Criss Angel Believe Buzz

[Magic Newswire]

Interesting press conference video with Criss & Cirque creator and Believe Director at our site as well as a clip of Ronin Leach from the "Black Carpet" with Nathan Burton, Penn & Teller, Neil Patrick Harris & more. ENJOY

[Dave V]

The L.A. Times reports about the opening night show:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... 0068.story

[David Scollnik]

Ouch.

[castawaydave]

http://beat.bodoglife.com/entertainment ... 91659.html

[CraigMitchell]

LA Times Extracts:

"Believe that it's unbelievable. Unbelievably bad. In Las Vegas, his mash-up with Cirque du Soleil is a magic trick gone terribly wrong."

"Reporting from Las Vegas -- If Criss Angel were blindfolded, straitjacketed, run over by a steamroller, locked in a steel box and dumped from a helicopter into the Pacific Ocean, he still might be easier to salvage from disaster than "Criss Angel: Believe," the gloomy, gothic muddle of a show that officially lurched into being on Halloween night like some patched-together Frankenstein's monster."

"The problem is that "Believe" doesn't really have the courage of its most extreme convictions. So it swathes its fearless Grand Guignol fetishes in an awkward mishmash of themes, metaphors and visual stratagems. You name it, they try it here: rear-screen projections of dramatic cloud-swept skies, Middle Eastern dance music, "The Night on Bald Mountain," giant poppies, whirling dervishes"

"None of this would matter as much if Angel had a compelling live-stage presence. But "Believe" exposes him as a natural-born showman, which isn't the same as a natural-born entertainer. He lacks comic timing and ad-libbing ability, falling flat with some very lame erectile dysfunction jokes. His personality simply disappears for long stretches of the show."

"Cirque du Soleil, for all its past success, needs fresh inspiration. A few years ago the company began showing signs of having exhausted its very large sack of ideas. It started searching for collaborators, and came up with a great one, the Beatles, for the superb "Love" show, now playing up the Strip at the Mirage.

But the Fab Four offered Cirque's conceptual wizards several instantly recognizable personalties to work with, plus, more important, a songbook of 200 tunes, many of them pop classics. Angel has no such large or spectacular body of work to psychoanalyze, dramatize and pump up to mythic proportions. He still may get there, but he hasn't arrived."

[Michael E. Abston]

From The Las Vegas Review Journal Nov 1st:
SHOW REVIEW: 'Criss Angel Believe'

It's sort of hard to 'Believe': In his new show, fans might be wondering if Criss Angel is still there

By MIKE WEATHERFORD
REVIEW-JOURNAL



REVIEW

Who: "Criss Angel Believe"

When: 7 p.m. And 10 pm.Fridays-Tuesdays (no shows today)

Where: Luxor, 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Admission: $68.40-$168.50 (262-4400)

Grade: C+



Criss Angel performs in "Criss Angel Believe" at the Luxor.
Courtesy photo



Comic-relief sidekicks are among the performers in "Believe."
Courtesy photo


Midway through his new show, Criss Angel turns and asks his audience the night's big question: "Are you still there?"

He probably meant it as, are the fans he made with his slam-bang "Mindfreak" stunt-magic hanging on for this new career left turn; a journey through a Cirque du Bizarro ballet?

But the fans might be asking him the same question from their seats. It looks like their guy (most of the time, anyway), and talks like him. But is he still there?

So it goes with "Criss Angel Believe," which officially was unveiled at Luxor on Halloween. It's the shotgun marriage of Criss Angel, sort of, and Cirque du Soleil, kind of, where both seem to have their hands tied by new rules. Neither seem completely comfortable.

Like any Cirque production, "Believe" is full of audacious and beautiful visuals. You're again reminded it's a good thing the Strip's conqueror is a benevolent one with bold ambitions. What other commercial show gives you bunnies in black leather, or a ghostly bride's wedding dress unspooling in an unending train?

The dress raises into a vertical wall, which the magician proceeds to walk down, before it's engulfed by a wash of (video-projected) blood. Moments like that make you wonder what this show could have been if Cirque and David Copperfield had come together 10 years ago.

Copperfield understands that the best illusions are little one-act plays, each building to a carefully constructed payoff that isn't just an effect, but the climax of the story.

Angel and director Serge Denoncourt, who co-wrote this one together, don't get much further than rock-concert theatrics rolled up with a cinematic soundtrack (a fine one, by the way, by film composer Eric Serra).

Their "Believe" is more like Alice Cooper circa "Welcome to My Nightmare," full of cool monsters, sinister death traps and devilishly hot bad chicks. But only in a fourth-quarter rally does the wedding-gone-bad harness Cirque's gift for lyricism into a glimpse of story-telling emotion (despite some real bad-actor howls of angst on Angel's part).

