Las Vegas is bursting with live shows and nightclubs

Live entertainment, which has long been part of the Las Vegas experience, has evolved dramatically over the past 10 years. While such staples as lounge acts, standup comics and revues featuring long-legged showgirls are still going strong, Las Vegas is now also home to award-winning magicians, Broadway-caliber productions, comedy shows, impersonators and tributes, and such concert headliners as Celine Dion, U2, Barbra Streisand, Elton John and Garth Brooks. In addition, such traveling acts as “Cirque du Soleil,” “Blue Man Group” and “Stomp” have become permanent fixtures there, and nightclubs are more edgy and sophisticated.

Dining and entertainment recently surpassed gaming as the leading reason for travel to Las Vegas, says Art Jimenez, director of leisure sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). In 2006, 76 percent of visitors attended shows, according to LVCVA statistics. Broken down by category, 17 percent saw headliners, 32 percent saw production shows and Broadway shows, 75 percent saw lounge acts, 14 percent saw comedy revues, 5 percent saw impersonator and tribute shows, and 3 percent saw magic shows.

Many hotels have venues that were designed to accommodate specific shows. Perhaps the best-known example of a custom-built venue is the $95 million Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the 4,000-seat home of Celine Dion’s “A New Day...” and Elton John’s “The Red Piano,” although the facility can be adapted to accommodate other types of events when those shows are dark. Dion’s show ends Dec. 15, and Bette Midler debuts her new show there in February 2008 for an extended engagement.

More recently, Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino opened a purpose-built showroom for “Stomp Out Loud,” featuring a troupe of performers who entertain through dance and percussion. And “Blue Man Group” moved from Luxor Las Vegas, where it debuted in 2000, to The Venetian, which built a theater for the quirky trio.

Other headliners who have made long-range commitments to perform in Las Vegas. R&B singer Toni Braxton’s “Toni Braxton: Revealed” plays at the Flamingo Las Vegas through Feb. 16, 2008, and Barry Manilow’s “Manilow: Music and Passion” show at the Las Vegas Hilton is expected to run through 2008. And of course, Wayne Newton, who has sung in Las Vegas for years, performs at Harrah’s. In addition, such recording artists as Norah Jones, Cheap Trick and Aerosmith have performed at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues and at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Those looking for laughs can will find a roster of headliners that includes Bobby Slayton, “the pit bull of comedy,” who performs his politically incorrect standup act at the Night Owl Showroom at Hooters Casino Hotel. Improv artist Wayne Brady, a headliner at The Venetian, is extending his show, “Making It Up,” through mid-2008. Such comedians as Dennis Miller, Rita Rudner, Ray Romano and Jerry Seinfeld also regularly perform in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, such comedy clubs as the Improv at Harrah’s and Second City at the Flamingo host both well-known and rising stars.

Among the first acts to break the entertainment mold in Las Vegas, however, was Cirque du Soleil, an ethereal troupe of acrobats performing with special effects. Cirque du Soleil debuted “Mystere” at Treasure Island more than 10 years ago. Since then, Cirque du Soleil has added several other resident shows at MGM Mirage properties, including “O” at the Bellagio (its first foray into aquatic theater), “Zumanity” at New York-New York Hotel & Casino, “Ka” at the MGM Grand and its newest show, “Love,” based on the music of The Beatles, which opened at the Mirage earlier this year. Next year the Quebec-based company will open its sixth Las Vegas show, at Luxor Las Vegas, starring illusionist Criss Angel, of the A&E show “Mindfreak.” A seventh show, based on the life and music of Elvis Presley, will debut at CityCenter when that development opens in 2009.

Other production companies have followed suit with acrobat-based shows, including the recently opened “X” burlesque show, which features acrobatics and a variety of dance and musical styles using bungee chords and bathtubs, at the 180-seat Flamingo Cabaret. “Le Rêve” features aerial acrobatics and provocative choreography in an aqua theater in the round at Wynn.

Relatively new to Las Vegas are Broadway and off-Broadway shows, some of them direct from New York. Among the productions now playing are “Monty Python’s Spamalot” at Wynn Las Vegas; Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” at Paris Las Vegas; and “Defending the Caveman,” Broadway’s longest-running solo show, which recently opened at the newly renovated Showroom at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas.

Magic shows have long been a Las Vegas staple, with the likes of Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo and comic magicians Penn and Teller at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Among the more recently launched magic shows is “Hans Klok-The Beauty of Magic,” which guest stars Pamela Anderson and combines magic and dance, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.         

Meanwhile, a new wave of lounges, nightclubs and bars has been keeping visitors up late. Among the first was Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, a replica of what was considered to be New York’s hottest nightclub during the 1970s. Others have since followed. Among them are Tao, an Asian-inspired New York celebrity haven, at The Venetian; and Poly Esther’s, a chain of clubs featuring multiple themed rooms playing music from each of the past four decades, which opened earlier this year at the Stratosphere.

Among the new types of clubs are ultra-lounges — more intimate, often themed nightclubs — such as Tabú at the MGM Grand and The Beatles Revolution Lounge at The Mirage. And burlesque clubs, such as Tangerine Lounge and Nightclub at Treasure Island and Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce at Mandalay Bay, feature dance floors, as well as burlesque dancers moving to the sounds of a live band. (Although the dancers do a little strip tease, there is no nudity.)

Las Vegas’ nightclubs are popular with conference groups and bachelor and bachelorette parties, and they offer VIP packages, added amenities and group discounts, according to LVCVA spokesperson Alicia Malone.

For visitors who still crave a touch of old Las Vegas, racy revues featuring showgirls, often topless, in sparkly costumes and elaborate headdresses, are still a big part of the city’s entertainment landscape. Among them are “Jubilee!” at Bally’s Las Vegas, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and The Tropicana’s “Les Folies Bergere.” In addition, newer shows, such as “MGM Grand’s Crazy Horse Paris,” a replica of its namesake in Paris, and male revues, such as “Chippendales” at the Rio, are putting a twist on the typical Las Vegas revue.