Las Vegas Weekly

November 1, 2008 · 2:32 PM

Famed magicians, Hollywood celebs usher in Believe

By Robin Leach

Siegfried Fischbacher.

Photo: Scott Doctor

The new era of magic on The Strip was ushered in with the unique Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil partnership. They joined forces for last night's star-studded world premiere of Believe at the Luxor. Surrounded by hundreds of onlookers and his Loyals, Criss began the festivities by walking the black carpet with Girls Next Door blond beauty Holly Madison on his arm. Joining them on the black carpet were Halloween-costumed Cirque du Soleil founder, Guy Lalibertè; the show’s co-writer and director, Serge Denoncourt; and many of the extraordinary characters from the magical Gothic-themed pop-opera.

Believe Premiere

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Celebrities included Harrah's headliner Marie Osmond; Mad Men star Christina Hendricks; Lost stars Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan; star of Apple’s Mac ad campaign, Justin Long; How I Met Your Mother star and director of Hollywood's Magic Castle, Neil Patrick Harris; singer, choreographer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul; sexy porn princess Tera Patrick and rocker beau Evan Seinfeld; magicians Penn & Teller, Nathan Burton, Gerry McCambridge, Johnny Thompson and Siegfried Fischbacher of Siegfried & Roy; reality-TV star Tila Tequila; and former That 70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama.

Both Penn and Nathan told me that they hadn't seen so much first-night excitement for a magic show since Siegfried & Roy. Said Penn: "It’s great for all of us magicians that Criss can generate this kind of excitement and attention to the art." Excalibur comedy headliner Louie Anderson added: "This marks the occasion that Criss really becomes the heir apparent to the Siegfried & Roy legacy."

After the second show of the night -- now only 4598 shows to go in the 10-year-contract -- Criss and Holly joined celebrity friends, their family, VIP guests and cast members at the premiere gala. The excitement continued outside with Luxor’s pool deck, which was transformed into a $1 million Cirque fantasy land featuring circus troupes, dancers, trampoline artists and many of Cirque's world- famous acrobatic acts

Party guests who still reveled in the festivities, which ended at 3 a.m., included So You Think You Can Dance? star Adam Shankman, singer/songwriter Deborah Gibson, CSI Miami star Jonathan Togo, Wedding Crashers actor Keir O’Donnell, American Idol alum Michael Johns, and the entire Cirque creative team.

Also attending the Believe gala were ex-heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, Baywatch star Jeremy Jackson, actor Joey Kern, comedian Carrot Top, singer/songwriter Clint Holmes, the Luxor's adult-cabaret Fantasy Girls, La Cage star Frank Marino (in full “drag”), Iron Chef Kerry Simon, Charlie’s Angels star Tanya Roberts, Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil, Red Rock entertainers Zowie Bowie, and the Alizma triplet violinists .

You can view all of our celebrity “Black Carpet” interviews here -- and we'll be back on Monday with the final jottings from my notebook.

Luxor President Felix Rappaport told me at the pool party: "We just had to take the magic from the stage out here and turn this into a fantasyland, too." Criss summed up: "This was the most extraordinary night of my life. I'm going to wake up in the morning wondering if it was all a dream -- but then I know I will remember it for a lifetime."

— From Vegas Deluxe

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