Milestone Date Time Name Registered 08/14/1998 n/a Premiere (Gala) 10/15/1998 7:30pm Premiere (Public) 10/19/1998 7:30pm 3,000th Show 04/xx/2005 10:30pm 4,000th Show 03/11/2007 n/a 4,768th Show 10/15/2008 10th Anniv 5,000th Show 04/18/2009 n/a 10 Millionth Guest 08/04/2009 n/a 6,000th Show 05/22/2011 n/a 7,000th Show xx/xx/2013 n/a 8,000th Show 07/20/2015 n/a 9,000th Show 08/17/2017 n/a 10,000th Show 09/01/2019 n/a COVID Hiatus 03/14/2020 n/a Shows Restart 07/01/2021 n/a

What immediately comes to mind when you hear someone exclaim "Oh!?" Do you wait for some kind of follow-up; a signal that the person who expressed it will expound upon something he or she just discovered? Or do you let yourself drip into a world without limits - a theatrical encounter with the possibilities and symbols of water: calm and nurturing, playful and sustaining, unpredictable and merciless?

Most will be the former - unknowing, unseeing... but for you, a fan of Cirque du Soleil, you then are the latter and your thoughts will have become submerged in Cirque du Soleil's aquatic production of "O", at the Bellagio. For you the mere utterance of the show's title conjurers up a barrage of chaotic images, spectacular performances, and heart- wrenching melodies. You've leapt into a world without limits, dove into a tribute to the magic of the theater - from the simplest street performance to the most lavish of operas - and plunged into the wonder, terror, and joy of "O" where anything is possible!

On October 15, 1998, the red curtain whisked away for the "first" time and 1800 patrons watched in awe as the stresses of every-day life ebbed away and were replaced with the dreamlike world of "O". In celebration of the show's 15th Anniversary, come with us now as we dive into Cirque du Soleil's watery world...

"When we started to work on "O", we were really encouraged to dream large-scale. Steve Wynn wanted a show on a stage the size of a football field, on which guests at the Bellagio could windsurf, too! Of course, eventually, we had to work within the realm of the possible, and make decisions. But the show is still a big experience." - Gilles Ste-Croix (Spectaculara)

Our story of "O" has somewhat a familiar beginning. At first glance, "O" is nothing more than another Cirque du Soleil production inside a fancy theater built to specifications for a hotel project on the Las Vegas strip. When you take a second glance, "O" becomes much, much more. Every aspect surrounding the creation is finely tuned; detailed to exactness. It seems almost inconceivable that within a $1.6 billion dollar hotel resides a production never before attempted - never before imagined even... until Cirque gave it a try.

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In 1993, Cirque du Soleil planted what they called a "flower in the desert" with Mystère, which began with the failure of discussions with Caesar's Palace two years prior, Steve Wynn's journey to Toronto to catch a live Cirque performance, and the staging of "Nouvelle Expérience" on the grounds of the Mirage for a year. With Mystère firmly entrenched in the hearts and minds of Las Vegas patrons, it would be only a matter of time before the sands once again became fertile and another flower could be planted in the desert. Cirque du Soleil found its lush, productive sands during the development of the Bellagio, approaching Steve Wynn about doing a production at his newest hotel, but not in the manner in which you would think.

Believe it or not, in the early stages of the Bellagio's development, it wasn't exactly clear exactly how Cirque du Soleil would contribute to its entertainment offerings. There were two schools of thought, and two questions surrounding them: would there be a theater show similar to what was already featured down the road at Treasure Island, or would there be a show on the resort's lake that was to be built? Both ideas were heavily considered ("Wynn's original idea was to have boats floating in a pool as big as a football field," remembers Michel Crete, Cirque's principal scenic designer. "We had to scale the idea back when we realized that our goal wasn't to dominate the seas, but to play in the water."), but in the end Steve Wynn decided on having his like and elegant fountains, and Cirque, well, they went on to create the most remarkable theater show seen up to that time.

It proved to be harder than they ever imagined.

Read more about the show's theater here. Read more about the show's characters here.

{1998}	{1999-2006}	{2006-2012}
{2013+}