‘Le Reve’ remains the Strip’s splashiest work in progress

By John Katsilometes

Friday, Aug. 7, 2009 | 4:20 p.m.

Somehow in “Le Reve’s” boundless and endless maturation process, it makes perfect sense that giant, blooming flowers are juxtaposed against a dozen water-soaked ballroom dancers.

This resilient water spectacular at Encore/Wynn Las Vegas is one of these “barometer shows.” I check in every few months to see if the tinkering is continuing because with “Le Reve,” when the creative process is finished, so is the production. The two are intertwined. I expect that changes in scenery, costumes, cast and music will be constant for as long as the show is in production. This 4-year-old show hardly resembles the hardly buoyant production that rolled out to harsh reviews when the Wynn opened in spring 2005.

Today, with an army of 91 performers, “Le Reve” is powered by as many moving parts as any show in the city. The show’s growth never ceases. The most recent artistic changes involving human performance have been to enlist choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy of “Dancing With the Stars” to fulfill Steve Wynn’s vision of bringing dancing into the show. Thus, “Le Reve” is the only show in Vegas inspired by the works of Fred Astaire and Greg Louganis.

Also interspersed into the production this year are the enormous white fans that bloom into an atrium near the end of the show; a new opening where two dozen curtained panels are used to draw the audience into the production’s long-standing “dream” theme; and a color-splashed Kabuki effect in the middle.

The decision-making process in this show is at once fascinating and time-consuming. Wynn holds total creative control, having bought out Franco Dragone for about $16 million three years ago. But as the show’s director, Dragone still possesses creative input, as does Artistic Director Brian Burke, who came on board around March 2006 after helping launch Celine Dion’s “A New Day …” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. How the creative process for “Le Reve” often works is, someone has an idea -- example being Wynn’s vision of dance numbers in the show -- and leaves it to Burke and Dragone to make it happen.

“Steve is very hands on and has a lot of ideas,” Burke said during a recent phone conversation. “He just never stops. He’ll say, ‘There’s this thing I want to try,’ and when he talks money and technology and effects, like the curtain effects in the theater, there is a unique way in how he expects it would be done. Then he leaves it to us.” The changes seem constant, but it can take an inordinate amount of time for an idea to actually make it to the stage simply because all parties are so busy. Wynn, for example, has a resort empire to run.

“Every new idea takes a year,” Burke said. “The curtain effect took nine months. The ballroom dancers have to be Scuba-certified, a process that takes time. I love that Steve and Franco don’t stop, though. We are always working on fine-tuning the show.”

Two years ago, Wynn dropped an additional $10 million into the show that cost more than $100 million ($75 million for the customized theater, $35 million for the production) to launch in 2005. “He invested some more money because he has a great understanding of what people want.” Such as oversized white fans designed by renowned designer Michael Curry, who has worked with Cirque and Disney among many other high-caliber production companies.

Many of “Le Reve’s” elements remain unchanged. The full use of the theater, as Burke says, “every nook and cranny,” is constant. The stunning, ascending plunges from the rafters into the circular pool are a signature moment. And still offered is the $179 VIP package where guests plop into La-Z-Boy-style chairs and are delivered champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries while watching underwater and backstage footage on video monitors.

Trained pigeons that streak across the theater. Slapstick comic relief from the four white-suited guys who seem pulled from the latest Judd Apatow vehicle. Fish nets that are actually used in an aquatic context and not as a garment. En route are changes in costumes, but not in personnel, says Burke. “No, absolutely not,” he said when asked if the number of performers might be trimmed for any reason -- economic or creative. “Let me tell you, we need 91 performers. We started with something like 70. Then the reality of running the show set in.”

The result: “Le Reve,” once morose, is now an uplifting collection of dream sequences.

“When I first saw the show, I knew where Franco was going, but it takes time,” Burke said. “It took two years to get Celine’s show together.” Four years on, “Le Reve” will never be creatively completed, and the process is pure fascination.