Sunday, November 27, 2011
MGM Resorts tells Cirque to shutter 'Viva Elvis' at Aria
Las Vegas Sun: MGM Resorts has asked Cirque du Soleil to replace its show “Viva Elvis” at the Aria by the end of 2012, citing poor ticket sales. The move is the first time that the Canadian company, which has come to dominate the big-production showrooms on the Strip, has been asked to shut a show since arriving here in 1993 with its first permanent show, “Mystere” at Treasure Island.
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16 comments:
Just because it's Cirque doesn't mean it's good.
I've never seen a Cirque show live. I only remember watching them on Bravo when I was younger (remember when Bravo was an arts channel?) I think there'a an unhealthy Cirque du Soleil idolatry in America and around the world today. If it's Cirque du Soleil it must mean it's great. This is bad for popular theatre (theater with the general populist in mind, traditionally this has been circus acts: juggling, acrobats, clowns, etc. ) In becoming the huge performing arts monster they've become Cirque has forcefully set the bar of expectations of their audiences: this is what circus performance needs to be. And it doesn't. But Vegas has gobbled this up: Cirque means greatness which means satisfied audiences (equating to revenue from ticket sales.)
Looks like Cirque is very capable of making crap. I wonder if this has anything to do with the expecations they and producers have set for themselves. I'd also be interested to see if they've made other crappy shows but people just don't notice because it's Cirque. I don't think this is will do anything significant to Cirque's empire but it does show that even Cirque can't loose sight of their artistic vision. They have a responsibility to themselves, to their audiences, and to their employees to put on a good show. If you phone it in, you'll get called out on it no matter who you are.
Recently Cirque has been on a artist-themed show kick (LOVE, Viva Elvis, the Michael Jackson show). I personally have always felt that these shows are moving away from what made Cirque the company that it is. They are definitely still producing their more traditional shows, but it will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the downfall of the artist-themed ones. I think that these shows may have originated from Cirque wanting to offer something more "standard" that is more like many of the other Las Vegas shows. I think that this hurt them. They lost their "Unique Selling Proposition" in these shows abandoning what made them special. I give a lot of credit to the Cirque producers that they were willing to try something different, but I don't know that it works. It will be interesting to see how they try to make the next step.
As Chris said, Cirque was certainly moving away from what made their company so creative and unique when they decided to produce so many artist-driven shows. Elvis, as an icon/celebrity, just doesn't pull in as many people in Las Vegas as he once did. Cirque is also competing with themselves when they open another show in Las Vegas. If people only have the chance to see one Cirque show, they typically go to O or Ka because of their impressive and unique technical elements and spectacle. I have not yet seen Viva Elvis personally, but I certainly would not go as far as Matt to say that the show must have been crap because it is closing. Cirque, as a company, will only put a certain high level of quality and creative work on their stages. This show just wasn't their most fascinating, unique, or impressive show, and therefore couldn't gain the reputation it needed to pull in adequate ticket sales. I hope that the artists and technical, and artistic staffs of Viva Elvis are able to find work after the show's closing and I'm very intrigued to see what show replaces Viva Elvis at Aria.
Shannon's got a great point about Cirque pitting its own shows against each other, especially all being at the high production values that make them the hot tickets on the Strip. The most shocking thing I've seen with Viva Elvis is the lack of marketing for the Aria show - short of a large display on the side of the hotel I saw in Vegas, I've seen no television ads nor major sales promotions like those for KA and Love. For example, the Cirque Week promotion (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/promo/2011/cirque-week/tickets-package.aspx) has Viva ELVIS rolled into the multi-show packages, but the tickets are not highlighted like the mandatory inclusion for LOVE, KA, and O. I wonder about the marketing goals for these productions and the sales promotions, especially considering the year-round nature of the Vegas Cirque runs.
It's too bad that Cirque will have to stop the show at MGM, but I guess that's just the business side of theatre. I do agree with some of the other commenters that Cirque seems to be moving away from what it originally was towards more artist-centered performances. Sure, this may draw more audiences comprised of people who otherwise may not have wanted to pay to see a theatrical circus production such as Cirque du Soleil, but from the various shows I have seen, I always enjoy the more traditional ones. I am curious how well the cast and crew will get through this big change. Would it be possible for the current employees to shift the show off to another location rather than just ending all of their work? I'm sure a lot of them can re-train to a new show, but I bet "Viva Elvis" still has potential elsewhere.
After a while, even in a city like Vegas where you have so many people coming through and looking for entertainment, even Cirque will reach the point of saturating the market. Perhaps they're getting there now. I've seen a few Cirque shows, but they start to seem similar after a while. It's the same general acrobatics dressed up with a new theme or a different framework. When people start to look at it as a commodity, how many are going to want to see more than one? If supply goes up bot demand doesn't, then how long can they keep expanding?
