Budget Vegas Vacation - "Tournament Of The Kings" at the Excalibur

Left: The arena, in the dungeon of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas.


I had no specific plans for Sunday, excepting a visit to the Gershin family in the far northern suburbs around noon. I figured serendipity would guide my plans on this day. Sure enough, one thing led to another, and soon I was helping ferry part of the family to the Excalibur to see "Tournament Of The Kings", a long-running show.

Here is a brief description:

One of Las Vegas’ last dinner shows, “Tournament of Kings” transports the audience to King Arthur’s court to help celebrate the return of his son, Christopher.

As the story unfolds, the joyous Arthur gathers the rulers of Europe for a fantastic banquet and competition. The kings challenge their knightly skills while riding their faithful steeds. King Arthur’s hospitality is met with hostility when the evil fire-wizard, Mordred, invades the festivities. The kings of Europe must unite if the fire-wizard is to be defeated.

As the show ages, people have had second thoughts about doing away with it (article from 2006):

Sure, it's been rumored this age of Arthur was about to pass into Las Vegas legend. The rumors began as MGM Mirage swallowed Mandalay Bay resorts last year. MGM is the corporate partner of Cirque du Soleil, and the buzz has it that soon after the merger, Cirque sent its people over to measure the dirt-floored arena in the basement of the Excalibur.

"Tournament of Kings" is, after all, a remnant of 1990 and the short-lived notion that Las Vegas would become a family town and theme park mecca. It does seem plausible that this last holdover from those Middle Ages will end when Cirque finishes its new Beatles-themed show at The Mirage and decides to continue its Renaissance on the Strip.

But so far, the new owners have left well enough alone. The only chink in the armor is the end of the show's dauntless seven-day, 14 shows-per-week schedule. Starting Feb. 7, "Tournament" will take Tuesdays off, paring down to 12 per week.

There are reasons to think long and hard about "fixing" this energetically performed variation on the Medieval Times attractions in other tourist meccas. The King Arthur show is one of three or four with genuine family appeal on a Strip where stubborn families keep showing up, no matter how much the "What happens here" campaign tries to sweep them under the rug.

And, along with "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding," it's the rare Las Vegas show to offer dinner in the same room, though this banquet is famously served without utensils. The menu never changes: Cornish hen, broccoli stalk and potato wedges, preceded by a bowl of tomato soup ("Pretend it's dragon's blood," a server suggests.)

...The show itself has changed little from its last makeover in 1999. The stuntwork is the highlight of a slight story guided along by Dave Swan, who has played Arthur for years and is one of the few performers who speak into a live microphone.

Swan also helps guide the tone of the thing from jokey anachronisms to a touch of real drama.

The knights from several countries compete vigorously against one another before the tournament is interrupted by Arthur's bastard son Mordred, presented here as a video game villain who can marshal pyrotechnic effects to go with lines such as "Fight the power of my dragon knight!"

The real stars are the good and bad guys who twice a night try to create convincing action while trying not to clock each other with maces, swords and battle axes.

To me, the show looked far too hazardous, with people leaping off of horses, rolling, and bashing each other's shields - hard - with maces and swords and various other clubs, plus all the crazy jousting as well. I was sitting next to Uncle S., who does amateur theater himself (a senior group in Queens called STAR), and we were shaking our heads and watching the sparks fly (literally) and saying things like "Do you realize how much work goes into this, and just how dangerous it is?" It's a real tribute to these guys that they can pull it off with few mishaps. (The one mishap on this night was a rider getting dismounted, which seems minor in comparison to all the other mayhem, but would put me in bed for days).

Lots of fun!