Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Tournament of Kings, at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino

There's no stopping my four-day run of show reviews in Las Vegas. Friday night early, we saw the "Tournament of Kings" at the Excalibur. It cost $44 for this one with a great chicken meal (the whole chicken), potato sticks, broccoli, roll, apple pie and soft drinks. Can't beat it.

This show has run since the Casino opened at the corner of Tropicana and the Strip. It's been a decade now, and it is a staple.

The concept is pretty simple: the spectacle of knights and their attendant adventures. It is stunts, sword fighting (in pretty close to real time) and pageantry in a dirt arena surrounded by an audience in the round (actually horseshoe). I was impressed by the fighting with ball & chains, the clinks & clunks of the armor, and the sparks of the sword fights. The effects lend a nice touch to what are obviously very well choreographed fight sequences. We ate without utensils and were constantly encouraged to yell HAZAH (whatever the hell that is). The audience is divided into sections with a king for each (we were Russians). About two sections of 70 for each king (king, knights, all the same here). That would put about a 1,000 in the room (actually the basement). This one sells out almost daily, twice a day every day and is a great spot for fun. I have taken many out of town guests here and they all like it, as well as myself. The stage (not much of a stage; maybe the focus area) has switched ends since my last visit although the basic theme is the same. Nice costumes and eight equally lovely horses with jousting and gallantry abounding.

I am still partial to the specialty acts and seven acrobat-tumblers-gymnasts do an all-too-short segment. It's pretty hard to tumble and leap on dirt, but this group has been part of the act for a long time. They are very good and do some pyramids; one of them even has six men all supported by a man just barely 200 pounds.

King Arthur's arena has a great location at the front of the Casino, with a ticket office conveniently right on top of the arena. With 14 shows a week non-stop, there must be a double staff or an overlapping of schedules to accommodate all the shows. Lots of extras go into getting this show airborne with horses, a cast of 50, technical support, lights, sound, promotion and, of course, the food preparation. 2000 meals a night, probably 13,000 a week. That is a lot of squab. I appreciate the effort as much as the show.

For some reason I personally have seen this one enough times but for anybody, anything the first time is the best. The "Tournament of Kings" is a must see and a fair price with the only real dinner show left in Las Vegas. Thanks to all who make this one go. A- 91, absolutely nothing wrong with this one other than repetition for this old critic. Sammy Davis Jr. still the standard we judge them all by.

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