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Thread: Franco Dragone's final work will unfortunately be the awful "Amystika" with Criss Angel

  1. #1
    Franco Dragone, an Italian-Belgian theater director, definitely left his mark on Las Vegas. He was the main forces behind Cirque du Soleil's style. Any water scenes you saw in Cirque (which made up most of "O", for example) were his doing, as were a lot of the dance routines. The Cirque shows ended up making a fortune, and the ones which were actually good/decent had Dragone's influence, while the bad ones (for example that Elvis debacle at Aria) did not.

    Dragone also was behind the highly successful Celine Dion residency at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and also created Le Reve at Wynn, which was similar to Cirque.

    He wasn't super old -- his 70th birthday was at the end of this year -- and he was seemingly healthy. However, he died of a massive heart attack while visiting Cairo in September, at the age of 69.



    Unfortunately for Dragone, his last work was a complete stinker. Criss Angel is a toxic human being who somehow sticks around Nevada like a bad smell. Despite a fairly successful TV show (Mindfreak), which was especially popular with middle-aged women who found him attractive, his ventures in southern Nevada have all been complete shit.

    First was the horrible "Criss Angel: BeLIEve", which appropriately had the word "LIE" capitalized in the show title. Indeed, the show was a lie. Fans of his came to Luxor and paid for an expensive magic show, only to find it was a horrible ego-stroking fest devoid of any real magic. The "magic" in the show was confined to several lame "Criss disappears and reappears" tricks, which were accomplished amateurishly with strobe lights and smoke. The rest involved Criss demanding applause from the audience for every lame thing he did, bragging about himself, and playing boring videos about his life. It was reported that there was actual booing at every show, and the unfortunate employees at the ticket counter had to deal with angry customers demanding their money back each night (where the policy was always a hard NO!)



    The show opened in October 2008, and Luxor already had to discount the expensive tickets 40% (which still were expensive for what you got) after 2 months. There were virtually zero good reviews anywhere -- from critics or audience members. Even longtime Criss Angel fans hated it. Despite this, it ran for several years. In 2010, they retooled it and changed the show to include more magic, but it was still pretty bad. It limped along until April 2016, at which point it closed. But it didn't really close. Basically the same show ran as "Criss Angel MINDFREAK Live", presumably to escape the previous bad reviews. That ran through the end of 2018.

    "Criss Angel: BeLIEve" was a Cirque show, despite containing none of the usual Cirque elements. By 2008, Cirque had largely sold out. It abandoned any kind of quality control, and stamped its name on a bunch of shit, this being the shittiest of them all.

    But none of that had to do with Dragone.


    Criss Angel moved over to Planet Hollywood, and did "Criss Angel MINDFREAK", again basically the same crap sandwich he had been serving for the past decade. It's still there, if you want to see it. However, that still has nothing to do with Dragone.

    Criss decided he wanted to take one more shot at a Cirque-type show, even if it wasn't officially going to be Cirque. Who better to work with than Dragone, who no longer was associated with Cirque, but was the driving force behind what was good about it? Surely with Dragone at the helm, this Criss Angel show couldn't suck, right?




    Yes, it did suck.

    "Amystika" was born. Criss did this at Planet Holywood, as a second show, while he still continued his awful MINDFREAK show. Reportedly Criss and Dragone clashed a lot during the development of the show, and that's not a bit surprising, because Criss is a gigantic asshole. The result was a complete disaster. First off, Criss himself wasn't in it. Yes, you read that right. It was sold in a manner which implied it was his show, but he only appeared for a minute at the beginning to say, "I'll be watching along with you", and the remainder of the time you see other performers, with a (likely recording) of Criss narrating it. Viewers of the show reported it to be "boring", "pointless", and "devoid of magic". Dragone's style was kind of there, but Criss Angel had choked a lot of that out of it (presumably due to their creative disagreements).



    As a final "fuck you" to the Amystika audience, tons of confetti is blown into the crowd during the show, which ruins nearly everyone's drinks they paid good money for. And no, you can't get a refund on the drinks.

    After just 26 weeks, Amystika was gone.


    Unfortunately, that will have been Dragone's final (and worst) work. He deserved better.
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  2. #2
    Oh, and oddly Criss Angel opened a restaurant... but not on the strip, and not even in Vegas.

    It's in Overton, NV.


