Las Vegas Weekly

December 21, 2009 · 4:23 PM

Viva Elvis Part 1: Priscilla Presley, Guy Laliberte discuss Cirque show

By Robin Leach

Priscilla Presley and Cirque du Soleil unveil Viva Elvis at Aria in CityCenter on Dec. 15, 2009.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Elvis Presley has returned home. The King of Rock ’n’ Roll is back in the house, thank you very much! After more than three years in the making, the $100 million-plus spectacular Viva Elvis has opened in previews at its new theater in Aria at CityCenter.

During the 36-plus months of pre-production, musical director and arranger Erich Van Tourneau listened to 914 official and bootleg albums and watched countless films, concerts, home movies and interviews preparing for the 34 Elvis songs used in the show. All the singers in Viva Elvis are female except for Elvis himself in the ultimate salute to the superstar.

The band consists of four female singers, a drummer, a bassist, two guitarists, a trombonist, a saxophone player, a keyboardist, a trumpet player and a percussionist. To create the final soundtrack of the Cirque masterpiece, there were 17,765 samplings made of Elvis’ songs.

I’m going to let you in on one super-secret of the show even now: The large circles in which the acrobatic duos perform are replicas of Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s engagement rings. It’s just one of the many contributions that Priscilla made to the show’s details.

When the 18-minute sneak preview performance was unveiled last Tuesday, the day before Aria’s official opening, Priscilla said: “Vegas is his rightful place. It has been quite a journey from three years ago where we both first sat down with Cirque. We never did think it would lead to this. It has been quite a journey, and here we are talking about it all finished and ready to show to the world. It reminds me of the journey when Elvis first appeared in Vegas and the anticipation, the fears, the anxiety that he had coming to Vegas.

“He was the first rock ’n’ roll entertainer really to break those boundaries, and the rest is history. Everyone followed. Elvis and everything he did created interest and created such a phenomenal impact that I agree that the fusion of Elvis and Cirque -- I just can’t imagine someone else partnering with him, both being in the forefront of entertainment. In Cirque’s unique abstract way of translating or having a vision in a very abstract way, just like Elvis, I can’t imagine anyone else doing this.”

Priscilla said that she went to Cirque’s Montreal headquarters to see the facilities there and toured the costume, wig and shoe departments and learned all the Cirque philosophies. She said: “This show is very different. It’s a very different Cirque. It is larger than life, and I think what they have done at the Aria theater can only hold the bigness of Elvis Presley. In this preview, this is a work in progress, I am excited to watch this again. I think Elvis would be very pleased to know he is back in Las Vegas in the way that he should be presented.”

Back in 1969, Elvis performed in 57 sell-out shows at the International Hotel here -- now the Las Vegas Hilton. Each performance shattered all previous sales records. In 1970, he returned in a sense as the first resident performer breaking his own records again, chalking up 837 sold-out shows into 1976.

It’s difficult to believe that his extraordinary career began with his first public performance in 1945 at a Mississippi singing contest, where he placed fifth and won $5 and a free ticket for the fair rides. His 1955 recording of “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country charts in February 1956 and turned him into an overnight sensation. Later that year, he appeared for the second time on The Milton Berle Show, where he performed the sensual “Hound Dog,” driving fans wild and angering adults. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now more than 50 years later, his legacy is reborn here in his second home by the creators at Cirque du Soleil. Priscilla summed up: “Elvis was always in the forefront of new, contemporary entertainment and technology. I believe Viva Elvis continues this and reaches out and expands his legacy in a new, creative and exciting way.”

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte added: “On a creative level, it was extremely stimulating to draw our inspiration from this musical icon. Viva Elvis showcases the raw energy and pure talent of Elvis and highlights the exhilaration and beauty of his music on a grand scale.”

Vegas DeLuxe will return tomorrow with Part 2 of our series. Cirque Creative VP Gilles Ste.-Croix talks in a surprisingly candid one-on-one interview about the show and some of its secrets. On Wednesday, Part 3 will be our interview with show director Vincent Paterson, and then on Thursday in time for reading over the holidays, the incredible plans Elvis Presley Enterprises head honcho Robert F.X. Sillerman has for even more Elvis here in Las Vegas. Viva Elvis!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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