Las Vegas Nightlife Spots

Still a hot ticket in town, proving wrong the naysayers, which included us, we must admit. It was genuinely unprecedented for a star of this magnitude to take up a 3-year residency in a Vegas show -- not to mention a Vegas show designed, theater and all, just for her, and a show with a subsequent $150-million price tag, and ticket prices that seem nearly that high. For those of you with (understandable) sticker shock, you can take some comfort in the fact that the money is all on the stage here. Some of that cost is represented by Our Star's salary, certainly, but the rest is present in one magnificent theater (battling it out with O's home at Bellagio for finest in town), where, thanks to steep stadium seating, no seat is less than 150 feet from the stage. (Though in some cases, that means straight up, so you decide if that's really a good thing.) And the rest is quite evident in stunning staging, including a heralded enormous LED screen that allows for the most extraordinary special effects in town. Along with the sweeping landscapes, storms, and occasional video close-ups of the action brought to you on the screen, you can add the usual Cirque du Soleil touches (the show's director/producer is Franco Dragone, who previously brought this town O and Mystère), which means dancers (the finest of any show in Vegas) moving enigmatically, plus blooming trees, flying pianos, giant chandeliers, and other artistic touches straight out of Chagall or Magritte.

None of it even remotely relates to whichever song they occur during, but no matter. The Diva herself silences early negative predictions by appearing on stage at least 90% of the time and generally working her tail off when she's there. Her pearly tones are right on the money. Are they live? Probably not always, but such issues are no longer relevant in the context of modern pop concerts, where so many of today's performers rely on recordings. More to the point, no matter how visually stunning or remarkably staged, this is nonetheless a Céline Dion concert, and nothing else. That's great news if you are a fan but not if you aren't. (It's worth noting that in an effort to make this appeal to audience members beyond her fan base, she's included covers ranging from Sinatra to Stevie Wonder and that these songs are the least successfully performed.) This won't convert anyone, probably, despite her genuine best efforts -- she's got a heck of a voice and she is a true entertainer, in the best sense of the tradition, if not the most charismatic one. And perhaps also not the most thoughtful one; did she notice that the Wonder song begins "Looking back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy?" Wednesday through Sunday 8:30pm.

- Frommer's