HotelChatter

Terrible

A group of us in town from Boston saw the Chris Angel show last night. I had a free ticket and I still felt ripped off. It is sad to watch Cirque, which I generally have enjoyed over the years, put their name on something so awful. There hasn't been a great Cirque show in Vegas since "O" and that was 10 years ago. The Chris Angel show sets a new low.

Unlike "Le Reve" or "Ka" or some of the other Cirque-like shows that started bad but they have tinkered with and made fairly good, the Chris Angel show seems unlikely to be fixable because the concept itself is so flawed. Magic is about taking the ordinary and, when it is touched by this one special figure, it becomes unusual. That's why magicians come off as these ego-driven, pseudo cult figures -- for which Chris Angel could be the archetype.

Cirque, on the other hand, is about transporting you to a place and a group of people who are otherworldly from the get go. Things appear and disappear out of no where. The stage is nothing but trap doors. But the extraordinary thing is that even though this place is so strange, you know that the two guys on stage balancing on a broomstick are, in fact, human beings just like you. Knowing that somehow these performers have trained and trained and trained to get to the point that they can make the impossible look effortless is why Cirque is magical.

On the other hand, back in the supposed "magic" show, the audience won't be impressed when someone disappears from under a sheet if they know the stage is riddled with trap doors. And you can't do a cliche saw-the-man-in-half trick as the show's climax after you've shown the audience earlier that you have the puppeteering technology to not only make supposedly sawed-off legs writhe around on a table but, back in the first act, dance about on stage.

The anonymous, masked performer who turns out to have some physical skill that is beyond belief is the hallmark of the best Cirque shows. That is the opposite of what a magician is. It's not surprising, then, that the traditional Cirque athleticism is almost entirely missing from the Chris Angel show. I'm sure that Mr. Angel was concerned such demonstrations of real talent would up stage him.

The show had either extremely eager, sycophantian fans or, more likely, plants who were just hanging out in the bathroom striking up conversations about how great it was with anyone who would listen. I'm guessing plants since 3 friends went to the bathroom over a 20 minute period and ran into the same woman. It wreaks of desperation. If anyone tells you the show is good, ask them how much of a kick-back they're getting from MGM/Mirage.

I give the show 2 months. Tops.

If you're a fan of magic and want to see a good show, check out "Penn & Teller" at the Rio or even Lance Burton or David Copperfield when he's in town. If you'd like to see something Cirque-like, go see "O" or "Mystere" or "Le Reve." If you have tickets to Chris Angel, call the box office immediately to see if you can cancel.

Criss Angel "Believe" Show

The "Believe" show has potential, but needs a great deal of retooling before the formal opening. I saw a preview performance on Saturday, September 27 and was disappointed. Overall, the magic demonstrations are standard fare--really not much I haven't already seen on the "Mindfreak" TV show. (Criss gets out of a straitjacket while dangling upside down, Criss gets cut in half, etc.) Some of the mechanical effects were just ridiculous and wouldn't fool a child. There is an over-reliance on the huge video screen at the back of the stage. There are two incredibly annoying themes that run throughout the show: rabbits and clowns (the clowns are dressed in Victorian attire). The tiny, two-foot-long animatronic rabbit that comes out on stage from time to time is beyond stupid, and the clowns have got to go. So, so irritating. At the end of the show, Criss comes out and lipsynchs the "Mindfreak" song and the clowns are behind him acting as his back-up dancers! Any illusions I might have had that Criss Angel was "cool" evaporated during this grotesque display. I actually felt genuinely embarrassed and sorry for him by that point because a lot of people just got up and left. Then, he announced that he'd do a meet and greet inside the Believe gift shop. That was a nice gesture, but he didn't bother to inform Luxor security. The Believe shop became dangerously mobbed and when security arrived they started screaming at us. Well, it wasn't our fault. Order was restored and Criss did show up, but he looked unhappy. I think he realizes the show is in deep trouble. I sincerely hope that he's able to fix it.

