Fan favorite Spice Girls tribute show closing on Strip
The poppy tribute show seeded in a LinkedIn message is shutting down at the Excalibur.
“Spice Wannabe — The Spice Girls Tribute ” is closing at that hotel’s Thunderland Showroom. The show joins “Love” at The Mirage and “Jersey Boys” at Orleans Showroom to cease operations this month.
The last night for the energetic greatest-hits tribute is July 28.
“It has been a crazy year, but a year of great fun,” the show’s co-star and co-producer Casey McConachie said Sunday. “We haven’t had one bad review. It’s not that we’re a failed show. It’s just that we couldn’t figure out how to amp it up.”
McConachie originally caught the eye of SPI Entertainment’s Adam Steck by messaging the longtime Vegas producer via LinkedIn. A partnership was born, with “Wannabe” sharing Thunderland Showroom with magic icon Mac King, “Australian Bee Gees Show” and “Thunder From Down Under.”
“Wannabe” was a happy experience for Spice Girls fans, but the show could not make the numbers work even with an 80-ticket-per-show, break-even point. McConachie, who played Baby Spice, emphasized that the show was alive with big houses, but too many of those attendees had obtained tickets on seat-filling sites.
The result was frustrating for a new Las Vegas production.
“People need to know, the best way to support a show is to literally buy a ticket,” McConachie said. “Coming to our show on House Seats five times isn’t going to help us.”
McConachie said Sunday she was happy the show persevered in the face of a widespread cyberattack at MGM Resorts International (which locked up the show’s ticket-selling platforms) and Formula 1 race disruptions.
McConachie has also played the character Mermaid CaySea as owner of FantaSea Productions, which supplies interactive mermaid experiences at Tahiti Village Resort. She was joined on stage by Malia Rae Blunt as Scary Spice, Deena Cary as Posh Spice, Yvonne Cavaco as Sporty Spice and Sarah Jessica Rhodes as Ginger Spice.
The show employed three Spice Boys backing dancers, Jonathan Claudio (also the show’s choreographer), Justin Velarde (costume designer) and Kurt Nagy.
Steck says his company has four options to consider, but because this summer is especially slow he is not planning to replace “Wannabe” until early 2025, if at all.
McConachie is determined to keep her passion project in motion.
“We’re going to focus on touring it and booking it on the road more, because we still have a really good following and clientele and our name’s out there now,” she said. “We’re branded. We’re connected with some really good agents that are starting to get us into more places. I have some ideas of where we’re going to do it in Vegas, like one-offs. We’re not done yet.”
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 X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.