    Overton? Yes. It's a city you never even pass when driving on the interstate. You have to go north on the 15 way past Vegas, and then south on the 169 at Moapa Valley. It takes about an hour.

    The restaurant is called "Cablp", which stands for Criss Angel Breakfast Lunch Pizza.

    The reviews are mixed. Some like it, some don't. At least Criss Angel isn't involved in running it.

    What a weird venture though, right?

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  3. #3
    Are there any really good shows in sin city worth paying top dollar to see any more?
    What, Me Worry?

  4. #4
    I assume Beatles love and
    Absinthe are still around?

    They were both worthwhile. Beatles love started off a bit slow but by the end, you're wanting more, and I'm no Beatles fan, I might like one or 2 of their songs.

  5. #5
    Originally Posted by MisterV View Post
    Are there any really good shows in sin city worth paying top dollar to see any more?
    Penn & Teller
    yeah Penn gets too preachy at points, but you can actually see some magic and Penn disses a full-size cardboard likeness of Criss Angel.
    Keep your friends close, keep your drinks closer...

  6. #6
    Originally Posted by jpfromla View Post
    Originally Posted by MisterV View Post
    Are there any really good shows in sin city worth paying top dollar to see any more?
    Penn & Teller
    yeah Penn gets too preachy at points, but you can actually see some magic and Penn disses a full-size cardboard likeness of Criss Angel.
    Have you seen the show since Penn went through his woke evolution?

    He was once a big time centrist libertarian. I saw the show 10 years ago, and at the time the only political rants had to do with gun ownership rights (he was very much for them, and in fact did a trick involving a loaded gun.)

    The show was pretty good overall. I got it for free as a Seven Stars member.

    However, as Penn has gone woke in recent years, I'm afraid that the show might be different at this point. He also lost a lot of weight, which strangely enough, sometimes changes performers for the worse.
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  7. #7
    Originally Posted by AxelWolf View Post
    I assume Beatles love and
    Absinthe are still around?

    They were both worthwhile. Beatles love started off a bit slow but by the end, you're wanting more, and I'm no Beatles fan, I might like one or 2 of their songs.
    Yes, both are still around. Both are generally well-liked.

    I have meant to see Beatles Love but just haven't ended up doing it.

    Absinthe looked interesting to me, and I know some people who loved it, but the theater setup is a big turnoff to me. It's in a tent outside of Caesars, and you're stuck sitting on foldup chairs. Just the whole thing seems like I'll be uncomfortable and won't enjoy the show.

    I don't know why they don't build a real theater, given how long this show has been around. I guess there's just no room to do this at Caesars, and it probably does well enough in that stupid tent. But honestly, I'd have seen this by now if it wasn't a show in a tent with foldup chairs.
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  8. #8
    Why don’t you tell us how you really feel about this Criss Angel guy?

    Valley of Fire is basically in Overton, has an Overton address, but you know that of course.

  9. #9
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Originally Posted by jpfromla View Post
    Originally Posted by MisterV View Post
    Are there any really good shows in sin city worth paying top dollar to see any more?
    Penn & Teller
    yeah Penn gets too preachy at points, but you can actually see some magic and Penn disses a full-size cardboard likeness of Criss Angel.
    Have you seen the show since Penn went through his woke evolution?

    He was once a big time centrist libertarian. I saw the show 10 years ago, and at the time the only political rants had to do with gun ownership rights (he was very much for them, and in fact did a trick involving a loaded gun.)

    The show was pretty good overall. I got it for free as a Seven Stars member.

    However, as Penn has gone woke in recent years, I'm afraid that the show might be different at this point. He also lost a lot of weight, which strangely enough, sometimes changes performers for the worse.

    It's probably been five - six years. Last time he had lost the weight. His big soap box was about airline searches and the Bill of Rights. Enjoyed the magic. They put on a smart show - take photos at the end - start right on time. Got tixs thru the Diamond free show - remember that?
    My 20 ish daughter wanted to see Chris Angel, I said no. P&T were free, so....
    She was blown away by the opening trick ( Teller coming out of the box on stage)
    Keep your friends close, keep your drinks closer...

  10. #10
    Druff, what exactly is all this about? What is your history and issue with this Criss Angel?

