Blue Man Group when: 7 and 10 p.m. nightly where: Blue Man Group Theater at The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South tickets: $76.50-$126 (702-414-7469)
Blue Streak
Blue Man Group still packs punch with show that shocks the senses
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This is only a listing of the production shows that have been reviewed. For a complete listing, click here.
American Superstars
Michael Jackson still has a career in this impersonator show that tries to keep up with a pop culture curve that quickly turns idols into laughing stocks. A versatile four-piece band pushes along credible impressions of the likes of Tim McGraw, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in a revue that copies the "Legends in Concert" format, but also keeps that show on its toes. (Stratosphere)
An Evening at La Cage
The cast of the Strip's sole surviving drag show still vamps like it's 1985, offering lip-synced impressions of divas from Judy Garland to Reba McEntire in a fast, fun 75 minutes. Frank Marino, the comic host for more than 17 years, still dresses like Joan Rivers but has evolved into his own persona. (Riviera)
Bite
A show featuring topless vampires should be either the best or the worst thing ever to hit the Strip. The adult revue managed to find the middle ground in between and that's frustrating. The women are attractive and the choreography is diverse. Fangs aside, the dance routines hold their own with the other late-night adult revues. (Stratosphere)
Blue Man Group
The new Blue Man Group show at The Venetian is changed more by its staging than by new content. But these are still funny guys who can't resist a joke about Las Vegas' penchant for stages so large you can land an airplane on them. (Venetian)
Chippendales: The Show
The original male strip club is now a busily choreographed revue that sometimes seems more tailored to the short attention span of MTV teens than the libidos of grown women. The men seem to have more license to thrill than their female counterparts on the Strip, with unobstructed rear views and autoerotic moves that go beyond the girlie shows. (Rio)
Crazy Girls
The longest-running of the topless cabaret revues on the Strip must be doing something right to stay open since 1987. Tatty wigs aside, "Crazy Girls' stays in the game with strong solo numbers and a lustier strip-club vibe than some of its classier competitors. Judge its appeal by whether you think that's a good thing. (Riviera)
'Defending the Cavemen'
Rob Becker's anthropological take on the battle of the sexes has become a cottage industry performed by other comedians. The Las Vegas version is in good hands with Kevin Burke, who plays the lovable schlub direct from Sitcom Central Casting, and can't help that domestic jokes about men preferring tools to gossip haven't become any fresher since the show debuted in the early '90s. At least the theatrical form and presentation are fresh for Las Vegas. (Golden Nugget)
Fantasy
The former 'Midnight Fantasy' tightened up its structure as well as its title. Music video and concert choreographer Cris Judd was recruited in mid-2005 to add fresh musical numbers, which allow an impressive female chorus line to balance tightly wound motion with sensuality. It's unpretentious eye candy that fills the basic requirements of the topless revue, though Stephanie Jordan's sultry live vocals add a needed dimension and Sal Salansang's physical comedy offers a male presence. (Luxor)
Folies Bergere
The city's longest-running show opened in 1959 and is now one of the last souvenirs of old Vegas and its Parisian-styled showgirls. The 2003 edition offers a few fresh sequences that, at their best, add some sexy humor and steer the focus to the dancers rather than the faded scenery. The "Folies" preserve a unique era of show business with a straight face, but you may leave wondering if it's in need of a more winking or revisionist approach. (Tropicana)
'Hats'
Talk about blatant. This theatrical musical was created as a custom order for the Red Hat Society, with songs that often sound like TV jingles promoting the social network of women over 50. The kicker is that the gimmick brings modest, old-fashioned displays of singing, dancing and show-tunery back to the Strip, and offers moments of rare substance to performers who wring every drop out of them. (Harrah's Las Vegas)
Ice: The Show from Russia
A Russian circus on ice got a Cirque du Soleil-style makeover by former Cirque choreographer Debra Brown. Acrobats, jugglers and aerialists all perform in skates. The results are respectable given the modest budget, but familiar within the Cirque aesthetic. Judge its appeal by whether you rush to embrace each variation or run in the other direction. (Riviera)
Jersey Boys!
