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by James Careless
Las Vegas is big. Elvis is even bigger. So when the world-famous Cirque du Soleil was hired to produce a long-running Elvis tribute show at Vegas’ brand-new Aria Resort & Casino, the performance company’s creative team knew it faced a monumental task.
No one is bigger than Cirque when it comes to fusing daring acrobatics, energetic entertainment, and cutting-edge technology. Still, Cirque’s “Viva ELVIS” pushes the boundaries of the possible—even for this risk-taking company.
A Really Big Show
“Viva ELVIS” is a larger-than-life song, dance, and acrobatics extravaganza that explores the King’s life through his music. The songs are grouped in sections that represent the influences in Elvis’ life, including romance, gospel, Western, and military (for his time in the U.S. Army).
The 30 dancers and 28 acrobats perform on a gigantic proscenium stage (20,000 square feet) that is 200 feet deep, 80 feet wide and 50 feet tall from stage floor to the top of the proscenium arch. The sheer size is only the beginning: To move the various massive sets in and out while the show is on, the set incorporates a number of large stage lifts (a.k.a. elevators) custom-built by Show Canada. According to Chuck McCafferty, head of automation for “Viva ELVIS,” the two biggest lifts are 75 feet long by 18 feet deep and stand 30 feet tall. Each one can lift 66,800 pounds, or 300 people weighing 200 pounds each. “Without a doubt, these are the biggest lifts I have ever worked with,” he says.
These two lifts, along with 15 others, fit into a hole 90 feet by 100 feet wide that reaches down 57 feet into the earth. The floor is so far below street level that the show has to keep pumping out water that seeps into the foundation. (Yes, there is water in the Las Vegas desert, if you dig deep enough.)
It is not just what is below the stage that boggles the mind. With so many set changes to make during the show, the lighting grid 105 feet over the stage has been fitted with 49 winches (plus 12 more in other locations). The average load on each winch is 2,000 pounds, and each is designed to be operated with a tolerance of just 0.0625”, because space is very tight. The winch farm, the overhead trolley system for moving scenery, and the automation software/control hardware that pulls it all together were designed and installed by Stage Technologies.
Big, Big Scenery
“Viva ELVIS” has some astonishing scenery. There are multilevel stages and staircases; a giant jukebox, and 30-footlong “Blue Suede Shoe” (of course); two flame-bearing Elvis statues studded with Swarovski crystals; a giant frame guitar upon which acrobats play; and a huge wedding cake.
The 30 dancers and 28 acrobats perform on a gigantic proscenium stage (20,000 square feet) that is 200 feet deep, 80 feet wide and 50 feet tall from stage floor to the top of the proscenium arch. The sheer size is only the beginning: To move the various massive sets in and out while the show is on, the set incorporates a number of large stage lifts (a.k.a. elevators) custom-built by Show Canada. According to Chuck McCafferty, head of automation for “Viva ELVIS,” the two biggest lifts are 75 feet long by 18 feet deep and stand 30 feet tall. Each one can lift 66,800 pounds, or 300 people weighing 200 pounds each. “Without a doubt, these are the biggest lifts I have ever worked with,” he says.
These two lifts, along with 15 others, fit into a hole 90 feet by 100 feet wide that reaches down 57 feet into the earth. The floor is so far below street level that the show has to keep pumping out water that seeps into the foundation. (Yes, there is water in the Las Vegas desert, if you dig deep enough.)
It is not just what is below the stage that boggles the mind. With so many set changes to make during the show, the lighting grid 105 feet over the stage has been fitted with 49 winches (plus 12 more in other locations). The average load on each winch is 2,000 pounds, and each is designed to be operated with a tolerance of just 0.0625”, because space is very tight. The winch farm, the overhead trolley system for moving scenery, and the automation software/control hardware that pulls it all together were designed and installed by Stage Technologies.
 Big, Big Scenery
“Viva ELVIS” has some astonishing scenery. There are multilevel stages and staircases; a giant jukebox, and 30-footlong “Blue Suede Shoe” (of course); two flame-bearing Elvis statues studded with Swarovski crystals; a giant frame guitar upon which acrobats play; and a huge wedding cake.
