When I first saw this show shortly after it opened, I was unimpressed to say the least. Somewhere between the theory and the reality the concept of what is truly sexy got lost along the way and "Zumanity" wound up failing to rise to the challenge in more ways than one. Instead of titillating we got tacky; instead of naughty we got nasty; instead of erotic we got "ewww." Instead of aspiring to the relative class of "Playboy," it was what the magazine "Hustler" would be if it Larry Flynt could turn it into a musical.

Since then the show has evolved as most long-running shows in Las Vegas do and I'm happy to report that it has definitely improved. Like other Cirque productions, "Zumanity" is a blend of avant-garde theater and circus-style acrobatics only here they are all staged with an eye toward sex and some of its various permutations. There are topless contortionists swimming in a giant martini glass, a hot girl in a naughty schoolgirl outfit that does some pretty amazing things with hoops, and a latex wearing "slave" that spins in a giant ring while dominatrices with whips spur him on to dizzying extremes.

Newer acts are more sensual and strive toward an eroticism that may not always be achieved, but at least they are reaching up instead of sinking to the gutter for the attempt. And some of the truly vulgar bits have been thankfully excised. The comic relief bridge acts with a randy married couple offering up advice on everything from do-it-yourself breast implants to some inept seduction techniques are quite funny. Just do your best to avoid being chosen out of the audience to come up on stage - you'll thank me later.

One of the biggest changes is one of the biggest improvements. For years, the ringmaster of this particular circus was legendary female impersonator Joey Arias, but she has been replaced by popular drag queen Miss Edie. The difference between female impersonator and drag queen is not a subtle one and Edie brings some much needed levity and camp to the proceedings. It's a lot more fun with her at the helm.

But the crass is still there and that's one of the biggest disappointments for me about "Zumanity." Cirque has always delighted in the metaphorical, using vivid, often surreal imagery to create whatever atmosphere they're aiming for. Here, the metaphorical is often replaced by the literal, in effect telling the audience what to think and therefore removing the opportunity for us to find our own meanings.

Here's an example: male dancers lounge onstage watching a football game on television while the female dancers attempt to get their attention through a series of strip club worthy gyrations. Yeah, men should pay more attention to their women - we get it. But couldn't there have been a less obvious way of saying that? And couldn't it have ended in a way that didn't involve the women basically turning themselves into the Girls of Glitter Gulch in order to drag their men's eyeballs away from the TV?

The show bills itself as a celebration of all forms of human sexuality and boy oh boy are there a lot of them included here. Men with women, women with women, masochism, auto-asphyxiation, self-gratification, orgies, certain… um… "devices" for lack of a better word… strippers, and costumes (French Maid anyone?) are just a few of diversions featured in the show.

Ultimately "Zumanity" fails by trying too hard to be provocative. The people and the things that are truly "sexy" don't need to work so hard to be that way - they just are. Catherine Zeta-Jones is sexy in a way that almost dares you to not look at her. Paris Hilton tries to be sexy by begging you to look at her and more often than not doesn't succeed.

Sex, if done properly, should be fun, exciting, creative, energetic, surprising, original, and involving. "Zumanity" is occasionally all of those things but never at the same time and certainly not for the duration of the 90-minute show.

Then again, when was the last time you were all of those things for 90-minutes?

On the other hand, when was the last time someone paid you $100 to be all of those things for 90-minutes?

Okay, we're straying into dangerous territory here.