When director Baz Halpin and executive producer Bernie Yuman approached two-time Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, I doubt they expected him to say yes to their proposal.
Yuman, a Vegas veteran, was manager to Siegfried and Roy from a very young age and stuck by the legendary performers’ until their last day. He even travelled the world with Muhammad Ali as his manager and close confidant.
I know nothing about the man, but I could imagine him approaching Hopkins with that kind of studied Vegas swagger necessary for such a life, handing him a script for what just may be the most ludicrously grand Las Vegas show in recent memory.
From all accounts, the veteran actor was impressed. According to an interview Yuman gave in 2022 when Awakening made its debut at the Wynn Las Vegas’ state-of-the-art circular theatre.
“Baz Halpin and I met [Hopkins] in London. We actually went to Abbey Road [Studios] to record it,” recalled Yuman. “[Hopkins] had great direction and all the visuals that he needed, and he was captivated.”
Yet it’s hard to believe such a prolific actor – one of the world’s greatest – would agree to narrate a show like Awakening.
Hinged on Yuman’s pitch-perfect sense of spectacle – he did help Siegfried and Roy become one of the longest-running and most definitive Vegas acts in history, after all – the production is unlike anything I’ve seen in Las Vegas. It’s offensively garish, deeply unserious, and hard to follow. Yet it’s mandatory viewing and I love it.
Anyone who has been to Vegas more than once will tell you that the city’s charms spring to life the more you give yourself over to the excess and go with the proverbial flow. I see Awakening at Wynn as a metaphor for that sandpapered intensity. I’ve never laughed harder in my life, both from awe and disbelief.
The highly divisive 80-minute production is a totemic wormhole of music, grand illusion and spectacle, nailing that Vegas cadence that builds, and builds, and builds until the lines between fantasy and reality are barely perceptible.
Awakening at Wynn Las Vegas Review
Wynn Las Vegas deserves recognition for having one of the more impressive theatres on The Strip. The stage is almost a perfect circle, with 360-degree seating so all 1,600 guests feel deeply immersed in what’s happening. The aquatic-themed Le Reve was the resort’s big ticket before Halpin presented his chaotic vision, which cost US$120 million to produce – Wynn’s largest entertainment investment to date.
Has it paid off? From some existing reviews, it would seem Awakening falls flat on its face. From others, it’s a magnificent portrayal of hope and harmony, fantastically following a mythical hero as he plunges himself into a battle between light and dark encountering mythical creatures, dancing rituals and… look, I don’t know.
The thing with Awakening is that it might as well be an avant-garde interpretation of an old-school Busta Rhymes video. It’s like watching a live action Nintendo game adaptation – directed by Michael Bay – that flopped spectacularly at the box office but was reborn as a rip-roaring success on the world’s glitziest strip.
Award-winning puppet master Michael Curry is most valuable for his elaborate, oversized pieces like a larger-than-life whale floating through the air and a creaky monster who rises over the audience with an unmatched sense of scale. There is nothing bigger than Awakening in Las Vegas right now (okay, maybe The Sphere), drawing on cutting-edge theatrical effects and an army of colourful performances that appear that swim, float, fight, dance, jump, hop and sing their way through the nonsensical plot.
At one point you’re watching the modular stage crash and rise with impressive sea creatures, then glow a fiery red before a ritualistic dance explodes with firey visuals. At another, a giant bird that looks like a shiny Zapdos (Pokemon fans, ya’ll know) had just landed in the middle of the theatre. Anything beyond that would be considered a spoiler; it’s best to go in half-cocked.
Awakening at the Wynn may not appease self-serious theatre critics, but its campy visuals and constant one-upmanship have made it my favourite Las Vegas show to date. I’m not quite sure what that says about me but I for one thank Halpin and Yumen for giving me 75 minutes of pure, unadulterated, sugary escapism.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Showtimes for Awakening at Wynn Las Vegas are 7pm and 9:30 Friday to Tuesday. Tickets, starting at US$125 (plus tax and fees), can be purchased online.
The author travelled as a guest of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and attended as a guest of Wynn Las Vegas.
