Las Vegas Strip Clubs: Critical Divide: Are out-of-town reviewers blinded by the lights?
March 3, 2010 by diamond
Corliss is so sold that he even raved that the aforementioned trampoline segment is “an ecstatic amusement-park bit with high-bouncing superheroes.” Donnelly, who quite strangely suggested there were two places in the show that brought her to tears (?!?), declared: “This isn’t just a show, it’s a glorious celebration of the life of the king of rock ’n’ roll. … Cirque has once again synthesized multiple art forms into a wondrously distinct creation.”
All people are entitled to their opinions, to be sure. But the dramatic disconnect between what Corliss, Donnelly and Pedersen saw and thought and what the credible critics in Vegas saw and thought is hard to reconcile.
The only conclusion I can reach is that they just don’t know. They just don’t know that a great Vegas show can be over-the-top, eye-popping and still make sense. That throwing in a potpourri of Vegas-related clichés—flying stripper poles!—is not how we necessarily roll anymore. That Garth Brooks playing the guitar and singing by himself on stage may just be the next generation of Vegas entertainment, not Cirque and certainly not Elvis cheese.