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Viva Elvis begins as a love letter to Elvis Presley fans ends with a rousing thank you. Before commenting about what happens in between this Cirque du Soleil show at Aria Resort, its important to understand Elvis' mysterious manager, Colonel Tom Parker, and a false urban legend that might affect your viewing experience for this maudlin Vegas show.

Colonel Parker by contract, severely restricted the who, where and when Elvis could perform, even for charitable causes and definitely not to show public support of the Civil Rights Movement. That limited Elvis Presley from his creative roots to produce more songs worthy of critical acclaim. But as a financial manager, Colonel Parker had no equal keeping Elvis' bank account in the deep in greenbacks via radio, 50 million people seeing him on TV, movies, and a Whitehouse visit. As a result, this 1960s heartthrob was often perceived by the media as aloof and overly focused on Hollywood movies arranged by Colonel Parker. Right or wrong, music critics proffer that at the height of his creative powers and popularity between 1960-67, he should have struck a better balance of less movies, more writing & selecting non-movie songs to perform live in concert.

As for the urban legend that Elvis made a racist comment in 1956 towards African Americans -- bury it, burn it, forget it. No one has ever proven a source or witness. In fact, overwhelming evidence from a Jet magazine reporter in 1957, black folks like B.B. King and Rufus Thomas who knew him in Memphis and other artist/celebrities who came to love and respect him like James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr. and Muhammad Ali runs 180 degrees opposite. And excluding times when Colonel Parker used contract power to prevent him, Elvis supported many shows by black artists and fundraising events. Most importantly, Elvis praised the many great black singers and songwriters as the originators of Rock n' Roll. Keep in mind that some people jealous of Elvis Presley's commercial success in Rock n' Roll, just as there were people jealous of Michael Jackson's success in Pop Music. Jealousies often lead to unsourced rumors.

Despite Elvis' socially progressive attitude, he was woefully behind the curve signing a management contract with Colonel Parker, who collected a up to a 50% management fee when the industry standard was 15-22%. Perhaps he was intimidated by Colonel Parker ruthless use of that ironclad contract to managed his career. Colonel Parker made Elvis Presley's bank account bigger than most other artists, so half of a larger pie must have been one reason Elvis was afraid to from confront him. I found no indication that Elvis mustered the courage to seriously confront Colonel Parker until their near split in 1974. Yet Colonel Parker somehow remained manager-of-record after a short bust-up. Even after Elvis' death in August 1977 and before his burial, Parker was cutting Elvis Presley merchandising deals with him receiving the majority of royalties, rather than the Elvis Presley Estate. In that context, I found it interesting that Viva Elvis uses a characterization of Colonel Parker as the muse helping audiences appreciate the multi-layered artistic life of Elvis Presley.

I don't consider myself a fan of Elvis Presley per se, but I am a fan of great entertainers. Any entertainer collecting as many accolades as Elvis certainly warrants my attention as a Vegas attraction. Approaching Viva Elvis Theater, I notice that the curtain is decorated with golden disks that recall the 151 Elvis Presley records that went gold, platinum or multi-platinum in the USA -- more than any other performing artist in history. The design of Elvis Theater stage has a wide proscenium layout to accommodate the large-scale set elements and quick-changing scenes. Some say a Circle-in-the-Round stage configuration would have been better - I agree. Typical of Cirque shows the stage is separated into many sections, 12 in this case, which can rise to a height of ten feet. Depending on the scene, platforms move in support acrobatic performers, singers, dancers or set elements. The opening set features a giant jukebox with a 50-foot tall video screen and a gigantic steel and fiberglass Blue Suede Shoe to drive home the opening song's theme and to pay homage to the larger than life persona of Elvis Presley. I also found myself gasping at some of at the huge guitar and Jailhouse Rock stage sets as Cirque skaters performed like X Gamers on steroids.

Show producers reviewed 914 Elvis Presley albums and countless films, concert recordings, interviews and home recordings to select a melange of Rockabilly, Delta Blues, Gospel and Rock n' Roll cuts from his days singing Mississippi folk music, listening to black choirs, hanging out on Beale Street in Memphis, and various recording sessions in Memphis, Nashville, New York and Hollywood. Sampling imagery must have been the easy part because in the 1960s, nearly every movie and TV show that included Elvis Presley was a hit. After that lengthy selection process, the show incorporates 30 songs, including: Blue Suede Shoes, Got A Lot if Livin To Do, That's All Right, Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender, King Creole, Bossa Nova Baby, Burning Love, Memories, Can't Help Falling In Love, You'll Never Walk Alone, Viva Las Vegas and Suspicious Minds. In general, songs fit the narrative of the show, Presley’s boundless energy, textures in his voice and his disarming charisma. Typical of Cirque du Soleil audio engineers, they expertly removed all the pops, ticks and hisses from songs that extend back to the 1950s and 60s. Elvis Presley's voice never sounded sweeter on the digitally mastered score accompanied live by four female singers and eight musicians -- nice touch!

As expected, male dancers sported lots of leather jackets, flashy colors and a pompadour hairstyles typical of Elvis in concert and the 1950s mainstream perception of Elvis as a rebel. Female dancers donned Vegas showgirl costumes decorated with plumes of colorful feathers. Their imagery recalled his Las Vegas days in the early 1970s. Stage sets were spectacular and acrobatic performances met the best Cirque du Soleil standards, which is to say world-class. I did however, find two acrobatic sets disjointed from Elvis Presley's music and several dancers in the back row to be less than A-listers by Cirque du Soleil standards. At those moments, I found myself asking for better biography narrative, less Cirque du Soleil. Unfortunately, those two moments seem to occur 1/3rd and 2/3rds into the show, disrupting continuity of the show's Wow Factor, common to Cirque du Soleil shows.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the 90-minute show deftly integrates visual artistry, inventiveness and acrobatics with Elvis Presley photos and video. The sets integrating Elvis' image were both charming and electric. I could see, hear and feel why Elvis Presley was the Michael Jackson of his generation. You will too.

Yet I've heard rumblings about Viva Elvis not meeting the attendance expectations of Aria Resort. Looking into the reasons, I learned that some fans grumble that there's not enough Elvis visual biography. Others say not enough Cirgue du Soleil. I say maintain the balance, but tighten storytelling to preserve continuity of the Viva Elvis' Wow Factor, like The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. I hope the Aria Resort-Cirque du Soleil-Elvis Presley Enterprises trio have the patience to enhance their roughhewn treasure, rather than let Elvis Presley, a Vegas icon and entertainment legend, fall into the dustbin of tribute sideshows now occupied by fellow Vegas icons and entertainment legends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. And if the show is enhanced, please juice it with a whiz-bang hologram of Elvis performing on stage - a Wow Factor sure to capture every patron's imagination.

Venue: Aria Resort
http://www.arialasvegas.com/viva-elvis