The absorbing and at times even downbeat story that propels this musical biography of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons might surprise Las Vegas crowds expecting an easy-going revue, the way it has surprised others around the country. A crackling, cinematic staging of the band's biography is deftly meshed with its song catalog. "Jersey Boys" may be gritty in places, but it's still a crowd-pleaser at heart. (Palazzo)
Jubilee!
As one of the last classic "feather shows," it's simultaneously one of the Strip's greatest treasures and the silliest reminder of its excessiveness. The sequined showgirls and chorus boys in white dinner jackets are from a lost era, and the "Titanic" and "Samson and Delilah" scenes are still impressive in a campy way, but newer sequences fall short as retro nostalgia. (Bally's)
Ka
The latest from Cirque du Soleil drops the the dreamy surrealism for a darkly textured atmosphere, connecting the acrobatics with a sketch of a story and creating a hybrid of theater, circus and cinema. The $165 million spectacle follows separated twins af an ancient and mythic Asian dynasty on a journey with amazing stuntwork and dazzling set designs. (MGM Grand)
Legends in Concert
Producer John Stuart launched a much-copied format when this show debuted in 1983. But the impersonator gimmick is ultimately just a means to present an old-fashioned variety show, with music spanning from Liberace to Madonna. (Imperial Palace)
Le Reve
These dreams seem very familiar, as "O" and "Mystere" director Franco Dragone recycles imagery for a redundant aquatic show in-the-round. Subtitled, "A Small Collection of Imperfect Dreams," the skeletal plot has the mythic Morpheus leading an Everyman through a sensual, often dark dreamscape. Gorgeous imagery doesn't fully compensate for the underwhelming acrobatics. The collective effort shows how quickly innovation becomes formula. (Wynn Las Vegas)
Mamma Mia!
The stage equivalent of a chick flick, the musical blockbuster will thrill grown-up disco gals and at least offer frothy, escapist fun for anyone else enticed into the theater. The gimmick of drafting ABBA songs as show tunes is far more clever than the story, which coasts a little too much on its own good will and a TV sitcom level of humor. But at last the Strip offers real theater well-crafted, even for a vehicle so light. (Mandalay Bay)
Manilow: Music and Passion
"Music and Passion" isn't a drastic departure for Barry Manilow. It feels like a show from a veteran Las Vegas entertainer that could have been there a long time already. While a 90-minute show points out the redundancies in formula ballads, it also brings out the Brill Building finesse that rounded out the albums. (Las Vegas Hilton)
Menopause the Musical
This niche-marketed show isn't well-written enough to appeal far beyond its target audience of women who can relate to "the change." But anyone can appreciate the jubilant performance level, the fact that it's crisply produced and that it's a perfect fit for the Las Vegas Hilton's cozy Shimmer Cabaret. A quartet of archetypal women (alternately performed here by dual casts) commiserate and bond during a daylong romp through Bloomingdale's, giving pop standards new lyrics as they run through a checklist of menopause symptoms.(Las Vegas Hilton
MGM Grand's Crazy Horse Paris
You probably won't remember the specifics of this arty, influential Paris import as much as the overall concept. Film and kaleidoscopic projections wash over symmetrical topless beauties, painting them in patterns of light on a "widescreen" stage. New owners reinstated favorite numbers from the show's historic past. The European mock-sophistication isn't for everyone, but does set the revue distinctly apart from the homegrown topless pack. (5/25/07 M.W.) (MGM Grand)
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Mystere
Cirque du Soleil's groundbreaking Vegas debut show proves that artful and challenging visual and staging elements could create an animal-free, nouvelle circus with a soul of its own. Progressive live music, stunning staging and a compelling cast of acrobats and "bungee birds" who swoop up and down over the crowd make "Mystere" a riveting and open-to-interpretation work that's a wonder to behold. (Treasure Island)
Nathan Burton Comedy Magic
The magician who squeezed a lot of airtime out of "America's Got Talent" injects humor into classic stage illusions. He offers one-stop shopping for all the basics of a solid magic show held together by a nice-guy personality. (Aladdin
O
