Viva ELVIS Cirque du Soleil

Return of the King

By Kristine McKenzie

Welcome to Las Vegas, where Elvis has definitely not left the building.

Tribute artists pay homage to him in shows around town. There is an Elvis museum featuring some of his belongings. Couples can tie the knot with an Elvis impersonator officiating over the ceremony and stores are filled with Elvis souvenirs.

Everywhere you look, from a rusted sign in the Neon graveyard that proclaims "Elvis slept here" to the $9.99 gold-rimmed sunglasses and sideburns at "The World's Largest Gift Shop" on the corner of Sahara Avenue and the Strip, Elvis lives on.

Graceland may be home to his shrine but it's Las Vegas that pays homage to the spirit of Elvis the entertainer.

In 1969, Elvis performed his first show at the International (now the LVH - Las Vegas Hotel & Casino) to a sold-out crowd and he went on to perform regular engagements at the property for seven years -- a total of 837 consecutive sold-out performances in front of 2.5 million people. Elvis' enduring popularity in Vegas is a tribute to the bonds forged between the singer and the city during that seven-year run between 1969 and 1976. It's a legacy that continues to this day.

It is only fitting that Cirque du Soleil, another group of entertainers with a unique bond to Las Vegas, created Viva Elvis, a show that celebrates the life and music of Elvis through a blend of dance, acrobatics, live music and video clips.

The production features 77 cast members including nine musicians and four female singers. The only male voice heard in the show is, of course, The King himself.

While all Cirque shows have live musicians, "Viva Elvis" is different in that the band is featured prominently onstage throughout the show. The production features the soaring acrobatics that Cirque is known for, but "Viva Elvis" also includes a lot of dancing and is much more reminiscent of a Broadway-style show than other Cirque shows.

Elvis was all about music and his music is definitely the star of this show. The sound designers wanted to create the feeling of a concert experience and they achieve that with the help of speakers placed behind the curtains on the sides of the theater and 24 subwoofers buried in the theater floor.

The creators spent 3,000 hours reviewing and recording Elvis' albums, films, concert recordings, interviews and home movies to create a truly unique experience of Elvis' sound.

The show features numbers that take the audience through the phases of Elvis' life set to classic songs like "Blue Suede Shoes," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel" and many more.

In "Love Me Tender" a female singer sings a duet with Elvis set to a montage of photographs and newsreel footage of his years in the Army.

"Burning Love" features a string of movie clips, paying homage to Elvis' Hollywood career.

Ballet dancers and roller skaters gracefully perform as "Can't Help Falling in Love" is accompanied by home movies of Elvis and Priscilla's courtship and wedding ceremony. Viva Elvis was produced in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises and Priscilla offered input on the show.

Viva Elvis is a Cirque du Soleil show so there are the spectacular acrobatics the company is known for. One of the more intriguing pieces is a re-imagined Jailhouse Rock sequence. Many remember the iconic scene in the movie and here Cirque has combined dance choreography, acrobatics and technical artistry to allow the performers to walk, jump, spin and more - all upside down.

The show wouldn't be complete without a tribute to Elvis' Vegas years with "Viva Las Vegas." Showgirls wearing colorful costumes parade down a staircase and dancers are decked out in Elvis jumpsuits.

 "Elvis had a unique relationship with his adoring fans in Vegas," said Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil. "And a large part of our mission is to recreate the excitement and the spirit of joy he generated here."

Elvis' popularity in Vegas endures and Viva Elvis ensures that visitors will be enjoying his music and legacy for years to come.