did not sign on with Cirque because Cirque wanted to buy their work outright. The usual practice is that the builder retains the rights to the proprietary idea, selling the same illusion to different magicians.

Given Cirque's immense resources, maybe the idea was to avoid the usual suspects and recruit some new thinking. Hey, they still have three weeks to make some calls.

One of the self-described "nuts and bolts guy(s)" is Bill Smith, a Las Vegan who works for Lance Burton and others. "There are only so many things you can do onstage. Cirque has found this out," he says. "It's hard to take the stuff that already exists and improve upon it."

Still, he reminds me of a couple of recent successes. Penn & Teller have a gory new twist on the old sawing-in-half trick. David Copperfield and another person vanish astonishingly from a type of forklift suspended over the audience. Both, Smith says, apply new procedure to old principles.

OK, so maybe I still do believe in magic. So far, it's just not at a show called "Believe."

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby chipper » October 6th, 2008, 5:10 am

The article is from Mike Weatherford, who is actually a pretty honest and straitforward columnist in Vegas for many years now. He pretty much "tells it like it is" in his articles, columns, interviews, and reviews.

QUOTE:
"Imagine if we could reinvent magic like (Cirque du Soleil) reinvented the circus," Angel said, pledging "an experience that redefines what magic is and what it can be."

Nice idea except for a few things to consider: Cirque's original 'take' on the circus was simply their version of a one-ring "european" style circus, which was already much more theatrical and artistic before Cirque came along than the American counterpart of circus culture. It was us, the United States, that basically "bastardized" the concept of circus by creating more style than substance, and running with the "more is better" theory which expanded the single circus ring into 2, then 3 and even 5 rings. More acts performing at the same time for bigger "spectacle", but lesser quality of the acts performing since the focus was never on one singular act in particular.

When Cirque appeared in the States, it was a GODSEND. Suddenly we were back to presenting artists in their best light, with all the focus directed solely on them in a single ring. Lighting and music and even thin storylines woven into the performance was a nice and welcome surprise for westerners.

(Trust me. I grew up traveling and performing on circuses with my parents since the day I was born, until I was about 16 years old. When I saw Cirque for the first time in Los Angeles in 1984, I cried. -- Because I finally got a chance to see someone bringing the true european style of theatrical circus to our country. Finally! Yay!)

When Cris talks about reinventing magic, he seems to be missing the fact that THAT is EXACTLY what many before him had ALREADY accomplished and done. Doug Henning? Copperfield? Even taking a "bad boy" angle on magic for comedic effect by Penn & Teller? All of them NICELY REINVENTED, thank you.

Lastly, many of the people who have caught these 'preview' shows have been mentioning some similar themes of disappointment: Like being able to 'see' the holes in the stage where performers appear or disappear during production or dance numbers, or the cables "flying" Cirque gymnasts and dancers about in the show. Doesn't the creative team realize that NOBODY would mention those things if the show was simply a CIRQUE show on its own?

But now that "MAGIC" is themed into this production, the audience will take the theme ultra-seriously and will constantly look at the supposed "gaffs" like cables, holes, etc...

You can't jump back and forth between visual, magical "imagery" and then suddenly "real magic". There HAS to be a solid environment and foundation for the ENTIRE show where the 'rules' are specified and are adhered to very strictly throughout the show. Otherwise, it just doesn't work.

That would be like performing Swan Lake, and then halfway through the evening, actually releasing real swans among the ballet dancers.

Anyway, I sincerely hope their next 26 days are VERY PRODUCTIVE. I for one would really like to see a really great show.

Fingers crossed.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Roger M. » October 6th, 2008, 12:01 pm

Many excellent points in your post chipper, I enjoyed reading it.

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Dustin Stinett » October 6th, 2008, 2:14 pm

I cant think of Criss Angel now without giggling because of how Joel McHale described him a couple weeks ago on The Soup:

a lisping Doug Henning who in six months will have a career as a childrens party entertainer.

Dustin

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Terry » October 6th, 2008, 7:22 pm

Dustin Stinett wrote:I cant think of Criss Angel now without giggling because of how Joel McHale described him a couple weeks ago on The Soup:

a lisping Doug Henning who in six months will have a career as a childrens party entertainer.