The unintended irony is that the show rolls smoothly for the first 20 minutes, when Angel does the straight-ahead showcase he probably would have mounted without Cirque's involvement. But then a surprise sends him down the rabbit hole into a weird Wonderland that's sometimes fun -- Larry King in a bondage mask! -- but more often frustrating.

The magic makes it painfully obvious that Angel is a showman whose gift was creating his persona, not anything new in his field. The dude's buff and tough enough -- hanging upside down over the audience in a straitjacket -- but the big illusions plod to predictable conclusions; dressed-up versions of the typical Vegas big-stage show.

The touted innovation is that instead of boxes and cabinets, the trickery is concealed by the fabric of fans or cloaks, or fog machines. Big whoop.

Angel's speaking role has expanded since previews began, a double-edged sword. Remember, Cirque isn't big on the talking thing. But this is a star vehicle, and the star's gotta say something, right?

So you might be lulled into the haunting imagery the same way you might be hypnotized by an old horror movie on TV. But then your roommate comes in and starts with the wisecracks and it goes the way of "Mystery Science Theater."

The magician makes awkward banter in his Long Island accent and even throws down dance moves with his comic-relief sidekicks, who wandered in from some other Cirque production in their derby hats and Euro-clown makeup. It's supposed to be incongruous -- and they sure got that part right -- because remember, it's all a dream.

Time and ticket sales will prove whether the dream turns out to be nightmare. Friday afternoon, Cirque founder Guy Laliberte reminded us of two things: A) Cirque shows don't stop evolving after the opening night party. B) No matter what you think of the stage show, $5.5 million in presales in this economy is some real magic after all.

[Michael E. Abston]

AND The Las Vegas Sun Nov 1st:
REVIEW:
Illusion is elusive in Angels Believe

Justin M. Bowen

Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil officials discuss the latest Cirque addition to Las Vegas during a Friday news conference. The show premiered Friday night after several weeks of preview performances.

By Joe Brown

Sat, Nov 1, 2008 (2 a.m.)


TOMASZ ROSSA / special to the las vegas sun

Illusionist Criss Angel performs in the Cirque du Soleil show "Believe," which officially opened Friday night at the Luxor.


TOMASZ ROSSA / SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS SUN

Cirque du Soleil spent a reported $100 million on "Criss Angel: Believe" and signed the magician to a 10-year run in the specially built theater at the Luxor.

If You Go
What: Criss Angel: Believe
When: 7 and 10 p.m. Friday through Tuesday (dark Wednesday and Thursday)
Where: Luxor
Admission: $59-$160; 262-4400, www.luxor.com
Running time: About 95 minutes
Audience advisory: Simulated violence, pyrotechnics, strobe lights, smoke effects, live birds, dead rabbits and loud music. Disappointing gift shop.
No wonder.
That among its many, more obvious failings is the fatal flaw at the heart of Criss Angel: Believe.

Theres just no wonder in it.

In fact, theres shockingly little magic to be seen in this much-anticipated Cirque du Soleil spectacle constructed around a celebrity magician. No shock, no awe, precious little surprise, even.

Cirque throws everything in its considerable arsenal of stage genius at Angel the expected array of lush, loud music, expert dancers and aerialists, lavish settings and boundary-breaking special effects, all intended to amaze.

The single most amazing thing about Believe is that its still so boring.

For a reported $100 million, Cirque has bought itself its first bona fide bomb.

Angel, who is signed to a 10-year contract, hasnt managed to make all that money vanish completely, however. Cirque makes everything look and sound sumptuous, of course. The 1,600-seat purpose-built theater at the Luxor makes a promising first impression, with its gilded rococo proscenium arch and decadently luxe crimson curtains.

After the customary preshow clowning, the show kicks off abruptly with an intentional false start, a very loud video infomercial for Angels A&E TV series Mindfreak. And then Angel materializes, descending slowly from the ceiling in Jesus pose. (Hes been outdone by Cher in the Big Entrance category).

Angel romps through the audience, shrieking Mindfreak! and Im tellin you, this is gonna be CRAZY! and I swear to you, this is just nuts! in his Lawn Guyland accent, slapping hands and accepting gifts, including lots of stuffed animals and a homemade banner with ironed-on images of Angels cat Hammy and other significant Angel icons on a white bedsheet. (This turns out to be a rather obvious plant.)

The video run-through of Angels greatest stunts being crushed by a steamroller, cutting himself in half, etc. serves only to show up how puny and paltry his stuff looks on stage. Hes got nothing without postproduction editing.

Believe contains very few of the sort of extreme stunts and illusions Angel made his name on. At one point, he invokes his beloved late father, and then taunts death. What youre lookin at is 6 million volts, Angel shouts, and, costumed in skintight reflective foil, he tosses a baked potato into an enormous, buzzing and hissing Tesla coil to demonstrate its deadliness.

