December 29, 2004
Las Vegas' latest great spectacle: musicals
By Steve Friess | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
LAS VEGAS – When Tina Walsh arrived from Dallas
to dance in a Las Vegas show, with hopes of putting in a few
years before pursuing stardom on Broadway, she couldn't have
predicted the Great White Way would eventually come to her.
For years, Broadway shows from "Fiddler on the Roof" to "Starlight
Express" have flopped here. Vegas audiences, the truism went,
seek brief bursts of mindless spectacle that are light on storytelling
and heavy on visual dazzle.
But that appears to be changing. "Mamma Mia!," the musical
based in the 1970s music of the European pop group Abba, and
starring Ms. Walsh, is enjoying unprecedented success. Tony
award winning "Avenue Q" announced that rather than tour the
country it would head straight to Las Vegas and a state-of-the-art
theater tailor-made for it by casino mogul Steve Wynn.
Las Vegas may still be known as "Sin City," but it's becoming
increasingly cosmopolitan as it continues to draw a greater
number of visitors from places like New York and Los Angeles.
Nongambling revenues have almost equaled the city's gaming take
for the past several years. Manhattan-like condos are springing
up in the middle of this desert oasis, while the Guggenheim
and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts have been testing the waters
with exhibitions of their own.
While highbrow art may never find a wide audience in a place
that proudly flaunts its motto as "what happens here, stays
here," more show producers are considering Las Vegas seriously
for the first time.
"After 'Mamma Mia!,' the Broadway community now has Vegas
on their radar screen, whereas before it wasn't thought of as
a sit-down market," says Michael Gill of Gill Theatrical Management
Inc. in Vegas. "It was thought of as maybe a tour stop at best.
The idea that Vegas can sustain long-term sit-down productions
is of great interest for a lot of producers now."
The shift is occurring in part because the profile of Las
Vegas visitors has changed, too. No longer content with only
playing host to transient crowds swooping in for a roll of the
dice, the city treated a record 40 million guests this year
to a wide selection of fine dining options, high-end shopping,
and world-class accommodations. Many of them are young, affluent,
and interested in some theater with their blackjack - even if
it's Broadway lite:
*"Mamma Mia!," currently the longest show in town and the
only one with an intermission, recouped its money within a year
and has become a staple on the Boulevard.
* In September, the London hit "We Will Rock You," based on
the music of Queen, opened at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.
* Last month, Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based entertainment
juggernaut known for surrealistic human acrobatics, opened its
first easy-to-follow narrative production with the $165 million
"Ka" at the MGM Grand Hotel.
* Next fall, "Avenue Q," which won the best musical Tony award
this year, will premiere at the soon-to-open $2.4 billion Wynn
Las Vegas resort.
But if Vegas watchers are delighted, Broadway purists are
less pleased by the trend. New York Times theater writer Jesse
Green says it reflects a dumbing down of Broadway and the fact
that Broadway producers today are relying more on visual tricks
and already popular music rather than unique storytelling and
new music. In that respect, Mr. Green says, it's more a matter
of Broadway stooping to Vegas' level than Vegas becoming a more
artistically sophisticated market.
Still, these multibillion-dollar properties are largely banking
on sure bets, says Glenn Medas, vice president for entertainment
at Mandalay Resort Group, which owns the Mandalay Bay and the
Luxor Resort Hotel Casino. Mr. Medas will be heading to New
York City this month to check out the Vegas potential of "Wicked,"
"The Lion King," and "Hairspray."
"Not every show on Broadway is going to work in Las Vegas,"
Medas says. "It's safer to bring something in that's [been]
successful somewhere else."
The big exception - and notably the biggest risk - in the
group of musicals opening in the coming year: the offbeat, thought-provoking
"Avenue Q." Not only is the music obscure, but it is also performed
largely by puppets who ponder issues of sexuality, racism, and
unemployment.
Producer Kevin McCollum notes that the 1,100-seat theater
affiliated with an internationally known casino offers strong
enticements for a show that may not have played well in five-day
engagements around the US.
"Our show, because we don't have a lot of major stars and
[have] some edgy material, is a bit of a slow burn," Mr. McCollum
says. "With a tour, you go to Atlanta with a 4,000-seat theater,
and you typically open on a Tuesday, close on Sunday. That's
not enough time to get people excited about something that's
very unique."
Indeed, the success of a show whose motif echoes "Sesame Street"
could be solid proof that the entertainment appetite of Vegas
audiences has expanded for good.
In the meantime, more actors like Walsh are gladly welcoming
opportunities to trade in feathered headdresses to star in Broadway
shows, without having to pack their bags.
"["Mamma Mia"] is the perfect role for me," says Walsh, who
plays Donna, the 40-something single mother of a young woman
trying to find out who her father is. "And it's perfect, because
I don't have to leave Las Vegas for it. I never expected that."
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