Kats: COVID surge forces inventive scheduling for Vegas shows

Call it the Omicron Shuffle.

COVID’s interaction has caused a intermission successful respective Las Vegas productions, and forced shows to go much flexible successful scheduling. Typically, shows are going acheronian for respective days successful a enactment alternatively than going acheronian for months, arsenic was the lawsuit successful opening successful March 2020.

The COVID surge is being coupled with the accepted lull successful summons income for unrecorded shows brought connected by CES. The user assemblage is not characteristically funny successful ticketed shows. We enactment the large headlining shows, specified arsenic Katy Perry’s “Play,” astatine Resorts World Las Vegas, person recorded beardown beforehand sales. And “Weekends With Adele,” opening Jan. 21-22 astatine the Colosseum astatine Caesars Palace, remains frankincense acold unaffected by the pandemic surge.

But the duplicate COVID-CES concerns person taken down respective smaller-scale shows astatine V Theater astatine Miracle Mile Shops astatine Planet Hollywood. “Zombie Burlesque” was cancelled Wednesday nighttime (though backmost tonight). The Jets and “Hitzville” are down astatine slightest done the extremity of the month. Gregoroy Popovich’s “Comedy Pet Theater” runs done Saturday, past is connected an extended and planned interruption of 2 months.

“It’s a operation of COVID and CES,” shaper David Saxe said. “I person ne'er had to cancel ‘Zombie,’ day-of, but I had to today, conscionable due to the fact that we had truthful fewer tickets sold it made consciousness to telephone it. We volition beryllium backmost (Thursday).”

As if punctuating the point, Saxe himself is recovering from a bout with COVID.

Across Las Vegas, we’ve already noted that specified top-line productions arsenic Cirque’s “Love” and David Copperfield’s accumulation person announced this week they are going dark, “Love” for brushed box-office numbers astatine the Mirage (reportedly falling to arsenic debased arsenic 30-percent sold per show).

Cirque, generally, is going to beryllium adjusting its amusement docket to offset specified debased points. “Love” is owed backmost Tuesday night.

Copperfield dropped his amusement astatine MGM Grand due to the fact that of affirmative COVID cases connected his team, and is backmost Saturday. Mat Franco at Linq Hotel himself tested positive, cutting shows this week (returning aft a scheduled interruption Jan. 17). Xavier Mortimer called disconnected 2 shows astatine The Strat implicit the play due to the fact that of a lawsuit successful his show. He’s retired done Jan. 16, on with each shows astatine The Strat Theater, arsenic the venue is being renovated.

Reports astir specified tiny venues arsenic Laugh Factory astatine the Trop is attendance has suffered a important driblet this week, compared to adjacent sell-out concern past week. But the drama clubs person been capable to tally arsenic scheduled, adjacent with the dip successful demand.

Many different shows (magician Mac King astatine Excalibur, the longest-running headliner successful Las Vegas, a starring example) are already braking successful anticipation of the CES downturn.

Spiegelworld’s “Absinthe,” often a concern barometer connected the Strip and box-office juggernaut, is besides warring substandard income and companywide COVID concerns. Spiegelworld produces “Atomic Saloon Show” astatine The Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes, and the “Opium”-Superfrico pairing astatine the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Those shows are, collectively, dealing with COVID cases and sluggish demand.

Spiegelworld laminitis Ross Mollison said Monday his company’s positive-COVID cases person dropped — yes, dropped — to astir 50. The fig peaked a batch higher than that.

Mollison is holding disconnected expanding his Superfrico edifice docket to 7 nights a week astatine the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. It is hard capable to unit the spot Wednesdays done Sundays.

Mollison says helium volition hold until request and staffing are stabilized. He added, with diagnostic panache, “Hey, I americium an optimist. I americium ever confident, and I’m assured we volition get done this.”

Ballpark figures

Las Vegas Ballpark parked it (hello!) with the “Enchant” show. “It did amended than we ever would person expected,” Las Vegas Aviators President Don Logan said Wednesday.

The vacation acquisition was the leading, but not only, lawsuit of however the Aviators’ location tract tin beryllium utilized for assorted amusement purposes.

“I’d similar to bash a performance series, each fall, which I deliberation would beryllium a large usage of the stadium,” Logan said. “The upwind is perfect then, and the fans would emotion it.” Brody Dolyniuk’s “British Rock Royalty” amusement and Nina DiGregorio’s “Femmes of Rock” drawstring ensemble played the archetypal performance ever astatine the stadium successful June.

The challenges of programming extracurricular of the Aviators’ play docket are obvious. The triple-A shot nine has the tract from March done September. “Enchant,” which runs done 2023, begins mounting up successful the archetypal week successful November, closes Jan. 2 and requires 2 weeks to unopen down. This year, the NFL Pro Bowl Skills Showdown is acceptable for The Ballpark connected Feb. 3. Then the tract needs to beryllium prepped for the hometown nine’s opening successful March.

“Looking astatine each of it, keeping the tract successful bully signifier is our priority,” Logan said. “But we sill proceed to bash movie nights (the Flicks connected the Field series) astatine the stadium, which is truly popular, There is existent imaginable for us.”

They hatred america origin they ain't america 😎 pic.twitter.com/14spMcC20B

— Las Vegas Aviators (@AviatorsLV) January 5, 2022

Great moments successful societal media

On the taxable of the Aviators … The squad threw a antagonistic hook astatine those who kick astir its fighter-pilot logo, posting connected Twitter, “They hatred america origin they ain’t us.” The photograph illustration was of the Aviator pilot, successful a tux, with a the message, “I privation each radical who don’t similar our logo a precise pleasant we don’t care.” For that, I’ll bargain a hat.

Cool Hang Alert

David Perrico’s Pop Strings, present known connected Sundays arsenic the Raiders House Band, returns to the lounge country astatine 7 p.m. (doors) and 8 p.m. (show) astatine Sunset Station’s Club Madrid. Perrico’s set has not played an unfastened lounge gig since shutting down astatine Cleopatra’s Barge astatine Caesars Palace successful February 2020. The amusement lands connected Elvis’ 82nd birthday. Fittingly, erstwhile Cirque “Viva Elvis” vocalist Jennlee Shallow, a terrific endowment retired of Trinidad, is backmost successful municipality and joins the lineup. Shallow astir precocious toured with the “Whitney Houston philharmonic “The Bodyguard.”

John Katsilometes’ file runs regular successful the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast tin beryllium recovered astatine reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him astatine jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats connected Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 connected Instagram.