BOOM! Blackout. Cut to video of Angel, gruesomely burned, one-eyed, his face bubbling like bacon, being wheeled away on a gurney as actors scream in horror offstage.

Then Angel and the show plunges into fever dream, an enactment of Angels interior Inferno.

His delirium involves ascents and descents and births and deaths, depicted by squads of dancing bunnies and moles. And theres a continual struggle over his usually shirtless bod between his stage assistants, Kayala, an angelic ever-receding woman in white and Crimson, a devouring, demonic black woman.

(Not even going there.)

Angels near-death fantasies are dominated by bunnies (a wink to rumored girlfriend Holly Madison?). Big bunnies, small bunnies, robot bunnies and giant puppet bunnies, good bunnies and bad, bad bunnies. The shows single most memorable image involves a giant severed bunny head that rolls over and tap dances on its ears.

Theres also a gorgeous scene in which a field of giant red California poppies gradually gathers, floating down and sprouting up and putting his demons to sleep. An onstage tornado blew away.

The entire hallucination sequence is a Frankenstein quilt of undigested chunks of Donnie Darko, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and even Pink Floyds Animals album. At one point, after rising from his gurney, Angel actually says, And you were there, and you were there and you tried to kill me. And (to the audience) you were there!

Camp followers the types who relish gems of unintentional badness like Showgirls and well, Springtime for Hitler are advised to get tickets soon.

As I said, magic-lovers are shortchanged. We get a remote-writing trick involving a suspended locked box, a flock of doves that appear and fly above audience, some piddling flashpaper fire-work, lots of clever screenplay, with Angel popping in and out of the projected images, and an enjoyably gory set piece with Angel sawed in half by a chainsaw-wielding bunny.

All his illusions are obscured by flashing strobes, clouds of fog and other standard methods of distraction and misdirection. The Fright Dome Halloween haunted house at Circus Circus employed many of the same effects, to better result, for $35.

A charmless mook, Angel is a rudimentary stage performer hes barely believable playing himself. But those who are hoping for an in-person look at his gleaming tattooed torso will get their moneys worth.

Many of the Cirque set pieces seem familiar by now: Theres a scaled-down version of the vertical wall-walking from Ka, and the onstage rock guitarist and drummer, too. A quartet of frantic clowns serve as Angels bumbling Ushers, and a pair of grotesque living dolls are tarted up like Victorian prostitutes. Aerialists sport angel wings, and the squad of dancers is ingeniously costumed as bunnies, rats, moles and spiny reptiles, although their stiff-legged, copy-Cats moves suggest seizures in progress.

The music, usually an enchanting, unifying element of Cirque productions, is a disappointment, a banal, bombastic mishmash of Carmina Burana melodrama, mix-tape exoticism and mock-rock opera.

The incoherent evening is haunted by a recurring Magritte-like image of an empty gilded picture frame. And that, finally, is the truest metaphor for Criss Angel: Believe: a gorgeous golden structure surrounding a void.

[Harry Entwistle]

From the Variety

Criss Angel Believe
(Luxor Theater, Las Vegas; 1,200 seats; $150 top)
By PHIL GALLO
'Criss Angel Believe'

Cirque du Soleil presents a magic-themed show in one act written by Criss Angel and Serge Denoncourt. Director, Denoncourt. Director of creation, Pierre Phaneuf. Director of illusions, John Farrell. Choreographer, Wade Robson.

Starring: Criss Angel.
Cirque du Soleil attempts to dabble in illusion and simultaneously deal with a pair of significant issues, death and marriage, in its least successful Las Vegas show to date. Criss Angel, a telegenic bad boy of magic, gets top billing, but his established skills are overshadowed by standard Cirque elements (a vaudeville quartet of clowns and a bizarre leitmotif that in this case involves rabbits) and an insistence that Angel perform in a speaking role. Never mind the bunnies, "Criss Angel Believe" is a dog.
Quite simply, "Believe" has no core. Until the Beatles came along, Cirque shows were star-free and ensemble-rich, and the demands placed on Angel force him to reach far beyond his role as conjurer. The illusions, though, are routine -- would you believe doves and handkerchiefs? -- and in short supply. The end result of the tricks is often apparent from the moment the illusion begins.

The Cirque bits are too often static as designers Angel and Serge Denoncourt awkwardly navigate a dream within a dream landscape, crisscrossing the imaginary with realism, a thoroughly foreign element for Cirque du Soleil.

The basic story -- a dream/nightmare that occurs after he is rendered unconscious during a failed trick -- is out of step with nearly every other Cirque show. It has its roots in "The Wizard of Oz," but there's no sense of hope or possibility here.

