AWAKENINGS AT WYNN LAS VEGAS
By Stan Jenson
Right from the start let me say I know that Las Vegas is not in the Coachella Valley which this site’s name might imply, but the CVTT Editorial Board has decided that the Valley’s residents are a peripatetic bunch who sometimes wander to Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego and even Las Vegas so from time to time we’ll share out of town finds – especially ones that bring us joy!
Awakening at Wynn Las Vegas indeed brought this viewer a great deal of joy, amazement, amusement, and quite a few gasps. Most Vegas shows fall into one of a few categories: Cirque, celebrities, strippers, comedians or magicians. Awakening, celebrating its first anniversary at Wynn this month, pretty much defies description and that’s its greatest asset.
The theatre is round with concentric rows of seats banked quite steeply so there virtually is not a bad seat in the house. Each seat has a pair of individual speakers supported by rods from the arm rest. They look weird, but as soon as the show begins you forget they are there. I gather they are part of the stunning sound system, but was never particularly aware of them. There are three entrances for performers to access the 60’-wide circular stage (the Romans called such entrances “vomitoria”). The round stage itself must have cost multiple millions of dollars. It is made up of perhaps 25 individual elevators, can create numerous lighting effects through the floor itself, rotate, and create settings by elevating or sinking various portions.
The opening number has perhaps 40 dancers in a tribal frenzy as a couple of men twirl fire batons and jets of fire pop up all around the stage. Then we start to meet some individual characters. There is a thin plot line where some girl has to go to various kingdoms to collect magic stones, but that is just enough plot to hold together an amazing collection of the best theatrical effects I have ever seen.
Large pieces of scenery are lowered from a hole above center stage, other pieces roll in from the three entrances, or are elevated by the stage, but throughout much of the production, the entire round auditorium itself is part of the stage illusion. When you look at the people sitting across from you, you see a 360-degree video wall behind the last row of seats. Then there are projections on the audience itself, scenic pieces flown in from the roof, then whatever elements are onstage. I can only imagine that there are many more stage technicians offstage than the 40 or so dancers we see onstage.
There are several magic illusions that surpass any other magic on the Strip. There are giant puppets, sometimes with operators visible, that become characters in the story. The costumes throughout are gorgeous and every time a principal or the ensemble enters, they have entirely new spectacular costumes. There isn’t a lot of singing, but when it happens, the voices and the sound system are top notch. There are several acrobatic specialty numbers ala Cirque du Soleil, but the plot line here is a lot more comprehensible than any Cirque shows I have seen – and I have seen every Cirque show in Vegas at least once!
I guess it was the spectacle that most delighted me. I spent quite a bit of my time trying to figure out how they appeared to have submerged the auditorium under water or made the entire room a primal jungle.
My parents took me to Vegas revues some 60 years ago and in addition to the feathered showgirls, the shows often had scenes that were simply spectacle. I remember one where a full-stage dam was upstage and a tiny village stretched out below it. The dam started to crack and water started to pour over the village. Eventually, the dam collapsed and drenched the town – and Curtain. That was the entire act. Pure spectacle. Comparing the effects in the early Follies Bergere or Hello America to Awakening is like comparing a 1965 car to a 2023 model. Projections, lasers, smart lights, controllable smoke all driven by complex computers – it's all there. I have seen most of the major revue shows in Las Vegas but if I were able to see just one again, it would be Awakening..
Awakening is playing indefinitely at Wynn Las Vegas. Tickets and further information are available at www.wynnlasvegas.com. Also, especially on week nights, there are several locations in Vegas that sell any unsold tickets for most of the shows in town at a significant discount. Definitely worth checking out!