Kimberly Katz
Cirque Du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio
"A Beautiful Dream Comes to Life"
It is truly the closest thing to dreaming while being awake. There are very few shows that have so much going on, so many enthralling acts one after another, that you find yourself wondering when you can see the show again before it's even over and "O" by Cirque Du Soleil at the Bellagio Hotel is certainly one of them.
It's hard to even begin to describe the artistry of this masterful combination of ballet, gymnastics, diving and synchronized swimming. I think my jaw dropped about ten minutes into the show and after that I just kept shaking my head in stupefied awe as I tried to follow and digest every one of the nuances of the individual dancer/swimmer/acrobats as they swam, crawled, and flew in and out of the huge pool and filled every foot of space around it with one visually stunning image after another.
The costumes and makeup reminiscent of the 15th to 20th centuries with an emphasis on the Romantic period, defy description as each character stands out uniquely in vivid colors and lavish, flowing designs full of natural movement that glorify the human body on these dancers already remarkable physiques.
The pool, the cranes and giant swinging barge, trapeze and other floating phenomenon compose the structure of this technically compelling and mind boggling masterpiece. It is interesting to know that when they first developed this show they found major difficulties keeping the Las Vegas audience cool and the soaking wet performers warm. The solution was to create two completely separate temperate worlds wherein the pool area and the air above it stays warm enough for all those amazing dives into the 1.5 million gallon pool, and lightning fast costume changes while the auditorium remains a comfortably cool dry 72 degrees.
Inspired by "the concept of infinity and the elegance of water's pure form", there is no real plotline or dialogue in this show, but none is necessary where heady romanticism, and haunting Fellini-esque scenarios evoke such moving and exciting emotions in the audience of tourists from around the globe. The cast is made up of 85 superbly skilled, Olympic quality performers from more than twenty different countries and gives you an incredibly warm feeling of universal oneness. It really reminds one of a veritable UN of the international theatre community. As I looked around at the faces of the enraptured audience and realized that they had all come together and were enjoying this wonderful piece without words in similar ways regardless of their country or language of origin, it gave me a wonderful feeling of pure theatre acting as a catalyst for world peace.
When citizens are exposed to high culture whether it's on the traditional Broadway stage in New York or right there in good old Sin City, they are transformed into peaceable creatures for the night, clapping, laughing and dreaming the same dream. In this case it's a dream of both unlimited possibilities and impossibly spectacular and graceful feats of daring and skill. It's a dream I plan to share with that beautiful cast and equally beautiful audience again on my next trip to Vegas. I highly recommend "O" as one of the must see shows for anyone looking to buy a single ticket that will absolutely deliver on it's high quality promises of delight and wonder.
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