The Best Cirque du Soleil Show to See Based on Your Vibe

From all-star residencies to immersive art, there are no shortage of entertainment options in Sin City. And if you’re looking for a show that combines theater, acrobatics, dance, music, and amazing stage and costume design then Cirque du Soleil is your best bet. But there are a lot of Cirque shows in Las Vegas, and you can only see so many in one weekend. Every Cirque show has its own unique vibe, and knowing ahead of time what exactly that vibe is will help you decide which show is right for you. So here you have it: the five resident Cirque shows in Las Vegas and what you can expect from each one.

And if you’re looking to score cheap tickets in Vegas, browse our guide for tips.

Let’s address the “Black or White” Elephant in the room: this show is about Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is a…complicated…figure. He’s also one of the highest-selling recording artists of all time. Thriller is still, more than 40 years later, the best-selling album of all time. By the early ‘90s, when Michael Jackson would release a new music video, it was a primetime television event simultaneously broadcast in dozens of countries. He was a man who had only ever known suffocating levels of fame, and who spent much of his existence on this planet as tabloid fodder. His unlikely friendships and unlikelier relationships received the kind of wall-to-wall news coverage the Kardashians could only dream of. And all of that is addressed during ONE.

The story of Michael Jackson ONE follows four fans that discover four enchanted objects: Jackson’s famous moonwalking shoes, signature black aviator sunglasses, black fedora, and white crystal-encrusted glove. Their adventure takes the audience on a journey through Jackson’s full music catalog, interspersing iconic choreography from his music videos with Cirque acrobatics. The “story” of these fans is a little muddled and hard to follow, but it’s not really important.

The costumes and choreography are outstanding—there’s a woman dressed all in gold with a might faux-hawk rocking out on a guitar that shoots fireworks! This is the most heavily dance-focused of the Cirque shows and ultimately feels like a 90-minute-long music video montage of the King of Pop’s most beloved hits. It is a deeply nostalgic show for anyone who grew up during a time when he was topping the charts. The target audience for this is definitely the youngest Boomers, the eldest Millennials, and Gen X as a whole.

Pro tip: There is a slow interlude that immediately follows the exquisite “Dirty Diana” performance, and this seems like it would be a good time to use the restroom. It is not. “Billie Jean” immediately follows this brief interlude, and there are many who say that this is the best part of the show. Take it from the experience of a writer who went to the restroom right after “Dirty Diana” and heard all of the staff talking about how everyone uses the restroom right after “Dirty Diana” and misses the best part of the show.

The Michael Jackson ONE VIP Experience includes a cocktail reception in the VIP room, a guided virtual tour of the theater, a meet-and-greet with cast members, a commemorative gift and professional souvenir photo, and VIP seating.

Michael Jackson ONE plays Thursdays through Mondays at 7 pm and 9:30 pm at Mandalay Bay (dark Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Tickets start at $69.

KÁ is the only Cirque show in Vegas with a cohesive narrative, which certainly sets it apart from the other productions that are tied together by a loose theme but aren’t really telling a story. Here, the story is about two Imperial twins, a brother and sister, who are separated during an attack on the Royal Court and must forge their own paths of self-discovery before reuniting to defeat the attackers. It’s a coming-of-age story, a love story, and a hero’s journey story, but what you, the eager audience member, really need to know about this show is that it is basically a sumptuous martial arts epic come to life, and it is truly spectacular.

KÁ features all the same kind of jaw-dropping acrobatics and aerial feats you expect from a Las Vegas Cirque show with some (extremely dangerous) showstoppers you won’t see anywhere else. For example, the famous “Wheel of Death”—a human-sized hamster wheel that features a performer running, jumping rope, leaping, somersaulting, and doing other objectively dangerous things while the wheel spins on a rotating arm—is a double wheel in the front with a triple wheel behind it with two performers doing death-defying tricks on them simultaneously.

This technical production was the most expensive theatrical production in history when it first opened in 2005. It blends choreography and theatrical elements from all over the world, including kung fu, Brazilian Capoeira, and Chinese opera. Costumes include hand-painted silks and there’s also a fireworks-shooting Catherine Wheel.

To further enhance this epic imperial experience, book the KÀ Royal VIP Experience, which grants you a guided backstage tour of all the show props, stage machinery, wardrobe, and more, followed by a private meet-and-greet with cast members in the VIP lounge located 30 feet above the audience, souvenir photo, and VIP seating with drinks and snacks.

KÁ plays Saturdays through Wednesdays at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the MGM Grand (dark Thursdays and Fridays). Tickets start at $69.

“O” is gorgeous. Gorgeous. This aquatic show, named for the phonetic pronunciation of the French word for water – eau – might as well also be named for the sound you’ll be quietly breathing throughout: “Ohhhhh.” The theater features a soaring, 12-story rounded ceiling illuminated in shades of blue meant to evoke stained glass, and is adorned in rich jewel tones draped in gold, recalling opulent European opera houses. From the moment the shimmering ruby red curtains are dramatically drawn back as if capable of moving on their own it is immediately clear that this is a sumptuous production that could only ever be at the iconic Bellagio.

