Zarkana by Cirque du Soleil

The most innovative show on the Strip! I have seen a few of the Cirque shows in town and this one is beautiful from the beginning. It sucks that the beautiful woman in a red dress only appears at the beginning and at the very end. She has such a beautiful voice. What I like about this show is all the amazing visuals and details that go into each prop. They do send out some of the cast member’s to interact with the audience, I think it would be awesome if the cast came outside to greet you as you left the show too.
Yes, every guy in the show is hot and has a matching hot body. The hot twins have a leading role in my nightly dreams, what can I say? I was sad to find out the show is ending it’s stay in March of 2016. I am, however, excited to see what it will be replaced with. I went to the shop after the show because I wanted the CD… only to find out that they don’t sell it anymore… what a bummer.

I went too see Zarkana in December. It is allot of fun. I’m now hooked on the Cirque & love too see more next time I’m in Las Vegas.

This show was super cool and very fun! The show is inside the aria which is a beautiful hotel might I add! I really enjoyed the acrobatics in this one, it had more of the circus show experience but with a modern twist. The music was matched perfectly to each plot and the live band was amazing!
The show is interactive so if you can try to stay on the ground level rather than the balconies! Wouldn’t want to miss any of the fun!

I really enjoyed this show. When I go see a Cirque do Soleil show I’m looking for amazing acrobatics and funny clowns. This show delivered! I was also impressed with the costumes and stage which were very beautiful. The two clowns were hilarious and definitely helped to pass the time while the stage was being prepared.
This is my second favorite after Mystere and I liked it way better than Ka. I haven’t seen O.

This show had me in awe from start to finish. Zarkana was only my third Cirque show, but it was my favorite over O and Ka (also good shows).
When we arrived the cast was walking through the crowd providing pre-​show entertainment. I really enjoy the way that Cirque casts are interactive with the audience. There were ushers stationed in many spots and they were helpful in directing us to our seats. I loved the seats in this particular theatre. The seats were soft and lacked arm rests so they were far more comfortable than the usual theatre chair.
This show includes all of the amazing Cirque feats I expected from a Cirque show, but also amazing talents by individual performers. The woman that does the juggling act at the beginning is amazing and took juggling to the next level. One of my other favorites was the woman that can make beautiful art out of sand… and fast!
There usually comes a time at shows where I start check my watch, but I never checked my watch at Zarkana. The amazing acts, beautiful costumes, and pleasant music held my attention the entire time.
I’m so glad that I was able to catch this show before they close in April! Hopefully they’ll reopen at another venue or in another town. I’d hate to see this be the end of such a great show.

Before we bought the tickets a half tickets we were warned the show had no storyline and it didn’t. After reading the Wikipedia I was sad to learn that they didn’t replace their principal actor who was an integral part of the story. The circus acts were cirque spectacular, but felt completely random. It was hard to tell how far along in the show you were due to the lack of story.
I would recommend skipping this cirque and seeing all the other ones that Vegas has to offer.

We have been to zumanity, KA, absinthe and I must say this was the least of my favorite. It reminds me of a talent show that we saw with no real plot or story line. I also learned that the show is ending in April so I am guessing this is why, not a very popular show.
It starts off with a woman juggling, I guess I expected for for an opening act. I have seem stuff like this on cruises that was included with my entertainment, I definitely didn’t expect for a Vegas show. I expected a little more daring stuff which there was one or two acts but still not quite as impressive as absinthe or Zumanity or KA.
If you really want to go, we got our tickets on bestofvegas for 2 for $ 99 with tax and fees = $ 143 much better than tix4tonight which was not that good in comparison, they were offering same section for $ 85 per person that is before tax/​fees.
I highly recommend the other 3 shows over this one.

