The success of “Mystère” in turn opened the floodgates—literally—for an unprecedented form of live performance. The astounding aquatic spectacular “O” is performed in a 25-foot-deep, 1.5-million-gallon pool of crystal-clear water in a custom-built theatre at Bellagio.

“‘O’ is a homage to the theatre, the place where we try to entertain all of humanity,” says its Writer and Director, Franco Dragone. That’s the sort of statement that can come back to haunt a director, but in the case of “O,” it is no exaggeration. The mystique, romance and sheer daring of the show defy any conventional definition of circus, theatre or performance art. It transcends them all and is, simply, an entirely new category of popular entertainment.

This year’s Vegas production is the erotic cabaret “Zumanity,” scheduled to take up residence in its own theatre at New York-New York Hotel & Casino in August. “With ‘Zumanity,’ we’re really going edgy,” says Lyn Heward, Cirque’s COO Creative Content Division. “We want to go to the precipice, but we don’t want to fall over the edge. Las Vegas is the testing ground for us because we know that we’re welcome here.” Heward adds that Cirque’s future plans for Vegas include a 2004 show at MGM Grand directed by Robert Lepage, whose work in theatre and film has electrified audiences around the world.

With only weeks to go before opening night, intensive workshops and rehearsals for “Zumanity’s” opening number continue behind closed doors in Cirque’s vast Montreal headquarters. A tall, splendid, impossibly slender creature named Olga soars to the ceiling grasping a rope as thick as her wrist with just one hand. She lands gently. The rope comes alive, wrapping around her torso and thighs in an ecstatic, writhing serpentine embrace. Just as things are starting to really heat up, René Richard Cyr, the show’s director, calls out from the darkness in a throwaway direction that neatly defines the show as a whole, “It’s a striptease of the spirit.”

Andrew Watson, “Zumanity’s” director of creation, says it’s important to know that the show is not just about sex, but also about humanity, emotion and love. “The objective is to touch and move people,” he says. “Beyond bodies, the show is about sensuality and sexuality. It’s also about the acceptance of differences. There are different nationalities and age groups in the cast. And there are all kinds of different body types. For me, it’s important for the public to come away from ‘Zumanity’ feeling that beauty lies within.”

And that may contain a clue to Cirque’s longevity. They could easily find an audience with shows that presented nothing but thrills and action. But they have consistently rejected any such obvious formula and dug deeper for the romance, poetry and meaning beneath the surface of the spectacular. As Founding President Guy Laliberté put it, when “Mystère” opened in Las Vegas, “We wanted to grow a flower in the desert.”

Photography courtesy of “O”, Mystère, Zumanity, Al Seib, Benoît Camirand, Véronique Vial, Tomasz Rossa, Tim Flach, and Danny Pelchat. Costumes by “O”, Mystère, Zumanity, François Barbeau, Dominique Lemieux, Eiko Ishioka, Hélène Dubé and Guy Charlesbois and Martin Lavoie.

For tickets to “O,” call 888-488-7111 or 702-796-9999,
for Mystère, call 800-392-1999 or 702-796-9999,
for Zumanity, call 866-606-7111 or 702-740-6815.