Las Vegas Weekly

September 13, 2008 · 6:20 PM

Exclusive: Believe previews extended, opening now set for Halloween

By Robin Leach

Photo: Cirque du Soleil

Luxe Life can officially confirm that the Cirque du Soleil $150-million Criss Angel spectacular Believe has moved its gala premiere to Halloween, Oct. 31. Previews will go ahead to start Sept. 26 as we reported after a third staging delay moved the originally hoped-for August dates. The premiere had been reset for Oct. 10 last time around.

Cirque's creative team has determined that the "preview period" will run as originally intended -- to the original five weeks. A Cirque official confirmed to me tonight: the new decision was made early this morning after the first semi-public run-through last night in front of 400 fellow Cirque employees and artists.

That rehearsal is known in the Cirque family as "The Lion's Den" experience. "Everybody responded very positively," the Cirque spokesperson told me. "However our experience with all our show creations -- both on the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere in the world -- shows the preview period to be an important part of our creative process. It allows the show to develop in front of a live audiences. So we will open to the general public and Criss' eager fans on Sept. 26 as we

planned with our last announcement. The decision was made by the entire creative team after the Lion's Den performance to discuss the shows progress.

"The gala premiere will now be Oct 31 -- Halloween -- a day always thought to be an appropriate opening date for Believe.

In fact, Mindfreak magician Criss Angel named the show Believe after the secret word that master magician Houdini left as a key to his wife upon his deathbed so charlatans and imposters would never be able to claim he'd cheated death as the "final trick."

I will be backstage with Criss on Monday and we'll have the full story and interview with him after that. I'm also set for a question-and-answer session with both the director of Believe and a later interview with Gilles Ste-Croix, senior vice president of creation for Cirque du Soleil, who has been intimately involved in the creation of the show. They've promised to fully explain the massive technical challenges in staging the spectacular.

Rumors had ratcheted up the past week that the show would likely be delayed. Many of those unfairly and inaccurately said that Criss himself was being blamed for some of the problems. I was actually going to run the rumors here in Luxe Life on Thursday but held off because the first Lions Den had not taken place and because dress rehearsals only began last Monday.

I was told the show was running over its originally planned length, and dancers were concerned about injuries with the complicated computer timings that moved scenery and stages. Subsequently I learned that the first rehearsal last Monday came in right to time but mechanical problems, timing problems and dancers' marks had still to be resolved. Cirque's founder, Guy LaLiberte, ultimately made the final decision to stick to the original five-week preview period earlier today.

Just two weeks ago when Luxe Life reported the third delay setback to Believe, Criss commented: “This show has been a dream of mine for 15 years. We are all working hard to bring this dream to reality and we can't unveil this creation to the world until all the elements are perfected. I know that once we open the doors, the audience will have one of the most amazing live show experiences of their lives." You can click here for that story.

Felix Rappaport , Luxor president, addressed the rumors for me: "Criss has been absolutely wonderful in this gigantic process. He has been so disciplined and diligent. He's kept himself in amazing physical shape for the long hours of rehearsals and practice. Construction delays in reconfiguring and redesigning our theater caused the first set of delays to our first planned dates. It is a monumental undertaking bringing the marriage of dramatic theater and spectacle to the incredible magic that Criss performs.

"He cannot be faulted in anyway. He is a perfectionist and Cirque brings all of its genius to the superb production. What we have already seen is breathtaking and exciting in every possible way. We are very happy with how it all looks and is presented. We fully understand and respect both of their desires for total breathtaking perfection. We understand they want everybody to leave the theater saying 'wow -- we have never seen anything like that before.' I am fully confident that adhering to the originally planned five-week preview cycle we will all showcase the very best show ever presented in Vegas. Both Cirque and Criss want this to be absolutely amazing for the opening night. Magic and spectacle will return to the Strip with the world's best magic show. Guests will want to return time and time again to see the most beautiful mesmerizing show in the history of theater."

On a happier note: This afternoon, Wade Robson who is the choreographer for the Criss Angel Believe show, won an Emmy at the Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreogrphy for a Televison Program, So You Think You Can Dance. Congratulations to Wade and his team!

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