‘Absinthe’ leaving Caesars for Cosmo in October

On the night of April 1, 2015, during the post-party for his signature show’s fourth anniversary, Ross Mollison drew ripples of laughter when he told a crowd at Caesars Palace, “Next year, ‘Absinthe’ is moving to the Cosmopolitan.”

Now, that’s no joke.

Partnering with a hotel that was once a robust legal combatant, Mollison’s Spiegelworld production company and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ new administrative team have announced plans for “Absinthe” to move from Roman Plaza at Caesars Palace to the theater at the Cosmopolitan’s Rose. Rabbit. Lie.

The show is set to close Oct. 21 after a hot-selling and critically acclaimed run of 5½ years in its famed tented enclave at Roman Plaza.

A joint announcement specifying plans for “Absinthe” is to be issued Tuesday by Spiegelworld and Cosmopolitan. The cast of the show was informed by the Spiegelworld hierarchy on July 10 that a move was imminent, though the hotel and venue were not specified.

On Monday afternoon, Mollison was reminded of his tossed-off comments from April 2015, when it seemed the Cosmopolitan was the last hotel it would choose as a future home.

“As it turned out, I was not joking,” Mollison said with a chuckle. “I was being serious. We are moving the show into one of the greatest resorts on the Strip. We are in a great place, and the good news here is that ‘Absinthe’ is living on in Las Vegas.”

Mollison added that a ticket on-sale date is to be announced “soon,” and the target date for the show to open at the Cosmopolitan is sometime in November.

In the release to be sent Tuesday, Cosmopolitan President and CEO Bill McBeath said: “Absinthe is a truly unique experience and we look forward to collaborating with Spiegelworld on its new home here at The Cosmopolitan next door to Rose. Rabbit. Lie.”

McBeath was hired to run the hotel by Cosmopolitan ownership company Blackstone Real Estate Partners, which was not named in the original dispute between Spiegelworld and the hotel.

In June, McBeath said he was interested only in “a proven winner” to move in to the Rose. Rabbit. Lie. venue, which will operate independent from the production show. Over the past two years hotel officials have reviewed all variety of productions and performers before landing on what is indeed a winner. “Absinthe” sells, at a minimum, 5,000 tickets a week in its 550-seat theater, selling out or nearly selling out 10 shows a week.

The Rose. Rabbit. Lie. theater, to be “reimagined” for the show, is familiar territory for Spiegelworld. The venue was home to the production “Vegas Nocturne,” which, like “Absinthe,” was loaded with unique side acts and a pair of ribald co-hosts.

But the high-cost show leaked a reported $1 million a month before closing in June 2014, setting off a flurry of lawsuits between Spiegelworld and the hotel. The dispute was finally settled in May 2015, at about the time a new set of complaints was initiated by Spiegelworld against “Absinthe” co-producer Base Entertainment.

Boiled to its core, this volley of complaints in U.S. District Court has centered on a dispute over ticket rebates issued by Ticketmaster to the show’s co-producers. (Producers receive a break in the ticket company’s service fees if it hits certain sales benchmarks.) Spiegelworld has alleged it is not receiving its share of those rebate payments; Base Entertainment strongly disputes that contention. Base has issued a new set of complaints in Clark County District Court, attempting to shift the case to the state’s jurisdiction from federal court and attempting to block the show’s move out of Caesars Palace.

Base has also contacted members of the “Absinthe” cast via email, issuing a companywide memo on July 22 (and be certain that one sad outcome of this development is many members of that cast who are aerial artists will lose their jobs as a result of the show’s move). The email reminded members of the production that Base is the show’s primary equity partner and its chief investor, and also reinforced Base’s desire to keep the show at Caesars Palace.

But that concept seems impossible, at least without a court order. The lease agreement between Base, Spiegelworld and Caesars Entertainment at Caesars Palace requires all three entities to sign a a two-year extension by the time the current lease expires Oct. 21. Spiegelworld is the one party refusing. Representatives from Caesars Entertainment, similar to Base execs, have indicated they want to sign and keep the show running as-is at Caesars Palace.

Base seems not finished fighting, in court or through its own production partnership. Company officials have noted that Ticketmaster is taking its direction from Base as to how to issue refunds for “Absinthe.” Spiegelworld has asked that Ticketmaster cancel ticket sales past Oct. 21, but Ticketmaster has yet to comply with that request.

Leave the final word on this matter, for now anyway, to the fictitious character Gazillionaire, the show’s co-host and the role widely assumed to be Mollison’s alter-ego. In today’s statement, “Gaz” is quoted as saying, “I was just getting ready to pack up my tent and move to Miami. But last night I was offered a deal I couldn’t pass up.”

And the “Absinthe” circus, a cauldron of high-risk activity, lives to see another day.