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'V' a throwback to old-school Vegas entertainment

Variety show filled with acts that have proven popular with audiences

"V" is no "O," and that's kind of the point.

Cirque du Soleil has its multimillion-dollar computerized swimming pool, but Russ Merlin has four rubber Halloween masks. And when he puts them on audience "volunteers" to make them living puppets for an orchestrated routine, the intensity of audience laughter seizes back some of the glory that's gone to the production designers of late.

The new revue, subtitled "The Ultimate Variety Show," is a no-brainer in every sense of the term.

From the show business side of things, it was an idea so simple it was overlooked: Forget about lame dance numbers and instead fill a show with nothing but specialty acts that have a proven popularity with audiences.

In the Riviera's "Splash," for instance, it's the jugglers and Argentinian gauchos who get the crowd going, and the incredulous musical numbers that grind things to a halt.

"V" takes the clue and runs with it, to the point of copying the longtime "Splash" finale of motorcyclists whirling around inside a globe-shaped cage.

For audiences, "V" is a return to the kind of mindless diversion that Las Vegas specialized in for years. There's nothing hip or stylized about it, but nothing groaningly out of fashion either.

The show proves it's better to mostly ignore Cirque du Soleil -- the "enemy" that put many of the vaudeville-style variety acts out of work -- instead of trying to copy it, as bygone revues such as "Imagine" and "Storm" tried to do.

Only a couple of segments play like a poor man's version of Cirque, and they are acrobatic acts that are nonetheless needed to provide whatever you would call the opposite of comic relief, after so many jokes flying from the stage.

Instead, "V" focuses on the timeless appeal of human beings reaching out to an audience. It's no coincidence that three out of seven acts in a show last weekend either pulled audience volunteers onstage or confronted the crowd directly.

The plan is for the show to change on a weekly, sometimes even nightly, basis. The biggest task that producer David Saxe has on his hands is maintaining the quality of his initial lineup, and pacing a show that's high-energy by definition.

As things stand now, comic host Jeff Hobson is the closest thing the revue has to a thread of continuity. He uses a couple of leisurely magic tricks as an excuse to flaunt a fey, manic stage presence that comes off like Liberace crossed with Steve Martin or Jim Carrey.

Hobson introduces the show's "real" magicians, Nathan Burton & Sarah (Scherger-Burton), who keep a light, colorful touch on prop-heavy pantomimes that give comic punch lines to standard illusions.

The New Dynasty Acrobats up the show's "wow" factor by their gravity-defying work on vertical poles, then return for a second segment in which they convincingly animate two Chinese parade-dog costumes.

Aerial Expressions (Chris Santistevan and John Harms) is an acrobat team that comes over from Mandalay Bay's defunct "Storm" with the same song, Sting's "Desert Rose," and possibly the same tights.

The team gets hearts racing at the tables on the floor when the two soar on ropes over the heads of audience members. At one point, one acrobat takes the other on a flight with no tether beyond a handclasp.

(The aerial act is perfect for the room's vertical design, just as a simple but effective set makes the nightclub setting work in the show's favor without looking cheap.)

But the balance of "V" wisely rests on veteran performers such as Merlin and juggler Wally Eastwood, who was moonlighting from his regular job in the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere" last Sunday. Even while he's doing silly things like spitting pingpong balls into the air, he's telling the crowd things about himself and his background.

It's not art, but it gets the job done. And that can be said for "V" as a whole.

If the show is able to make some long-term investments down the road, an onstage band to serve in a Paul Shaffer-esque capacity might add a hip edge of continuity and extend the show's appeal to the Hard Rock Hotel or Palms demographic.

But given the choice between hip or crowd-pleasing for the average Las Vegas tourist, Saxe's decision is another no-brainer.

MIKE WEATHERFORD
MORE COLUMNS

The New Dynasty Acrobats are featured in "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show," which gives "front of curtain" variety acts a show of their own with no production numbers.
Photo by JOHN LOCHER / REVIEW-JOURNAL

REVIEW

what: "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show"

when: 8 p.m. daily

where: The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South

tickets: $22-$69 (948-3007)

grade: B+