‘Le Reve’ shutdown: ‘Nobody saw this coming’

The term is “gut punch,” and we’ve felt several on the Las Vegas entertainment scene during the COVID-19 shutdown. But even in this uncertain climate, the closing of “Le Reve” was a shot to the solar plexus for the cast of a show that seemed immune to even a pandemic crisis.

“Everybody has understood the complications of a big company like Cirque, but being privately owned, it seems we could survive,” said Louanne Madorna, the casting director at Wynn Las Vegas who has worked intimately and extensively on the production for 13 years. “We had several plans in place, and the hotel was behind the creative team and the coaches, seeing how we could reopen with lesser audiences … Nobody saw this coming.”

The great guitarist and 12-year “Le Reve” band member Mundo Juillerat was one to use “gut punch” to convey his feelings.

“I thought we were going to talk about our insurance running out.” Juillerat said. “I had a great run and was looking forward to many more years.”

Said ballroom dance captain Erika Tomlinson, who also played The Dreamer character, “It’s a big shock to all of us. Devastation is the first word to come to mind, then heartbroken.”

Tomlinson said the team was stage-ready, up until Friday’s announcement.

“We thought the reopening date was just being pushed further back, and we had been staying in shape,” she said. “We had been doing Zoom rehearsals, ready to jump back in.”

“Le Reve” premiered in 2005, the night Wynn Las Vegas itself opened. The hotel was so new that the carpet leading into the aquatic-themed show was still wet. The show withstood a sluggish start, as critics and ticket holders were put off by some of its darker themes.

But the creative team continued to tweak the production over the years, expanding its choreography with classic dance numbers and adding comedic clown elements. The 80-foot drop to the 27-foot-deep water stage from the opening above the theater was a signature moment. And the show offered such splashy amenities as VIP seats where ticket holders in lounge seats could watch the underwater activity on video monitors — while enjoying champagne and strawberries.

Behind the scenes, the resort subsidized the operation, a business model that was a throwback to the days when hotels actually owned their shows and paid the cast and crew as employees. As it is, members of the 275-member troupe are now heading for unemployment insurance. Many with international visas will need to return to their home countries. The entire company had been furloughed since March, and their benefits time out at the end of the month.

“These are hard business decisions, but the hotel had supported us with full pay since March,” Madorma said. “At the end of the day, they did support us as much as humanly possible.”

The show’s creator, Franco Dragone, said in a text Saturday, “What is there to say? I know the Wynn team has done its best to keep all of them on board.”

Dragone had just left Cirque du Soleil, where he designed the water spectacular “O,” when he answered Steve Wynn’s call to develop “Le Reve.” The partnership with Dragone, who also created Celine Dion’s “A New Day …” caused widespread confusion that “Le Reve” was also a Cirque show.

It wasn’t, but the show was certainly a Cirque-scaled production, in a $75 million, customized, 1,600-seat theater-in-the round. One informed source said it would have cost $4 million just to relaunch “Le Reve,” with restricted seating capacity of 400-500, in an entertainment market that is hardly certain to support a full-scale production show.

“I’ve been looking at the long-term repercussions, and if audiences will be coming back to Las Vegas,” Madorma said. “I was downtown last week, and was wondering if this clientele in the city right now is going to come to a show.”

Dance supervisor Danita Eldridge, who joined the show in 2006 after an extensive Broadway and touring career, said the show was facing challenges even before COVID hit.

“I think we’ve seen how it’s been going over the past year, a shift in entertainment in all of the shows in town,” Eldridge said. “I think we knew times were tough, with pro sports coming in, with so much more to do. But being an artist, being resilient embodies who you are. We hoped this show could make it through anything.”

“Le Reve” logged more than 6,000 performances in 15 years, passing that milestone in May 2018. The show essentially owned the Best Production Show Award from the influential Southern Nevada Concierge Association, having won it nine years in a row.

Wynn Las Vegas Entertainment Director Rick Gray told the “Le Reve” team the stunning news during a virtual meeting on Friday afternoon. He declined comment about the show, referring to the hotel’s original statement Friday that the shutdown was forced by COVID uncertainty.

“I have never worked with anyone more dedicated to a show than Rick Gray,” Madorma said. “The first thing I asked was, ‘How are you?’ This a small company, a family, where you could walk upstairs and walk into anyone’s office. It was not just about performing. It was a lifestyle.”

Asked simply how she felt, Eldridge said, “I’m going to miss the audience’s special connection to the show. We’re feeling the sadness of not being able to give that to anyone anymore.”

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.