Luxor Must Now "Believe" It Made a $100 Million Mistake

November 4, 2008 at 4:47 PM | 4 Comments

After the onslaught of brutal reviews during its shaky preview period, the folks behind the Criss Angel "Believe" show at the Luxor must be fully aware that things aren't going so well. Why else would they have specifically banned all media from its official premier on Halloween?

Oh, right: to attempt to prevent scathing reviews like the one the LA Times ran today. We knew the show was gonna be bad, but damn -- it's been a while since we've seen such a brutal beating from a major paper. Some choice excerpts:

If Criss Angel were blindfolded, straitjacketed, run over by a steamroller, locked in a steel box and dumped from a helicopter into the Pacific Ocean, he still might be easier to salvage from disaster than "Criss Angel: Believe," the gloomy, gothic muddle of a show that officially lurched into being on Halloween night like some patched-together Frankenstein's monster.

Ouch. Calling the show "the most death-obsessed show to emerge from Sin City since 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,'" the reviewer was most disturbed by a ubiquitous troupe of dancing rabbits who apparently come bounding onstage whenever the show's pacing starts to slow and they are only there "to mug, break-dance or shriek high-pitched gibberish."

Dear lord.

While acknowledging the Cirque designers' excellent technical effects and Angel's success in pulling off impressive preschool birthday-party tricks like producing a bird out of his hand, the reviewer, plain and simple, says it's just far from being worth the $100 ticket.

And here's a nice juicy little tidbit:

According to an Oct. 12 Times story, Angel previously tried to launch a show on Broadway and at other casinos before Cirque stepped in as creative partner and MGM Mirage Resorts (the Luxor's parent company) stepped up with a reputed $100-million investment. Angel, for the record, retains top billing with "Believe" as "co-writer, illusions creator and designer, original concept creator and star."

Hmmm. More evidence that Luxor maybe made a $100 million mistake that some other hotels were smart enough to avoid, perhaps?

Check out the full LA Times review here, and maybe don't check out the show. Save your dolla-dolla bills for the slots.

[Photo: Meredith Caron / Cirque du Soleil via LAT]

Tags: Criss Angel / Viva Vegas / Hotel News

by Jenna

4 Comments

Return to » Luxor Must Now "Believe" It Made a $100 Million Mistake

Jenna

HotelChatter Editor
November 4, 2008 at 5:51 PM

hehe
This picture makes me LOL.

patricksw

HotelChatter Member
November 4, 2008 at 8:24 PM

wow
Like the London theatre-going crowd, I tend to flock to anything that gets a bad review. (see also: Mamma Mia!, which was entirely unsuccessful until the London Times issued a scathing review to the maiden production of the now multi-national success story) I'm down to go when they start begging with discounts just to see the rabbits, really... Anyone else in? PS: Angel is a douche... I hardly think he's comparable to Abba.

abigailmschilling

HotelChatter Member
November 5, 2008 at 2:21 AM

Girl Next Door
I'm just said that Criss Angel is dating Holly Madison. Hef is weirdly still cooler that this loser.

Yen woo ping

HotelChatter Member
December 4, 2008 at 3:24 AM

Shame on Felix Rappaport
He is such a classy man. Why did he get involved with CA? And his Cathouse restaurant? LOL~ He's cheapening the hotel. It was supposed to be a replica of an egyptian tomb. Look at it now. It's a bordello! And with a poor Cirque Show featuring an aging punk goth rock magician.
The water is dirty now at the Mirage, but I'd rather go ride that broken moving escalator, when it's working.

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