To those who would argue that spectacle has slipped from the Strip, that the monuments of Vegas wow erected by the Wynns and Kerkorians and Sarnos are on their way out or somehow less powerful, I give you the Fountains of Bellagio this weekend. They remain awe-inspiring every weekend, but there’s something special going on right now.
A never-before-seen 30-minute production is set to take place just five times on Bellagio’s man-made lake. On a 165-foot stage constructed just for this, Japanese actor Ichikawa Somegoro will battle a giant carp projected onto the Bellagio’s wall of water in a larger-than-life interpretation of the classical Japanese art form of kabuki. The creative force behind the show is Shochiku, a Japanese movie studio and production company known for kabuki as well as anime films, in partnership with Panasonic, technologist group TeamLab and WET, the design company that created and operates Bellagio’s iconic dancing fountains.
“I guess you could say this has been in the works for a long time,” says Alan Feldman, executive vice president of global government and industry affairs at MGM Resorts International. MGM was in contact with Shochiku before it presented at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City a few years ago, and hosted a group of Shochiku execs on a Vegas trip a little more than a year ago. “During the course of a dinner after seeing [Cirque du Soleil show] KÀ, we had a very free-ranging conversation exploring ideas of what would come to be called by us ‘new kabuki,’ and we talked about the theaters and performance spaces and a lot of people we have here that would love to support that. I don’t remember who said it would be great to do it in front of the fountains.”
But somebody said it, and it will be great. Koi Tsukami, or “fight with carp,” is considered a masterpiece of kabuki, and while the classical Japanese art form may not be fully appreciated by American audiences, that doesn’t mean this isn’t a big deal. “Imagine the Royal Shakespeare Company is entrusted with a production for 400 years and they say, ‘Let’s go to Bellagio and find a new way to do Hamlet,’” Feldman says.
The only other time a stage has been built on Bellagio’s waterfront was when Britney Spears performed “I’m a Slave 4 U” during the 2001 Billboard Music Awards, a very modest production by comparison. (Still pretty cool, though. YouTube it.) Don’t expect such presentations to become a regular thing. “It would have to be something incredibly special, and that’s what this is,” Feldman says. “It’s quite an honor to be involved in this. [Kabuki] is an incredible tradition of performance passed down through generations.”
Even though this particular spectacle may be just a weekend fling, it’s symbolic of an understanding that the Strip—and Las Vegas as a whole—must maintain its features that create a sense of astonishment and wonder. Some of Las Vegas Boulevard’s free attractions and shows have vanished or changed since the recession, frequently replaced by retail experiences. That makes sense, but Vegas needs to be unreasonably fabulous, too.
MGM Resorts also owns and operates the Mirage, where another iconic Strip-side attraction is still erupting on a regular basis, though its schedule recently changed. “There’s some savings in that, but also it’s about making certain that the volcano is a special thing, and that it’s not going off so often that it’s taken for granted,” Feldman says. “With the [Bellagio fountains], we are sensitive to the fact that we have one of the great tourist attractions in the world there, and it’s definitely not going anywhere.
“As we do our best to manage these assets, we have to find the right balance of spectacle and showing something [for free] and drawing people to Las Vegas and also find the appropriate time to be paid back.”
Shochiku Kabuki Spectacle August 14 at 9:15 p.m., August 15 & 16 at 9:15 & 11:30 p.m., Fountains of Bellagio.