Beyond the frightening opening, two components are rather off-putting -- video segments from Angel's "Mindfreak" cable shows and ringmaster/motivational speaker monologues that are neither well-written nor well-delivered by Angel. He's not much of a dancer, either: A breakdancing segment that might have been nicked from "Electric Boogaloo" in the '80s should be the first part shelved.

Cable television has a bounty of characters like Angel, experts who strip gentility from their fields and present their craft on a level that has not been previously witnessed. "Mindfreak" is "Jackass" employing David Copperfield's act with Anthony Bourdain as your host.

Angel loves to make himself disappear, often to escape danger, which plays quite well on television. On the stage, though, his transmigration is often used to move himself a few feet away from where he is standing. It can be dazzling -- when its use is limited -- but here it plays a bit too naturally; in Cirque shows, the audience expects to see things that cannot be reproduced at home, whether they be acrobatics or sleight of hand.

Cirque's rich stagecraft is evidenced only in two back-to-back tableaux cast in various shades of green. First one positions Angel in an Alice-in-Wonderland dreamscape, a field of red poppies populated with spinning female dancers and aerialists in red bell-shaped dresses and exaggerated fezzes. Erica Serra's music, shrill and overly beat-driven in parts but often cinematic and pleasant, marries disco with the sounds of Turkish instruments. It's exotic eye and ear candy.

As if every moment of lightness needs a dark counterpoint, the seg gives way to a barren forest and elements of death. The devil threatens his bride and -- this might be reading into it too much -- Angel exorcises the demon from his torso before one of the evening's most cohesive tricks: the transmogrification of a human into a leafless tree.

The back and forth between those tones could be an intriguing device for this show, which has been reworked for months and had its opening delayed several times. While it's clear that Angel wanted to get some of his greatest hits into the act -- being chainsawed in two, a stroll down a vertical wall of fabric -- and Cirque wanted its quartet of Chaplin-esque clowns to provide levity, it remains baffling why rabbits are in so many scenes.

Yes, it's a dream and he imagines the bunnies having their revenge on magicians. There's a bloodied rabbit corpse that sits downstage too long in the early going and the rabbits tear a human limb from limb; these are the parts that make it an adults-only show but don't play out in the end. Best rabbit bits -- and they would work far better if they had no pre-story and just seemed random -- are a dancing disembodied bunny head and a rabbit riding a burning unicycle across a tightrope.

"Believe" is booked for a reported 10 years, 10 shows a week. It has opened with pre-sales of $5.5 million, according to Cirque execs. At the end of the run, Angel will be 50 and it is highly likely some of the more physical aspects of the show will need altering. But before that time is reached, Cirque will need to decide on a focus and how to better frame a star with the troupe's trademark movement.

[Michael Close]

Another review from the Las Vegas Review Journal:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/33740174.html

I guess Criss's "people" didn't get final edit approval on these reviews...

However, just to be safe, he fired Banachek again.

[CraigMitchell]

Vegas review Journal

http://www.lvrj.com/news/33740174.html

"Wooooooooow. Criss Angel's new Cirque du Soleil show is terrrrrrible.

I had heard firsthand from some people who had seen "Believe" that it was abysmal and maybe unfixable, creatively. So my expectations were rock-bottom low (although open-minded), when I saw it Friday on opening night. And yet, it was EVEN WORSE than how it was described to me.

How bad could it be? Oh my God! Let me see if I remember how to spell this: "D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R.""



"Personally, I don't think Angel is the main problem in "Believe." Sure, his incongruous acting could be stronger, and his illusion-esque acts are often rabbit-sleeve simple. But Angel's role is so creatively blah, I wouldn't have been fazed if the show had starred an unknown actor or actress in the lead."


"... "Believe" is one of the saddest stage productions in the history of sad, and I get no joy in saying so."

[Jonathan Townsend]

Reminiscent of the behavior of the skexis from that movie 'the dark crystal'

fine - what do you suggest to make the show work better?

[MartinKaplan]

Here is a review of the show in today's LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... 0068.story

[Dustin Stinett]

fine - what do you suggest to make the show work better?

Why is it the responsibility of those who pay for the tickets and/or write the reviews to come up with the ideas that could make the show work?

[Dustin Stinett]

In my mind, here is the key sentence in Reed Johnsons LA Times review (and indeed of all the reviews thus far):

But there's little that expresses something interesting or unique about Angel as an artist, or a person.

Isnt getting the audience to like you, be interested in you, and care about you the most important job of an entertainer?

So there you are, Jonathan, what this show needs to be better courtesy of a reviewer.

Dustin

[Steve Hook]

Couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of this double-gaff-post from 10/2/08 at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culture ... ---la.html

"All these websites that are bashing the show...and I'm including the people leaving commetns, aren't even spelling his name wrong!"

