Cirque du Soleil remembers Elvis

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The narrator of “Viva Elvis,” the latest eye-popping Las Vegas extravaganza from the Cirque du Soleil, is none other than Colonel Tom Parker, whose arm chair floats across the stage of the massive proscenium theater inside the brand new ARIA Resort and Casino. With a buttermilk accent and a warm smile, he welcomes folks to this colossal, high-tech hagiography to The King and dispenses one Elvis bromide after another.

Now even those who think the Colonel’s influence on Elvis was wholly progressive and benign—a minority position, it’s fair to say—would be forced to admit that the Colonel was, well, complicated. Not here. It feels like you’re listening to the flying voice of the Tupelo tourist board.

And while Elvis is one of the few musical names known the world over, the official-like tone of “Viva Elvis” is indicative of the dangers for the ever-expanding Cirque du Soleil of getting into bed with the estates of celebrities. Those who protect the legacies of stars like Elvis have an agenda to protect the brand. Cirque du Soleil is as its best when it is theatricalizing truth.

Priscilla Presley, who was in the audience at Friday night’s opening along with a bevy of other celebrities from Neil Patrick Harris to Christina Hendricks, must have enjoyed the building-sized wedding cake with Priscilla and Elvis labeled across the bottom and a female singer standing on the top, not to mention the ballet performed inside huge wedding rings that is intended to illustrate their burning love. Fine. But that was complicated, too.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with creating a show for Elvis fans. And given Elvis’ role in the growth of Vegas, you can understand why the city wasn’t so anxious to find a place for fat, late-Vegas Elvis on the multitudinous video screens. But surely Elvis, an iconic American artist who understood the ebb and flow of stardom and sadness, would actually have preferred a more honest show.

“Viva Elvis,” really more of a variety show than a traditional Cirque show in the tradition of “O” and “Ka,” is not as bad as some of the rumors circulating Sin City suggested. The 76 cast members create some genuine pleasures here for Elvis devotees, including several spectacular montages of archival footage and a delightfully funny film-fusion of Elvis’ kissing-heavy movies.

In essence, the show is a series of visual takes on some 30 famous Elvis numbers, drawing from the singer’s life. Most of the songs feature Elvis’ voice, as on the original sessions, souped up with a live, percussion-heavy band playing in concert with the recordings. On a few occasions, female vocalists sing the songs (there are no male voices other than Elvis himself, which is how the show gets around the problem of falling into the trap of those ubiquitous Elvis impressionists).