VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Oh, the ‘Zumanity’: New show is kinky

Timothy McDarrah

Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 | 10:41 a.m.

Thanks to a crippling power failure, New York City -- and vast regions of the Northeast and even Midwest -- was dark Thursday night. All the electricity seems to have ended up at New York-New York where "Zumanity," the new adult show from Cirque du Soleil, made its much-anticipated debut.

The instant verdict?

"It was like a French Canadian 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,' with an emphasis on horror," offered Penn Jillette as he mingled with the crowd on the casino's faux Brooklyn Bridge, where the afterparty was held.

"How was it? I'm sorry -- I can't hear your question," said Charo, who had a front-row seat in the magnificent new Zumanity Theatre.

So we asked her again. "I am so sorry," she said. "I just can't hear what you are saying." Point made.

"It was certainly something different," offered a diplomatic Bernie Yuman, well known as the manager of Siegfried & Roy.

This carnival of humanity was different indeed.

The show featured: performers posing as Amish protesters who eventually stripped and performed a cheerleading routine and simulated oral sex on one another, a dwarf trapeze artist, a black man and a white man kissing on the mouth, a song about masturbation, a full-scale orgy with 24 performers clearly groping each other's genital areas, and obese women parading through the audience serving strawberries on a platter -- and making certain to stick their ample buttocks in the faces of audience members.

Joey Arias -- the noted New York drag queen imported to emcee the show -- "did not have the stage presence or the sense of humor to pull that off," said Monti Rock III, who knows a bit about sexual humor and having stage presence.

Rock, in this case, was right. Arias offered a few cuss words to startle the crowd, but seemed not entirely comfortable onstage.

"Take it from someone who has walked in those heels," said Robin Leach, who once emceed a production of the cult "Rocky Horror Picture Show," which stars a transvestite named Dr. Frank N. Furter. "The show was too theatrical and there was not enough sex. But it was also 50 degrees hotter than boiling water and is destined to become the hottest show in Las Vegas."

Leach and many others said that despite the generally tepid response Thursday, the show was destined to become one of the most popular in Vegas, similar to the critically panned but commercial success of Celine Dion's "A New Day ..." at Caesars Palace.

An injury to a performer early Thursday forced a last-minute juggling of the show. Also, the show officially opens Sept. 20 (though performances for the public begin tonight), so there is a month to work out the kinks -- and kinkiness.

"This is a very emotional moment and there are some amazing people in this show," Cirque founder and President Guy Laliberte said.

A Las Vegas tourism official said she felt the show was "inappropriate for a first date. It is sort of like eating spaghetti -- it can be a little awkward."

But she was confident the show could and would be successfully marketed and was destined to be a smash.

"We have sold 28,000 tickets and cleared over $2.5 million," New York-New York President Felix Rappaport said. Tickets are $55, $75 and $95. Rappaport called the show "edgy," and said the goal was to change attitudes about love and sex to make the world a better place. He cited the Cirque motto, which is to "provoke, invoke and evoke."

That it did.

VegasBits

Moving on: Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt has officially filed for divorce from Charles "Blackie" Hunt, her husband of more than 30 years. VegasBeat exclusively reported their separation on July 22. On Saturday night, we hear she'll be making an appearance onstage at her Las Vegas Boulevard lounge, Bootlegger Bistro, with comedian Peter Anthony ...

Cool: Freddie Powell, a member of the 1988 Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team immortalized in the flick "Cool Runnings," will be at an outdoor showing of the film at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Joe Kneip Park on McCarran Street in North Las Vegas, as part of the city's summer film series. He is bringing along the actual bobsled that he raced in the Olypmics ...

Box: Fighter-turned-promoter Sugar Ray Leonard is making an announcement this morning at the Stardust Race and Sports Book about a Sept. 5 fight card his company is presenting ...

Fries? Sen. Harry Reid and his security contingent had lunch Wednesday at the Wendy's on South Green Valley Parkway, near Interstate 215. He went Biggie on the handshaking, saying hello to every potential voter in the restaurant ...

Magical: Jillette was in the audience for the 8 p.m. performance of "La Femme" at MGM Grand's La Femme Theatre on Wednesday. His Rio show with partner Teller is dark this week while they are on vacation ...

Reunion: Proud parents Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin's widow Jeanne Martin are expected to attend the Ricci Martin and Gary Lewis and the Playboys show at the Suncoast Sept. 20. It'll be the first time the famous offspring have ever shared a Vegas stage ...

Rock on: Two more classic rock acts have been added to the schedule at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel: The Allman Brothers play there Sept. 12 and Steve Winwood (Traffic, Spencer Davis Group) arrives Sept. 26 ...

Low key: Just about nothing is being planned for the 26th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, which is Saturday -- quite a contrast to last year's 25th-year mark ...

Actress: Now we know why the woman playing Meredith, Bat Boy's mother in the engaging Las Vegas Little Theatre production of the same name, seemed so familiar. It was Dawn Merritt, the public affairs director for Sprint, with whom we have had some professional contact ...

Fan: Palms owner George Maloof went across Flamingo Road to The Rio on Wednesday night to see The Scintas. He met the entertainers backstage afterward ...

Hitched? The New York Post reported Thursday that Nets basketball star Kenyon Martin is getting married in Las Vegas this weekend. He was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2000 NBA draft ...

Older: Ben Affleck turns 31 today. The rumor du jour has him in Vegas for the weekend celebrating. We'll see about that one.

From Sun wires

Roseanne Barr will have a hysterectomy next week, possibly delaying the taping of her new ABC Family series, "Domestic Goddess," her assistant said Thursday.

After tests earlier this week, doctors told the 50-year-old actress-comedian she should undergo the operation, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

Ventura's TV plans change: MSNBC has dropped plans for a weeknight show starring Jesse Ventura, saying Thursday the former Minnesota governor will instead host a program on Saturdays. The network still hasn't announced a start date or a time slot for Ventura's program.

Divorce Law: Sadie Frost said she has started divorce proceedings against Jude Law. The couple separated in January after more than five years of marriage.

"I have come very reluctantly to the decision that my marriage to Jude is over," Frost said.

The couple, who were married in September 1997, have three children -- Rudy, who was born in September; Rafferty; and a daughter, Iris.