There is simply not a single detail of “O” that isn’t the result of mechanical wizardry. The stage is a feat of engineering, a marvel of modern mechanics. Some shows have illusionists onstage, but in this show the illusionist is the stage, transforming from a fully solid surface to a pool deep enough for high divers jumping from 60 feet above and back again throughout the show.

Massive set pieces fly through the air and float across the stage, a 9-piece orchestra plays dramatic and haunting world music, and the elaborately costumed cast performs physical feats ranging from high diving to high-flying acrobatics to synchronized swimming to fire dancing (along with some extremely French-Canadian clowns). There is so much happening on stage and in the air and water at ALL times that, yes, you are absolutely missing something – the sheer magnitude of the entire production is, quite honestly, too much to take in in just one visit.

There is a reason that “O” is an enduring favorite that people return to see again and again. It is, quite simply, breathtaking. If you only see one Cirque show in your life, make it “O.”

And for a truly grand experience, opt for the La Grande Expérience package, the VIP among Cirque’s VIP packages that includes pre-show champagne and hors d’oeuvres inside the private VIP room (where celebrities are whisked away for privacy), a cast meet-and-greet and souvenir photo, a private VIP suite with cocktail service and chocolate-covered strawberries for the show, and a VIP host throughout.

“O” plays Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the Bellagio. Tickets start at $103.

The newest show in Cirque’s Las Vegas lineup, Mad Apple—which appropriately plays at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino—is a love letter to all things New York. It’s also in a category of its own as far as Cirque shows go. While the Cirque brand may be mostly associated with colorful costumes and whimsical productions, Mad Apple is its own kind of “colorful” (translation: swearing and extremely adult humor).

Replacing Cirque’s only other adults-only show in its history (the very sexy Zumanity, RIP), Mad Apple brings some of that sexy back while also ramping up other adult content by way of stand-up comedians, comedic hypnotists, sexy aerialists and acrobats, even an aerial pole dancer (this show is rated for ages 18+). There’s also Harlem Globetrotters-style acrobatic basketball tricks, another double wheel of death, a father-son circus act that always brings joy, a “hairialist” act, and a team of dancers that pay homage to NYC’s history of breakdancing and ballroom culture.

Mad Apple is very much a music-driven production, and that’s really where the Big Apple inspiration is most obvious. With stellar vocalists backed by an excellent six-piece band, Mad Apple feels more like a concert than any other Cirque show. Expect to hear variations of NY-centric songs like “New York State of Mind,” “Empire State of Mind,” “On Broadway;” and New York artists like Run-DMC and Lady Gaga, plus Studio 54 disco. The performance of “Summertime” (made famous on Broadway in the 1930s) is an absolute stunner.

Cirque tends to make big investments in the buildouts of their theaters so that the theater itself is part of the experience. There’s a 31-foot-long State of Liberty crown lit with color-changing LED lights suspended over the stage and an apple-shaped disco ball, for starters. And be sure to get there early—there are three moveable bars located on the stage itself where you can grab a drink and a selfie before the show.

For a little something extra, the Mad Apple VIP Social puts you right on stage at your own private table to enjoy pre-show cocktails and watch the first act. This experience also includes a dedicated VIP host, an artist-meet-and-greet with a souvenir photo, and a champagne reception in the VIP room before the show.

Mad Apple plays Thursdays through Mondays at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino (dark Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Tickets start at $59.

Mystère is classic Cirque, the one that put the Montreal circus of the sun on the Las Vegas resort map. It is a world of pure imagination; the purest form of Cirque from before it was a hugely successful global brand (keep in mind, this show opened in 1993 and completely redefined Vegas entertainment—and, by extension, mainstream theatrical entertainment—as it was once known). It is also deeply weird, with a recurring baby/birth/maternity theme (including characters referred to as “Spermatos and Spermatites,” which, yes, look like giant sperm) that feels a little too avant-garde for a show with such long-standing mass appeal, but okay!

There are aerialists and acrobats, balancing acts and stilt walkers, gymnasts and trapeze artists, an elaborate Chinese pole act, puppetry, and Japanese taiko drumming. There are also gorgeously plumed characters, elegant flowy costumes, nightmarish giants, and beautifully wicked “birds of prey” that soar through the air as smoothly and gracefully as actual birds in flight. The duo straps act is a particular standout, featuring a male and female performer soaring and spinning and twirling and intertwining through the air.

Every Cirque show is fundamentally about the acrobatics and the physicality of the performers, but in Mystère that physicality is the core focus. It is joyful and colorful and, above all else, truly remarkable in its display of athleticism. This is the real deal, the Platonic ideal, the Godfather, the OG, the Criterion Collection of Cirque shows (weirdness and all). It is arguably the one that got this kooky Quebecois circus company started on its path of world entertainment domination.

For deeper look inside the production, book the Mystère VIP Experience, which includes both an onstage and backstage tour, a look at some of the production’s different artistic features with insider fun facts, an artist meet-and-greet with souvenir photos, drinks and snacks, and premiere seating with the best views of the theater.

Mystère plays Fridays through Tuesdays at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at Treasure Island (dark Wednesdays and Thursdays). Tickets start at $69.

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