Cirque du So, ummmmmm
My family and I attended the 5pm, December 22nd Cirque show next to Atlantic Station. We were all very excited as we've seen the Beatles Love show several times in Vegas and always came away amazed that the acrobats could even be human.
We arrived in the cold, driving rain to wait in a line, in the rain, because there was only a 20' x 20' tent utilized to check baggage, scan tickets, etc. Not a great beginning, but we still were optimistic. We heard about the ridiculously priced concessions ($8 popcorn, etc) so planned on having dinner after the show.
We were able to enter the "big top" around 4:30pm to get situated for the show. The beginning was a bit goofy with a gold sequined entertainer having fun with the audience. Not my thing, but many were enjoying the pre-show show.
The show started with Mr. WOW displaying several entertainers performing juggling, dancing and double dutch. I felt as if, with a few beers, I could have danced better than the dancer, and the juggler, did I just spend $550 on 4 tickets (including the ludicrous service fee) to see juggling?
Anyway, the show was underwhelming and we got the sense that something just wasn't right. There was an acrobat on roller skates that face planted hard on the stage, NOT part of the show. There was also a significant amount of communication going on between the acrobats / entertainers that did not seem appropriate. A chandelier was lowered at center stage, an acrobat grabbed onto it, spun around a couple times, and walked off the stage. A few minutes later they announced there was a delay in the show and they would resume as soon as possible. After hearing that announcement a few times, the announcer advised all to vacate the "big top". So, I'm thinking, maybe they just didn't sell enough concessions, let's interrupt the show, get these morons out into the concession area and rack up some more high margin concession sales, wooohoooo!!
Well, about 30 minutes later, they let us back in. The show continued to be a head scratcher. I have no idea what relevance to a Cirque show a skit with washing machines in it has, but I went along with it. The comedy was slapstick, anyone under 6 years old really dug it. Most of the adults in the room had the old WTF look on their faces.
A short time later they actually announced the 25 minute intermission. Huh? We were just in the concession area for 30 minutes, not 15 minutes before! The show didn't resume for 35 minutes, the crowd was getting restless. There was clapping in unison, the crowd actually started a Wave just to entertain ourselves. I'm attaching a video of the Wave at my $550 Cirque show, but it may not upload. Trust me, it was one of the highlights of the show. This was one dedicated Wave crowd!
Ok, so, no unicycle act, no chandelier act, most of the artists were having a lot of conversations back and forth, there was an awful lot of stage hands wiping down the stage. Hey, wait, it was raining. It then became obvious the "technical difficulties" were actually their leaky tent allowing rain to puddle on the stage. If I was performing on that slick stage, I'd be a little reluctant as well.
There was an act in which a woman was hoisted into the air by her hair, that was more along the lines of our expectations.
My 9 year old son was really looking forward to the BMX riders. Well, got about 1-1/2 minutes of BMX riding and noticed just about every rider refusing to ride. The stage hands, cast members, everyone, was trying feverishly to dry the stage. Shortly after that time everyone came out and the show was over.
So, in a total of 3 hours, we got maybe 10 minutes of solid entertainment. We were so completely disappointed. Especially since we live 90 minutes from the venue.
I contacted customer service for Cirque. Even though the show was a complete disaster from start to finish, due wholly to the fact their equipment could not keep rain from entering the facility, they are refusing to refund any portion of our tickets. I was advised they will make a note on my account and we could see any Cirque show we would like, at any time. I asked if we could see Cirque du Soleil's Beatle's Love Show in Vegas. To which the man said, "Oh, no, not that one." "You can only see one of the "Big Top" shows. "Where are those?", I asked. "Austin, Chicago, Miami, Washington..." Well isn't that swell.
I completely understand when circumstances present themselves resulting in disasters. In that case, your customers should be made whole. In my opinion, Cirque should proactively refund every ticket for that night's performance. However, at the very least, they should refund those that request it. In addition, the fact they provided absolutely no information regarding the issues was inexcusable.
Unfortunately I will never give the "Big Top" Cirque another chance. read more