Provocative, sexy, a little naughty. If that sounds like the kind of night you desire, then Zumanity, The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil delivers. The arousing cabaret-style production brings a very adult-themed show to New York-New York Hotel & Casino.
The show just underwent a makeover in February that revamped 30 percent of the show, making it sexier than ever for the first time in its 12-year history in Las Vegas.
Cirque brought in Yanis Marshall, a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, to choreograph new numbers that include two men wearing stilettos and dancing in a “standoff vs. attraction” number that repels and attracts, set inside a cage.
Red mohawk-sporting audience favorite Brandon Pereyda straps into chains hanging above the stage for some erotic aerials paired with a solo cellist. In an act that could be in the next Fifty Shades of Grey novel, aerialist Jill Crook gets physical with straps wrapping around her body.
Emcee Edie, the Mistress of Sensuality played by famed drag diva Christopher Kenney, tickles her way through the show as the narrator who banters and purrs with the audience, flirting, teasing, taunting. Old costumes, fashioned by French designer Thierry Mugler, get a refresh, and outfits that debuted in the early days of the show make a reappearance. Composer Simon Carpentier added new riffs to the show, and all is enhanced by tantalizing new projections.
The daring circus acts that cover aerial stunts, hand-balancing, contortion and acrobatics pepper the production, which features dance genres such as striptease, tango and African dance. And the cast of 46 performers runs the gamut of shapes, sizes, ethnicities and genders and, unlike other Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, each seems more like an individual character. Two topless women, Ulziibayar Chimed and Stefanie Laurino, glide effortlessly in and out of a giant glass bowl of water as they contort. James Bond makes an appearance as he strips down from a wet suit to tux to sparkling codpiece in Will Hulett’s ode to Goldfinger.
Another vignette puts Marina Tomanova on a bed dreaming of awakening to the man of her dreams as Michael McNamara swoops down from above in an aerial piece. (Dare you wonder what happens next when the sheet floats away?) Dmitry Shine Bulkin pulls off a daring act of balancing on a pole wearing nothing but a red bikini. For comic relief, couple Shannan Calcutt and Nicky Dew-hurst drag members of the audience up onstage to try to pair up a random couple from the crowd.
Then there’s the finale, where all 46 cast members lounge about on a lazy Susan of a stage and pluck members of the audience to join them in a mock-orgy scene. Be forewarned: There may be some shirt removal and light petting. It all takes place in the 1,261-seat theater that includes a love seat for those who want to canoodle. A sensual seduction, indeed.
New York-New York 7 & 9:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat., $69-$99, $129 for duo sofas (sold in pairs only), 18+. 702.740.6815