Yes, you read that right.

- Steve H

[Jonathan Townsend]

just typing in a few keywords into google brings up reviews. For example: http://www.google.com/search?q=believe+ ... tartPage=1

Now let's get to OUR commentary and analysis. The fish-out-of-water stuff went with Lidsville (remember Butch Patrick) and the magician-as-protagonist went with Merlin (remember Doug Henning).

What sort of transformation or recovery is supposed to happen as regards CA's character? IE what changes for the hero? Basic Joseph Campbell stuff folks heard about when Star Wars was analyzed back in the 1970s.

-J

"All these websites that are bashing the show...and I'm including the people leaving commetns, aren't even spelling his name wrong!"

Perhaps Yogi Berra and Ms. Malaprop had a child?

[Michael E. Abston]

AND the hits just keep on coming. Here is the entire article from today's Las Vegas Review-Journal! (BTW I do not wish Criss ill. The more sucessful the show, the better for magic here in Vegas. If he fails, (if?) it will hurt the chances for any other shows on the strip (as illogical as it seems)
Mike
Nov. 03, 2008
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal

DOUG ELFMAN: New Criss Angel show is unbelievably bad, sad

DOUG ELFMAN
MORE COLUMNS

Wooooooooow. Criss Angel's new Cirque du Soleil show is terrrrrrible.

I had heard firsthand from some people who had seen "Believe" that it was abysmal and maybe unfixable, creatively. So my expectations were rock-bottom low (although open-minded), when I saw it Friday on opening night. And yet, it was EVEN WORSE than how it was described to me.
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How bad could it be? Oh my God! Let me see if I remember how to spell this: "D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R."

Here's the plot of the show in a nutshell:

Angel, the illusionist, pretends to get electrocuted. He's wheeled off on a gurney. Dancers in tutus and Old English business suits do uninspiring choreography (I kept thinking, "You're kidding me"), while they wear bunny ears reminiscent of the warped film classic, "Donnie Darko."

For the next hour-plus, you see Angel's dreamscape/nightmare, where he utters vapid things in his sharp New Jersey accent to Frenchy Cirque clowns. He pulls birds out of thin air. He runs behind a video screen, where he changes clothes and reappears.

He gets married; he hangs upside-down in a straight jacket, which he escapes; and then this nightmare ends. What follows from the crowd may look like a standing ovation, but I was on my feet to flee.

Worst of all, that storyline is drawn out forevvvvver. If Cirque thinks the sleeeeepy-paced execution of the plot in this supposed-$100 million show is engaging, then so would watching a cat poop in a gilded box.

I think of "Believe" as a concept-driven avant-garde performance art, gone awry. In Saturday's Review-Journal, critic Mike Weatherford hit the nail on the head. He compared "Believe" to an episode of "Mystery Science Theater" minus the ha-ha. I was reminded of those awful old movies by Andy Warhol or Ed Wood, which is to say it seems like "Believe" was made to be bad ON PURPOSE.

Obviously, "Believe" was not made to be bad on purpose, and that makes things even worse, since they are TRYING to make a great show. It's even suckier than famously bad movies. "Believe" makes "Ishtar" look like comic gold. It makes "Gigli" seem fast-paced. At least you can laugh at "Plan 9 From Outer Space."

There are people at Cirque who think some of us Review-Journal columnists are biased against "Believe." Nothing could be further from the truth. I love some Cirque shows, and before Friday, I had never seen Angel's TV show, "Mindfreak," or "Believe," or talked to him. I have no stake in him or the show, positive or negative, except that as a Las Vegan, I am STILL hoping Angel and "Believe" might help the economy.

Besides, if they think we're out to get "Believe," then how do they square other columnists who hammered the show in weekend reviews?

L.A. Times writer Richard Abowitz compared "Believe" to the "heinous" movie "Showgirls." The Las Vegas Sun's Joe Brown compared it to "Showgirls" and "Springtime for Hitler," conjuring the words, "bomb," "banal," "bombastic," "so boring," "charmless" and "no shock, no awe, precious little surprise."

Now, let's look at the two halves of "Believe": Cirque and Angel. Certain Cirque fans will probably be disappointed there are few and unimpressive aerialist and acrobatic elements. Certain Angel fans may be shocked to see he often just kind of walks around slowly in silence, fitting "Believe's" melancholy atmospherics.

His "magic" acts are concealed in fog and junk. They seem more like staged representations of magic, rather than illusions that require suspension of disbelief. If that's what they're going for -- representative magic -- that would be fine if the execution worked for me. It doesn't.

If Cirque positively revamps this show, that would be awesome for the sake of art and commerce. On the red carpet, I asked Carrot Top if there's pressure on "Believe" to deliver the goods, since a fun show could bring in needed tourists. He addressed his answer to fit not "Believe" but his own performances.

