CREATIVE DIRECTOR- MARK SWANHART

ARIA RESORT, LAS VEGAS

Viva Elvis was the seventh resident Cirque Du Soleil show on the Las Vegas strip. It resided at the Aria Resort Casino. Cirque du Soleil partnered with Elvis Presley Enterprise to produce this show, similar to how they partnered with The Beatles’ Apple Corps Limited to produce the resident show Love at the Mirage. This was a show about a man, his emotion, what he brought and it’s not a show about Elvis, it’s a show with Elvis. In keeping with that concept, none of the show’s 75 artists – including 26 dancers, 26 acrobats, four featured female singers and a live band – actually portrayed or otherwise represent Presley on stage. The king was to be glimpsed in vintage film clips, graphic imagery and scenic and abstract props, such as a gigantic pompadour. It would not be fair for Elvis to portray him because Elvis is greater than what we could imagine.