To use pasties or not? That is the question,

Originally, Crazy Horse was surprised that Carmen Electra was willing to go that far, having imagined a more conservative approach to an outfit for her cameo. But Electra wanted to go all in if she was going to participate. “It is my dream to be in a Vegas show,” Electra told me before a rehearsal. She was sitting in her dressing room at MGM Grand. At the time we talked she planned to appear with pasties. The show opened last night and some reports I hear are that she surprised everyone by going with her top fully exposed. Either way would not surprise me. I have a call in to Crazy Horse to find out, though honestly I feel silly asking if Carmen Electra wore pasties last night. But the way Crazy Horse does lighting, there is the strong possibility that people only thought they saw her fully uncovered. I am going to see the show tonight. But she radiated confidence and comfort in our interview earlier this week.

And she was in great shape. Even casually dressed in sweats, with sneakers bearing a likeness of Jim Morrison and a logo for the Doors, Electra is stunning in person and looks far younger than 37.

Twice before, the dancer, actress, model and singer has come close to being a showgirl on the Strip. The first attempt was years ago: A news conference announced Electra as the star in a forthcoming show at the Aladdin. But the show simply never happened. “It sort of dissolved,” Electra says now. Her next effort was in 2007, as a would-be assistant to magician Hans Klok in his short-lived show at Planet Hollywood. But she departed during rehearsals and the show opened, albeit briefly, with Pamela Anderson as a replacement. Electra has no regrets: “I felt as if my heart was not into it. The chemistry wasn’t there. I could not fake it. I feel blessed and lucky that Pam could come in and take my place.”

But with her guest appearance in Crazy Horse, Electra feels she has finally found a suitable outlet, especially because it taps into her ability as a dancer. “I have so much respect for the beauty and history of Crazy Horse. I am honored to be able to do this. So much of it is based on classical ballet.”
So she says she has been rehearsing with more discipline than those who know her reputation as a party girl may expect. “For me on this trip,” she says, “I have just been working long hours. I don't want to leave. I really want to nail the choreography and the music, and after rehearsals, I go straight up to my room.”

Electra has done the spontaneous Vegas wedding and a more contrived one for a reality show. But unlike Holly Madison, who recently called her reality show more entertainment than actual documentary, Electra insisted she had kept it real during filming. "We had some control of when the camera was on. But that was really us, One thing abut Dave is that he is totally real." And I was able to get my question answered about which of the two fashion-conscious celebrities insisted on more time at the mirror while they were married. "Definitely Dave. Not even close. I sometimes hide from mirrors. Definitely Dave."

Though her first run with her show ends Monday, she is hoping this becomes more than a cameo, that instead these shows mark the beginning of a longer relationship with Crazy Horse, or even her first step to a Vegas headlining career. “For me, my heart is really here,” Electra says. “I hope I can come back to Vegas. For this show, I want to come early to rehearsal and stay late and perform longer. I love doing this and I love live audiences. I really want to perform in Vegas more permanently.”

[Update: Electra wore pasties in her first two numbers but went without them in the third, which drew wild applause, according to Crazy Horse.]

(Courtesy photo from Carmen Electra)

The recession in Vegas for working Elvis impersonators has become a sort of sub genre of hard-times-hit-the-Strip stories the national media writes. Today Norm Clarke in the Review-Journal does a roundup of the reduced circumstances of those who came to Vegas to play the King. A few months ago I met an Elvis (Vegas years jumpsuit) done-up on a street corner of the Strip posing for pictures in exchange for handouts. 

Still, I wonder how much of these issues are caused by the economy and how much is the inevitable result of the passing of a generational torch? This question becomes crucial when you consider that Cirque, which has had such success with its Beatles show, "Love," now is working on a Elvis-themed  show for City Center.

I don't want to put this the wrong way. The artistry of Elvis Presley is eternally magnificent, one of the great accomplishments of 20th century recording. Of course, easily the same could be said of Duke Ellington, Vegas favorite Frank Sinatra and others. The point is there will always be fans of Presley's music, but how aware people under a certain age are of his catalog and life is less clear to me. But there is a much more obvious issue than age when comparing Elvis and the Beatles as Strip draws in 2009. Elvis got around during his too short life. With his movies, tours, concert films and years on the Vegas stage, the generation that needed to see Elvis had a chance to do so. And everyone since can buy the DVD releases. The same is true of Sinatra and Duke Ellington. The Beatles are a special case. They ceased touring before making their greatest music and broke up without reuniting.

So the chance to hear Beatles music surrounded by fellow first-generation fans (with that incredible sound the theater at the Mirage offers) is so moving that every time I see "Love" I also see without fail the teary-eyed Boomers enjoying the spectacle. That "Love," the Cirque show, gives impressive theater during the entire performance is certainly a bonus. But I have always said "Love" could be half as good a show and still the Boomers would come in droves to experience the Beatles' music presented with an eye-candy theatrical performance of any quality. These are the parents of the MTV generation. They know what they missed with the arrival of music videos. And watching "Love" therefore is a perfect experience for a huge segment of Vegas tourists.

