“It was just this incredible deluge of imagery, of symbolism, of art,” said Feldman of Siegfried & Roy’s show, adding that it was the first time anyone had thought to take a Las Vegas show and imbue it with some of the same artistic objectives found in opera, ballet and theater. (Alain Benainous / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) The high-stakes bending, lifting, flying, flipping, rolling, diving, dancing and swimming unravel bit by bit over the course of each show like a surrealist painting come to life. The allure of Cirque shows rests in the unbelievable physical abilities of international performers who are athletes of the highest order - often arriving at Cirque as a second act after competing in the Olympics or playing professional sports. “It’s gonna gross close to $2.5 billion and it runs 90%-plus occupancy the whole time.” “‘O’ was the most successful stage show in the history of entertainment,” said MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle, who was with Mirage Resorts when it first brought Cirque to Vegas. Its run in a single venue is rivaled only by “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, which recently closed after 35 years and nearly 14,000 shows. “O” - its most profitable show - has remained practically unchanged across 25 years, 11,000 performances and an audience of 18 million-plus. Slogans, technology and trends have changed, but one facet of Sin City has remained the same over the last 30 years: the dominance of Cirque du Soleil. (Woe betide the hapless conventioneer who gets hopelessly drunk at a strip club in the age of TikTok.) And crucially, what happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas. Casinos have been torn down, built back up, bought and sold. Dirt roads where performers used to park to gaze at the city lights are now fully developed neighborhoods. Vegas has grown exponentially since then its population has swelled to more than 650,000 from around 400,000. “There was a three-month waiting list to get in, which was mind-boggling.” “When we first opened, the reception, it was …,” Maxson paused, searching for the right words. They were sent to train at Cirque headquarters in Montreal and lived in apartments together, an arrangement that fostered the kind of intimacy that still defines the human interactions in the show. He said the performers had no idea what they were getting into when they first signed up for the show.
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