Chris Angel Show

I have to agree with these 2 comments.  We saw the show on Friday, September 26 and we were very disappointed.  There wasn't a lot of magic throughout the show, and most tricks we had seen many times before performed by other magicians. He also wore a large cape when performing a trick where doves appeared.  Gee, I wonder where the doves were hiding??  I totally agree with the comment that the fact that we knew the stage was full of trap doors for the Cirque performers made the "magic" less spectacular.  At one point he made a woman appear in a particular spot, and then later in the show opened a "man hole" cover in the exact same place. Hmmm.  We felt the story that the show was telling was weak as well.  I love Chris Angel's TV show and would love to see him performing some magic around Vegas, but this is not what we had hoped to see.  We, in fact, did leave when he pulled out the microphone to "sing" (I think he was lip synching, but not sure).  I'm afraid it wasn't worth being late for great dinner reservation to see the end of the show.  He did look great and I would love to be raving about the show, but just cannot.

Worst Show Ever

Every year for the past 10 years my wife and I come to Vegas.  Each year we catch one or two shows.  This time we specifically wanted to stay at the Luxor and catch Chris Angel's new "Believe" show because we are big fans of Chris' illusions.

As the name implies "Believe" and with the reputation that Chris has of doing incredible illusions, one would think this is the type of show you would be seeing.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There is virtually no magic in the entire show.  What little there is are only tricks that a beginning magician could easily pull off.  At one point Chris produced six or seven doves from his cape. Other than that, there was nothing else. In addition, there are several times that Chris appears and disappears from stage via trap doors that are clearly visible despite the dancers trying to conceal the fact by crowding around him.  Oh, I almost forgot the dancers strapping Chris to a table at the end of the show and cutting him in half with a chain saw.  It might sound cool only as the table was pushed around the fake rubber legs and feet were giggling like Jello which made the whole crowd laugh.  I don't think that is the reaction they were looking for.

Chris is in the show the entire time but could have been easily replaced by anyone.  The whole show is nothing but a poorly produced high school play with lavish costumes.  We have seen the Circ shows "O" and "Mystre" which are fantastic.  This show has no resemblance to any Circ show.  There are no amazing acrobatics or feats of strength that Circ is so famous for.  The whole show consists of several scenes that have different dance routines, most of which involve some type of theatric torture of Chris.  At many points in the show you think you are watching some type of Opera.

The show is approximately one hour and forty minutes.  Your thought is that at some point the dancing on stage will end and the illusions will begin.  No such luck.  As we left the theatre all you could hear from everyone on how bad the show was and how they felt ripped-off.  Hundreds of people crowded around the box office afterwards demanding their money back after the show.  I have never witnessed such a large crowd that disgruntled about a show. This is hands down the worst show we have ever seen in Vegas.  

Shame on Chris Angel for selling out to what ever they paid him to put his name on this show.  This does no justice to his talent not to mention ripping off his fans in the expectation of seeing live what they see every week on television.  As far as I'm concerned Chris owes me $250.00.  Oh yeah, did I say "Worst Show Ever".

Unbelievably bad!

I saw Believe on Sept 27th.  My wife and I are HUGE Cirque fans (we've seen all shows on the strip except 'Love'). In order of our favorites: O, Ka, Mystere, Zumanity (just to give you a hint of this reviewers taste).

We also dig Criss Angel's Mindfreak show on TV as each episode is filled with "How in the !@&#(@! did he do that?" We just knew the bad early press had to be wrong. "Cirque plus Criss Angel = a magic show like no other!"  Well, we were right but in the most disappointing of ways.

To try to compare anything to 'O' is just unfair so I won't. In my opinion, 'O' is the crown jewel in the Cirque organization, but I will say this. 'Believe' is a low I never thought I'd see with the Cirque name attached to it. I didn't think they were capable of something this bad. Man, there are so many 'believe' clichés that can be inserted here but I'm going to restrain myself and move on.