"You want to put an even better show on, because you want people to think they spent the money on the right thing to do that night to entertain themselves," he said. "You always want to do better when things are tough."

I asked Penn Jillette if a successful "Believe" would help Vegas.

"Oh sure," he said. "Anytime there's a good show, it helps every show. It raises all boats. When you see a good show, you want to see another one. So we're hopeful" about "Believe."

To be clear, Jillette or Carrot Top made these comments before seeing "Believe," and I couldn't find them after the premiere to ask what they thought. Not that it matters especially. I'm merely pointing out the obvious, that a successful "Believe" could boost the Strip.

On this subject, Cirque's upper echelon says it already has helped the economy, that ticket sales are great, on the level of "Love." So there's a powerful consideration against critical judgment.

And for sure, there are tourists who are keen on "Believe." At Friday's "black carpet" premiere, the first family of three I found (they were observing the carpet stars), loved "Believe." The mom, who would only name herself as "Deb from Philly," said her teenage-ish kids Kyle and T.J. were thrilled to see Angel in person during a "ticketed preview" earlier in the week.

"He stood right next to us," she said. "It was very cool."

So -- clich -- we'll see what happens next.

Personally, I don't think Angel is the main problem in "Believe." Sure, his incongruous acting could be stronger, and his illusion-esque acts are often rabbit-sleeve simple. But Angel's role is so creatively blah, I wouldn't have been fazed if the show had starred an unknown actor or actress in the lead.

What I mean is, even though Angel is a partner in the production, the woes are on Cirque's shoulders. Isn't Cirque the boss and overseeing direction and writing? What do they think they're doing by filling space with people dancing in boring unison, and walking around slowly to little effect, and poorly using a big video screen backdrop that changes scenery?

After Friday's premiere, Cirque and Angel hosted a lovely V.I.P. party at the Luxor pool. There were high-end food booths, signature booze drinks, women models clad in not-much, and most strikingly there were intermittent pockets of Cirque performers dancing and gyrating and doing feats of derring-do.

This party was more fun than "Believe," by far. It was symbolically the latest, impressive excess of a Gatsby party accompanying a new show, but in hard times.

I'm not really pooh-poohing the excess. No. Perhaps, though, Cirque should think, next, about selling admission to such a Gatsby Cirque party, which also had no great plot, but it was paced more suitably, it was more enchanting, and it was a post-show relief, because to me, "Believe" is one of the saddest stage productions in the history of sad, and I get no joy in saying so.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.

[Donal Chayce]

However, just to be safe, he fired Banachek again.

Now that's funny!
:D

[David Vamer]

From the Elfman review>>> I wouldn't have been fazed if the show had starred an unknown actor or actress in the lead.>>>

I'm ready to go where I'm needed!

[David Vamer]

I've got ten bucks says Cirque pulls the quote, "some real magic after all" from the Weatherford review.

[David Vamer]

....and finally, there's a reason why Criss' show is appearing in a giant tomb.

[Jonathan Townsend]

....and finally, there's a reason why Criss' show is appearing in a giant tomb.

Are you suggesting it's a roach motel for Loyals? If so they seem to be able to get out of the theater (tomb?) to post reviews. Maybe they forgot to put the sticky stuff on the seats?

;)

[Herman Koster]

I've just finished reading all these reviews and watching the clip from the believe site, but to me this just feels like the show I saw Siegfried and Roy do a long time ago. Good vs evil, giant monsters on stage, great effects and a great show. Also S&R had a great stage personality and wit, something maybe CA hasn't developed yet. Am I the only one that feels like this? Just wondering.
BTW, just returned from Vegas and the best show imho Mac King.

[Michael Close]

Possibly the unkindest cut of all.

Overheard after the October 31 premier show: "You know, that Steve Wyrick guy really isn't that bad after all..."

[Tim Ellis]

You think that's bad, read this Australian press review of Criss Angel's TV series!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertain ... 35308.html

[Rick Ruhl]

Possibly the unkindest cut of all.

Overheard after the October 31 premier show: "You know, that Steve Wyrick guy really isn't that bad after all..."

Well Michael, what did you think of the show? :)

[Michael Close]

I haven't seen the show, and I doubt that I will. We Hoosiers may not be the brightest bulbs on the tree, but we don't go to the State Fair and pay to ride the manure spreader.

[David Alexander]

Angel and Cirque sounds reminiscent of Michael Cimino, United Artists and the bomb Heavens Gate. No one at United Artists was looking over Ciminos shoulder as cost and time over runs skyrocketed. There were rumors of Ciminos overbearing style of directing and poor reviews when the film was finally released. It did badly at the box office, earned very little money and contributed to the collapse of United Artists. While I dont think Criss will singlehandedly destroy Cirque, none of whats been published is helping them, either.

