It’s been a wild week in the world of Las Vegas showbiz, if only relative to the months of nothing that came before. This month, new capacity restrictions and safety protocols announced by Gov. Steve Sisolak on September 29 went into effect, effectively allowing Vegas shows and live entertainment events to safely return to their respective stages.
After a few events popped up in the days that followed—most notably the male revue Aussie Heat and musical tribute shows Piano Man and Queens of Rock at Mosaic Theater, a new venue on the Strip in the former Club Utopia and Empire Ballroom space—the comeback announcements began trickling in.
Spiegelworld’s Absinthe is set to become the first major production show to resume performances, reopening at Caesars Palace on October 28 with 7 and 9:30 p.m. shows Wednesday through Sunday. The infamous, white Strip-side Spiegeltent that brought in sellout crowds of 660 to watch daring acrobatic and uproarious comedic and musical acts on a small stage in the round will now host audiences of 153 seated at socially distanced cabaret tables, the closest of which will be 25 feet from a relocated stage.
Still, it’ll be Absinthe, and it’ll be worth it.
“When Absinthe reopens, it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun, and I think there are going to be a few surprises for the audience,” Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison said last week before the reopening announcement. “We’re opening in a different era right now and we’re going to acknowledge that, but it’s going to be in a cabaret-style setting to start with, which is fun. We’ve been working hard on how the comedy translates to this strange period of time, and I cannot wait to see it.”
Piff the Magic Dragon has also announced his return, moving his five-year-strong show from Flamingo’s intimate Bugsy’s Cabaret space to the 700-plus capacity Flamingo Showroom on October 29. The audience cap will be 250 for 7:30 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday.
X Country, a female revue that shares the husband-and-wife production team of Matt and Angela Stabile with Piff’s comedy and magic show, announced an October 22 return to the stage at Harrah’s Cabaret, making it the first show back at a Caesars Entertainment property. It will run Thursday through Saturday at 10 p.m. for audiences of up to 80, before shifting to five nights a week in November.
Stand-up comedy shows were expected to come to life quicker than others due to their smaller-scale production and personnel requirements. But while the Strat’s L.A. Comedy Club (three shows nightly starting at 6 p.m. in the second-floor Dragon Room) and Downtown Grand’s Delirious Comedy Club (8 and 10 p.m. shows Thursday through Sunday in the Fremont Room) are back in action, other comedy venues are struggling to work around the somewhat confusing 25-foot stage setback. Expect to see comedy and other entertainment options pop up at Wynn, which hosted a gig by Sebastian Maniscalco October 9 at its new outdoor Event Pavilion, a flexible 40,000-square-foot space.
While show producers and performers might not love the restrictions, they seem overwhelmingly pleased to be able to do what they do once again.
“We’re just excited to get open and start the ball rolling,” says Adam Steck, owner of SPI Entertainment and producer of its multiple Strip shows. “There are a lot of inconsistencies with the rules and we can yell and scream and be upset, but at the end of the day, we’re just excited to put on a show again. It is what it is.”
