This year Vegas broke a whole lotta rules and wrote some new ones. Let’s get started!
You never know what you’ll see in Las Vegas
This year will go down in the Vegas history books as another crazy ride. Coming out of an unprecedented shutdown, Sin City discovered that it could indeed spring back. However, things deeply changed after the fog cleared.
High-end restaurants, hotel occupations, and gambling revenue soared. So did room rates and prices for just about everything else. Unfortunately, the quality of service plummeted, along with operating hours and options. Entertainment attendance suffered, causing a number of shows to scale back in size and frequency. Some closed, others moved, and a few large-scale productions opened to audience indifference.
If you haven’t been to Sin City in a while, prepare to be surprised. Hotels have changed ownership and name, as evidenced by our five-part Vegas Name Game series. Construction is taking place all over the Strip, downtown, and in the surrounding valley. As the city grows, our water supply dwindles. So think twice about taking a dip in Lake Mead. That sandbar might actually be a human body.
Let’s look at some of the wild and wacky things that took place in 2022.
Most Batshit Crazy New Show – BAT OUT OF HELL at Paris Las Vegas
The new futuristic musical at Paris is based on a famed trilogy of albums by Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. Those expecting a straightforward interpretation of familiar lyrics will be in for a shock. The whacked-out plot combines elements of Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan, Mad Max, and West Side Story into a surreal sci-fi rock opera.
The setting is an abandoned underground railway system in a decaying future New York City, where teens with “frozen DNA” can’t age. Their leader falls for the daughter of a powerful top-dwelling tyrant, who’s struggling to rekindle his romance with a rebellious wife.
BAT OUT OF HELL (here’s my original review) won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and understandably so. It’s just that crazy. The Vegas production has been significantly shortened from the original two-act version, making the truncated plot confusing to some. But it’s a must-see for one reason above all….the stellar performances of Travis Cloer and Anne Martinez. Witness their onstage magic for yourself:
BAT OUT OF HELL: The Musical performs Tuesday through Sunday at 7 pm with an additional 9:30 pm show on Friday and Saturday. There is a strict age limit of 13 and over. Tickets start at $52 (plus taxes/fees) and are available here. The show runs through December.
Best New Show, Limited Run – THE WILD PARTY at Majestic Repertory Theater
Raise your hand if you’ve been to a ticketed production that took place entirely in the main character’s home. I didn’t think so. Majestic Repertory Theater and director Troy Heard like to break the rules for traditional theater. They did so to amazing effect a few years ago with KRAMPUS. Set entirely inside a northeast Las Vegas house, that fully-engaging holiday production was stunning, frightening, and unforgettable (full review here).
2022 was a landmark year for Majestic Repertory Theater, an innovative and chameleonic-like space on Main Street off Charleston Avenue. Each production was wilder than the last, but nothing as involving as THE WILD PARTY. Entering from the street, you fully believe that you’ve walked through a time tunnel into a seedy 1928 apartment building.
More than a dozen fully-realized characters attend this scandalous Prohitibiton-era gathering. They’ll engage you in conversation and embody both the linear plot and a free-flowing atmospheric experience. To tell more might diminish the surprise, so just take in this video. It will give you an idea of the scope and dedication of everyone involved, including those behind the scenes. The VEGAS 411 review is here.
THE WILD PARTY runs now through December 18th at Majestic Repertory Theater. The venue is located at 1217 S. Main Street in the Arts District (near downtown). Showtimes are Thursday through Sunday at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Due to the nature of the production. guests must arrive before showtime, are encouraged to wear period costumes, and are required to be 21 or over. Click here for more information and to order tickets.
BEST NEW SHOW, Resident Production – NEWSical The Musical at V Theater Planet Hollywood
Another last-minute entry in the entertainment sweepstakes is the one-two punch of Tom D’Angora’s A MUSICAL ABOUT STAR WARS and its long-running companion NEWSical. Although they’re both great fun and packed with side-splitting laughs (full reviews here), NEWSical gets top marks due to the fact that every viewing is unique.
