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twitterREVIEW:
Illusion is elusive in Angel’s ‘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.
Sat, Nov 1, 2008 (2 a.m.)
On Today's Sun
'Believe' sneak preview
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Criss Angel interview at 'Believe' premiere
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Robin Leach with Celebs
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Illusionist Criss Angel performs in the Cirque du Soleil show "Believe," which officially opened Friday night at the Luxor.
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.”
There’s just no wonder in it.
In fact, there’s 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 it’s 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, hasn’t 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 Angel’s A&E TV series “Mindfreak.” And then Angel materializes, descending slowly from the ceiling in Jesus pose. (He’s been outdone by Cher in the Big Entrance category).
Angel romps through the audience, shrieking “Mindfreak!” and “I’m 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 Angel’s 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 Angel’s 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. He’s 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 you’re 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 Angel’s interior Inferno.
His delirium involves ascents and descents and births and deaths, depicted by squads of dancing bunnies and moles. And there’s 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.)
Angel’s 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 show’s single most memorable image involves a giant severed bunny head that rolls over and tap dances on its ears.
There’s 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 Floyd’s “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 — he’s barely believable playing himself. But those who are hoping for an in-person look at his gleaming tattooed torso will get their money’s worth.
Many of the Cirque set pieces seem familiar by now: There’s 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 Angel’s 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.
Discussion: 20 comments so far…
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Take a look at that bling! There's your drive and creativity barrier right there. Criss has lost touch with his mojo. Too bad. He could have been a good magician.
Get out of your head Criss. Get back in your heart. Otherwise you'll be a has-been before you ever really were an "is".
I'd rather see Penn & Teller.
Though I did not see the show yet and from what I gather I should not bother anyway, it seems to me that Criss Angel suffers from the Darin Romeo syndrome. Just because you are good on a cruise ship and know people does not mean you can be a Vegas headliner.
It is a shame that the talents of Cirque seem to be squandered on Criss Angel...
I walked out 30 minutes into the show. He is not good live. He needs tv editing to do his tricks.
About 3 minutes into the show he needs to just stop and say, "Ladies and Gentlemen...open your purses and wallets...I magically made your money vanish."
i used to like him till i seen on of his tricks live he sucks
I cant believe what was written in this article and it makes me mad. I have seen Criss' show and it is one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen. Criss has worked so hard to make this show a reality, 15 years of hard work. When you see the show, you need to go in with an open mind and enjoy the journey that Criss takes you on. This show is nothing like anything Criss has done in his career. This is not Mindfreak. Yes he does incorporate some of the demonstrations that he has done on the tv show, but he brings many new illusions to this show. I would think that the local newspaper in Vegas would be more supportive of one of the most amazing illusionist out there. I'm very proud of what Criss has accomplished in his career. He has brought the art of magic back and kicked it up a notch, doing illusions no other magician would dream of. I wish Criss all the best with the show and will see this show several times. I'm also proud to say that I am a Loyal for Life.
This is really bad news to hear. Someone's bad decision in signing this guy to a contract is going to seriously cost allot of people their jobs, and Cirque their flawless reputation. Having word get out that such a flop exists now isn't going to help tourism either.
As for "crissloyal4life", you sound like an outright shill. Criss Angel isn't anything special. He's just going a bunch of old-fashioned sideshow tricks and gimmicks with new set-ups. He's not done anything that hasn't been done before. And he certainly hasn't brought the art of magic back at all. Hint: it never went any where. Plenty of magicians have still been entertaining people for many, many years.
As for his show, this isn't a therapy session for him. People pay good money to come here and be entertained. They want to see something amazing that dazzles and impresses them. People are on vacation, or business trips and want to relax and not have to work. They don't want to sit there and ponder and try to interpret and discover hidden meanings in some lousy show they just saw.
The only thing truly *amazing* about Criss Angel is the fact he Machiavellied his way into headlining a production of this magnitude rather than playing the 6:30 show at some smoky lounge at an Indian Casino in BFE where he really belongs.
Thanks for helping take Las Vegas down a notch, Criss.
Well..this guy cris angel is really bogus. He even involves his own mother to act concern and afraid to all his fake shows. He really thinks people are stupid and everyone to believe that his got extraordinary power, that is what his trying to convey to all his viewers. I knew from the start of seeing his shows that this guy is a big con man. But people actually paid to see him? Unbelievable! Now he does not care much for his fall because he already made his millions. Mission accomplish Cris. Well done. People like you really have no room in our society but again well done.