First off, here's what's positive about it.  My hat is off to the performers.  They are working their butts off and they have to be miserable. They have to know how bad this is. Also, the music is outstanding!  If only they could reuse it for another Cirque show after this one closes in the coming months. It's the single element that kept me from walking out. Really great music!

From there, your $100 ticket will allow you to witness "groundbreaking illusions" (as we've been told by Criss) such as a dove being pulled out of a sleeve, Criss disappearing 20 times, Criss appearing in a monster costume AFTER it walks off stage to be replaced by one with Criss in it (how'd he do that?), Criss levitating in the back of the stage behind a screen or disappearing at the end of the show with him running off stage (guess the trap door was busted)!

Seriously.  You have seen all of this and more in any second rate magic show and done better on his own TV show. I was simply shocked at the lack of illusions and the utter tiredness of every last one.  It was shocking.

The Cirque 'look' is there, but nothing else.  There are no Cirque acts in the show.  I expected that, but I thought the illusions would replace it.  Instead, you get neither. Every bit of 'magic' you experience in other Cirque shows is nowhere to be found.

Also, Criss adlibs WAY too much and it's always vulgar which doesn't fit in at all.  Even Larry King makes an appearance via video screen and Criss turns to the audience and says "Hey! It's Larry King! I did his show once!" If you're wondering "Huh?", it doesn't make any more sense seeing it play out on stage.  You'll have the same thought. And the close of the show with Criss belting out the Mindfreak theme song is just embarrassing and, again, doesn't fit the thematic feel at all.

Cirque should have shut this production down during pre-production to maintain their level of integrity and high standards in the world of entertainment. Yes, it is that bad.

Seriously, it hurts me to write this about a Cirque show (heck, even about Criss!) but avoid this show at all costs. It is really that bad.  If curiosity gets the better of you and you just have to go, bookmark this page so you can come back and write about your disappointed experience too. Believe me, you will...

The great unmasking

Ok, so we finally got a chance Saturday night to see Criss Angel without video editing, camera tricks and hired "audience" members and this is what we get. I would like to blame Cirque for this horrible experience and direction but as Criss has pointed out MANY times in the past few months, this is HIS dream, HIS vision brought to life with the help of the Cirque team. This show will be the great unmasking of the fiction that Mind Freak has built up.

If you remember the story of the "Emperor's New Clothes" you will see the problem here. Mr. Angel has surrounded himself with "consultants" that either don't know or won't tell him the truth. The few respected magicians that have worked for him in the past are all gone and left with a "C" string of marginal talent that are riding his coattails for any potential reward.

The rest of the cast is very talented and making the best of what must be a painful experience for them all. The choreography by Wade Robinson is great the theater and outside area spectacular, the only thing missing is any sense of talent from the "star". Their only hope is to cast someone with talent to play the role of Criss Angel and it might have a shot.

His rambling was unprofessional and grating. It's fine for performing for tourists on the street but one would think that for this ticket price, even in previews, he might be at least somewhat polished.

We did stay through the mind numbing finale with the lip synced exercise in self-aggrandizement that was "MindFreak" Many in our show had long departed and we had to wade through lines of people at he box office demanding their money back,

I hate paying for someone else's therapy, yet this is what we did for Mr. Angel. This show is nothing more than a chance for him to fill some long lost void of acceptance.... a void this theater and production can never fill.

So dissapointed

I went to see the show last week and i agree with everybody its terrible i didnt know you could ask for your money back, as soon he start singing i said its time to go and half of the audience did the same thing.  i m going to call the luxor and see if i can get my money back.

Chris Angel Believe

Plain and Simple - It was terrible.
We went to see this show on Saturday Night.  I did not know we could get our money back but I am going to call.
I have never seen such a terrible display of lack of talent.  
The Cirque name gives one a sense that the show should be of high standard but it was the worst show of any kind that I saw.
This man should not even entertain the idea that he is in the same league as Houdini.
Do not go and waste your money.
 

beLIEve...

