Criss Angel is a new breed of magician--often referring to himself as a mystifier. Angel represents the new guard of illusion. His observers are often left wondering if there is an explanation for the illusions he performs, because they really do seem like magic. He explores the dramatic side of magic and humanity in his television show “Mind Freak,” and he carries that exploration to a new level in his Las Vegas show Believe. Angel is enigmatic and he has always been drawn to the work of Harry Houdini, another enigmatic mystical figure. The name of his Las Vegas show is based on the code Houdini promised to use if he ever came from beyond the grave to pay a visit to the living. Criss Angel Believe is a haunting and mysterious journey that includes talented Cirque du Soleil performers. While some Cirque du Soleil productions feature tableau-style acts that are meant to stand on their own, ticket holders to Believe will find a series of interwoven vignettes—stirring and haunting on their own but offering a truly stunning narrative when joined together. In his Las Vegas show, Angel takes on the persona of a mysterious Victorian noble. He encounters several characters in his dark journey, including two women. It’s obvious from the beginning of this show that something has happened, and the tale is slowly revealed to the audience through illusion, movement, music, and imagery. The vision of Criss Angel Believe is gorgeously dark and brooding. Gothic art, literature, and architecture were always meant to display the beauty of the unknown and unseen, and Believe recognizes and celebrates this arcane aesthetic. There are images of broken dolls, ethereal women, and whimsical characters that are unsettling and compelling. Angels describes his inspiration for his Las Vegas show as the desire to “create illusions that have never been seen before.” He says that he hopes ticket holders will have “an experience of not how something works, but how you feel when you watch it.” The costumes and choreography for this Las Vegas show have been carefully chosen to match Cirque du Soleil’s and Angel’s sensibility. The choreography does not stand alone, rather, it aids in telling the story. The costumes feel at once strange and familiar. They are like something you might find in the attic not of your grandmother’s house, but in an old trunk belonging to a mysterious family of gypsies descended from royalty or a tattered gothic Victorian collection. Offstage, on his television show for example, Angel is congenial and open. Some of the most compelling moments of his TV show are when he is interacting with people on the streets of Las Vegas. Onstage, however, he’s not the typical gentleman magician pulling rabbits out of a hat or doing card tricks. He brings a dark and mysterious character to his Las Vegas show. While he’s offered glimpses of this side of himself in “Mind Freak,” in his Las Vegas show he is able to bring this character—this other side of himself to life.