ZARKANA

BY ED BRUCE  edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

FOR SOME UNKNOWN  UNFAIR REASON I WANTED TO NOT LIKE THIS.....HOWEVER I SOBERED UP AND WAS FAIR IN MY EVALUATION AND I LOVED IT.

HISTORY....

THIS CIRQUES 9TH SHOW TRY  IN LAS VEGAS...(7 RUNNING)...AT THE ARIA...REPLACING ...ELVIS.... WHICH INCIDENTALLY I LOVED ALL THE TIMES I SAW IT....BEGINING ...MIDDLE...AND...... END....

ACTUALLY ELVIS WAS AMONG MY ALL TIME FAVORITES,... MAY BECAUSE IN FIT INTO MY LIFELINE.

ZARKANA OPENING THIS MONTH AT THE ARIA...LAS VEGAS STRIP...FRIDAY THRU TUESDAY 7 AND 930 .......YOU .CAN'T MISS IT....855 927 5262.....MUST SEE.

CIRQUE INTO THE "WHAT CAN WE DO TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND MAKE IT EVEN MORE OVER THE TOP CATEGORY"....THEY HAVE REACHED THAT LEVEL WITH ZARKANA !

FIRST....NONE OF THE BIG THREE NEGATIVES....STARTED ON TIME....NOT TOO LOUD...NOT TOO DARK !

REMEMBER ONE DRUM IS TOO MANY AND YOU COMPOUND THE ISSUE EACH TIME YOU ADD ONE MORE. ! !

THIS IN THE PERFECT ENORMOUS "ELVIS" SHOWROOM....GREAT SEATING ....GREAT STAFF....THEY WANT YOUR BUSINESS !

I AM NOT SURE THE 10 WANDERING WHITE VAMPIRES DURING THE PRE SHOW ARE NECESSARY...MAYBE THE FIRST TIME AT THE FIRST CIRQUE  SHOW....BUT I GOT NOTHING OUT OF IT.

THERE IS A LANGUAGE ISSUE HERE PROBABLY BY DESIGN...MOST OF THE ACTORS SPEAK AND SING IN TONGUES AND NOT ONE WORD IS CONVEYED TO THE 68 YEAR OLD SPEECH MAJOR TELECOMMUNICATION GRADUATE WHO LOVES LYRICS...THUSLY ALL AUDIO WAS USELESS.....EVERYTHING IS TO TASTE OF COURSE AND THIS IS MY REVUE......THE BACK GROUND MUSIC FOR MOST OF THE PIECES WELL COMPOSED AND PERFECTLY TIMED TO THE ACTS.

THE CHOREOGRAPHY FOR 90 MINUTES BEAUTIFULLY FLAWLESS...EVERYBODY HUSTLING TO THEIR CUE SPOT AND ARRIVING ON TIME.

MULTI ELABORATE COSTUMES FIT PERFECTLY...

ABOVE THE ARC ENCOMPASSING THE STAGE WAS A  THREE QUARTER HALF MOON VIDEO PRESENTIATION...ALMOST NON STOP......IT WAS SO PERFECT YOU COULD EXPECT THE ACTORS TO BE REAL....THE NEXT LEVEL FOR CIRQUE......HIGH DEF PLUS...!

I LIVE IN A CITY WHERE I CAN DRIVE 6 MILES AND SEE ANY OF 7 CIRQUE SHOWS ANY NIGHT...WOW !

OPENING ACT OF ALL THINGS A JUGGLER ....TO THE NEXT STEP...FEMALE....SUPER...SORRY I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PARTIAL TO JUGGLERS AND THE PRODUCTION TEAM OPENED WITH SOMETHING I REALLY LOVED.

NOT TOO CRAZY ABOUT THE ALLEGED COMEDY DUO BRIDGES...AND NEVER HAPPY WITH EXTRACTING AUDIENCE MEMBERS TO GO ON STAGE.

ONE ARTIST DREW IMAGES IN SAND ON A BOWL WITH VIDEO PROJECTION FROM UNDERNEATH ONTO A MONSTER SCREEN....TRULY NEW AND CREATIVE...I LIKED IT ALTHO IT SEEMED A TAD LONG.

ANOTHER SUPER DANCER CONTORIONIST ATHLETE ON A SINGLE CIRCLE STAGE DID A PIECE WHICH COULD CAUSE HIM TO BE A FIRST ROUND  PICK ON MY TEAM.

AERILISTS...LOTS....MONSTER SET...LOTS OF MOVEMENT....PROBABLY BETTER VIEWED FROM THE BALCONY ALTHO IT WAS GREAT FROM ROW K.....LOTS OF FLYING CATCHES AND MULTI MOVEMENTS WITH NEW CREATIVE CHOREOGRAPHY......THEY EVEN DID A REPLAY AND GOT THE CATCH THE SECOND TIME....LOVED IT. !

AGAIN THE CHOREOGRAPHY FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW .......5 STARS...EVERYONE ON TIME ON CUE ON SET ON THE TEAM GAMEPLAN....SOMEBODY HAD A VISION HERE...SOMEBODY THAT KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND SUCCEEDED.

OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE COMMENTED ON THE SNAKES AND SHOW THEME....WHATEVER IT WAS I DIDN'T GET IT ...IF THEY WERE TRYING TO CONVEY IT THEY MISSED ME...MAYBE I NEED A REPLAY.....THE WHOLE SHOW JUST EYE CANDY AND THEY SURE SUCCEEDED THERE.

ACROBATS ...15...I AM SURE FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY....WONDERFUL...THE FINALE....THEY NOW WORK IN CATCH PAIRS AND TOSSES....AGAIN THE ENTIRE 15 MEMBER TEAM EXACTLY ON CUE....ALL THE TRIES AND THROWS JUST WONDERFUL.

FOR THE ENCORE A BEAUTIFUL TOTAL SUPER COLORFUL FINALE...THEY KNEW I LOVED ROSES AND OVERDOSED ME.

ZARKANA A PROVEN WINNER IN RUSSIA AND NEW YORK....I HOPE IT RUNS HERE FOREVER AND I HOPE THEY DONT OVER TWEAK IT...IN RUNS PRETTY PURE THE WAY IT IS.....WE SAW SOME OF THE SPECIAL IDEAS AND THEMES AT THE RUSSIAN CIRCUS IN MOSCOW LAST MONTH.

I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT ANY AUDIO ATTEMPTS AT SONGS...

THIS WORLD CLASS AS ADVERTISED...

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