One of the most recognizable landmarks in the Las Vegas valley is the Luxor pyramid and the fixed spotlight at the top. It’s the brightest beam in the world and you can see it from anywhere in the valley at night – even way out in the suburbs – and has been known to be seen as far away as Laughlin and Mesquite!

As you can imagine, it was a little disconcerting when we first moved here to see a giant beam of light off in the distance, but now it’s just part of the landscape (though it’s still neat to see on nights when there’s a bit of cloud cover!).

The light is actually generated with 39 individual Xenon lamps that cost $1,200 each and last about 2000 hours. Each lamp is equivalent to 7000 watts and the total light output is rated at 30.2 billion lumens, or 40 billion candlepower. The lamp room can get upwards of 136 degrees when all the lights are on.

In case you’ve ever wondered what it costs to run the light, it’s about $51 an hour with maintenance, lamps and power costs factored in. On its own the power cost is about $20 of that. It’s definitely a lot less than I thought it would be!

[image: flickr]

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The Luxor Sphinx, photographed by flickr user g-hat, towers over visitors to the Strip hotel and casino. The smaller statue under the sphinx’s chin is about 25 feet tall!

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Image details: Blue Man Group Photocall served by picapp.com

Blue Man Group was actually started in 1988 by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink, and Matt Goldman as a street show in New York. The Vegas show started at the Luxor in 2000 and ran until 2005, when it then moved to the Venetian with “Bluephoria.” There are other shows running concurrently in New York, Boston, Chicago, Germany, Orlando, and Tokyo with over 200 Blue Men working. (Want to be one?)

Each on-stage group is made up of three men in the trademark blue grease paint and black clothing who don’t speak, but are able to get the audience laughing anyway with great comedic timing.

The acts are comprised of a lot of music (mostly percussion), a lot of paint and paper, and some audience participation (as with a lot of Vegas shows, don’t sit in the front rows if you don’t want to be part of the show!).

The show starts out even as the audience is being seated with a scrolling LED marquee up on the stage. Birthdays, anniversaries and other messages are displayed on it, with the spotlighted audience members encouraged to stand up or raise a hand when his or her name is displayed. My husband said he considered telling them we were there for my birthday when he bought the tickets but didn’t know if they’d pull me up on stage so he refrained (they don’t pull people up for their birthdays and make them participate, by the way!).

Though the entire show will keep you captivated – from the core-thumping beats to the deadpan, silent comedy – my favorite was the very end with giant sheets of soft paper (similar to large lengths bathroom tissue) fell on top of the audience. The above picture by flickr user jurvetson shows pretty well what that was like (though picture-taking is prohibited in the theater, I won’t tell!).

Each show runs about an hour and forty-five minutes with no intermission. It’s appropriate for pretty much all ages, though it’s recommended for kids over the age of five as it can get pretty loud and younger kids may not have the patience to sit through the entire show. Older kids will love the music and lights, though!

Showtimes depend on what day of the week you want to go:

Monday shows start at 8pm
Tuesday shows start at 7pm & 10pm
Wednesday shows start at 8pm
Thursday shows start at 8pm
Friday shows start at 8pm
Saturday shows start at 7pm & 10pm
Sunday shows start at 8pm

Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 1-866-641-SHOW, or in person at the Venetian box office.

Blue Man Live at the Venetian
3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South
1-866-641-SHOW

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Starting September 1, previews for illusionist Criss Angel Believe will begin at the Luxor. The show opens to the public on September 12 and tickets are already on sale starting at $59 and going up from there.

Angel will perform ten shows a week – two nightly performances from Friday to Tuesday at 7pm and again at 10pm – and Angel has reportedly said his contract with the Luxor is for a ten year run with an option to renew for five more years after that!

Angel says the show is an homage to master magician Harry Houdini, who apparently told his wife that if people claim to communicate with him in the afterlife, saying the code word “believe” will validate their claims.

During the show Angel will dress up as a Victorian Noble who encounters “a cast of imaginative characters, including four unusual ushers, two women who put a new spin on femininity, and a cast of other characters that will make the Baroque theatrical performance a true delight for the imagination.” The show will be mix of illusions enhanced by props, a sound system, high energy dancers performing in front of a realistic dreamlike background, and will actually have a complex plot.

40 year-old Angel, a record three-time winner of the Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year Award can also be seen on the A & E series “Criss Angel Mindfreak.”

Criss Angel Believe at the Luxor
Tickets: 800-557-7428 or 702-262-4400
Ticket Prices: $59, $79, $99, $125, $150 (plus entertainment tax and service fee)
Showtimes at 7:00pm and 10:00pm; Dark Wednesday and Thursday

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[image source: wikipedia]

The Luxor Hotel opened in 1993 at a cost of $375 million and was the city’s first fully-themed mega-resort as well as the largest building on the Strip. The Ancient Egyptian themed resort has 4,407 hotel rooms and is named after the city of Luxor in Egypt. The light at the top of the pyramid can be viewed from space!

A theater and 2000 more rooms contained within two towers were added in 1998, and in 2007 the majority of the public areas were renovated, with most of the Egyptian themed decor being removed and replaced with sexier, adult-themed motifs.

LAX, a popular LA nightclub, opened a branch at the Luxor in 2007. Chriss Angel has also filmed several episodes of his Mindfreak TV show at the resort. It’s now rumored that he will take part in a new Cirque du Soleil show this year. The resort also has one of the three Las Vegas IMAX theaters and shows a rotating number of films.

Popular restaurants include Luxor Steakhouse, Fusia, and Pyramid Cafe.

The Luxor has appeared in Mars Attacks!, Chriss Angel’s Mindfreak, and Fear Factor.

Luxor Hotel
3900 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
1-877-386-4658

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