  11. #11
    I have no issue with Criss Angel personally. Never did anything to me, never saw one of his live shows. I just think the guy is mostly a fraud, and has been fooling people into buying tickets to his shows for about 15 years.

    Apparently he was a good TV magician, but that's not difficult, because it's not live. And I guess he was good looking, at least back in the day of his show, and that helped him develop a big female fan base. Great. I don't begrudge him for that.

    But if you're going to use that fame to get people to see your Vegas magic show, you had better deliver what people think they're going to see. I've been to a number of Vegas shows over the years, some good, some not-so-good, but never has anyone booed. When you get booed at your show (where the bar is fairly low regarding people not booing), you know you've done something wrong.

    This Amystika show probably could have been good if Criss hadn't interfered with Dragone's process. It also would have helped if Criss got his name off of it if he wasn't going to appear in the show, and if there wasn't going to be any magic.
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  12. #12
    Originally Posted by mcap View Post
    Why don’t you tell us how you really feel about this Criss Angel guy?

    Valley of Fire is basically in Overton, has an Overton address, but you know that of course.
    Nobody is going to drive to Valley of Fire that way from Vegas.

    You go north on the 15 until you get to Valley of Fire Highway, which is substantially south of Moapa Valley. You go back the same way. You never pass through Overton, or anywhere that close to it. It is 10 miles to Cablp from the very eastern end of Valley of Fire (in the wrong direction to go back to Vegas).

    That's why the decision to place the restaurant there was so weird. It seems to be mainly for locals, and draws in a few big Criss Angel fans who actually make the 2-hour round trip from Vegas. He would have done a lot better opening this in some strip mall in residential Vegas or Henderson.
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  13. #13
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    I have no issue with Criss Angel personally. Never did anything to me, never saw one of his live shows. I just think the guy is mostly a fraud, and has been fooling people into buying tickets to his shows for about 15 years.

    Apparently he was a good TV magician, but that's not difficult, because it's not live. And I guess he was good looking, at least back in the day of his show, and that helped him develop a big female fan base. Great. I don't begrudge him for that.

    But if you're going to use that fame to get people to see your Vegas magic show, you had better deliver what people think they're going to see. I've been to a number of Vegas shows over the years, some good, some not-so-good, but never has anyone booed. When you get booed at your show (where the bar is fairly low regarding people not booing), you know you've done something wrong.

    This Amystika show probably could have been good if Criss hadn't interfered with Dragone's process. It also would have helped if Criss got his name off of it if he wasn't going to appear in the show, and if there wasn't going to be any magic.
    Saw Penn & Teller - fell asleep during the show. Had bad seats. Seats are important so I'm more immersed. Years ago. Don't remember much but not really a fan.

    Absinthe is just fine in the tent. The whole circus vibe is part of it. Sleazy ringmaster. I had front-row tickets. Was ok except the overhead stuff was just too much straight up.

    Criss Angel. Wouldn't go with free tickets. I will never forget seeing one of these hosted tv shows with an interviewer. Chris was all ready to go but kept getting pushed back. Finally they bring him on at the very end and his whole schtick was to pull a piece of floss out of his eye. Cool huh? Ok so he packs it under his lower eyelid .. but the fact that he kept being delayed meant his eye was all puffy and watery. Pretty funny to me but I'm a dick.
    It is official. Redietz will never be on Dan Druff's podcast. "too much integrity"

  14. #14
    Funny story regarding my visit to Penn and Teller. This was in early 2013, and as I mentioned before, I was a Seven Stars member.

    There were two doors which you could use to enter. One was for "Seven Stars members only", and the other was for everyone else. Well, being a Seven Stars, obviously I entered through the Seven Stars door. This was about 5 minutes before showtime, and there was no line either way, so it didn't really matter, but I entered through the proper door just in case there was a line on the other side.

    Well, all of a sudden I hear a female voice barking at me, "Sir, you need to go back inside and enter through the other door."

    It was one of the two ticket takers. Keep in mind that it turned out both doors led to the same place, about 10 feet apart. For whatever reason, both ticket takers were standing in front of the main door, with none in front of the Seven Stars door.

    I said, "Oh, I'll just walk over to you", and she said, "No, you need to go out and back through the main door."




    This made absolutely ZERO sense, other than it being a power trip for her. There were no barriers I needed to cross. It was all in the same room. There was literally nobody in either line. Furthermore, the Seven Stars door was propped open, so it's not even like I was entering through a closed door.