What I never understood was how Cirque management could assume that an aging Goth performer who relied heavily on editing to accomplish his magic on a modestly successful cable show that appealed to a limited demographic could be trusted to produce a show in Las Vegas that would appeal to a Middle American demographic for ten years.

Art is about communication a viewpoint of the world or an insight into reality from the artist to the viewer. Be interesting and youll attract a large number of viewers. If you dont have anything interesting to say, if youre too restrictive, too narrow, too bizarre, you wont appeal to a mass audience. Being incoherent and incomprehensible in your "message" is also a big turn-off.

Audiences are quick to pick up on ego-centric self-aggrandizing self-indulgent performers. If they are already liked, the audience usually forgives them (see William Shatners fan base as an example) but if they are exposed first off to the performers raging ego-centricity without being given the opportunity to like them, then the audience will almost certainly be turned off and stay that way. If you add on the fact that the performer seemed to go out of his way to irritate people who buy ink by the barrel, then you have a disaster waiting to happen.

What will be interesting to watch is how far Cirque management will let this go before blame is assigned, people fired or transferred, and the entire show re-worked, possibly without Criss or Criss in a much diminished capacity. If Criss had a champion inside Cirques management, that person may find themselves in charge of Cirques next project in Greenland.

[LV720]

I don't see how he could be replaced in the show...it would take a massive undertaking. How the financing was divided up was that Criss owns the illusions...meaning he paid for the magic elements. Not only that, but they were Criss' design...i.e. the Sawing table and design and others.
I dont' think it would happen. Cirque in it's 25 year history has never, ever let a show fail...they may re-work it during the six weeks per year the show is dark in two to three week chunks..but replace? I find that highly unlikely.

Criss is no dummy either. I think that he's a very estute businessman. Look at the brand he has singlehandedly created. I've not met him personally, but knowing what I do know about Criss and the behind the scenes goings on, if he's anything like the control freak David Copperfield is...I would think there would be a clause that prevents him from being replaced...

He co-wrote the show...you'd think he'd write it so that it he couldn't be replaced...not without a huge golden parachute.

[Richard Kaufman]

Criss has not single-handedly created his "brand." His career started to take off when The Firm became his management company, and he is personally handled by Dave Baram, CEO of the company. They put all their considerable weight behind him because they think that in the long term he can makes lots of money for them. Simple. Why do you think he cut his hair and stopped wearing white make-up (ala The Crow)? Not his idea: The Firm's idea.

Some of the illusions that Criss is doing in the show (such as the sawing and the metamorphosis) appear to be things that he had built earlier and used before. They didn't cost him anything to put into the show. Close-up tricks, on the other hand, don't cost much.

You don't let a show play to half-empty houses. You either paper the houses until people start to buy tickets via good word of mouth (happens often in Vegas) or you dump what's in the theater and put something else in that will sell tickets. Every day a show runs with a half-empty house they are losing money. Business people know that you don't throw good money after bad. If the show is half as bad as the reviews, and it doesn't sell tickets, Cirque will find a way to either fix it or close it. Better to close it and settle the inevitable lawsuits than keep throwing money down the toilet every night when they could be making money every night.

They will make a good faith attempt to fix it, but a lot of it depends upon the relations between Criss and Cirque (probably very frosty right now regardless of anything you hear to the contrary).

[Ryan Matney]

Richard,

It seems you used to like Criss more or at least you were a little more defensive of him and his performing ability when MindFreak first started airing.

Has the endless stooged effects, camera tricks, and hip-hop poser attitude made you sick of him?

[Richard Kaufman]

I'm not sick of him, but like most of you (judging by how little discussion there is of the Mindfreak series on this Forum) I have lost interest in his TV work. His obsession to control his image, and every single word in his interviews, has made it impossible to cover him. We had a cover story written by Mike Close on the third season of Mindfreak and it never ran because Criss became too difficult to deal with.

I had great hope for his live stage show--I know that he has the chops to do it. I take no pleasure in seeing it reviewed badly, and hearing that the show is not good. Don't mistake my reporting on the reviews of the show here for a desire on my part that it doesn't do well: not many 100 million dollar magic shows open in our lifetime, and it's something that must be covered, good or bad.

I still believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. If he crashes and burns, Magic (all of magic) gets a black eye.

[David Vamer]

By contract, Criss cannot be replaced, unless, of course, he flakes and stops showing up. There is also Key Man insurance in place, should Criss have an accident.

[Timothy Drake]

I'm not sick of him, but like most of you (judging by how little discussion there is of the Mindfreak series on this Forum) I have lost interest in his TV work. His obsession to control his image, and every single word in his interviews, has made it impossible to cover him. We had a cover story written by Mike Close on the third season of Mindfreak and it never ran because Criss became too difficult to deal with.

