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Mike Weatherford
Ticketed shows not focus of CityCenter
Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 10:11 a.m.
Does CityCenter really only have one show? And if so, who thinks that is good news?
The Amazing Johnathan, for one.
"They built a walkway bridge right to our front door," the comedian says of his previously challenged location at the Harmon Theater, right across the street from CityCenter.
"All the rooms at Aria look right down on our poster."
Cirque du Soleil is readying "Viva Elvis" for CityCenter's Aria. The King's followers would say the ghost of Elvis is all you need for the 4,000-room Aria and another 2,800 rooms and condo units surrounding it.
Others might ask if this is the defining evidence of a slow tectonic shift, from ticketed shows to clubs and other nightlife?
Eva Longoria Parker will have a nightclub called Eve in the Crystals retail portion of CityCenter. Hot DJ Tiesto is booked for New Year's Eve at the Haze club in Aria. But for the old-fashioned notion of buying a ticket and sitting in a seat to watch a show?
Long live Elvis.
Contrast CityCenter with faded properties such as the Riviera, which -- as an extreme example -- has five show venues. In modern times, Wynn Las Vegas/Encore and The Venetian/Palazzo defined the rule of thumb as at least one show per branded hotel tower.
CityCenter officials hadn't confirmed by deadline whether Crystals tenants will be allowed to lease and operate theater space, a la the V Theater and Steve Wyrick at the Miracle Mile Shops.
If that does turn out to be the case? I respect Wyrick's scrappy DIY attitude. But are more of those midlevel shows really what the town needs?
Wouldn't we rather have "Spider-Man"? The Broadway musical initially snubbed Las Vegas, but now is scrambling to raise enough money to open in New York. But mega-shows like that need committed hotel partners, and there aren't many other such projects going up these days.
In lieu of an official explanation from MGM Mirage, my guess is the company hopes to drive CityCenter traffic to neighboring shows in need of help, such as Lance Burton and Frank Caliendo at the adjacent Monte Carlo.
"We're just hoping that it's going to rain down on us," the Amazing Johnathan (Szeles) says of the Harmon Theater, where he has performed since March 2008. In recent months, the club has been physically cut off by construction walls on the Strip and road work on Harmon Avenue.
CityCenter may not help, but "it's not going to get any worse," the comedian says.
"If we can make it through all that construction, we can make it through this boom."
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.
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Wynn/Encore has one ticketed show per tower? I suppose technically that's true, but the two theatres were both part of the original Wynn.
The Revolving Door theatre was renamed when the Encore opened, but it's the same space that held Avenue Q and Spamalot.