Absinthe (2006)
Absinthe is a Las Vegas cirque-spectacle staged since 2011 in a small forecourt spiegeltent at Caesars Palace, though our record and the source both trace its premiere to 2006. It belongs to the resort-circus genre that took root in Las Vegas after Cirque du Soleil's residencies, built around a rotating bill of variety and circus acts framed by a raunchy carnival-barker host, The Gazillionaire, and his sidekicks.
What is danced
The source article does not describe specific choreography, named acts, or movement vocabulary in any detail. It confirms only the format: a 90-minute show performed on a stage nine feet in diameter inside a 750-seat spiegeltent, with the audience seated in a circle around the performers, and it calls the show a 'contemporary circus' and 'a cross between terrific variety acts and a stag party.' It also links the show to the Las Vegas burlesque revival and compares a performer, Melody Sweets, to the Green Fairy character from Moulin Rouge!, which points to a burlesque-inflected hostess figure but gives no detail on the steps, holds, or apparatus involved.
Context
Absinthe premiered during the period when Las Vegas resorts were diversifying beyond the large-scale Cirque du Soleil productions into smaller, more adult-oriented circus-cabaret formats performed in intimate tents rather than purpose-built theatres. The article frames it explicitly against that backdrop, noting its place in what USA Today called the city's burlesque revival and its comparison, by a reviewer, to the fin-de-siècle cabaret imagery of Moulin Rouge!.
Staging history
According to the article, the production was originally intended to open at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a resort project that stalled for financial reasons; it opened instead at Caesars Palace in a temporary tent on the Roman Plaza. After Las Vegas Fire & Rescue forced a shutdown within 90 days of performances, the success of that run led Caesars president Gary Selesner to purchase a permanent Spiegeltent for the show, which reopened on April 1, 2011 and has run there since, produced by Ross Mollison and owned by Spiegelworld.
How to watch it
Because the performing space is only nine feet across and the audience sits in a full circle around it, expect performers to work in very tight, close-quarters formations rather than the sweeping stage pictures typical of arena-scale Cirque productions. Watch for the framing device of the host character (The Gazillionaire) and his sidekicks, who according to the article carry the comic through-line between acts rather than the acts being linked by plot.