Zarkana doesn’t have a story line. OMG! So what! It’s not a requirement either. If you need a story to go with your acrobatics then don’t see this, but if you just want to chill out and enjoy watching talented people for 90 minutes, then go see the show!
I’ve seen every single Cirque show currently available in Vegas (Ka, One, Mystere, O, Love, Zumanity) except for Believe as well as shows in other states. I’ve been going to Cirque shows since at least 2000. They are all different, some have a story and some do not. It really is not my expectation at this point. My expectation is that there are people that can show me great flexibility, commitment, concentration, patience and some acting skills.
Zarkana met those expectations. There was also some beautiful singing and humor thrown in every now and again.
I was pleased not to have to follow a story line to be honest. It was nice to just veg out and not try to concentrate on what everyone was doing in order to keep up.
My favorite singing came from a women inside of what could have been a clam shell, so she was somewhat sea creature looking and sounded so beautiful. My favorite acrobatics came from two men on a rotating wheel setup. There was also a cute woman performing sand art. My seat was in the very first row near her so I liked being able to see how fast she worked and how she moved her body while creating the unique pictures.

I’d rate this show 3.5 stars. First of all, I’m not undermining the performance that the stage actors put up, because all of them were amazing and extremely talented. There were a lot of times during the show where my mouth was gaping, because of the level of acrobatics these performers were able to pull off.
I think the biggest drawback for me, and probably the reason why this show isn’t as popular as other Cirque Du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, is because there is just no storyline that pulls the entire show together. It sort of feels like a talent show, with each act having a completely different theme from the last act. There are a group of clowns that appear and put on a small act of their own during each transition period, and I feel like their purpose is to connect the show together, but honestly the show still felt pretty choppy. In addition, there’s a lot of things going on around the stage, with the clowns sometimes fooling around within the act on the bottom stage, a spectacular singer suspended from a rope in the middle of the stage, and a trapeze act going on at the ceiling. I got really confused as to where the producers wanted me to focus on.
Now onto the positives! There’s live music going on throughout the entire show, with a live band performing on the side of the stage, and the singer performing usually in the middle or back of the stage. I personally loved the singers, because they were GORGEOUS and had amazing voices! The acrobats also performed very difficult moves that even made me feel nervous. I think my favorite were the twin acrobats that levitated above the audience.
Overall, this isn’t exactly the best show on the Strip, and if you’ve never seen a Cirque Du Soleil show, I’d recommend KA instead. It’s expensive, but it is worth it. However, I’ve heard that this show runs much cheaper than others, so if you’re on a budget but still want to see an acrobatics show, then this may be a better choice for you!

The show was good. The only reason I give 4 instead of 5 stars is because (like everyone else said) the between act clowns were pretty horrible/​annoying and there wasn’t any real story line. We had front row seats which was great. The acrobatics were extremely impressive. Especially the one with the two guys on the double sided swinging hamster wheel thing, see photos. The vocals were cool and so was the sand lady. If you can get free or discounted tickets I’d def check it out. There were quite a few kids at the 7:30 show so if you’re looking for an older crowd hit the later show.

I’m tempted to give 5 stars because I enjoyed the show so much but we were also able to get all our tickets for free so that could be a biasing factor. But if you’ve never seen Zarkana before and/​or have never seen a Cirque Du Soleil performance, I HIGHLY recommend this show, discounted or not!
There’s supposedly a storyline but I completely missed it and I’m not sure if it elevates the show in any way. Unlike KA, which seems to have a more coherent storyline, Zarkana is hodgepodge of different classic CDS feats as well as some standout individual artists. Almost every main act was a highlight for me but the woman doing the sand art was especially remarkable. The live music and singer were also impressive; I like the soundtrack so much that I’m thinking of buying it!
In terms of costume design and choreography, KA is probably better and more original (the hamster wheel act with the jump rope and the tripping drama can be seen in both shows but I believe KA had it first) but ultimately, Zarkana was more entertaining to me and had shorter transition times between main acts. Some of the transition performances were pretty funny too! Overall, a wonderful blend of comedy and art in all its forms.

