VegasChatter

LOVE / Cirque du Soleil / The Mirage / Shows / → All Tags

Is The Romance Over With LOVE?

A frequent question we field, especially from Vegas Virgins, is which show should we see? More often than not the answer is Cirque du Soleil's LOVE. Unless we know the inquisitor really well, it's not family, or they're sick of Cirque in which case our answer ends up with them in the Gazillionaire's ball at Absinthe.

LOVE is the answer so often that we started to question whether it had become cliche, our go-to answer when we couldn't be bothered to think of another. It had been a couple years since we'd last seen the show, both for this writer personally and VegasChatter proper. So we not only recommended it to family recently, but went with them.

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Cirque Week / Cirque du Soleil / LOVE / Beatles / The Mirage / Michael Jackson / Mandalay Bay / Zumanity / → All Tags

Things We Learned During Cirque Week

Cirque du Soleil brought the 2011 edition of their 10-day fan appreciation experience back to Las Vegas this December and this time we were in attendance.

Cirque Week enticed dozens of hardcore “super fans” looking to receive a “behind the curtain” view into the inner workings of the entertainment juggernaut. Many had seen multiple productions, multiple times. And then there was this VegasChatter correspondent. Yes, drawn by the cat-nip promise of backstage intrigue this reporter is now forced to admit to only ever seeing one previous Cirque production. This week that was changed. And, change we did, as we drank the Cirque du Soleil Kool-Aid and became a true believer.

Price of admission to Cirque Week began at $165 and included two show tickets. At the top end, it was $561 for seven different shows. Combined with hotel rooms during the 10 days, and coinciding with the often premium hotel rate incurred during Rodeo Week, this could have been a pricey commitment. That was certainly reflected in the look of the Cirque Week attendees. Skewed slightly older than imagined. Quiet. Polite. Reserved. Often charming. Often fun. But, universally intelligent. These are smart folks who are passionate. And, ask really smart questions. Some had even witnessed the early origins of the company when they were still street performers back in Canada.

Along with your tickets, came the opportunity to wear, from your registration goodie bag, a souvenir tee, a VIP lanyard, a flashing Cirque electronic luggage tag (that seems destined to cause airport havoc for some poor attendee) and witness 10 behind-the-scenes events. And, boy, were they good. Well-rehearsed, impeccably presented and filled with genuine behind the scene tidbits. Like, secret stuff! Ok, maybe not so secret if they're telling us, but you get the drift.

They even told us the names of the equipment manufacturers. So, if you had the 180 million dollar budget of the Beatles LOVE, you could go out and make your own version. Tommorow! If you had any interest in theatre, or the workings of an unusual, but massive company, you walked away from these sessions filled with ideas and inspiration. Corporations, take note. Send SPIES! You’ll get some insight into business culture that could serve you well.

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Shows / Bellagio / ARIA / The Signature / LOVE / George Wallace / Blue Man Group / Menopause / Mystere / Criss Angel / Believe / → All Tags

What's The Best And Worst Show You've Ever Seen In Vegas?

Moving is the worst. The task took a turn from tedious to OMGish for us a few days ago, tho, as we started going through all those mementos we all tend to stick into drawers, boxes, coat pockets and promptly forget about.

First we hit upon the stray Vegas room key for Bellagio, ARIA, The Signature and such. Then, we started finding show tickets and that's where we lost it down memory lane.

Tickets for shows we had seen and loved, like LOVE, George Wallace and Folies Bergere. Shows that were just passing through, Cheval, Chicago, Annie. Shows that were ok, if you're into that kind of thing, Blue Man Group, Menopause, Mystere. Shows we hated, Criss Angel Believe. ('nuff said.) And, shows that we had completely forgotten about and for good reason, We Will Rock You, Storm, EFX. (Gah, for some reason we saw the Crawford, Tune and Springfield versions of that show. On the up side, we've erased them all from memory.)

So, it got us wondering, what's the best and the worst shows you've ever seen in Vegas? Share your picks with us in the comments below!

Events / The Mirage / Beatles / LOVE / John Lennon / → All Tags

Come Together At Mirage for the Lennon Tour Bus

It's not too hard to imagine all the people who will be flocking to The Mirage next week for the fifth anniversary of The Beatles LOVE, especially with news that they just might be able to catch a glimpse of Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, two of the many celebs expected to be in attendance.

The actual celebration will be next Wednesday night, but starting this Monday you can experience the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus - a bus that normally crisscrosses the country allowing students access to a state-of-the-art recording studio on wheels. We posted a video of some of the amazing young talent that's come through the bus below, but you can find even more on YouTube.

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Snapshot / The Mirage / LOVE / → All Tags

See Love In A New Way At The Mirage

Just when we thought we had the breast best spot ever for pics at The Mirage, one of our besties tops us by throwing this adorable pic up on their Facebook page.

Camera-totin' visitors are sure to "love" this new addition to the resort's main entrance - a vibrant red phone booth a la the UK. Meant to promote The Mirage's resident show The Beatles LOVE, it's a safe bet that loads of people will pile in just for a lark while shutterbugs snap away and then send free advertising pics winging to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and beyond.

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Valentine's Day / Romance / The Mirage / LOVE / CUT / Palazzo / Fremont Hotel / ARIA / → All Tags

5 Ways To Enjoy VD In Vegas

How to make February 14 sparkle in Vegas, ring optional.

While many men and women alike are focused with laser-like precision February 6's super match-up, a few others hope the following weekend will be just as big - Valentine's Day weekend.

