by Jackie Brett Send Me E-mail

Cirque du Soleil's newest show "Ka" at the MGM Grand is the most expensive show in modern history coming in at a $165 million price tag. Part of the cost was closing the more than 1,900-seat showroom and then gutting it and rebuilding it from the ground up in order to create Cirque du Soleil's fourth production on the Strip. This one was intended to be of epic proportions much like an opera and it certainly has succeeded.

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When you enter the theatre now, your experience-of-the-unusual begins above the inside doorway entrance where two performers maneuver their way in between immense giant strings and create musical sounds as they crawl around the architectural-like stringed instrument.

Inside the new showroom, the home theater-like seats have a set of speakers to augment the sound that plays out into multiple sections of 180 outlets. The music is more like a movie score that helps tell what's gong on because nobody is talking. Choir and orchestral sounds are blended with a live performance by a seven-piece band that the audience cannot see.

As soon as you sit and face the stage, you know things will be different. It's almost as if there is no stage - just a vast dark hole. What you learn when the show begins is there are two main stages that move in and out of position. One is the "Tommy deck," a platform that slides in and out much like a drawer. The other is the "cliff deck" that is vertical and hoists the battle scene. It is an 80,000 pound rectangle lifted in and out of place by a 230,000 pound gantry arm. Obviously, this is not your typical stage.

It is on these moving stages and the phenomenal Wheel of Death where performers such as gymnasts, acrobats, swordsmen, archers and even the roof-jumping Yamikazis of Paris move on top of the outside of moving circular giant wheels and bring "KA" to life.

There is a plot; however, it is rather lost with all the mind-boggling effects. "KA" is the story of twins, Haight and sister Sheri, in ancient Asian societies who are separated when enemy archers kidnap one of them. Along the way, their separate journeys include a giant forest and a beach full of giant animal puppets.

"KA" is performed Friday through Tuesday at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $150, $125 and $99 including tax and are available 120 days in advance, call 800-929-1111. "KA" will be dark for an extended period of time from March 23 - April 14.

The Fremont Street Experience introduced its latest creation on the Viva Vision canopy over NASCAR Race Weekend with "Titled Speed, Smoke and Spinning Wheels," an eight-minute light and sound show, which is the first of five all-new multi-media productions scheduled to debut during Las Vegas' Centennial year celebration.

"Speed, Smoke and Spinning Wheels" transports guests off the street below and into the world of fast-paced auto racing. The need for speed is felt when the flag is dropped and hundreds of neon vehicles take to the "biggest big screen on the planet" to race the length of the Viva Vision canopy. For more than five-city blocks, 12.5 million LED lights illuminate images of classic cars and auto racing while heart-pounding, rock 'n' roll fills the air on Fremont Street.

The other new Viva Vision shows for 2005 will include: Lucky Vegas in May - a tribute to everything Vegas; Downtown Diva in July- a tribute to the ultimate girls' night out; Fahrenheit at Night in the fall - a sultry, sexy show with an after-dark adult oriented flare; and Above and Beyond in November - a tribute to the progress the aeronautics industry has made throughout the past century.

In preparation for its 10th anniversary, the Fremont Street Experience invested $17 million in the Viva Vision canopy, which towers 90 feet above the street and stretches 1,500 feet in length. The cutting edge LED technology consists of 12.5 million lights and a 550,000 watt concert quality sound system.

Comedian Carrot Top will return to the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater with his 2005 North American tour for the following engagements this year: April 21 -27; Sept. 22 -28; Nov. 10 -16; and Dec. 1 -21. He headlines at the MGM Grand nine to 11 weeks per year. Tickets are $40 inclusive, call 702-891-7777 or 800-929-1111.

With a knack for wild gadgets and in-your-face energy, Carrot Top's super imaginative performances and outrageous style have made him a pop culture phenomenon. Known as a genius when it comes to inventive props, Carrot Top pokes fun at celebrities, pop culture icons, red necks, and more.

For the last four years, Carrot Top (a.k.a. Scott Thompson) has been an award-winning celebrity spokesman for 1-800-CALL-ATT, an endorsement that has earned him household name status. Called the "King of Props," it takes an 18-wheeler to carry all of Carrot Top's 35 trunks containing his goodies, which include: a French fry basket with book holder for college students so they can study and practice for post college jobs at the same time; a boot with a kickstand for drunken cowboys; and a Slurpee cup with a heater to prevent brain freeze.

Bonnie and Clyde, two 14-foot long Burmese python snakes have returned home to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum located at 900 North Las Vegas Blvd adjacent to Cashman Field after temporarily being housed at the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay while their habitat was renovated. Their newly constructed surroundings are designed to closely mimic the python's natural environment. The snakes are native to Southeast Asia and frequent swamps, grasslands, river valleys, rocky foothills, and open jungle habitats.

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum, in association with the Smithsonian Institution, is one of the largest museums in Southern Nevada. The hours of operation are daily from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and military and $3 for children ages 3 to 11. For more information, call 384-DINO (3466).

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