"O" by Cirque Du Soleil
Hello people, I just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas, and decided to pen down my review while the memories are still fresh in my mind. This is my first Cirque show and here's what I've got to say.
The O-theatre inside Bellagio is amazing! That's the kind of Opera House arrangement I always wanted to see. And the sets, awesome! I'm at a loss for words. Sets of this magnitude can only be seen in movies. The stage deserves a special mention. One moment it's a swimming pool, and within a blink of your eye, it turns to plain floor. You can't help wondering where has all the water gone.
The show runs for about an hour and 45min. The acts are all disconnected and there's no storyline, or maybe I couldn't comprehend one. There are about 3 breaks in between when the audience is left to the mercy of two clowns. I didn't find them any humorous and actually waited for them to leave.
First half of the show was boring. I sat there with high expectations, and trust me, there was not a single act that wow-ed me. Felt that the trapeze artists in any Russian circus perform better than the Cirque crew. Infact during the first half-an-hour, I was actually wording my review for this blog. It was just dancing and diving and dancing and diving all the while. For those of you who wanted to be there at the watercube watching the Olympics, come watch O. You might love the synchronized diving acrobatics.
The latter part was stunning though. Amazing visual and sound effects, mind-blowing acrobatics and decent music blew me away. There's this fire act that I was most impressed with.
All in all, its a good show. But is it worth 110$? Certainly not. I would have given this a 5 star rating had the ticket been 55$, since I enjoyed just half the show. Will I watch another CDS? - No! Not worth the money. We all know that there are atleast 110 other ways to blow away 110 bucks in Las Vegas. Cirque Du Soleil is an experience, and I lived through it once. I guess I'll be happy with that. :)
My friends have gone to see Ka and they loved it. And then there were these other people sitting around me in the O-theatre who actually enjoyed even the silly clown acts. I'm sure they would have given 'O' a 5-star rating. So yeah, the bottomline is, don't just go by the positive reviews that people write. When you decide to watch a CDS show, do enough research and pick the right show. Go watch them on YouTube or on DVDs and purchase the tickets only if you feel it's worth a watch. The video on the CDS site just runs for about a minute, and you can't really get a hang of the show.
Footnote:
1. The instructions on the ticket prohibit the use of cameras or other recording devices, but there's nobody at the entrance to scan your bags. The theatre looks brilliant and it definitely deserves a place in your photobooks. No photography during the show though.
2. The tickets sell out pretty fast. A week before the show date, we could get the last two remaining balcony seats - Section 303 row DD. Decent view.
