“This is the perfect time of the year” to start a show, said Lawrence Ho, CEO and Chairman of Melco Resorts, right before the premiere of Elēkrŏn, the new resident show at Macau IR Studio City.
Elēkrŏn combines a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic aesthetic with cutting-edge motor designs.
“It’s going to attract a lot of visitors in anticipation of Chinese New Year and our positioning in Melco has always been to focus on the entertainment offering,” Ho added.
The show includes dozens of specially designed electric cars and is co-developed alongside Stufish, a renowned firm whose portfolio includes sets for U2, Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Beyoncé as well as opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The show runs for 75 minutes and is full of stunt performances utilizing oneiric vehicles, weapons and fire to achieve a bizarre post-punk comic book impression. Yet far from taking spectators through a creepy narrative, the spectacle is bountiful and even incorporates hilarious moments to lighten the mood.
According to Melco, the performers “play a unified nomadic tribe who must race against time to confront and redirect powerful electrical forces, creating a heroic story of survival in a land where nature has careened out of control.”
Highlights of the show include the performance of The Kangaroo Kid, two time Guinness World Record holder for the Longest Ramp Jump on a Quad Bike, a burning Porsche or a thrilling crossbow stunt.
Beyond gaming
Ho said Elēkrŏn shows that Melco “really wanted to continue to support Macau’s government in terms of diversification in non-gaming – we like to call it beyond gaming development … and that’s really part of our motivation, to continue to support the Macau government’s positioning in terms of creating Macau to be the center for tourism and MICE.”
Ho also highlighted the environmentally friendly aspect of Elēkrŏn, stating “there’s never been an electric-cars show indoors. We also wanted to make use of this to show that you can have fun and still be socially responsible because everything is clean energy, clean electricity.”
