A Grand Night Out

While I was in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago, I went to see one of the newer Cirque du Soliel shows, Ka, at the MGM Grand. On prior trips to Vegas, I've seen Mystere (fantastic) and O (a major disappointment), so I went with a full knowledge of the kind of spectacle a Cirque show is. And I actually recommend that people don't go to Ka if they've never seen a Cirque show before.

If you've seen one of these shows before, then you know they're a dizzying array of acrobatic feats that boggles the mind and the senses. Ka takes that another step beyond into sensory overload by adding the most outlandish stage and staging of any piece of live performance I've ever seen. My thinking is that someone simultaneously confronted with the grandeur of the stage and the wonder of the gymnastics will simply have too much to focus on and take in if seeing it all for the first time.

The set for Ka has been covered in cable documentaries and featured in an episode of CSI. It's insane. It has a giant platform that can rotate in any direction (360 degrees on both axes). At times, they cover it completely with sand to simulate a desert, and pour it off over the edge into the trap below. It's all touch sensitive, and in another segment of the show, it's turned completely vertical for a segment in which performers enact a climbing routine where every touch sets watery ripples in motion across the surface. To say nothing of the fireballs that shoot out from below before the show. Or the indoor fireworks display that makes up the finale. And a dozen other wonders in between.

Aside from the juiced-up staging, there's one other significant way in which Ka differs from the other Cirque shows I've seen. It has a story. Well, more or less. Other Cirque shows have a loose theme around which all the acts in the show are based. Ka's theme is a loose story of a separated twin brother and sister, heirs to an empire under attack. It's not a detailed story, and still largely just serves as a framework to hold a series of acrobatic pieces together. But it still is a different approach than Mystere or O.

In all, I enjoyed the show very much. Mystere is still better, I think, but anyone who goes to Vegas and has seen that would probably really enjoy this. And since, like all these sorts of shows in Las Vegas, it's sure to run for years and years, you may well have the chance to get out there and see it.