“Showstoppers” gets it done; Soul-searching at Cirque

Basking in the afterglow of the opening night of ShowStoppers. (Or properly, Steve Wynn’s Showtoppers) Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn called it the most satisfying creative ShowStoppers Chorus-Line-RGB_1experience he’d had to date. When he finishes a hotel, he said, all he sees are the things that could have been done better. Here he could just sit back and enjoy the ride. Few critical verdicts are in on the show yet. But if Wynn’s goal was to “exhaust” audiences, I’m happy to say he failed. When the show climaxes with a stunning (and upsized) recreation of Michael Bennett‘s choreography for “One” from A Chorus Line, one feels satisfied but not glutted, thanks in part to the show’s trim, disciplined, 72-minute running time.

The bigger question is whether a show that leans heavily on musicals like Irving Berlin‘s 1946 Annie Get Your Gun will resonate with the kinds of millennials who dominated Wynn’s casino floor and hallways last Saturday night. At least Kander & Ebb‘s Chicago (heavily excerpted) is fresh in the memory from an Oscar-winning film and their Cabaret (ditto) is frequently revived. Those ought to have some brand equity to their names.

stevewynnWynn mulled the question himself. “Is there something about that age group that just doesn’t give a damn about this? Or is it they haven’t been exposed to it? And what happens if they are? Do they care? … I don’t know any reason why the kids at XS wouldn’t give a damn about something as big and as beautiful as what we’ve put on the stage.”

Critic Jon Katsilometes termed ShowStoppers a “haymaker,” while acknowledging that it’s swimming against the stream on a Strip dominated by shows like Mystere (or Wynn’s own Le Reve) that transcend linguistic borders. “If you appreciate great live performances in Las Vegas, this production needs to make it,” Katsilometes concluded.

From where we sat, Showstoppers moved as smoothly as on glass. Wynn struck gold with the six vocal soloists he chose, particularly leads Kerry O’Malley and Randal Keith (the latter a veteran of Spamalot at Wynncore). Marguerite Derricks‘ 28-member dance troupe goes through its paces with alacrity and joie de vivre, while the 30-odd players in the orchestra provide a satisfying big, Broadway sound. One might question the tinkering with some lyrics to give them more topicality, as when “No Name City” from Paint Your Wagon becomes “Oh Las Vegas, and the sampling of Broadway tunesmiths is hardly encylopedic. There’s no Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, save as a lyricist (Gypsy). However, since an upbeat show was the order of the day, one can’t be too surprised that the composer of “Sorry-Grateful” and “Losing My Mind” isn’t represented. On the whole, though, very well done. Bravo.

* Speaking of Cirque du Soleil, it has hired Goldman Sachs to help it recapitalize. The o-piccompany is looking for a significant equity infusion. Cirque has done some soul-searching and concluded that “The rarity was gone.” Of course “rarity” and Cirque never occupy the same sentence when it comes to the Las Vegas Strip. Indeed, a Cirque-commissioned study showed that there was too much of the brand out there. Thanks to a Bain & Co. report, the troupe has been quietly downsizing for three years now. (A mass layoff at Zumanity was the most recent purge of which we know.) Or, as company founder Guy Laliberte said of O, “Why do we need six contortionists?” Because you can never have too much of a bad thing?

While it continues to try and penetrate China and India, Cirque will now attempt to diversify. New ventures include a ticketing service and small shows for hotels and theme parks. Since the company continues to be profitable, there’s no reason to fear its Las Vegas tent poles will be going away anytime soon.

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