Elvis, of course, will always have a special resonance with Vegas audiences from his years in Vegas as a headliner. But I wonder if there are enough fans to make a show built around his music achieve anything close to the success "Love" has enjoyed? Again, how the show is put together is a crucial wild card, but to me there is vastly more risk with Elvis having the drawing power with tourists that could be counted on for the Beatles, despite the reverence the King still commands.

Photo of "Love": Sarah Gerke

Over the weekend, for the Buffet print column, I saw "Le Reve" at Wynn and "Zumanity" at New York New York. I had seen both shows numerous times before. But unlike Broadway plays or headliners, there is no given element that needs to stay constant in these sorts of production shows. You can shorten "Phantom of the Opera" into "Phantom: the Las Vegas Spectacular," but it is still the Andrew Lloyd Webber production that must be on stage. Obviously, there are no understudies for "Donny & Marie." But with shows like "Zumanity" and "Le Reve," in which you are promised an experience, the directors are free to endlessly alter the elements.

"Le Reve" is by far the most changed. When I first wrote about this show on the Buffet in 2005, I described the experience as "incoherent confusion, almost perfectly described by its official subtitle 'A Small Collection of Imperfect Dreams.' " Now the show has been entirely transformed, in part by adding a narrative and forcing every element of the show to be in line with that narrative. Though still not relying on language, "Le Reve" is now easy to follow even without the dopey love lyrics that give plot hints. The show was also a long 90 minutes when it opened, and now "Le Reve" is an exhilarating 75 minutes. Where it once looked too much like a lesser work from the creator of "O," now "Le Reve" has a distinctly non-Cirque vibe by, in part, shifting emphasis from its acrobats to dancers. Most important, since opening, "Le Reve" has truly learned to take advantage of its in-the-round theater in terms of the production setting and also by reducing the number of available seats during a renovation to bring the audience in closer.

I am truly surprised at just how improved "Le Reve" has become from when it opened by infamously dropping pregnant women (actresses, not actual pregnant women) from the ceiling into the tank of water and offered bags of skulls as part of its vision.  It was as dark and broody as the doodles of a high school kid who listens to Swedish death metal.  That was then. Now, "Le Reve" is the Vegas equivalent of a chick flick, with a sweet romance at its center and an uplifting vibe in terms of the world we dream and the world we live that runs throughout. "Le Reve" is a Vegas original in 2009, nothing like the show that opened, and even less like the Cirque shows that overshadowed "Le Reve's" initial reception. As much as a major production show can be low profile, "Le Reve" is a true under-the-radar winner.

"Zumanity" has changed quite a bit since opening too.  In general, the show has moved away from dancing and back to the acrobatics that Cirque is known for doing. "Zumanity" has also improved, though as a show, it required and received less of a total transformation than "Le Reve." With the "Fashionistas" closed (the female lead dancer of that show now plays the Dreamer in "Le Reve"), "Zumanity" is easily the most ambitious and sexually adventurous show in Vegas. Still, it is less extreme than when it opened, though perhaps "Zumanity" has even more topless moments. The show is handling the sex theme a lot better. Cirque has always had a sensuality in their shows and, if anything, "Zumanity" overplayed the move into an adult show by being blunt and pushing the edges of fetish. There was also a darkness to the show. And, for many in the audience, this was all too much for Vegas entertainment. That vibe is gone now. Yet, rather than feeling at all reined in, the show seems to move along far more organically, the acts are more spectacular and the pacing far superior. Cirque performers, many former athletes, who at opening seemed awkward acting in the explicit sexuality of "Zumanity," have found a way to work within their comfort zones. Now, sauciness, sexiness and humor are all used in a show that has definitely found a stronger balance and is vastly more capable in appealing to a Vegas audience.

"Le Reve" has improved more than any show I have seen in Vegas. And "Zumanity," too, having gone through Cirque's fixation process, has benefited. People frequently think of Vegas as a bottom-line place. Or they see Vegas as a place where old acts go to play to nostalgia by constantly re-creating the past. We certainly have headliners like that, and shows that face that fate.

But unlike most other live theatrical events, certain Vegas production shows are given time to improve, maybe because they cost so much to mount in the first place. In the case of "Le Reve" in particular, the years that have been spent on changes that adjust and improve the show have worked.

From television to art gallery openings, it is rare for any creative endeavor to be given time to find an audience, but "Le Reve" and "Zumanity" were given just that by their producers in Vegas and took advantage of the opportunity.

Photo: Sarah Gerke

Someone told me this was actually posted on the official site for "Criss Angel Believe," and I did not believe anyone would be so shameless. I was wrong. Sure enough, the man who dismisses critics has finally found someone with an opinion worthy  to quote on his show's site. Yes, Criss Angel offers the praise of the noted theatrical critic and connoisseur, primarily known as his girlfriend, Holly Madison. Her endorsement of "Criss Angel Believe" is featured on the official website where critical praise would fit, were there any to offer. Instead, Madison opines:  "Believe is fun, beautiful and amazing! I love it - I'll see it again and again." And, true to those words she has repeatedly been reported to be in the audience, seeing the torturous show again and again. That's karma. Of course, there is no mention that the two are dating; otherwise her precious and rare (is her opinion protected by the Endangered Species Act?) positive reaction to the quality of the show might seem, well, biased. (photo by Sarah Gerke)