‘Absinthe’ LED tree to be ‘Instagram candy’ on Las Vegas Strip
A tree grows on the Las Vegas Strip.
But this is no ordinary tree. This is the Wormwood Tree, a piece of illuminated forestry from the Burning Man cultural enlightenment event held annually in northwest Nevada. Standing 35 feet tall and trimmed with 25,000 multicolored LED lights, the tree is being reconstructed at the “Absinthe” Spiegeltent at Caesars Palace.
“This will change the Strip, I reckon,” says Spiegelworld founder and “improssario” Ross Mollison. “‘It will be Instagram candy for the Strip. It’ll create a whole new ‘tree-sinct’ for tourists.”
The giant effect is to be finished by September, and it’s merely a component of a larger re-imagining of the Roman Plaza, where “Absinthe” is performed twice nightly. A new “Absinthe”-themed bar is planned just to the east of the Spiegeltent and next to the Wormwood Tree as Spiegelworld overtakes the hotel’s Strip-facing courtyard.
The Burning Man tree installation was designed and engineered by Alex Green and Symmetry Labs in San Francisco.
“We’ll see an illuminated garden and a pre-show earlier in the day,” Mollison says. “We’ll have a new bar and other amenities. You can grab champagne, grab a fizzy water, or grab a fizzy something.”
Mollison has reviewed the bar’s hours of operation.
“We’ll check on the regulations of how long we can be open,” he says. “Oh, wait. There are no regulations.”
Mollison says “familiar characters” from “Absinthe” will perform at this new courtyard. The concept is an updated adaptation of the outdoor bar and courtyard that led to the original Spiegeltent in 2011. DJs, or as they are to be called, “Tree-Js.”
“We will have Kascade, Akon — he’s achin’ to do it — Calvin Harris, Calvin Klein,” Mollison says. “We’ll have all the Calvins who want to perform as Tree-Js.”
The impressario’s promise: “Prepare for some shtick.” And seeds of that shtick are planted with his glowing tree.
Mayoral jersey action
Mayor Carolyn Goodman is paying off her Stanley Cup Final bet with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at Thursday’s City Council meeting. Goodman is wearing a Washington Capitals jersey and displaying the basket of Vegas goodies to be delivered to Bowser in Washington. But members of the City Council are wearing Golden Knights black and gold.
Gimme a ‘P’!
Marguerite Derricks, the renowned choreographer who for has designed dance numbers at Wynn Las Vegas productions (including “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers” and “Le Reve”) is choreographer for the upcoming feature film “Poms.” The film stars Diane Keaton and Jacki Weaver as retired cheerleaders who organize a retirement-community cheer squad. The film begins shooting July in Atlanta.
Derricks also originally conceived the dance design in Cirque’s “Zumanity” at New York-New York. This month she has held auditions in L.A. and Las Vegas for a yet-untitled holiday show in development for the Wynn.
Take two and call me at face-off
Brittany Kosmala, who founded the Las Vegas swimwear company Bellina Rebelle and now runs the computer software company Inenvi Inc., has suffered serious Golden Knights withdrawals.
Her condition is so pronounced, her parents, Jeff and Vicki Kosmala, gave her a bottle of “Happy Pills” for the offseason.
These “pills” are, in fact, jellybeans in a pill bottle. The actual prescription label has been adjusted to read, “TO HELP YOU GET TO VGK NEXT SEASON 2019.” The directions are to take one, every morning, until the 2018-19 season opener.
Kosmala and her husband, James, have been to nearly every Golden Knights game at T-Mobile Arena. “We are major fans, for sure,” she says, and has enough pills — er, jellybeans — to last until September.
Who Was Where
The cast of “Hamilton” at the Smith Center visited the Spiegeltent on Monday night. Mollison posted the photo on his Instagram page with the message, “Gaz agrees to finance cast of ‘Hamilton’ to run the government in 2020.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter.