I had great hope for his live stage show--I know that he has the chops to do it. I take no pleasure in seeing it reviewed badly, and hearing that the show is not good. Don't mistake my reporting on the reviews of the show here for a desire on my part that it doesn't do well: not many 100 million dollar magic shows open in our lifetime, and it's something that must be covered, good or bad.

I still believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. If he crashes and burns, Magic (all of magic) gets a black eye.

Hi Richard,

I think there was little interest in MindFreak because we all really knew what the show was. Criss never impressed me as a magician or performer but as the new PT Barnum.... he gets top scores. Him or at least the people around him know how to take nothing and make it into hype and success.

Believe is getting bashed in the news and now the relationship with the playboy bunny is getting 3 times the press and over shadowing the negative press which will eventually die down.

Criss isn't stupid and unless ego gets in the way ( and it very well could) he will at least make some sort of attempt to get things on track. I don't think you'll find anyone LESS interested in MindFreak than I but I have to admit that the visuals seen in the Cirque video are appealing even to me. It seems they came so close but failed to hit the mark. I'll be watching this horse race to see if they can beat the clock in time to save the show.

One way or another it will be interesting at least.

Best,

Tim

[CraigMitchell]

Believe seems to have a good number of problems - one of the key ones being not delivering what the audience wants. Audiences were sold on Criss as "Mindfreak" TV magician ... Believe couldn't be further from "Mindfreak" it would appear.

Copperfield's TV specials in contrast were a fair representation of his stage shows - someone who saw DC on TV knew what they were getting live ... clearly this isn't the case with Believe.

Cirque are going to need to do some serious damage control fast -for as Richard points out, when ticket sales dry up - the death knell won't be too far behind. A 10 year contract in a non-existent show ...

Someone previously likened Believe to S&R's show ... which is a grossly unfair comparison. S&R were adored by millions and had a truly revolutionary show -- but most importantly, people came to see them first & foremost - they were the stars, the headliners ... no one is rushing to Believe to see Criss Angel it would appear. The current reviews go so far as to even suggest Angel could be replaced with a generic performer in the context of Believe.

[Timothy Drake]

....

The current reviews go so far as to even suggest Angel could be replaced with a generic performer in the context of Believe.

Hello Craig,

I think that was one of Cirques mistakes. Sure Criss's name gets them early buzz but at the cost of expectations. ( that can't be replicated on stage) I think if they had invented a fictional character to be the magician in their story line they would have done better. It would have been a good part for an unknown up and comer.

Best,

Tim

[Richard Kaufman]

Most of the illusions Criss has performed (at least in the first two years of Mindfreak when I was watching it) could be replicated on stage. He and I discussed this at length. You have many more tools at your command when performing on stage with which to conceal methodology. So, it's not that he can't do the material from Mindfreak on stage--it's just that, for whatever reason, he's not. Could be budget, could be Cirque, who knows what the reason is?

[Jonathan Townsend]

"a generic performer"... there's something almost spooky about that phrase - kinda like the general card plot in card magic. Might be an interesting premise for a show using some quick-change and character work.

[NCMarsh]

Most of the illusions Criss has performed (at least in the first two years of Mindfreak when I was watching it) could be replicated on stage. He and I discussed this at length. You have many more tools at your command when performing on stage with which to conceal methodology. So, it's not that he can't do the material from Mindfreak on stage--it's just that, for whatever reason, he's not. Could be budget, could be Cirque, who knows what the reason is?

My barber believes that Criss Angel can honest-to-goodness levitate; "no illusion" as she puts it. If she were to plunk down money for "Believe," I honestly think she would be angry if Criss didn't walk in mid-air inches above the heads of the audience.

I think that's the issue. It isn't that the "effect" can't be duplicated, it's that the level of conviction can't be duplicated. Seeing someone levitate in a fog filled proscenium 100 yards away is not the same experience as seeing someone walk from one building to another on an open-air street corner right in front of you.

The effect is the same. The experience is not; and I think there are people in Criss' audience who are paying money for the experience of Mindfreak in the flesh.

I should be clear that I don't think that's the reason for the bad reviews -- it sounds like a combination of branding issues and "too many chefs" -- but I think it is one reason that so many reviewers pan the magic; it doesn't rise to the level of conviction of the Mindfreak material.

N.

[Ryan Matney]

Thanks for explaining , Richard.

I'm bored with the show myself, long ago. I've personally not seen anything that has made me a believer in Criss's performing ability but I'd be willing to give him an open minded try for a live show.

Just wondering, couldn't you cover him in Genii whether he participated or not? In mainstream magazines celebrites can't control the coverage they get. They can only take action if it's libelous and I'm assuming Michael Close wouldn't write anything close to that anyway.