This year, the most loved (or dreaded) holiday falls on a Monday so that means the people looking forward to it can either feel screwed that it's on a work day or turn it into a four-day weekend extravaganza.

Since the economy still blows, here are some ways to romance your sweetheart, on all budgets:

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Discounts / Deals / Shows / Show Tickets / Jersey Boys / The Lion King / LOVE / Carlos Santana / Barry Manilow / → All Tags

Vegas Shows: Does StubHub Step Up Or Fall Short?

Great deals are our drug of choice at VegasChatter. Half-price tapatizers, last-minute show tickets, and dollar hotel rooms. Saving a buck gets us all warm and tingly inside thinking we pulled a fast one on a faceless desk jockey somewhere.

Who actually makes out is a debate for another time but we may have just added another resource to our repertoire. Curious as to what last-minute UFC 125 tickets were going for last weekend, we hit up StubHub, our go-to for sold-out sports events and concerts.

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Slot Machines / American Idol / MGM Resorts / ARIA / Bellagio / Mandalay Bay / The Mirage / MGM Grand / Monte Carlo / Circus Circus / Excalibur / New York-New York / LOVE / Simon Cowell / → All Tags

Now You Can Bet It All On 'American Idol,' Too

Finally, a way to win on "American Idol" without having to sing. Trust us, you don't want to hear that.

C'mon, dawg. You knew it was bound to happen. If there is a slot for "The Hangover" and ""Sex and The City", you know that it was just a matter of time before we saw one for "American Idol."

Our only question is, what took so long? The hit reality show will mark its tenth season next month. (Yes, we'll be watching, but only to see if Jennifer Lopez has really jumped the shark.)

Failed contestants Fans of the long-running singing competition can now go for broke on new "American Idol" slots. And, they're exclusively in Las Vegas, and only at MGM resorts, for the next 30 days. That means you should head over to ARIA, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Luxor, Excalibur or New York-New York to check them out.

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LOVE / Cirque du Soleil / The Mirage / Shows / → All Tags

Sorry, We Have to Brag: We Saw 'LOVE' for Just $55

We took advantage of the Cirque du Soleil's summer promotion to get us a $55 ticket to LOVE at The Mirage last night. So what kind of seats did we get? Back row. Literally the last row in the house.

However, because this show is in the round there are no bad seats. We've also seen LOVE before so we didn't need to be up close. (That was in 2006 and we paid a whopping $125 for a ticket!)

We were also grateful for our seats because LOVE has a bit where they cover the audience in a sort of parachute blanket. We were so high up the blanket didn't reach us which was wonderful because the last time, that parachute made us claustrophobic.

Lastly, we liked our seats because it was near an exit/entrance for the acrobats who swoop in on ropes and other Cirque contraptions and we could see how they are fed into the theater. And we had a seat on the aisle with no one next to us. Score!

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Shows / Dining / Restaurants / LOVE / The Mirage / Jersey Boys / Palazzo / Viva Elvis / Aria / Le Reve / Wynn / The Lion King / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Where to Chow Down Before You Show Down: Five Pre-Show Dinner Spots

You’ll have to excuse us if we still have food on the brain after spending a weekend gorging at Vegas Uncork’d. We did try to move past our culinary crushes on Rick Moonen, Bobbles Flay, and Cat Cora by focusing on another love: Vegas show deals.

But that just got us thinking about where to make dinner reservations before hitting LOVE. So our self-prescribed therapy is to check out the pre-theater dining options around town. We've rounded up what we think are the Five Best Pre-Show Dinners on the Strip for what we consider the top shows on the Strip. (KLAS polls notwithstanding.)

Most of these meals can be had before the early showings (typically at 7:30pm) but a few can also be had before the later showings too. And now, to start the show...

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Beatles / LOVE / The Mirage / hotel packages / deals / → All Tags

LOVE + The Mirage = (Semi) Savings

All you may need is love, but we need cheap hotel deals and discount packages when we stay in Las Vegas. The Mirage is offering a LOVE Package through the end of the month that bundles a two-night stay in a remodeled Deluxe Room with two tickets to LOVE.

Rates start at $318 for the LOVE Weekday Package and $368 for the LOVE Weekend Package. Depending upon when you go, it’s a either a break even deal or it saves a little bit of money – especially if you stay over a Saturday night. After a quick cyber investigation, we found room rates at The Mirage as low as $86 a night (the week of January 24th), but tickets for LOVE are still a spendy $70 a pop (and that’s with the current 25% off promotion).

That comes out to about $312, which is no great savings shakes compared to the package rate. Your best bet is booking the weekend package, when room rates skyrocket.

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9-9-09 / The Beatles / LOVE / The Mirage / Cirque du Soleil / → All Tags

All You Need Is 'LOVE' To Complete Your Beatles Obsession

If you're a diehard Beatles fan then you've probably already got your copy of The Beatles Rockband video game as well as your very own 16-disk set of the entire Beatles song catalog, completely remastered for the 21st century, both of which were released today. So there's only thing left to do now--go see LOVE at The Mirage.

The Cirque Du Soleil show (set entirely to the music of The Beatles) runs only Thursday-Monday so it doesn't quite fit in with the 9-9-09 celebration but tickets are open for tomorrow night starting at $102.85 for the 7pm show.

Strapped for cash now that you've shelled out over $300 for the video game and the remasters disk set? Pop by the Hard Rock and admire their Beatles Collection. We're sure the new Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip will also have plenty of memorabilia for you to stare at. Just beware of the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.