Cirque's Viva ELVIS to return King to Vegas

Elvis is returning to Sin City, as the Cirque du Soleil unveiled on Thursday the name of its new show celebrating the iconic rock 'n' roller: Viva ELVIS.

Organizers announced Viva ELVIS Thursday morning from Las Vegas, where it will play at a 2,000-seat theatre at the Aria Resort & Casino, part of the MGM Mirage complex.

The Montreal-based troupe first announced plans for the show in 2006 — the same year it opened LOVE, which is based on the music of the Beatles. 

Created in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises and CKX Inc. (the two of which control the rights to the name, image and likiness of the hip-swivelling musical icon), Viva ELVIS will be the internationally reknown circus company's seventh resident show in Las Vegas.

Rather than a straight ahead retelling of Presley's career, the show is said to be a series of acrobatic and interpretive scenes and segments set to his music.

"Created in the image of the king of rock 'n' roll — powerful, sexy, whimsical, truly unique and larger than life — the show highlights an American icon who transformed popular music," Cirque said in a statement.

Viva ELVIS, which plays off the name of Presley's 1964 film Viva Las Vegas, is slated to open Dec. 16.