It’s hard for me to enjoy theater.

The problem is
that when you work in an industry and then you’re asked to sit back and give
yourself over to a product from that same industry, it’s hard to stop your mind
from spinning and wondering, “how much did that cost” or “why did they cast
that actress” or “what did they do in terms of marketing to actually get me to
buy a ticket?”  Or, sometimes, like when watching Dance of
the Vampires, you
just wonder . . .  "Why?"

It’s not just
theater.  It’s every business.  I mean, if you run a cheese factory,
and all that you think about all day and all night are the differences between
provolone and Swiss, it’s not going to be easy to keep your curds in check if a
friend offers you a grilled brie sandwich. (Ok, I'll admit, that sentence was
the cheesiest thing I've ever written.    Ok.  I'll stop
now.)

So that’s why
it’s hard for me to enjoy theater.

And that’s also
how I know when I’m witnessing something truly spectacular, because if a show
can get me to STOP asking questions, then it's something truly
remarkable.  And that's how I felt last week when I saw KA.

Cirque has
done this to me once before, when I saw O. 
They do things on stage and with stages that most people could never
even dream about.  I'm convinced that the production budget for their
shows includes a line item for hallucinogens.  You just wouldn't believe
the stuff they do if I told you, so you just have to see it.  And, in true
"remarkable" style, there is only one place to see it . . . Las
Vegas.  It's an amazing example of a Purple
Cow.

I'll admit
that whenever I see one of their shows, I'm a little envious of the amazing
things they do on stage.  And then I remember . . .

Theater in Las
Vegas isn't the primary revenue stream.  It doesn't have to make artistic
sense OR financial sense, because it's there just to draw other people to
gamble everything they've earned at their cheese factory.

That doesn't
work for Broadway.  We're not feeding another revenue stream (unless maybe
you are Disney).  We are the revenue stream.

So no
hallucinogens for you when you are planning your next show. 

But definitely
go see what they've been smoking in Vegas.

Oh yeah, and
at KA, they let me have popcorn
and coke at my seat.