Disco show, Strip expansion in Spiegelworld’s future

Note: This is the second of a three-part series of “Kats!” columns centering on this week’s 10th anniversary of “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace.

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“Absinthe” broke the seal for Spiegelworld in Las Vegas. The show’s 10th anniversary is on April Fool’s, fool, at Caesars Palace. The show is an unqualified hit. It is also the city’s Trojan Horse at Roman Plaza, spilling out other productions and concepts as Spiegelworld redoubles its commitment to Las Vegas.

Thus, we offer the following state-of-the-company list, themed for “Absinthe’s” landmark anniversary:

Top 10 Big Ideas For Spiegelworld

10: Ah, freak out! Currently titled, “We Are Here/The Disco Show,” the company is looking for a home for this production hearkening to the birth of the disco craze. “The Disco Show,” as we call it today, is about seven years in development. A pared-down version showcased at La MaMa experimental theater (renamed The GlitterLoft for a weekend) in New York City’s East Village in August 2018.

The show’s home venue might be in or out of Las Vegas, but the show has great post-pandemic potential. Studio master Nile Rodgers of Chic, and Olivier Award-winner Steven Hoggett of the “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” Broadway production head up the creative team. Quasi-fictional character Åke Blomqvist (inspired by the late Finnish dance master of the same name) heads up the cast. He’s the sidekick of such Spiegelworld brands as The Gazillionaire, Captain Kunton of “Opium,” and Boozy Skunkton of “Atomic Saloon Show.” As we say, get to know him.

9: Return to the sands. Dubbed “Circus Rumpus,” this is a series of performance led Spiegelworld artists and creative types. The event was originally planned for a patch of Death Valley desert Memorial Day Weekend 2020. Keep an eye for its return.

8. New resort, YouTube awakening. Resorts World Las Vegas is opening this summer, and Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison is forever investigating new hotel partnerships and unique architecture. Resorts World has no formal plans for a residency production show in its original opening timeline. Maybe we’ll see a match in the resort’s phase-two opening.

Lumping into this entry, Spiegelworld’s “VEGASHITSHOW” YouTube series could be developed into an ongoing reality-based project, docu-series or totally fictionalized account of Spiegelworld’s cast of characters. The clips have run throughout the pandemic. In No. 25, released Thursday, the amazing Petra Massey (who portrays Boozy Skunkton) makes a play for the Green Fairy role in “Absinthe.”

7. Get down, town. Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison has been poking around downtown for years, most recently at properties once owned by Tony Hsieh. Without doubt, Spiegelworld in the downtown motel corridor would energize the neighborhood. The 51-year-old Western hotel and casino at 899 Fremont St., referred to in past-tense on Wikipedia, is frequently held up as such a Spiegelworld spot.

6. Feel the burn. For the past few years, Spiegelworld has presented an elaborate production in a mini-community at the annual Burning Man festival. The performances are under the title of Falzone Family Circus (we met this make-believe crew in the days of “Vegas Nocturne”). About 100 Spiegelworld reps and assorted friends take an RV caravan to the event. Spiegelworld characters Evgeny “Alfonso” Falzone-Buzukhov and Beverley Rossina Falzone-Buzukhov have been showcased.

The productions have played in a temporary, inflatable, white tent. But the project is among several Spiegelworld concepts with a potential for permanency.

5. More “Absinthe” shots. The hit show at Caesars Palace could well sprout a second production, with a separate cast, to play Caesars Bluewaters in Dubai, and also Caesars Atlantic City. Caesars Entertainment has sent productions to Dubai, pre-COVID (examples being Xavier Mortimer, Tenors of Rock and “Wow”). Caesars Atlantic City has hosted its own headlining lineup (Patti LaBelle, Rob Lowe, Chaka Khan are all on sale). Caesars officials from Las Vegas visited the property this month to review options. “Absinthe” should be one.

4. “Atomic” club connection. “Atomic Saloon Show,” Spiegelworld’s feverish Wild West sendup at The Venetian, is reportedly looking at a Bang Out Nightclub experience. This is an ultra-lounge nightclub in the existing Atomic Saloon space at The Grand Canal Shoppes. Good idea. Visitors to the show are characteristically looking to party after an “Atomic” performance. Might as well keep the posse in the saloon, as it were.

3. Fringe benefits. Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become crucial to Spiegelworld’s development of new shows headed for Las Vegas. “Atomic Saloon Show” drew uniformly high praise from the historically discriminate U.K. press and even the most jaded festival-goers. Mollison has threatened to pull out of the event, pre-pandemic, citing concerns over how currency would be handled during the Brexit debate.

But Mollison also said he planned to premiere a show per year for five years, beginning with “Atomic” in 2019. The Fringe is planning what seems a hybrid live-digital event this August, building to a full revival in 2022. By then, Spiegelworld would be in position to make its own dramatic return.

2. This goes to 14. Before the COVID pause, “Absinthe” was powering through a two-show-per-night, 14-show-per-week schedule — with no pause. The show is still Spiegelworld’s engine, and can use that revenue to help subsidize everything else on this list.

1. Cosmopolitan retribution. Along with returning “Opium” to the Cosmopolitan, Spiegelworld is planning an adjoining “culinary destination” connected to the Opium Showroom. This is the same flavor of creativity the company brought with “Vegas Nocturne” in late 2013, when the circus/comedy show was interlocked with a refined dining experience (“Please deliver the duck confit when Sean & John start tap-dancing.”)

The “Vegas Nocturne”/Rose. Rabbit. Lie. pairing was inspired, but also somewhat unwieldy, needlessly confusing (we never warmed to the “cantos” format) and really expensive. That’s why the show closed after six months, leading to a volley of lawsuits. In court, the hotel reported losing $1 million a month over six months of operations.

But the universe is open once more, with the relaunch of “Opium” and what should be a dazzling restaurant. Mollison have earned another chance at success. As always, expect the impresario to shoot for the stars.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Sheldon Adelson, the late chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.