Hey folks, got back from Vegas last night and caught up on some sleep. We did a lot of stuff so I will be posting the trip report over the course of a few days... If there are any aspects in particular you want to know about just comment and I will do my best to elaborate.
To start with we had a great player's suite at the New York New York Hotel from Hotels.com that was everything I hoped for with one small exception... the shower. Now granted, this suite did have a hot tub as a separate bathing facility, the decor was great, and the service superb but the bathroom in general was kinda crappy. I wouldn't say this would move it from 4 star to a 3 star but it definately holds it back from the full 5. For this kind of money I expect a fully modernized shower and bath with all the amenities. What I got was a very standard shower/bathroom without even a fan in it. Still I heartily recommend the hotel. (more on the hotel in a separate article)
We took in 2 different Cirque Du Soleil shows while we were there, Zumanity first followed by Ka. I love the Cirque but was prepared to dislike Zumanity since it seemed to be billed as an "alternative" Cirque so I thought it would sucks since it must fall far from the tree in terms of acro and aerobatics... I was WRONG!
Zumanity is hands down the best live show I have seen in my life bar NONE. That list would include seeing th Broadway cast of both Phantom and Le Mis on stage folks... Zumanity simply kicks ass and takes names. The impact of the show was visceral, entertaining, and rivetting. I never wanted to look away and risk missing anything they did. The MC of the show even resembled my buddy evilpidge in drag.
After such a strong showing I was *sure* that Ka would be even better! I mean not only was it in a bigger theatre at the MGMGrand but it was reviewed as the "most lavish theatrical production in the history of western theatre" by the LA Times. In fact it *was* a techincal marvel and the man who designed the stage they preformed on should immediately be promoted to King of All Engineers but I didn't really like the show.
Let me explain before you start throwing rotten fruit...
Zumanity cost me $65 a ticket for great seats approximately 20 feet from the stage (peninsular stage that ensure maximum viewing angles). On that stage I saw men and women perform acrobatic feats that boggled the mind and left me with the surety that medical science has a massive lack of knowledge regarding the durability of human joints. This was all accomplished with simple yet vibrant props, scintillating dialogue, and a whopping dose of crowd involvement that left all involved breathless.
Ka cost me $150 dollars for seat about 40 feet from a more traditional stage front offering very few good seats. On this stage there was some very spotty storytelling (in a made up language), very little of the Cirque's trademoark acrobatics (granted there was some nice leaping and wirework on the MAGNIFICENT stage but meh....), and very little audience involvement. The characters were poorly realized and sloppily executed. My brain had to work non-stop to *try* and crush it into something resembling the story that they insisted take place. A Technical acheivement of a lifetime? Absolutely... the music was soaring and the stage a wonder of the world but as Entertainment? Not so much.
If you have the choice between Zumanity and Ka go to Zumanity.
More on the Vegas trip to follow.