This was my FIRST Vegas show after going to Vegas like twice a year. Beggars should not be choosers, so I would personally give it a 5 in my books. However, this is Unilocal standards so going with that, I would rate it exactly as Unilocal rates it, «A-​OK.»
90 minute show. We were seated in the upper level. The theater is not too small that any seat was basically a great one. Each act was about 15 minutes long. The beginning was fantastic. There was so much novelty and mystery that my attention was definitely caught. Again, I was slightly buzzed so that probably helped.
The different acts consisted of various aerobics and acrobats. I wasn’t a fan on some of them as it was something I’ve seen elsewhere.
***SPOILER***: My favorite was definitely the powder art which she reminded me of Elsa from Frozen. I found the makeup and costumes pretty cute, too. Especially the little girl with the teddy bear. The clowns definitely helped set the mood, too. Some acts got pretty dry and boring. Thank goodness the clowns brought the crowd back to life!
Overall, I didn’t understand the story. I left unsatisfied. Even as I’m writing this review, I’m still trying to comprehend the story.
My final two cents, the show itself was average. The background set and stage was wonderful.

This isn’t my favorite cirque show, however, I don’t think there’s such thing as a bad cirque show. These people are insanely talented and it’s obvious how much thought and money goes into producing each and every show.
That said, this show comes off lower budget than the ones with zillion dollar rotating stages and pools (Ka and O). Each every cirque show is meant to be its own unique variety though, so that’s how I saw this one.
I love the preshow done at all these shows, and the two clowns at this one are really hilarious and involved in the audience. The performers that also do the same around them are great too.
We saw the juggler mess up on stage but she recovered and that shit is hard so more power to her. She was my husband’s favorite of the entire show. I felt like the audience wasn’t responding to the entire show like the entertainers deserved but it was a very sparse crowd during a slow season.
My favorite part of the entire show was the flying duo — the twin blonde guys that are featured on the ticket cover when you buy. Amazing and flawless.
The people in this show are literally risking their bodies and lives to entertain you, the audience, so appreciate that about them and the fact of how much training and personal discipline this kind of talent really takes before you say you just don’t like it.
The theater is stunning and the seats are comfy — we were six rows from the front in the big sofas!
I felt the screen was used a lot and wasn’t always a fan of how it was used but wow, the main singer was phenomenal — and how she sounds like that while upside down and all around literally blows my mind. How?! I’ve also seen some talented aerial performers but the ones here such blew the top off any of that, mostly the solo aerialist that did the handstand work. Wow! Amazing acts.
I’ve seen a lot of the more circus type acts before — but I’ve never seen them set up and launch successfully so quickly. Bravo! I was disappointed that the trapeze act would mess up and not try that move again though until succession or even for a second shot at doing it. I can’t wait to see the rest of the cirque shows I haven’t seen yet!

I personally enjoyed this show. There were many performers and the live music was amazeballs.
The setting on the stage is much better than the one from Mystere at Treasure Island.
They were all talented and performed fantastically.

Hmm.
So, we saw, Kooza (in Vancouver), Zarkana and Blue Man group within a week! So I guess my perspective on this show was a bit skewed!
I think the lack of continuity and a solid follow able storyline kind of took away from the show for me. It had the usual acrobatic and other impressive dance performance but I found the comedy to be a bit cheap and not as funny.
We were offered second row seating for the same price as the the 15 row and I chose to see Zarkana from the 15^th row because we saw Kooza from the second row, so wanted to try something different!
Always go with the close seats, lol. I think I would have enjoyed the show more from a closer row!
PRO TIP: If you are savy on the phone, it is better to call the hotel (Aria, in this case) and get the tickets with them. We got two tickets for $ 161 and signed up for a loyalty card with Aria (Mlife). This was you get cheap tickets and can build some history with the hotel!

I was a little bit nervous after reading some reviews but man am I glad that we went! It was an absolutely amazing show. I don’t fancy myself a circus kind of gal, but I loved everything. It was incredible. Lots of fascinating acrobatic acts.
With a couple weeks of setting the MyVegas slots app to autoplay (a freemium game that you do not need to spend money on), I earned enough loyalty points to get us 2-​for-​1 tickets to the show. It was an even better deal because you only have to pay $ 79 for the first ticket. The seats were actually very good, only 13 rows back smack dab in the center of the theater (Row O, seats 12 and 13). There are a few blackout dates so pay attention. Including taxes and fees, it only cost us $ 86 for two tickets!
I saw the half price ticket booth outside the MGM selling tickets to Zarkana for $ 93 a piece.