Cirque du Soleil's astonishing spectacular showcases a colorful cast of 74 synchronized swimmers, trapeze artists, contortionists and others working on a wondrous stage that transforms from an Arctic Ocean to an African watering hole in the blink of an eye. It's an overwhelming visual feast that's unequaled anywhere in the known universe. (Bellagio)
Ooh La La
This topless revue produced by raunchy hypnotist Anthony Cools reflects his strong wit and includes about much variety as five women can offer. But even with singing, acrobatics and magic tricks, the bag of tricks isn't quite deep enough to keep a 65-minute show from running thin on ideas at about the halfway point. (Paris Las Vegas)
Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular
"Version 1.5" might be a better way to describe this relaunch of "The Phantom of the Opera." The 95-minute version is not so much a drastic rethinking of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster as one that transplants the Broadway megahit to a custom-designed theater. The trims get to the heart of the romance and prune away peripheral silliness. But ticket buyers will have to decide if a really big chandelier and a few pyrotechnic effects are enough to revisit a familiar musical that's otherwise impeccably staged by original director Hal Prince with a top-notch cast. (The Venetian)
The Soprano's Last Supper
The room feels like a genuine supper club, with a band and singer. It's interactive theater, a parady of the HBO series. However, the more the dinner show moves away from parody, the better it gets. (Empire Ballroom)
Stomp Out Loud
More than a decade after the original "Stomp," British creators Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell expanded their wordless hit into a custom Vegas version with a larger cast and bigger staging. But the concept is unchanged: A dressed-down cast celebrates the rhythms of everyday life and all manners of percussion. It's a great show for families, and those who fear 90 minutes of banging will be surprised by the comic touches and other surprises that spell the louder moments. (Planet Hollywood)
Thunder From Down Under
The safest compromise for good clean fun in a male revue that occasionally bares its hindquarters. The show varies a bit each night as the dancers rotate the four "solo" spots. (Excalibur)
Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding
This interactive dinner-theater hit has been playing around the country since 1985, but it's still one of the most inventive shows to hit Las Vegas in years. Creator Nancy Cassaro coached a local cast to balance subtlety with stereotype in bringing two extreme New York Italian families to life. Since the show goes on all around the warehouse "banquet hall," it pays -- especially at the most distant tables -- to move around and talk to the performers who never break character. (Rio)
Tournament of Kings
Youngsters and wrestling fans of all ages will particularly enjoy this knights-in-the-round spectacle. The stunt-show jousting and sword-fighting are staged in a dirt arena, surrounded by an audience eating sans utensils in the rare "dinner show" left on the Strip. (Excalibur)
V -- The Ultimate Variety Show
It was an idea so simple it was overlooked: Forget about the dance numbers and instead fill a show with the high-energy specialty acts that traditionally spelled the production numbers. There's nothing hip or high-tech about it, just the timeless appeal of human beings reaching out to an audience. (Aladdin)
Viva Las Vegas
This revue redefined afternoon shows in 1991, and continues to offer old-Vegas variety, complete with a quintet of showgirls, on a budget. The production numbers are sparse but host magician Max Clever and closing comedian Bruce "Big John" Mickelson provide real payoff. (Plaza)
X Burlesque
Fevered choreography and artsy video projections give a hip edge to the latest incarnation of this fast and furious topless revue. But the audacious style comes at the expense of the humor and variety that highlighted previous editions. (Flamingo)
Zumanity
Cirque du Soleil creators have kept the strong acrobatic set pieces and even added a new one -- a sexy aerialist -- but also worked to strengthen the connective material and give it more of a flow. Artistic director Ria Martens puts more zest into the choreography and gives new purpose to some notorious moments without changing the show's basic premise. Host-in-drag Joey Arias leads us through the slightly rearranged running order with shorter, snappier patter.
(New York-New York)
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