Dustin


Maybe for the Addams Family children. . .snap snap. . . .

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby CraigMitchell » October 9th, 2008, 11:10 am

And it continues:

"

Caught BeLIEve - horrible. It will close within a year, maybe sooner. I know for a fact that the creative team are tearing their hair out. I've worked in theater for 20 years and I can attest to the fact that previews are basically there to iron out complex technical issues. Not creative issues. The foundation and concept of the show should be set, solid and flawless by the time previews start and the tech previews are to orchestrate the heavier technical elements.

Even if I was a huge fan of CA I would have a tough time staying one after this fiasco. A lot about it, most of it unrelated to the show's star or the 'magic', was very impressive. The sound, music, costumes, choreography, design and stagecraft is breathtaking. But what about the meat of it - the central performance, the MAGIC, this 'groundbreaking' stuff we were promised?

Well, that was hype, obviously. The truth is this show is just too abstract and half-baked. The people who DON'T know who CA was, who had just come in out of curiosity, were as confused as anyone. Angel was IN the show, sort of drifting in and out, but he said little and had such little presence it may as well have been your mailman, or the guy who works in valet parking at the Luxor.

It doesn't know where its focus is. With a Penn & Teller show, with Copperfield show, you know what you're getting. With this, nobody knew and it didn't get clearer either. Having him end the show by miming to his TV show theme song was just excruciating and obviously tacked on in lieu of a real climax. And a pseudo-thrash metal track seemed oddly out of place considering what we'd just seen was meant to be this delicate, poetic 'magical' experience.

But in public, his diabolical - and frankly nauseating - attitude and overwhelming arrogance at a time in the entertainment business when a headliner needs to show a little modesty and offer added value to get people to fork out $$$ for tickets to this shamefully under-cooked thing is going to bury it. I feel bad for the crew and the creative team who have obviously put a lot of hours into this production.

Ultimately, I don't think CA has enough of a fan base to sustain a long-term residency. Is this guy really as popular as everyone thinks? Did Cirque think there would be enough Cirque fans to sustain it? Maybe.

Big difference between Mystere, O, Zumanity, KA etc and BeLIEve - a 'star' with a total lack of tact and apparent apathy towards his collaborators. Who on earth would actually do this much verbal damage, directly or indirectly, knowingly or otherwise, to a production financed and created by people who believe in him enough to put their money where their mouth is to actualize the show? Doesn't he GET what a golden opportunity this is, how privileged he is to have Luxor/Cirque resources and backing, and how they must feel when he says or does something that damages their investment in him?

Cirque can also thank him for bringing about the backlash Cirque has managed to dodge for what, more than 10 years now? Cirque basically repackage the same formula time and time again and the audience began to get that around about the time Zumanity opened. Cirque has been a trend on the Strip that has been mightily successful, but times change.

So, what will happen next?

Cirque will see the threat this show poses to their previously untarnished track record and their future reputation as a prestigious company, cut their losses, say that they're going to retool it for Broadway as a test ground and then try again later. And that will be that. Instant wipe, like it never happened.

This could - with the right amount of development, thought and vision - have actually been a very compelling, dream-like, interesting show. But they rushed it all in and it shows.

Hearing "we're going to retool it" is a standard thing to say when really it's code for "we know it's awful and we're going to try to salvage it before it gets any worse". Look at La Reve at Wynn - I don't know how many times that show has been reworked, but it doesn't get any better in my opinion. It was a Cirque rip off and always will be.

My point is some productions are doomed from the start. They open with such a welter of baggage and negativity that NOTHING will save them. I've seen it myself and from what I saw of BeLIEve and what I hear, this sounds like an example of "sounded like a good idea at the time".

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Re: Criss Angel Believe Buzz

Postby Michael Pascoe » October 9th, 2008, 12:53 pm

The people I heard that saw it says it is horrible. The president of the Luxor walked out. Some said they saw the traps and it was just terrible. He is out of his element now that he can't have edits and trick photography. This is just bad for magic all around.


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