Moving these elements presents massive logistical challenges during the show, but none compare to the gigantic steel and aluminum “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do” set. “The ‘Got A Lot’ set resembles an amusement park from the outside, with its classic sweeping designs, bright colors, and oldfashioned block letters,” McCafferty says. “Elvis loved amusement parks so much, he would rent them after hours for his own personal use. This set references that passion.”
To say “Got A Lot” is big is an understatement. Because it has to support seven Olympic-sized trampolines used by eight acrobats dressed as superheroes (another Elvis favorite), the structure is 75 feet wide, 25 feet deep, 35 feet tall, and weighs a colossal 60,000 pounds. The trampolines are on various levels, allowing the superheroes to literally fly through the air as the music—a mix of Elvis voice tracks and a live band—plays on.
“Before the set is used, we have to move it into place on the lift,” says McCafferty. “Fortunately, the ‘Got A Lot’ set has four drive wheels and an electrically powered propulsion system. Better yet, it has an onboard computer tied into laser-guided tracking. This lets the automation system command the ‘Got A Lot’ set into place, down to an accuracy of 5 millimeters. It literally drives itself into place.”
After the “Got A Lot” sequence is done, the set is flown up into the rafters via nine grid-mounted winches, each capable of lifting 9,000 pounds. The set then hangs there, 70 feet above the stage for the rest of the show. Worth noting: The winches have to lift “Got A Lot” in sync with each other, so that the load remains properly balanced. If one winch gets out of sync more than 5 mm, the whole system shuts down automatically.
 The Show Must Go On
“Viva ELVIS” is truly a tour de force. There are 30 songs with 17 set changes, all shepherded by a 75-member crew. Thanks to the show’s automation-intensive design—there are four separate control consoles that run the equipment, with virtually all of the changes being computer programmed and executed—the show runs smoothly day after day.
Of course, a machine can only run properly if it is maintained properly. This is why the “Viva ELVIS” crew puts so much effort into daily upkeep.
“Maintenance is our biggest challenge, no doubt about it,” says McCafferty. “We are working with winches and lifts that are akin to those used in heavy construction, within tolerances that are extremely demanding. As a result, making sure everything is in optimal condition is an absolute must. We cannot take any chances. We have to keep the equipment in peak condition, because this show is booked here for a 10- year run.”
As mentioned earlier, keeping the basement from flooding with groundwater is an ongoing challenge. So, too, are earthquakes—and not just locally; tremors as far away as Los Angeles make an impact. “Even a distant quake as weak as 2.0 on the Richter scale can cause us trouble,” McCafferty says. “Such quakes are imperceptible to people as a rule, but they can put our equipment out of alignment. Since we are moving huge weights within tight specs, we can’t afford to let these problems go undetected. So looking out for earthquake- related issues is a daily part of life.”
What’s more, the lifts, sets, and winches are just part of the overall structure at “Viva ELVIS.” The show also has a 40-foot-wide, 30-foot-high Daktronics LED wall to show the historic Elvis footage and 3,000 archival photos. The video wall is made up of eight 5-foot-wide panels connected to overhead winches that can be lifted, lowered, and moved from one side of the stage to the other as needed—separately or as one unit. There are a total of 786,432 LEDs on the Daktronics video wall, fed by six Coolux Pandora Box servers.
Audio is delivered via a surround-sound system comprised of 179 Meyer Sound speakers and Danley subwoofers. The Front of House and Monitor audio consoles are Meyer Sound LCS KX700s.
“This is an incredibly demanding show but one that is very satisfying to do,” McCafferty says. “It has taken a lot of effort and risk taking to bring the King back to the live Vegas stage, but this is where he belongs. That’s what all these massive lifts and winches and sets have made possible: The return of The King of Rock ’n’ Roll!”
James Careless is an experienced freelance writer with credits at Business Week, NBC News, and NPR. (Despite claims to the contrary, he does not yelp like a terrified beagle on roller coasters— unless they are very fast.)
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