Las Vegas Weekly

Cirque reveals City Center show will be named “Viva ELVIS”

Elvis Presley with his parents Vernon and Gladys Presley at Graceland. This photo was used by permission from Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.

Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.

It’s official. Today Cirque du Soleil revealed that the new show opening in December at Aria Resort & Casino at City Center will be titled Viva ELVIS. Billed as “a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley,” the show is being produced in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises and CKX Inc. and will incorporate something Cirque has shied away from in the past – onstage acting with dialogue in English.

Photo: MGM

Viva Elvis at Aria in CityCenter.

As Director Vincent Paterson explains in a video on the Cirque du Soleil Web site, the show will be an “abstract biography of Elvis” that will look at moments throughout the King’s life through acting, dance and other acrobatic feats that have become a hallmark of Cirque du Soleil’s shows. Paterson’s first Cirque show, the former actor and dancer says he wasn’t actually an Elvis fan until he took on the Viva ELVIS project and began researching his career through movies, books, documentaries and television appearances.

While Cirque is keeping hush on an opening date for the show and ticket prices, Director of Creation Armand Thomas actually revealed the show name to the Viva ELVIS cast during their visit to Graceland in June. Gathered in front of Elvis’ Memphis home, he gave his cast a role perhaps more important than their individual titles within the show. “You are now the torch bearers of the Elvis legacy,” he said.