I went to Believe on the 2nd night and I am a LOYAL and I LOVE CRISS ANGEL and so does my boyfriend!
However, the show was a bit disappointing as it lacked in Criss Angel style magic and had too many Lance Burton, etc...card/bird tricks.
Also, Criss fans may not be well receptive to the Cirque dancing. It is artistic and people may not like it. Also, the deranged shredding of "Criss" by demon bunnies was a bit boring and long. Seems to have more interpretive dance and less magic in the show.
You could see the strings when the handkerchief flew threw the air and when he was going to be cut in half, you could see the fake 'guts' sticking out on the side before he was even cut. Trap doors were also noticeable. Mind you, we did sit in the 2nd row.
The storyline was all over the place and lacking. The 'fake' accident at the beginning was a bit lame, even though that is why we were 'going into his mind'. The mechanical bunnies look horrible and cheesy.
My boyfriend even started falling asleep during the show.
The surprise meet and greet after the show ROCKED! Although, Security and the Believe store were not prepared for this and it caused a throng of people to mob the store and took an hour to get everyone into an orderly line.
Love Criss and would like to see more MAGIC that will set him apart from the riff-raff in Vegas. The show has potential is these items are fixed. I did hear a few people complain that it was a disappointment that Criss was OFF stage quite a bit, considering we all paid to see HIM!

Believe is startling beauty and new concepts

Our large group saw Believe on Sept 30th and we were blown away by the intensity and beauty of Criss Angel's magic. His complex, groundbreaking vision of nature and the supernature is imaginative and brilliant.  This show is the best of Cirque du Soleil's concept theatre - a new path!

The music, costumes and supporting cast complete a timeless elegant production combining skill of the highest order and concepts not easily grasped by some - hence the hostile and naive reactions by some reviewers. There have been previous taboo areas when dealing with magic and supernature. Comments based on unknown fears do not surprise me but the negative reactions are unjust.

If you do not understand there's no reason to attact. Try to learn something on this magical trip! Criss Angel takes us on a mindbending journey of painful, passionate all consuming love in his storyline. This is life, the magic of matter changing constantly to something else in nature.

The beautiful elements of the show drive the production into another dimension which takes most people, especially men, out of their emotional comfort zones. Believe tears down walls and I think women can go there more easily than men, hence the strong negative reactions from most men who are afraid, and yes, jealous of Criss' obvious talent and strength.

I will see Believe again & again. I need this beauty and truth in my life, not the gloom and doom of naysayers. I rate 'Believe' infinite stars out of infinite stars***

I Do Not Understand

The complaints of Criss Angel cultists that anyone who doesn't like the Believe show doesn't "get it" is becoming progressively more tedious. If you guys weren't so into Criss Angel, you'd be Scientologists.

Have you extremist Angel fans ever been to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC? Their exhibits range from magnificent to ridiculous. The last time I was there a group of us were laughing at a piece of fake white fur that was framed and mounted on a wall. On the other hand, they have Van Goughs and Picassos that are heartstoppingly beautiful and profoundly emotionally moving.

Believe is, as a reviewer on another site noted, a classic example of Emperor's New Clothes syndrome. It can be a wonderful show, but it's going to take a lot of intensive effort to achieve that.

 

believe show

My wife and I saw Criss Angels show Believe on Wednesday Oct 8 at 7 pm. I think Criss and his crew have worked very hard to get this show off the ground and sure maybe it needs a bit of improvement, but I think he deserves a break from the negative feed back ive read about the show.If Criss Hired me to work for him I'd feel mighty honored.I love Criss buddy and keep up the good work, sincerely Brent St-Gelais of Victoria BC.

Criss Angel

I also talked to some of Criss's brothers and they also gave me the time of day and thanked me personally for Criss , for my support. Tc Criss love ya Bro!

Wanted to love this show, BUT...

Initial impressions were great. The theater is absolutely beautiful in a classic style, with elements of the macabre scattered throughout.

THEN, the show begins, and it goes downhill from there. The faked "accident" at the beginning is just laughable and ridiculous. The inspired costumes, machines, and artwork are amazing, but as one writer has already posted, the trapdoor effects just get plain old...and the rest of the "magic" is just as cliched...

