Cirque's Las Vegas graveyard: 'Beatles Love' joins 'Viva Elvis,' 'Zarkana' as shows that have closed

LAS VEGAS — “Love” will at least play to its crescendo, like the crash of pianos closing “A Day in the Life.”

The Beatles-Cirque production at The Mirage closes July 7. It rocked and rolled (and jumped and soared) for 18 years.

But Cirque’s cabaret revue “Zumanity” was not afforded a bona fide final bow when it performed its final show in March 2020. The “Zu” crew left the stage because of COVID, finding out months later it would be shut down permanently.

Cirque’s lone adult-themed show was among the daring productions that have nonetheless closed on the Strip. These productions were filled with terrific talent. Some simply exhausted their audience. Others were taken down because of incompatible, architectural ideas. At least one was undercut by a graphic-novel concept it would have taken several months to get right.

Here is a look the Cirque shows that ran for varying amounts of time before closing on the Strip.

‘Viva Elvis’

Opened: Feb. 19, 2010

Closed: Aug. 31, 2012

The show seemed bulletproof, performing at a lush, customized Aria theater. Cirque was an impenetrable brand, paired with Elvis and his uniquely enduring legacy in Las Vegas. But what seemed a gold record failed to climb the charts.

But “Viva” struggled to find balance between Cirque’s swirling acrobatics and Elvis’ biography and song catalog. The show featured artists in superhero-fashioned jumpsuits, bounding around the stage on trampolines. Another showed cowboys doing tricks with flaming ropes. The fire alarm interrupted “Blue Suede Shoes,” an ominous sign.

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