The last time Emmy Award-winning entertainer Derek Hough came to town to perform at the Smith Center during a 2019 tour, he proclaimed his love for Las Vegas and discussed the possibility of launching his own residency-style show.
His time has finally come. The dancer, choreographer, author and TV judge from Dancing with the Stars and World of Dance will take the stage at the newly rechristened Summit Showroom at the Venetian on September 22 to launch Derek Hough: No Limit, an exploration of music and dance styles.
“I’m getting pumped and I can’t wait,” he says. “My mom lived in Vegas for 20 years so as a kid, I would go every year. It’s crazy to think I’ll have my own show in Las Vegas and super exciting to be at this showroom at the Venetian.”
The 750-seat space formerly known as the Sands Showroom was previously occupied by Australian vocal quartet Human Nature’s long-running residency. Tickets for Hough’s show start at $39 and will go on sale July 26. Thirty performances are planned so far, running through September, October and November.
In February 2020, No Limit was announced for a run at the Flamingo Showroom set to open last June with dates extending into November. Since the pandemic prevented any production from taking place in that space until October when comic and magician Piff the Magic Dragon moved in, Hough and co-producers Live Nation began looking for a new home on the Strip.
Piff is still performing at the Flamingo space and RuPaul’s Drag Race Live is set to reopen there on August 5.
Hough says he will be bouncing back and forth between Las Vegas and Los Angeles during the opening run of the show at the Venetian, simultaneously filming the next season of Dancing with the Stars.
“I think it’ll be a lot of fun to stay busy like that, but really I just cannot wait to be performing live again, just like every performer is itching to get back onstage,” he says. “I’ve been going through the show and the music and getting the crew back together and it’s going to be fantastic.
“There will definitely be some new additions to the [touring] show, some different pieces I’ve been working on and also a few new dancers and amazing new choreographers I’m just a huge fan of. They are going to add another layer of creativity and artistry to the show and it’s all coming together.”
Hough’s longtime girlfriend Hayley Erbert, a former contestant on another dance competition show, So You Think You Can Dance, has also joined the cast, “which has been great because we’ve been dancing so much together,” he says.
Hough moved from TV to the live stage most prominently in 2014 when he teamed with his sister Julianne for the Move: Live on Tour stage dance concert, which hit 50 cities across the country. They repeated the tour the following year and upgraded the production for a 2017 run, and Hough’s first solo national tour visited nearly 60 cities in 2019.