    I told her that I refused to do it, and I wasn't going to play her silly power trip games. I walked over to her and asked her to take my ticket. She refused, stating that she wouldn't until I walked back out and through the "right" door. I showed her my Seven Stars card to prove I really did go through the "right" door, and that again, my leaving and coming back was pointless anyway, because there were literally no other customers there.

    At this point she was joined by the other ticket taker. She was a middle-aged white female, and the other person was a youngish black male. Both were extremely rude and arrogant to me, and continuing the power trip. They said they simply would not let me in unless I walked back out, and back in through the main door, even though I was standing right in front of them both.

    I demanded a manager, but I was told that one wasn't available. Finally, knowing the show was about to start, I gave in to their silliness. I walked out, back in through the main door, and after they scanned my ticket, I said, "I hope you enjoyed this little power trip, because tomorrow you're not going to have a job anymore."


    I came back the next day and asked to speak to the manager. I made sure to ask someone who had no involvement in any of this and wouldn't remember me, so I'd be led to the real manager. I did not say what I was there to talk about. The real manager came out and talked to me. I told him the whole story. I could tell he was legitimately appalled by the whole thing. I could especially tell this because he wanted every little detail. He wanted my Seven Stars card to verify I was a Seven Stars member. He wanted a full description of both employees. He wanted me to reenact the way I walked in, point out where they were standing, and tell him carefully what occurred. He wrote it all down in a little notebook. I've noticed that when the manager wants tremendous detail like this, he is looking to take action -- usually fire someone. The details are required in order to put in the employee file, just in case they get sued. When you just get a curt, "I'm sorry, I'll talk to them", usually you're being jerked off so you go away. But this time it seemed serious.

    He called me the next day. He said that he investigated and "your entire account of the situation was correct". He said that the two employees admitted everything, and could not coherently explain why they were forcing me to go back out and through the other door, especially after confirming I was Seven Stars. He said, "I cannot tell you what actions I took, but I can let you know that you probably won't be seeing them if you come to the show again."

    Justice. If ever a firing was deserved, it was here. I have no idea what the fuck their problem was.

    The manager then offered me 2 free tickets near the front. I said that I already had good seats, and just saw it yesterday, so I didn't need to see it again. I asked if I could give them away, and he said yes. I gave them to my sister and her husband, and they really enjoyed it. Near the beginning of the show, the manager himself came right down to check on them if "everything was okay", and he comped them a few drinks, as well. My sister was very impressed, and thought that this treatment was due to me being a Vegas "high roller"! I explained to her that it was likely because they knew they fucked up big time, and wanted to make sure the mistreated Seven Stars member was no longer upset.
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  15. #15
    Most Todd story ever lol. At least two of their problems were most likely their shitty jobs, and you personally, probably just two in a list of 98 or so though.

  16. #16
    Originally Posted by mcap View Post
    Most Todd story ever lol. At least two of their problems were most likely their shitty jobs, and you personally, probably just two in a list of 98 or so though.
    What would you have done in this situation, if you were me?

    BTW I did nothing to antagonize this. I had no contact with them prior to the incident, and I simply walked through the Seven Stars door, and even offered to walk over to them when they told me I went through the "wrong" door. (It's not like I told them they had to walk over to me at the Seven Stars door -- which the manager told me was actually the rule of what they had to do! I offered to walk over to them!)

    It was a pure power trip, and I just don't take that bullshit from employees. You are not my superior just because you can cause me inconvenience at the moment if I don't give in to your desire to assert power for your own ego's sake. I will be the one who comes back and tells the (completely true and unembellished) version to your manager, and then it's in his hands what to do.

    I think these were just assholes who liked asserting power over tourists, and didn't expect I would go through the trouble of coming back the next day and telling their manager (who wasn't there at the time of the incident himself, he confirmed to me).
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  17. #17
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Funny story regarding my visit to Penn and Teller. This was in early 2013, and as I mentioned before, I was a Seven Stars member.

    There were two doors which you could use to enter. One was for "Seven Stars members only", and the other was for everyone else. Well, being a Seven Stars, obviously I entered through the Seven Stars door. This was about 5 minutes before showtime, and there was no line either way, so it didn't really matter, but I entered through the proper door just in case there was a line on the other side.

