‘Absinthe’ is coming of age in a city loaded with entertainment options

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, April 1, 2012 | 2 a.m.

During each performance of “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace, Melody Sweets sings a groovy little number titled “Slice of Heaven.”

“I’ve got what you’re cravin’, for your mis-be-havin,’” the show’s shapely “Green Fairy” sings in a lilting, sultry voice. “Let me cut you off a slice of heeeaaven … Dooh-ba, doo-bah, bah-dooh bah-dooh!”

The backing music is recorded and piped through the “Absinthe” tent’s so-so sound system. The audience’s heads sway side-to-side, as if subconsciously, while keeping the beat. The chanteuse snaps her gloved hand, and the crowd snaps along, carried away by the sweet, slice-of-heaven offer.

This number is not to be confused with high art, exactly. But somehow, when you put the components together, it plays out famously. The same is true of “Absinthe,” in its entirety, as the show celebrates its first anniversary, its 500th performance, or both, tonight at Roman Plaza at Caesars Palace.

The celebration is not only a nod to what the show has accomplished, but what is next. Scott Zeiger, co-CEO of BASE Entertainment, which co-produces the show along with performance company Spiegelworld, says they would like to make the show a permanent production at Caesars.

“We are in a wonderful partnership with Caesars Entertainment, and the lease is a win-win for us and for them. Caesars, in all likelihood, would have to invest tens of millions of dollars to build a tower, a retail center or nightclub in that space,” Zeiger says. “This essentially is the middle of Times Square, but in Vegas. So our deal with them is to hit certain benchmarks to extend the lease.”

Those benchmarks are, in fact, modifications — further modernize the tented venue, which replaced the 100-year-old Spiegeltent that was the production’s home for the first six months of its Vegas run. Plans for installation of sprinklers, insulation and wiring so the venue can meet Clark County coding requirements are under way.

The show itself has been heavily scrutinized and dissected since its preview opening in March 2011. Observers have noted that the production is at once antiquated, yet groundbreaking. Circus Circus on acid is one apt description.

As Zeiger notes, many of the acts in “Absinthe” do exist in some form in other circus-styled productions. The strength acts featuring two men (and in “Absinthe,” also a half-dozen men) have been featured on the Strip at least since “Mystere” opened 18 years ago. Aerialists performing acrobatics in silks are not new as an entertainment concept. Whirling skaters, high-wire performers, trapeze artists and even a woman bouncing in a balloon while tap dancing (an inventive use of the stage skills possessed by Angel Porrino) have underpinnings elsewhere.

“I almost hate to say it, but everyone in ‘Absinthe’ has performed for other producers before me,” says Ross Mollison of Spiegelworld, co-producer of “Absinthe.” “That is part of the business we’re in.”

The world of live entertainment, especially as it relates to circus acts, sometimes seems as small as the Spiegeltent.

“How many circus acts can you have? Fifty, total?” Zeiger asks, knowing there is a finite number of acts that can be staged repeatedly before a live audience. “But what we have in ‘Absinthe’ is a very, very different, intimate and crazy environment.”

One year on, it is clear that the physical environment of the funky Spiegeltent is ideal for the nitty-gritty nature of the show. The seemingly rickety, in-the-round venue where 600 audience members sit in wooden folding chairs that Zeiger himself describes as “crappy” helps put the audience on edge. The crowd is fairly crammed, seated in a large circle while closely facing the stage.

The cozy proximity of the seats to the performers has, on occasion, proven a risky design. At one of the media nights trumpeting the show’s extended contract at Caesars Palace, one of the Esteemed Gentlemen of the High Wire lost his grip on a balancing pole, which in turn hit an audience member in the head and created a wound that required five staples.

“We’re insured. What can I tell you?” Zeiger says. “We have big insurance bills. Of course, we make sure the acts are very well-trained, and we check to make sure everything is safe many times a day for the safety of the audience as well as the performers. But we’re not in a fixed theater or permanent venue where there is intricate rigging.

“In a tent, there is danger, and it’s not implied danger.”

The comedic element is not for the meek, either. Every act in “Absinthe” is set up by the audacious, insult comedy of the show’s staged producer, the Gazillionaire, and his fired-up assistant, Penny Pibbets. Gaz has proven to be abrasive, loud, relentlessly vulgar and wholly self-unaware — and those are his best character traits. Penny also is boundlessly profane; her adult-themed puppet show (which Gaz cuts short as Pibbets introduces a particularly invasive sex aid to the narrative) is one of the more astonishingly hilarious scenes anywhere in the city.

“They completely put you on alert, put you in the right frame of mind, that comedy is the key,” Zeiger says. “Comedy is a key to the show. When people see it, the first thing they say is, ‘It’s hilarious.’ ”

Predictably, by showcasing circus-themed acts in a tent outside a major Strip property, “Absinthe” invites inevitable comparisons to Cirque du Soleil, which made its debut at Mirage 20 years ago with “Novelle Experience.” Without specifying “Absinthe,” Cirque official Daniel Lamarre said his creative team is always on alert for production companies that might challenge Cirque’s hold on edgy, groundbreaking, acrobatic-centered entertainment. But “Absinthe” is not likely the seed for a production company with Cirque’s worldwide scope.

“We want to be creative and cool,” Zeiger says. “Our aspirations are to be no bigger than we are now, but to show great feats of virtuosity in a circus atmosphere with great comedy.”

Of course, “Absinthe” itself has drawn interest from shows in Las Vegas. In November, a kerfuffle was sparked between producers of “Absinthe” and David Saxe, who produces “V — Ultimate Variety Show” at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, when the original “Absinthe” skating act of Victor and Jenny Arata jumped from “Absinthe” to “V.”

This drama unfolded as “Absinthe” was attempting to secure the proper permits for its new tent, and its future in Vegas was clouded (the Aratas have since been replaced with the veteran skating tandem known as the Skating Kerkorians). Each show now has its skaters in place.

“What’s the Picasso saying? All art is theft,” Mollison says, quoting the artist accurately. “If what we do makes other producers want to hang around our stage door and talk to our performers, so be it. … But this is part of the flattering element of our business. We are now a known commodity.”

Familiar, for sure. But even after a year of entertaining audiences at Caesars, “Absinthe” still holds its unique capacity to captivate, one slice of heaven at a time.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.