MGM Resorts’ Hornbuckle welcomes back ‘biggest, best’ show ever, ‘O’
Costumed performers cavorted all around him. There was horse on wheels, with a zebra-clad Cirque artist riding high.
But MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle has ditched his own disguise, the face cover he’d been wearing for more than a year. The light-blue mask was necessary, of course, because of COVID. But Thursday afternoon, the executive kept with the suit as he participated in the buoyant parade of “O” artists through the casino, marking the return of the show after 16 months of inactivity.
“We are coming back, and coming back with strength,” Hornbuckle said from the O Theatre lobby, after the parade and about two hours before showtime. “Everything we’ve put back onsale, by and large, has sold out, clean. Like, instantly. Some of them within minutes. We’re talking, several-thousand seat venues.”
Hornbuckle is clearly elated to have Cirque’s crown jewel back onstage.
“To have ‘O’ back, it’s what Las Vegas is all about,” Hornbuckle said. “It’s iconic. It’s the biggest, best production show the industry has ever seen or known. We couldn’t be more excited.”
Cirque has been an interlocking artistic and business partner with MGM Resorts International since the company took over Mirage Resorts in 2000.
“‘O’ is the very essence of the Bellagio, when you talk about iconic images, the great fountains and the great brands we have,” Hornbuckle said. “It’s been here for 22 years, it’s sold out all the time … it’s the world’s most successful show.”
Cirque opens “Michael Jackson One” at Mandalay Bay on Aug. 19, and “Love” at the Mirage on Aug. 26, with “Ka” filling out the company’s Strip roster — -now five Vegas shows, after “Zumanity” has closed — in November.
Hornbuckle has a void to fill at the former Zumanity Theater at New York-New York. Terry Fator currently headlines the venue. But the CEO said there are plans to bring in a production show by the spring.
Cirque owns the popular magic production show “The Illusionists,” which seems at least a possibility for New York-New York. A hit on Broadway and on tour, the show was to be showcased at the 2021 “One Night For One Drop” charity event at Luxor, an even wiped out by the pandemic.
But Hornbuckle declined to specify what would be hauling into NY-NY next year.
“I will tell you this, it will be hopefully a 10-show-a-week type of performance,” Hornbuckle said. “It will speak to the brand very well, and it will speak to what the audience wants and needs in this environment.”
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.