I would HIGHLY recommend that Cirque/Criss go back to the drawing board on this one. I kept wondering which investors kept allowing this one to go on and get to this stage. It should've not come to a "preview" with "tweaking" and a 10/31 opening date, that needs to be held off "until the show is READY for prime time"...it is a long way off right now.

The main problem is that this is one schizophrenic show, marred by Angel's awkward, annoying monologue throughout. It would be much better if he just simply did not talk at all. That said, the show cannot decide whether it's a Cirque show, a magic show, a horror show, or some sort of macabre art display. The problem is, it succeeds at NONE of these, mainly due to the lack of unifying theme, Angel's inability to carry a live audience this large, and the lack of any truly creative "magic"...

I really wish I had had my money and time back. I had seen Carrot Top earlier in the day, and was thinking that I felt sorry for him (before I saw the Believe show) being upstaged so much---however, after seeing the Believe show---umm, I ain't worried about Carrot Top getting upstaged.

If you go to the Luxor, do yourself a favor and don't buy into the hype. Look at the programs to see pictures of the wonderful "Believe" set, BUT save your money and go see some better shows instead...maybe the producers of "Believe" will make wholesale changes sometime soon and delay the official opening, but unless they do, this show is doomed from the start...

An insult to the theater-going public

Criss Angel's Believe is quite simply the single worst thing ever committed to the stage under the banner of a "professional" theatrical production.  In fact, I have seen dozens of amateur productions that are exponentially better than the atrocity unfolding on stage nightly at the Luxor.  I have been in the entertainment business for more than 20 years, and in that time I have been employed to sit through hundreds of preview performances, so that I could later give notes to the director, which he or she would then consider in getting the show ready for a hard opening.  I have also worked on the production of several very large and complex magic shows.  After watching Believe, I sadly concluded that there was no simple way to salvage this awful show.  All I could think is that they should keep the set, the costumes and the choreography and start from scratch.  If Cirque and the Luxor aren't deluding themselves (and I know that they're not - Cirque is very worried about how this show will affect their reputation) they will close down the show, give it a complete overhaul, and reschedule the opening for some time in the first quarter of next year.
The show has many flaws, but the two most unforgiving flaws are its star and the magic (what little there is) that he performs.  Criss Angel is a mega-reality TV star; reality TV is his domain, and he dominates it well.  Criss has never had experience performing in a professional, first-class theatrical setting (and don't point to his show in the WWF theater in NY - I saw it several times, and while it was decent, it was small, and by no means could it be considered a "professional" theatrical endeavor), as a result, the "star" of this show sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to stage presence, movement, and just the basic ability to look like a professional performer.  Unfortunately, all of the reality TV fame in the world won't automatically result in the ability to grace a stage in the manner needed to come off as a professional stage entertainer.  Criss needs to spend months in daily, intensive training with theater professionals, who can teach him how to stand, move and talk like a professional entertainer.  The Cirque elements of the show are of the highest professional caliber, which only contributes to just how amateurish Criss comes across as a performer.
We could forgive Criss's lack of professionalism, if the magic were stunning.  But it's not.  In fact, it is some of the most poorly conceived and uninspired magic I have ever seen.  This is Criss's fault.  First, he painted himself into a corner with his TV show.  Anyone with even a modest understanding of magic realizes that Criss can't do in public what he does on TV.  Criss uses the camera in a masterful way to assist him in the illusions he performs, but without the audiences point of view being limited by the camera, Criss simply can't do live on stage the things he does on TV (he can do things similar to what he does on TV, but they will look less miraculous than what he does on TV).  That being said, there is a world of incredible magic and illusions out there and dozens of professional magic consultants that could breathe life into this pitiful show, but Criss has not availed himself of them.  Why has he not? For one, he has begun to believe his own press.  Second, he refuses to pay for it (Criss is notoriously frugal when it comes to this stuff - the classic case of penny wise, pound foolish).  Third, the few professionals he did contact to help him with the magic in the show were asked to sign ridiculous secrecy agreements that would prevent them from ever again using principles of magic that are hundreds of years old, if they worked with Criss on Believe.  (And no, I have no personal axe to grind, I never was, and never wanted to be, involved with this show - but the magic community is a very small world, and I saw this silly agreement myself).
If you have tickets to the show, get a refund.  If you've been a victim of this show, demand your money back.  Letting the show open - even in previews - was, in my view, a negligent act by Cirque and the Luxor, and they should not be allowed to profit from their own negligence (I understand that the Luxor has given refunds to angry patrons).  If you want to go see a good Cirque or Cirque-like show, go see Love, Le Reve or Zumanity.  If you want to go see a good magic show, go see Lance Burton, Nathan Burton or Jeff McBride at Palace Station.  Don't spend your hard earned money on Believe, until Criss, Cirque and the Luxor show their fans and patrons the respect they deserve and reconstruct this theatrical atrocity from the top down