During this show I said:
«What is going on» three times
«Hmmm» about six times
«Wow» about ten times
«Holy crap!» About 11 times
«What the hell?!» About 19 times
I had high hopes for my first Cirque show but maybe I would enjoy the Michael Jackson or Beatles one more. It wasn’t bad or boring but I did expect more. Was there supposed to be a plot?! I hope not…
They gave a classy shout out to the victims of the France terrorist attacks before the show.

I am so glad I didn’t avoid this show due to the negative reviews. I have seen both Mystere and O. I chose this show, as it seemed family friendly and was playing on a convenient night.
I laughed to the point of tears. The clowns are absolutely fantastic. For anyone that hands out criticism, try putting on make-​up and doing any of it yourself. I have been a clown myself and I can tell you — it is not easy. It takes hours of practice. You have to develop precise timing and elevate congeniality.
The acrobatics are death defyingly incredible and the choreography is stunning. The strength, skill and flexibility of these athletes is awe inspiring. I was captivated by the magic and left truly inspired.
Oh, and if you can draw beautiful images out of sand in seconds, be my guest and leave all your complaints here.

A well-​produced family-​friendly show. Definitely entertaining.
I found the set-​up transitions a bit jarring, the plot rather lacking, and the marketing materials weird (why all the eyeballs, for only a ~5 minute scene?), but the performances were impressive. It’s probably not just family-​friendly, but ideal for families and children who don’t need plot lines for entertainment.

First, I want to express my admiration for all of the performers. They clearly have talent and put alot of effort into their work. However, it wasn’t good enough to give Zarkana a passing grade. I have only seen one other Cirque show live (The Beatles Love) so i may not be an expert but I still know what I like. While on cruises, they have cirque-​like shows and you’re not really paying for the show so you dont expect perfection. Zarkana was definitely not free and definitely not perfect. The juggler was juggling up a flight of stairs and stopped a few steps from the top. Two of the trapeze acrobats fell into the net and had to climb back up to continue. One of the circle apparatus walkers nearly tripped while jump rope skipping at the top of the arc. Now, I may seem like I am nitpicking but, its their job. They are to be the cream of the crop, no?
The Beatles Love show had something resembling a storyline. In some ways this was good, tying together acts thru music. Zarkana was much more fragmented and the only constant was the inevitable cirque clowns. Every single show has to have them roaming thru the crowd in the beginning? Am I the only one who thinks they can do without them? Cirque du Soleil was initially french (I’ll assume this from the name) But are all of the performers still french/​European? Do we need the characters jabbering nonsense?
Another aspect that I can do without is the, for lack of a better phrase, the Opera singer. The Beatles Love had, wait for it, Beatles Music! In English! Zarkana has a poor woman who has to sing the entire time while no one is paying attention to her. Imagine,
«Where do you work?»
«Oh I am in a las vegas cirque show!»
«Oh really? What do you do? Juggle? Trapeze? Do you fly around the stage?»
«No I sing during the performances!»
«Oh! Oooohhh… «
So ya, the clowns come out in between setting up the next apparatus. They are obnoxious and somehow some audience members were laughing. Most likely inebriated. There was one act where a very limber man in a loose white shirt contorted on a glass floor and the whole time i was thinking, Whens he going to DO something but no he just did alot of yoga stretches…
But there were some Pros. They did actually allow cameras as long as there was no flash. This was pretty cool. My camera was crappy at taking low light pictures but its about time they stop being pretentious about people wanting a visual souvenir when we pay 100 $+ a ticket.
This last bit is a call for Vegas to maybe slow down with the Cirque craze. Aria is a brand new-​ish casino and I was expecting something spectacular. I feel like with all the cirque shows in Vegas, the talent is far too spread out. There are at least 8 shows that I know of. ‘O’ At the bellagio has been around for 17 years! Vegas isnt it time to look elsewhere?

Un spectacle qui rend ses lettres de noblesse au cirque et qui porte réellement bien son nom de cirque du soleil. Je le recommande absolument si vous aimez les arts du cirque et rire, ce que j’ai fait tout le spectacle avec être émerveillé aussi ;)