Absinthe

Raunchy, riveting and a tad risqué, are just some of the references pointed at the Caesar's Palace circus-burlesque review “Absinthe”. Much like the potent anise-flavored liqueur, it promises to send your heart racing; your knuckles white from gripping that barstool and inhibitions right out of the window! Australian producer Ross Mollisson blames it all on his neighbors. Not his current ones that is!

Growing up in the arid Ozzie outback, it's kind of inevitable that familial relationships between neighbors develop. Home and Away taught us that! At five years of age and still as curious as a toddler, Ross Mollisson admits the impressed obsession of his neighbors with “circus stalking” is probably why he got into the showy-business. The big breaks came with promotion jobs for the Moscow State Circus and Cirque de Soleil, for whom he undertook many a marketing drive, while absorbing the art of a nouveau theater producer. The Mollisson brand however, is one that's been built through personal perseverance, and belief in the shows that other impresarios wouldn't even have sniffed at – such as “Puppetry of The Penis”, to which he introduced Australia. Productions like “Slava's Snow Show” which has remained a hit on Broadway required less pushing – yet still won Mollisson a Tony Award for his efforts in 2009. The same business approach has applied to “Absinthe”, which although comparable to the aerobatics and super-contortionism of Cirque de Soleil's “Mystere”, has free-wheeled without stabilizers into the top 20 shows of Las Vegas for 2010!

It's perhaps the reluctance of Mollisson to administer sameness to Las Vegas, that has contributed to the originality of “Absinthe”. While elements of Burlesque, Cirque and even “Matsuri” may be found in it's lining, the curtain unveils a reform in circus-theater, back to an era pre-hydraulic sets and controlled pyrotechnics, when the lavish spectacle and dare-devil stunts were all conducted by the cast, and not the bungee lifts. The nine foot rotund stage that forms the centerpiece of “Absinthe” is the first in a line of surprises that demonstrate the reform. Mustached madman “The Gazillionaire” played by ex-Cirque ringmaster Volki Kafayan, is a well placed cog in the “Absinthe” machine, for it is he who is entrusted with the intro to the show. Courting the audience with his misplaced accent and quirky charm, he adds the integral element of humor and loose narrative that transports one scene to the next. One could describe him as slightly lascivious, with a lewd sense of humor when it comes to introducing the burlesque vignettes. It's almost a stab at the modesty of other self-labeled Vegas burlesque shows, when he calls out to the dancers his expectation of more than just a few feathers and flirtatious smiles.

“Spiegelworld” is the quirky outdoor venue for “Absinthe”; a behemoth tent erected within the garden space between Caesars Palace and Serendipity, complimented weirdly by it's very own beer garden. The “Green Fairy” rewards audience anticipation - the literal embodiment of the spirit itself. She merely acts as an introducer to the eagerly awaited “Gazillioniaire” whose wacky antics, lewd behavior and outlandish outfit make him the sole provider of humor for the entire evening.

The show is quick to let the worm out of the bottle with Russian duo Slav and Vanya. Clad in tight white lycra body-suits, the muscle-bound duo are the introductory aspect of arousal, said to be influenced by the show. Nothing prepares for the sheer amazement of their body weight act, during which they counter balance upon one another – sometimes barely holding a limb. A rollerskating duo subsequently set the pace, with a head-spinning floor show of acrobatic feats and gravity defying spinning gymnastics. The semi-burlesque balloon vignette featuring a sultry strip-tease performer is one of the unexpected twists to the show - although after seeing her encase herself semi-nude within a 9-foot balloon – most male audience members are quite happy for whatever will be, will be.

Capricious and tantalizing, “Absinthe” is a show that refuses to be slotted into a Vegas bracket. The integral elements of comedy, showgirls and death-defying stunts are all present, yet the whirligig revue rarely delivers anything expected – and that's why fans keep on returning. “Gazillionaire” is a law unto himself, and no two encounters with the eccentric are ever the same – just as “Absinthe” is no wannabe Cirque, delivering the already seen and done!