Worse than AWFUL!!!!

...saw the show, and although I am a HUGE fan of CA, must admit it was awful. To say it was cheezy is an accolade. *It should be noted that the show is in the preview stage, which purpose is specifically so the producers can see how audiences react and make changes. LOTS of changes. Like tons!

Wow, tough crowd!

I saw the Believe show Oct. 17th, '08.  I actually didn't think it was that bad.  In fact there were many parts that I thought were pretty cool.  The theatre was amazing (I wish I had one of those statues of a rabbit pulling a human head out of a hat), the music was the kind of music where you'd go home and see if you can download it online because you can't get it out of your head.  I think the confusion here is that Cirque du soleil is a acrobatic arts show.  So when you read Criss Angel, you think it's gonna be a big magic show which don't get me wrong there is magic envolved but there's more music and dancing then there is actual magic tricks.  Some of the tricks are obvious others leave you with your imagination.  If you're looking for evil looking professional dancing rabbits, awesome music, and a few magic tricks then go see this.  The show is just starting out so there are changes being made to better the show.  Judging by the other comments left on this page I don't feel as though the show it going to last very long so I'm happy I got to see it while it existed.  I would recommend this show to friends.  

Not for children

While in Las Vegas last weeek, we decided to go see Criss Angel Believe.  However, when we called the American Express concierge service, they contacted Luxor Hotel, and confirmed that the show was appropriate for children 6 and over.  We have an 8 year old boy, so we said OK, we enjoy Mind Freak, and we have seen a few Cirque du Soleil shows, so sure, let's go.  Unfortunately, after the first 10 minutes, when the dancer bunnies started decaputating the body of Criss Angel, which my son thought was real, we had to leave.  The show was certainly not appropriate for kids, I expressed my concerns with the ticket manager and they reimbursed us for one ticket.  I thought that the show was misleading, as we were expecting more Criss Angel vs. Cirque du Soleil with a twist. I am sure the show would of been fine without my son, but it was an expensive lesson :)      

Not for children

While in Las Vegas last weeek, we decided to go see Criss Angel Believe.  However, when we called the American Express concierge service, they contacted Luxor Hotel, and confirmed that the show was appropriate for children 5 and over.  We have an 8 year old boy, so we said OK, we enjoy Mind Freak, and we have seen a few Cirque du Soleil shows, so sure, let's go.  Unfortunately, after the first 10 minutes, when the dancer bunnies started decaputating the body of Criss Angel, which my son thought was real, we had to leave.  The show was certainly not appropriate for kids, I expressed my concerns with the ticket manager and they reimbursed us for one ticket.  I thought that the show was misleading, as we were expecting more Criss Angel vs. Cirque du Soleil with a twist. I am sure the show would of been fine without my son, but it was an expensive lesson :)      

Criss Angel Believe

I. personally, LOVED THE SHOW! I loved everything about it. I loved the magic, the dancing, the costumes, the theatre... I'm going back to see it again! :)