A few years ago, Miss Behave shared one of the secrets behind what she does with the Weekly. “A good, old-fashioned variety show is fast and punchy,” she said, “and only running it is really running it.”
Meaning: When you see the return of Miss Behave’s Mavericks—her good, old-fashioned variety show, now in residence inside the Plaza Hotel & Casino’s beautifully-restored 53-year-old showroom—you’re getting something that even Miss Behave, born Amy Saunders, can’t necessarily predict. The show will change over time as different world-class performers swap in and out of the program. The show will even change from night to night, as different audiences respond to what they’re seeing on stage. (One of Saunders’ opening lines, my favorite: “If you like what you’re seeing up here, tell your face.”)
And “running it” means something different in the show’s new room, something better. When Mavericks opened at Cheapshot in 2022, it had a New York feel: tight quarters, a clubby vibe. The Plaza Mavericks brings a classic variety tradition back to the Vegas showroom, and while some of its current performers are returnees—notably the outrageous burlesque performers Julie Atlas Muz and Tanya Gagne, magnificent singer Trice Be Phantom Magnetiq, and the statuesque, waterproof dancer Alexandria Beauregard—the bigger space allows for spectacle that simple wasn’t possible before, while miraculously allowing for the crowd/performer interactions that made the tight-quarters Mavericks such giddy fun.
For example: At the media premiere of Mavericks earlier this month, Saunders introduced the Green Valley High School Marching Band, who marched into the showroom playing Bruce Channel’s “Hey! Baby.” Then they backed an Elvis tribute artist (Matt Lewis) as he sang “If I Can Dream.” That may never happen again; it may happen 10 more times. Miss Behave won’t know until she runs it.
I don’t want to give too much away about the Plaza Mavericks, except to say that if you’ve seen the show before, you’ll still love it, and if you haven’t seen it yet, the show’s producers and the Plaza are making it easy for you to check out this funny, raunchy, eye-popping variety spectacular for the first time. General admission tickets begin at a reasonable $49, with tickets for locals as low as $35. There are no ticket fees and show parking is always free. (Though, before you enter the showroom, I advise you to stop at the casino’s cashier, change some bills for a bunch of singles, and wad them up. You’ll see why.)
What you get for that money is a hell of a lot. Again, I don’t want to share spoilers—one of Mavericks’ biggest joys is its “what the hell was that?” factor—but if you’re looking for value, any show that features the aforementioned performers, plus drag hand-balancer Scarlett Business, contortionist TJ Santiago, the comedic ballet of Bella Schleiker, the juggling of Christopher Stoinev, and the host’s own sharp, fast-talking comedy and “lazy sword swallowing,” is worth at least what you’d pay for a big-budget Strip production. Even more so, arguably, because unlike those Strip productions, the probability of fresh surprises in every performance of Mavericks is high. Get down to the Plaza and run with it.
MISS BEHAVE’S MAVERICKS Wednesday-Sunday, 7 p.m., $35-$99. Plaza Showroom, mavericksdtlv.com.
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