Performers always say it when the house is full for the finale: “Where were you when we needed you?”
The “Mad Apple” cast asked that question as they performed the hell out of it once again at New York-New York. The 9:30 p.m. Saturday show was the production’s sendoff. The variety show themed for New York City nightlife and street performers opened in May 2022.
The show closed because low ticket sales, reportedly at or under half-capacity, no longer made it cost-effective. About 100 members of the cast and crew have lost their jobs, counting the production and management team and “on-call” performers. Cirque du Soleil is paying those affected through Oct. 17. Benefits continue through Oct. 31.
Those are the numbers. But real artists and craftspeople made “Mad Apple” a special, albeit short-lived, Cirque experience. The company has built its Strip empire on surreal scenes, Beatles landscapes, wordless myths and water nymphs. But the company that invokes a holographic Michael Jackson at Mandalay Bay turned to highly trained, dedicated humans in its latest Las Vegas production.
“Mad Apple” might not have made enough money to continue, but the show scanned more than 1.2 million tickets in four-plus years. That’s a lot of smiles. We’ll never call it a failure.
Highlights from the finale:
The Speech: Musical director and vocalist Eddie Cole, known on stage as Xharlie Black and in real life as Nat King Cole’s grandson, thanked the crowd for “filling this place tonight.” He said, “I say this with my whole chest, this show is my baby. I was here when the pitch went up for this show, before it was even named ‘Mad Apple.’” His words were not prepared but hit all the right notes.
The Lord of The Manor: Band leader and sax master JF Blais dates to the days of “Zumanity,” the show that ran in the theater from 2003-2020 and the production “Mad Apple” replaced. Blais has logged more than 12,000 shows at New York-New York (and find him today at his new restaurant, Lester’s Deli Henderson).
The 25: About a quarter of the “Mad Apple” cast and crew date to Day One. A familiar and favorite performer, trumpet great Isaac Tubb, was in that club. Tubb and his wife, Lisa Marie Smith, started a family during the show’s run. “We have a daughter because of this show,” Smith says, referring to 2 1/2-year-old Addison Ray Tubb (ART as her initials). Cole also shouted to the terrific hand balancer Valentin Chetverkin, as the singer and Russian-born acrobat collaborated on one of “Mad Apple’s” signature acts.
The “Hair-Ialist:” Erin Blaire, hoisted by her hair up there, performs the type of act you cannot imagine learning. Where do you begin? Snap a clamp on your head and have some friends lift you off the ground? A hair-raising performance in all the ways.
The Lines: From comic Paul Ogata, “I just signed an open-ended contract and tonight’s the first night. We’ll see how that works out.” From comic Brad Williams, who was in the opening cast and departed soon after, “This proves, if you fire a dwarf, you get four years of bad luck.” And from comic magician Paul Dabek, who asked an audience member from Oklahoma City, “What do you do for a living?” “I’m in marketing,” the guy said. “Well, we could have used you.” That response drew the strongest cheer of the night. Some audience members even gave it a standing O.
The Wheel: Cirque continues to run with one of its longest-standing acts, the Wheel of Death. I once asked a Cirque exec if that contraption was as dangerous as it looked. They explained, “It has ‘Death’ in the name, so yes.” But Jesse Bandao Lima and Mauricio Vanegas Torres’ expertise on this contraption was palpable – palpable, I tell you! It will live on in Cirque productions.
The Kid on the Blocks: Adam Kuchler juggled boxes, performed the hand-puppetry bit and even took on some emcee duties. Combining those skills in a polished, ticketed production takes real expertise. We applaud — without dropping boxes — this a familiar comic and clown artist in VegasVille.
The Brass: Longtime Cirque official Mat Nickel caught the early, or penultimate, performance Saturday. But not Cirque or MGM Resorts International officials contributed formally to the last show. That left it to the cast to steer this show to port, which in retrospect was a good idea.
The Hoops: The flying-acrobat basketball act The Game dates to “Mad Apple’s” opener. I often wonder how well these guys play an actual game of hoops, without the trampolines. They are wonderful in the show. And after, I ran into Chetverkin, a member of the troupe, as he walked from the theater toward the casino. He carried three multicolored basketballs, a tote bag and stage jacket.
I told the “Acro Dunk” artist how much I appreciated his performance and asked, “What’s next?” He managed a smile and said, “Plan B,” looking like a man ready to fill an empty marquee.
Cool Hang Alert
David Perrico and the Raiders House Band premieres at M Resort’s Amp’d showroom (or is it a lounge?) at 9 p.m. Friday. This is the band that plays Allegiant Stadium before and during Raiders’ games, including next Sunday’s season opener against the Dolphins. No cover (for the Amp’d show); go to themresort.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.