    Well, all of a sudden I hear a female voice barking at me, "Sir, you need to go back inside and enter through the other door."

    It was one of the two ticket takers. Keep in mind that it turned out both doors led to the same place, about 10 feet apart. For whatever reason, both ticket takers were standing in front of the main door, with none in front of the Seven Stars door.

    I said, "Oh, I'll just walk over to you", and she said, "No, you need to go out and back through the main door."




    This made absolutely ZERO sense, other than it being a power trip for her. There were no barriers I needed to cross. It was all in the same room. There was literally nobody in either line. Furthermore, the Seven Stars door was propped open, so it's not even like I was entering through a closed door.

    I told her that I refused to do it, and I wasn't going to play her silly power trip games. I walked over to her and asked her to take my ticket. She refused, stating that she wouldn't until I walked back out and through the "right" door. I showed her my Seven Stars card to prove I really did go through the "right" door, and that again, my leaving and coming back was pointless anyway, because there were literally no other customers there.

    At this point she was joined by the other ticket taker. She was a middle-aged white female, and the other person was a youngish black male. Both were extremely rude and arrogant to me, and continuing the power trip. They said they simply would not let me in unless I walked back out, and back in through the main door, even though I was standing right in front of them both.

    I demanded a manager, but I was told that one wasn't available. Finally, knowing the show was about to start, I gave in to their silliness. I walked out, back in through the main door, and after they scanned my ticket, I said, "I hope you enjoyed this little power trip, because tomorrow you're not going to have a job anymore."


    I came back the next day and asked to speak to the manager. I made sure to ask someone who had no involvement in any of this and wouldn't remember me, so I'd be led to the real manager. I did not say what I was there to talk about. The real manager came out and talked to me. I told him the whole story. I could tell he was legitimately appalled by the whole thing. I could especially tell this because he wanted every little detail. He wanted my Seven Stars card to verify I was a Seven Stars member. He wanted a full description of both employees. He wanted me to reenact the way I walked in, point out where they were standing, and tell him carefully what occurred. He wrote it all down in a little notebook. I've noticed that when the manager wants tremendous detail like this, he is looking to take action -- usually fire someone. The details are required in order to put in the employee file, just in case they get sued. When you just get a curt, "I'm sorry, I'll talk to them", usually you're being jerked off so you go away. But this time it seemed serious.

    He called me the next day. He said that he investigated and "your entire account of the situation was correct". He said that the two employees admitted everything, and could not coherently explain why they were forcing me to go back out and through the other door, especially after confirming I was Seven Stars. He said, "I cannot tell you what actions I took, but I can let you know that you probably won't be seeing them if you come to the show again."

    Justice. If ever a firing was deserved, it was here. I have no idea what the fuck their problem was.

    The manager then offered me 2 free tickets near the front. I said that I already had good seats, and just saw it yesterday, so I didn't need to see it again. I asked if I could give them away, and he said yes. I gave them to my sister and her husband, and they really enjoyed it. Near the beginning of the show, the manager himself came right down to check on them if "everything was okay", and he comped them a few drinks, as well. My sister was very impressed, and thought that this treatment was due to me being a Vegas "high roller"! I explained to her that it was likely because they knew they fucked up big time, and wanted to make sure the mistreated Seven Stars member was no longer upset.
    You handled it well Druff. They deserved the reprimand. I don't take these power tripping bozos with kid gloves either. I've gotten a couple canned and or demoted in the past. I'm not sure if it would be funny or cringe to see Mcap in this type of situation.

  18. #18
    I don't know. It seems like Dan Druff gets worked up over some relatively minor situations. Wasn't there something a year or two ago that was like a $10 thing you got all worked up about and complained everywhere?

    Druff you need to let these things roll off you and not get so worked up about things that in the grand scheme of things matter very little. This is my ballpark....I don't get worked up over little things (like guys pushing BS claims), so I could teach you how to chill some.

  19. #19
    Originally Posted by Ozzy View Post
    I'm not sure if it would be funny or cringe to see Mcap in this type of situation.
    Point is that they got Dan to wag his tail, and, then, bark like a dog. I would have told them to shove their stinking show up their asses, and, kept walking.
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  20. #20
    UNKOOL1 and chilling out are antagonistic of one another. Not a chance.

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