A&E

Shania Twain brings new momentum into her second Las Vegas residency

Image
Shania Twain
Photo: Alexander Harbaugh / Courtesy

Las Vegas loved Shania Twain when she rode a horse down the Strip to open her two-year Still the One residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2012. The show also proved to be an epic success and the spark for a comeback that continued with two tours and Twain's first studio album in 15 years, 2017's Now.

But the queen of pop country also fell in love with Las Vegas during that first residency run, and Twain's comfort level is the primary reason she decided to return for the new Let's Go! show, which opened last week at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood.

"I feel very at home [in Las Vegas]. I'm excited to get creative again with this platform and a Vegas residency is so unique," she tells the Weekly. "It's such a luxury for an artist, because you get to dive into all this technology you can't take on tour. It's like a playground, and I feel privileged to be invited back."

"But I'm excited just to be back in the city. During the [first] residency I got to know the city better and just fell in love with it. And I like to be in the audience. I'm always out eating at the restaurants and seeing other shows and going to hockey games. I guess I delved into the spirit of being a member of the community, and you know you're never bored in Las Vegas."

Twain has seen every residency show at Zappos Theater and even caught Celine Dion's final performance at the Colosseum over the summer. That Vegas showgoer experience has influenced the creative direction of her residency.

"I'm more hands-on this time around, and I'm more familiar with the process," she says. "This stage is a bit smaller and more like a touring stage in the sense that it's set up more like an amphitheater. It's very rock 'n' roll, a very interactive stage, less formal than over at Caesars. There's more room to play with a hybrid of theater-meets-arena concert. I'm very comfortable creating there."

Now that Twain has toured behind her latest album and given the new music a proper road test, she has a more expansive—and certainly hit-filled—toolbox from which to draw. But she also noted that she's working on another album that could be released next year, and that should lead to even more possibilities for the Vegas stage.

"The important part of [Now] was to share it with a live audience and get their reaction and response. That was everything. Of course, I didn't make the record to play in my room alone, but it meant a lot to fans, too," she says. "It was an amazing tour, and it's also what drew me to doing another residency, because I wanted to indulge more in that production. I am working on a new album and ... I'll be able to release new music for the second year of my residency, and I will adapt the show for sure. The second year will be different from the first."

SHANIA TWAIN: LET'S GO! December 13-14 & 18, 8 p.m., $40-$290. Zappos Theater, 702-777-2782.

Share
Photo of Brock Radke

Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

Get more Brock Radke
Top of Story