Cirque du Soleil opens first permanent show in Asia

Cirque du Soleil opened a performance of Zaia Thursday in Macao, China — launching its first permanent show in Asia.

The circus group, based in Montreal and Las Vegas, is performing in an 1,800-seat theatre built for its high-wire and acrobatic acts at the Venetian Macao.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., owner of the Venetian, has invested $150 million US in the show, in an effort to create the kind of entertainment in Macau that pulls thousands of tourists to Las Vegas.

Macau, a sleepy Portuguese colony until it was taken over by China in 1999, has had casinos for years.

But its smoky Chinese-style gambling clubs have been eclipsed in the past few years with new casinos such as the Venetian Macau, the Wynn Macau and MGM Grand Macau. The local monopoly on casinos ended in 2001 and Las Vegas money poured in.

The Las Vegas operators are hoping to add some of that city's glitz to Macau, which is a short ferry ride from Hong Kong on the Chinese mainland.

Gaming revenue is soaring in Macau, but China has placed restrictions on the numbers of visits it permits by its citizens, and that is reducing the money casinos can make from high rollers.

Las Vegas Sands is hoping to pull in a wider range of visitors with attractions such as Zaia.

"Obviously, there's the big gamble here, no pun intended, which is that all of these gamblers that we know Macau can attract are also going to want to see shows and go to great restaurants and do things other than just gamble," Mario D'amico, vice-president of Cirque de Soleil, told Reuters.

The average length of a visit to Macau currently is two days, compared to four days in Las Vegas.

Zaia features dancers and acrobats depicting a story of a girl who ventures into outer space.

Cirque du Soleil has an initial contract of 10 years and plans to create a second show across the street at a Sheraton now under development.

It also has plans to open a permanent show at Tokyo Disneyland later in 2008.