Aaaahhh, JOE! This is single-handedly the BESTTTTT review I've read- E-V-E-R- on anything! SUPER SUPER SUPER!!!!!! I am cheering for you in agreeance with every thing you said. My favorite part: <<A charmless mook, Angel is a rudimentary stage performer -- he's barely believable playing himself.>> Brava.
To put it mildly, the show wreaks of desperation.
If the creative minds who webbed together this disaster-of-a-show were one-hundredth as brilliant as Joe Brown, BeLIEVE would have a chance...In the meantime; If anyone tells you the show is good, ask them how much of a kick-back they're getting from MGM/Mirage.
CrissMiss is here in November!
I'll give him credit for taking this far. A $100M contract for the Tommy Lee of magic has to be one of the greatest tricks of all time.
Thanks for the informative review! We used it for our cartoon and gave you all some link props.
Spend your money on LOVE (at the Mirage) I've seen it 4 times and will keep going back - of course being a Beatle fan doesn't hurt any either.
Hey Joe - How would you like it if I said your review was boring and made me fall asleep? LOL - see how immature that sounds when you're on the receiving end? Besides, you explained the entire show except the end of 'Believe'. Your article has enthusiasm, but it's only your opinion and rather rude in places. To me there's a difference between a critique and an attack on character and you seem to have blurred the lines! Believe rocks and I love it!
Since I was personally associated with the TV show in it's inception, I was very excited to see this project come about.
HOWEVER,
Criss seemed to become some ego-maniac about 2 years after production on the TV show began. I blame his "handlers" for this slow, dark turn from a fun-loving, late 30's/early 40's (yeah, the "handlers" don't want you to know that... Shhhhhh) family man from New Jersey ~ into this ego filled, pompous, divorced and many times now, (sadly) "fake humble magician" that he has become.
*******************
A couple from California in their mid 50's was at another Magic Show recently and I was pointed out as having been associated with the TV show MIND FREAK. With pissed off looks in their eyes, this couple approached me after the show and asked if I was "with" Criss Angel. I told them I am no longer associated with the TV show and I have never been associated with the Stage Show. BEFORE THEY BEGAN TO TELL ME WHAT THEY THOUGHT OF "BeLIEvie" - I asked them if they were magicians or are associated with or personally know any magicians.
Their answer was "no".
They have been coming to Las Vegas for YEARS - and they have seen every show on the strip. They LOVE Crique Shows and decided to check out the newest Cirque creation (they had never even heard of Criss Angel before...)
She then began to tell me about the Theater. The beautiful seats, the majestic-looking"archy-thingy" (Proscenium) and the rich red curtains. Her eyes filled with a warm glow as she described in detail the theater at the Luxor.
She then said "I know how they can fix this show!"
Raising her hand high above her head, she began making a swirling motion as she lowered her hand in front of her face as she said slowly and deliberately said...
"Sew... the... curtains... SHUT."
I smiled and gave her a hug.
She went on to say "Who is this guy?" and implied his ego was what seemed to ruin the show for her. Is this what "fame" is?
*************************
The owner of Cirque made a reported 200 MILLION dollars personally last year - my humble suggestion?
Buy out Criss' contract - send him packing, give everyone a ticket to one of Cirque's other fantastic shows, bring in one of Cirque's touring shows that has not played Vegas yet, and basically SAVE HIS GOOD NAME AS A SHOW PRODUCER. It's too bad one Magician with BAD MANAGEMENT can do so much damage to Vegas Tourism, Cirque Du Solie, and Magic & Magicians everywhere...
Criss ~ get rid of your "handlers" and become the guy you USED to be...
...please.
Criss is the consummate entertainer! I work with Cirque and people have to remember they had to work out some kinks from the preview show that they used as a test. My co-worker saw the show and she told me, she thought the costumes and story were great! It's only the beginning run for the show, so I know fans will show support...
R.
My wife and I could not wait to go to this show! We are huge fans of MindFreak and Criss is actually in my wife's "free pass" top 5. We bought the most expensive seats so we could really enjoy it.
Well... Total crap! My wife (the adoring fan that she is) said she felt sorry for him because he is in such a crap show. I said she shouldn't because he IS the crap show (he is not the only thing that sucked though). We went to the late show on a Saturday and I counted 11 people asleep, that were close enough for me to see...
The clowns and dolls were hokey as hell, the lead rabbit over-acted her role to death and even though he seems like a total ego maniac from his comments-Criss seemed embarrassed and lacking confidence to be in the show at all.
Cirque pretty well held up their end of the deal. The show is still however, pure poo.