Kotas Reviews Cirque De Solei's "O"

I finally went to a show in Vegas. Dave's business partner got us a pretty damn good deal on tickets to see Cirque de Solei's "O" at the Bellagio. The discounted ticket was $100, which was not quite half off, but close to it. This should give you an idea as to how much the show cost (I was originally quoted $180).

The show was held at the Bellagio, so we got there early, hoping to grab some dinner before the show. We ended up in some food court area full of overly fancily named places that essentially translated to "adequate food at ridiculous prices!". It wasn't bad, but I don't think I got my money's worth. We eventually moved into the theater proper. Our seats were in an upper balcony along the long edge of the theater, meaning we had a good view of the lower theater seats a well as a high angled view of the stage. Dave, who had seen this show before, said that he liked these seats, because they do a lot of stuff in the theater seat area and he couldn't see any of it before. We were to have an excellent view of these shenanigans.

The show opens with a couple of clowns dressed as sailors (sort of) doing a routine where they push a giant life preserver around the audience. That's kind of fun. The show then starts to spin up as they send in some acrobats and performers to interact with the audience as a elaborate contraption is lowered from the ceiling into the middle of the arena, so a single acrobat can do a neat routine while suspended from it. Then they select a victim from the audience to pull up on stage to read the opening "turn of yo damn cell phone and no cameras" announcement. Then he gets yanked behind the curtain and the show begins!

I will not spoil the majority of the show, but it was absolutely fucking incredible. The acrobats were simply a joy to watch as they flipped, dove, and swung from various contraptions. The contortionists were mind boggling, and Todd commented that they were the best he's seen. The really awesome thing was the stage. For most of the show, it was UNDERWATER. That's right, the stage converted into a 10 ft. pool at times. From our vantage point we could see divers (in FULL DIVING GEAR) moving out of hidden tunnels to do various things and keep the performers safe and sound. They even showed up on stage at one point, for some reason. The story line of the show was...confusing to say the least. There were several "got ya" moments including some really long dives into the pool from somewhere above the stage, lots of flips and dives into the water...and then the stage would drain in a few minutes, leaving an almost entirely dry surface in about 20 seconds for the performers to skitter over...and then it would turn into the pool again!

I loved this show. It was probably the absolute peak of my vacation in Vegas. I give it a well deserved 5 smiley faces on a scale of 5 frowny faces to 5 smiley faces, and I recommend that anyone who travels to Vegas see that show, or one of the many other shows that they have running.