Think of NEWSical as a wittier version of Saturday Night Live’s WEEKEND UPDATE. Always topical, NEWSical tackles every angle of politics, pop culture, celebrity madness, social media, and much more. A stunningly-talented cast of four has the unenviable challenge of constantly learning new jokes, songs, and dialog. But damn it if they don’t pull it off each and every time.
(L to R) Greg Sullivan, Dylan Hartwell, Kristen Alderson, Taylor Crousore,Tom D’Angora, Carly Sakolove
NEWSical had a trial engagement at Majestic Repertory Theater (yes, them again) this spring. It was so successful that directors Tom and Michael D’Angora decided to bring it to the Strip, along with A MUSICAL ABOUT STAR WARS. This writer recommends seeing them back to back. Trust me…you’ll want to return again and again.
A Musical About Star Wars performs Thursday through Sunday at 4:30 pm. All ages are welcome. NEWSical The Musical performs Tuesday through Sunday at 6 pm. Recommended age is 12 and over. For tickets go to the V Theater website here.
Honorable Mention – MARK O’TOOLE VARIETY SHOW
The Mark O’Toole Variety Show isn’t technically a resident production, but this hasn’t been a typical year for new shows. This one warrants an honorable mention for its sheer glee in entertaining the audience. To know Mark is to love him, so check out my original review and do your best to attend The Mark O’Toole Variety Show asap.
The Year’s Biggest Flame-out – Criss Angel’s AMYSTIKA at Planet Hollywood
The ego has finally landed…with a thud. After months and months of hype, lisping homophobic mouthpiece Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (Criss Angel’s birth name) finally debuted his dream project AMYSTIKA. Announced in the year 2000, it featured Angel popping and locking in leather fetish gear with a cape.
https://vimeo.com/690810990
Originally conceived as a bizarre glam-rock/magic/Terminator hybrid, the show finally opened twenty-two years later as a “Prequel to Mindfreak”. It closed on October 16th, reportedly to go on an international tour. Yeah, if you say so.
Someone should have told little Nicky that prequels belong in movie theaters, not inside a huge Planet Hollywood showroom. Weeks of free-ticket giveaways and millions of dollars in hype couldn’t clear away the stench of burning reputations (Mike Hammer, I’m talking to you) nor the sad sight of hundreds of empty seats each night.
If co-creator Franco Dragone (O, MYSTERE, Celine Dion’s A NEW DAY, LE REVE) had survived past September 30th, he’d surely be crushed to know that AMYSTIKA would be the humiliating final entry in his once-stellar bio. If not, this next category might have surely killed him.
The “Show Nobody Asked For” Award goes to – AWAKENING at Wynn Las Vegas
AWAKENING answers the question “What if a world-famous resort launched a $150 million show and nobody cared?”. Franco Dragone must be rolling over in his grave to know that the custom-designed theater for his aquatic masterpiece LE REVE was stripped out for a mind-numbing mash-up of GRIMM FAIRY TALES, ONCE UPON A TIME, animated Disney musicals, and THE FIFTH ELEMENT.
https://youtu.be/W0W4jLxHij0
The title AWAKENING suggests a follow-up of sorts to LE REVE, which is French for “The Dream”. Sadly, that isn’t the case. Uncertain if it’s for adults or children, the high-tech fable features characters named “Darkness” and “Light”, a trio of adventure-seekers, a generic quest for missing MacGuffins…and a lengthy orgy.
“In the time before time in the place that never was” narrator Anthony Hopkins intones. Whatever that means. Audience reviewers complain of loud, pounding beats in place of music, worse legroom than on an Allegiant jet, a lack of discernible plot, embarrassing performances, and piped-in applause coming from in-seat speakers pressed closely against their ears.
Wynn’s $150 million AWAKENING opened to scathing reviews and empty seats
All of this can be yours starting at $125 (plus Ticketmaster fees and taxes) up to $600 per seat. Expect lots of empty chairs around you, as sales have been anemic. Having opened on November 7th, the show is already scheduled to temporarily close on January 14th for a rumored retooling. Click here for the full report.
Volume Two of our “Best-of, Worst-of, and WTF?” is available by heading here.