I have not seen the Cirque Elvis show but I could not imagine how it worked. These two core concepts are miles apart. Sleek, French Canadian, progressive hippies and fat bloated, peanut butter and banana eating rockstars just don't seem to fit together.
Elvis may have been the king in 1976 but it seems even Vegas has out grown his legacy.
I think the other commenters have hit the nail on the head here...oversaturation. I've only been to vegas once, and even though I was there for a week I still found myself having to pick WHICH Cirque shows to see. Since my generation didn't grow up during the Elvis era, this particular show is probably taking a demographic hit. It'll be really interesting to see what they do to fill the space. It takes a long time to plan and develop a new Cirque show, especially in Vegas where it often means doing a massive renovation to the theatre. With just over a year to do this, I wonder what they'll be able to come up with.
There are already so many Cirque shows in Las Vegas and so I understand as many people have said about there being too many shows. I also think that because the Beetles show was already a cirque show based on popular music that people do not want to see yet another show of a similar vein. There are also several staple shows in Vegas like "O" that people make specific trips to go see. It is about content as well as popularity and getting the word out. I hope that Cirque is able to find something that works better for their company in Las Vegas.
Every artist, and every company is going to have their fare share of failures. I find it to be more fascinating that cirque has gone on in Nevada this long without an identifiable failure. the success thier is unrivaled in such a international industry. tis news comes not as a surprise and the fact that the show isn't selling well may be just as much a product of poor economy than lack of interest. in the way the economy is, it is surprising people can still go see cirque shows on a regular basis. i wouldn't be surprised if more shows see a slump in their ticket sales until their prices lower
I would definitely have to agree with everyone on this. The amount of Cirque shows and the idol feeling they have been given makes us think they will be the best. Cirque is competing against themselves and also needs to expand more rapidly in order to progress. How do you think of a idea when you need to expand? Any deceased artist! It would be great to see a completely original and devised cirque show take its place. Some Cirque shows may be old and the originals, but at some points you will need to change them up. Cirque always revisits it shows and makes changed, this might be that you need to replace them even. Not every show can be perfect, not even Cirque.
While Cirque vs. Cirque plays a part in this, I do not think that is the only reason this show is not doing as well as the others. Scott and I saw Viva Elvis this summer and while we really enjoyed it, the Elvis show is as much a dance show as a show of miraculous feats. There are a few acts that remind one that this is a Cirque show, but there are plenty more dance numbers than anything else. When people go to Las Vegas and want to see Cirque they want to see what made the company famous - it is the spectacle Shannon mentioned. It is not because it is or is not artist driven, because we see LOVE as the number one show on the strip. Now Elvis targets an older audience than LOVE, which may be part of it, but LOVE has both artist appeal and spectacle. It is just hard for a show like Viva Elvis because it does bare the Cirque name without the Cirque spectacle people go to Vegas to see. It is just too bad since, if I am not mistaken, this will be the first Cirque du Soleil will close.
I personally am a huge fan of cirque shows. But doing one solely on elvis is a bit of stretch. Yeah it could be cute and catchy for maybe a month or two but the odds of it successfully carrying on were always slim in my head. Other cirque shows like Kra and O have such amazing stageworka and innovation they are bound to continuously draw new audience members and repeat attendees.
Gotta hand it to Cirque though for making this show last as long as it has and with as many shows as they do still have new physical feats to amaze us. it will be interesting to see what they come with to replace Elvis.
Every time one of the 'jukebox' shows comes out, I see a lot of people here unhappy about it because of the commercial aspect of the show. They see it as less art than more commercial production. While my instinct is to agree, I never know if this really matters to an audience. Clearly though this is an example where even in vegas, the cirque name wears out eventually when the show isn't strong enough. So maybe the audience is responding to the same artistic deficiency that the other commenters perceive.
Glad to hear that a cirque show is catching some flak. They've been pumping these things out for awhile now with out really doing anything new. Which is fine if you do not over saturate the market. This new wave of themed shows have just been buggin' me. Its like we had Coke, but now there's Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Blueberry Coke, Coke with Lime, Coke Zero, Diet Coke. How many flavors of the same product can we tolerate? Viva Elvis sounds like it's a crazy intolerable flavor... Nacho-Cheese Coke.
I saw "Viva Elvis" this past summer and really, really enjoyed it. It was not perfect, but it followed a story and was very inventive in it's design to tell the story of Elvis' life, as well as to visually represent his songs.
It's really a shame that the show has to close. It is not by any means a bad show--it was very enjoyable. However, there are times when good products just don't sell. I wish the best for the cast and crew, and hope that they will be able to find new work as soon as they need it.
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