ENTERTAINMENT: ‘O’ and ‘Le Reve’ director checks out topless vampires

   Limited space meant leaving out an amusing capper to a conversation with Franco Dragone in today’s entertainment print column.
  Dragone, the most influential director in the modern era of Las Vegas — with “O,” “Mystere,” “Le Reve” and Celine Dion’s “A New Day” to his credit — revealed that he went and checked out the silliest and arguably most low-rent show on the Strip.
  That would be the topless vampire epic “Bite” at the Stratosphere.
  It was quite a shock when Dragone mentioned “Bite” just after saying he was probably going to stage “The Messiah” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2010.
  I wasn’t sure if he was talking about one or both shows when Dragone explained his rationale for taking in both “Bite” and the new “Peepshow” burlesque revue:
   “I learn much more than some show where people take themselves seriously.”
   “You know? I admire these people,” he added of the "Bite" cast. “The dancers, they are working one hour and a half. Ninety minutes, they don’t stop.”
  However, it was “90 minute always on the same rhythm. … For me ‘Bite’ and ‘Zumanity’ are quite the same. You come in and you stay in the same mood. You cannot be in (one) direction 90 minutes.”
  Dragone also said his upcoming show for the City of Dreams in Macau will be another water spectacle. “I’ve learned a lot doing the water shows so I want to make it pay off somewhere.”