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| - Do not pay more than $50 for this show. 50% off coupons are everywhere. Note that 50% off is actually closer to 30% off after the fees they hit you with. Sneaky, guys, sneaky. Also keep in mind that they request tickets to be picked up at the box office an hour in advance, though it didn't seem to be enforced. The second show of the evening (7 p.m.) also tends to start late.
I came to Vegas! The Show with the girlfriend for an early anniversary as she spent a bedridden weekend with me to celebrate The Bestowing of The White Coat. It was a transformation that also saw my chest hair emerge and my voice drop, which led me to believe that I was finally ready take on the challenge of spending 90 minutes watching an old-timey song-dance number.
It's one of those shows that's on-Strip but has the intimacy of an off-Strip show. The Saxe theater is situated in the heart of the Miracle Mile shops of Planet Hollywood. You know how, sometimes, you're strolling through a casino and you turn the corner and spot a random theater, wonder what plays there, then quickly dismiss the thought upon realizing it's neither Cirque nor Britney Spears? This is it. On the bright side, being in a cozy and personal theater of this nature means that there's not a bad seat in the house.
The show started brilliantly. It involved an usher making his way through the depths of the Neon Graveyard (check it out! http://www.yelp.com/biz/neon-museum-las-vegas), while interacting with the audience and giving a brief lowdown on the history of Vegas. It was thematically brilliant and I wish they'd used the narrative device through the duration of the show.
What we got instead was song after song after song with no real context of the importance of the routine being performed on-stage. Granted, I am young and Asian and maybe slightly ignorant of the stars from The Roaring 20s onward, but watching a blonde-haired, blue-eyed dude pantomime Elvis just didn't do it for me. The girlfriend said that it allowed the audience to focus on the performances rather than appearances, but in my opinion, half of performance is about the aesthetic and the suspension of disbelief.
Another example: The Rat Pack appears. Of course they need no introduction. But the extent of the subtlety was found in the middle of a conversation on stage...
"Oh, lookin' good, Frank."
"Thanks, Sammy."
If you know nothing of The Rat Pack, that's of no help to you. If you do, then why bother throwing in empty dialogue like the above?
The show could have been so much more. What if they'd shifted from abandoned locale to abandoned locale, with the usher dude reminiscing and wistfully looking back on the history of the place, before ceding to the performers? That would have been so much more interesting.
Instead, I found the highlights to be show acts that featured in between. There was the bird guy, the hula hoop guy, and the Quiddlers (who were spectacular). You'll see what I mean.
That said, the featured performers themselves were incredible. The main guy (Philip Drennen?), though he looked nothing like Elvis nor Frank, was exceptional. All the others sang well. They danced well. They were all completely engaged and looked to be having the time of their lives. Costumes were extraordinary. The live band was on point.
Only my girlfriend was hotter than the girls on stage. No joke. And she didn't pay me to write that. Hi, girlfriend. Lookin' good.......
I also find it interesting that 155 of the current 173 reviews are not recommended. Most of them are positive reviews. Suspicious. This is definitely not a 4.5 star show, but if you have nothing better to do and don't mind sitting through music you may or may not be familiar with while not actually learning anything about the history of Vegas, then this is a fine way to pass the evening. If nothing else, you can always stop by Earl of Sandwich or Burgr before/after the show.
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