- User profile
- LordAbinger
- Joined
- Oct. 18, 2008
Contact LordAbinger (log-in required)
Items submitted by LordAbinger
- Photos
- Videos
- Stories/Blogs
LordAbinger has not submitted any photos to Las Vegas Sun
LordAbinger has not submitted any videos to Las Vegas Sun
LordAbinger has not submitted any stories to Las Vegas Sun
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Motorcycle accident claims life of man in northeast valley
- Investigators seek answers to Whitney Houston’s death
- Photos: The late, great Whitney Houston is the soundtrack of my life
- Photos: Lauren Conrad celebrates her 26th birthday at Hyde Bellagio
- Grammy Awards struggle with honoring Whitney Houston
- Pre-Grammy gala celebrates Whitney Houston’s life
- Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
- List of Grammy winners in select major categories
- RI player wins $336 million Powerball jackpot
- Strip Scribbles: Is ‘Dancing With the Stars’ at Tropicana on again?
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (5 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.



Criss Angel's Believe is quite simply the single worst thing ever committed to the stage under the banner of a "professional" theatrical production. After watching Believe, I sadly concluded that there was no simple way to salvage this awful show. All I could think is that they should keep the set, the costumes and the choreography and start from scratch. If Cirque and the Luxor should close down the show, give it a complete overhaul, and reschedule the opening for some time in the first quarter of next year.
The show has many flaws, but the two most unforgiving flaws are its star and the magic (what little there is) that he performs. Reality TV is Criss's domain, and he dominates it well, but he has never had experience performing in a professional, first-class theatrical setting (his previous show in the WWF theater in NY was small, and by no means could it be considered a "professional" theatrical endeavor), as a result, the "star" of this show sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to stage presence, movement, and just the basic ability to look like a professional performer. Criss needs to spend months in daily, intensive training with theater professionals, who can teach him how to stand, move and talk like a professional entertainer. The Cirque elements of the show are of the highest professional caliber, which only contributes to just how amateurish Criss comes across as a performer.
We could forgive Criss's lack of professionalism, if the magic were stunning. But it's not. In fact, it is some of the most poorly conceived and uninspired magic I have ever seen. This is Criss's fault. First, he painted himself into a corner with his TV show. Anyone with even a modest understanding of magic realizes that Criss can't do in public what he does on TV. Criss uses the camera in a masterful way to assist him in the illusions he performs, but without the audiences point of view being limited by the camera, Criss simply can't do live on stage the things he does on TV (he can do things similar to what he does on TV, but they will look less miraculous than what he does on TV). That being said, there is a world of incredible magic and illusions out there and dozens of professional magic consultants that could breathe life into this pitiful show, but Criss has not availed himself of them.
If you have tickets to the show, get a refund. If you've been a victim of this show, demand your money back. Letting the show open -- even in previews -- was, in my view, a negligent act by Cirque and the Luxor, and they should not be allowed to profit from their own negligence (I understand that the Luxor has given refunds to angry patrons). Don't spend your hard earned money on Believe, until Criss, Cirque and the Luxor show their fans and patrons the respect they deserve and reconstruct this theatrical atrocity from the top down