with a New State-Of-The-Art Live Show
Final Performance for CRISS ANGEL BeLIEve April 17
Las Vegas – Following the celebration of BeLIEve’s 7th anniversary as the number one best-selling magic production in Las Vegas, superstar magician, Criss Angel will unleash the future this spring at Luxor Hotel & Casino with his brand new creation MINDFREAK® LIVE!. The new immersive spectacle – based on the wildly successful touring version, which performed to sell-out houses across the country and was hailed as the “Magic Experience of a Lifetime” – will replace the critically acclaimed CRISS ANGEL BeLIEve.
“Thank you to all the Loyal fans who have made BeLIEve the best-selling magic show in Las Vegas since its opening in 2008,” said Criss Angel. “It was an amazing 7-plus years, and I am so excited to bring MINDFREAK® LIVE! to my home at Luxor.”
Based on Angel’s breakout hit TV show, MINDFREAK, which smashed records and counted an audience of more than 100 million viewers in each of its six seasons on A&E, MINDFREAK® LIVE! will showcase 90-minutes of the most spectacular, original and revolutionary illusions ever performed on stage.
Nik Rytterstrom, general manager of Luxor, said, “For the past seven years Criss has been entertaining millions of fans with BeLIEve at Luxor. We look forward to unveiling his new groundbreaking show to our guests this summer.” With a cast that includes some of the world’s most talented specialty artists, Angel will bring his vision to life with a blend of heart-stopping original illusions, state-of-the-art animated LED lighting and RGB laser explosions, LED virtual worlds, 3-D immersive effects, pyrotechnic landscapes, live musicians/DJ, and much more.
“Criss is a pioneering and visionary artist and together we created BeLIEve, a first-of-its-kind magic stage phenomenon, of which we are all tremendously proud,” said Jerry Nadal, senior vice president, Cirque du Soleil. “When we first saw Criss’ new production MINDFREAK® LIVE! on tour, we realized how much he has continued to push the envelope, and the show’s unlimited potential for Criss’ fan base and Las Vegas’ international audience. We are very enthusiastic to continue our partnership with the biggest name in magic as Criss brings his latest unparalleled vision to life at Luxor.”
“I believe it will be my greatest work to date,” Angel said by telephone Thursday. “It gives me a license to create what I’ve always wanted to do, things I’ve been working on for many, many years.”
Cirque du Soleil will continue as producer in the new effort, which stems from a show Angel has performed outside the market. Angel will carry the title of executive producer and director. “I have no handcuffs on me at all,” he said. Angel said two and a half years still remain on his original 10-year contract with Cirque.
The original version of “Believe” was widely considered a misstep when it opened in October 2008; it was more of a Cirque du Soleil production show with the magician disconnected from the persona he had created on TV. Angel gradually reconfigured “Believe” into more of a straightforward illusion show, stripping away the choreography and narrative. But even when he got the show streamlined into more of what fans expected, “I had to play in a sandbox that was already constructed. I wasn’t really able to go outside that box,” Angel said, in terms of spending more money on sets and costumes beyond those in the original show.
“With this show, I’m able to start from scratch and not have to re-purpose things and work within the parameters of Cirque du Soleil,” he said. “I have the freedom to start from the ground up and really see through what my vision really is. And it’s an ambitious vision, but one that is incredibly different (from ‘Believe’).”
Angel said the new show will use new 3-D immersion effects, cutting-edge video walls and a new levitation technique. It will be connected with an autobiographical thread. “The show essentially is the evolution of Criss Angel,” he says. “For people who don’t know me, they’ll get to understand who I am, and understand the genesis of my career and how I got to where I’m at.”
“It’s very theatrical,” he adds, with less of him talking to the audience than in the current show. “I’m going back to things I’ve done and performing them in the form that I did them years ago. People will really get to understand and see my career and what affects me in my personal life.”
MINDFREAK® LIVE! will begin in preview performances on May 11 and officially opens June 23. Tickets are on sale now and available by calling 702-262-4400 or visit cirquedusoleil.com/las-vegas. Criss Angel MINDFREAK® LIVE! was Created and Directed by Criss Angel and Executive Produced by APWI and Cirque du Soleil.
MINDFREAK® LIVE! will perform Wednesday through Sunday at 7:00pm and 9:30pm. Tickets start at $59.
CRISS ANGEL BeLIEve from Cirque du Soleil will end its run on April 17 after more than 3000 performances, thrilling more than 4 million guests since opening in October 2008.
{ SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Criss Angel | http://goo.gl/1b6XFK, https://goo.gl/WwYTHQ }
