Neither Westgate’s entertainment director nor its PR agency, PR Plus, would deign to comment on the fizzle of Suzanne Sizzles. However, the booking seemed to be driven by a faulty premise. In pre-show promotion, Westgate owner David Siegel said, "Lemme tell you something, years ago, when I was watching Three’s Company, if somebody had told me, 'Someday, you'll own a large casino-hotel in Las Vegas and have Suzanne Somers sitting on your lap and on your stage, I would have said, 'What are you smoking?' What can I say? We have Chrissy Snow on our stage."
Siegel added that Somers had only given him a brief pitch for her multi-pronged presence at the Westgate (whose website has now effaced all traces of her) when he said, "The deal’s done. What do you want?" Failure to think this one through seems to be the culprit in the quick closing. (Although this very minute someone's probably enjoying the bamboo floors, organic furniture, toxic-free paint that makes up the customized Somers' suite.)
Somers’ Westgate affiliation was unceremoniously terminated during her summer hiatus, leading podcast Five Hundy by Midnight to headline the news, "Suzanne Somers ends show 10 months early, 35 years too late." Somers had been a regular Vegas presence earlier in her career, including a two-year residency at what was then the Las Vegas Hilton and is now Westgate.
Local gossip columnist Robin Leach ascribed Somers interruptus to a lack of focus among Westgate management. Siegel was distracted by the death of his 18-year-old daughter, which caused him to swear off all involvement with the Vegas megaresort. His management team was preoccupied with the timeshare side of the business and subcontractor Paragon Gaming was strictly in charge of the casino. It sounds like nobody was minding the showrooms.
Asked by The Desert Sun about the cancellation of her Westgate show, Somers replied that she intended to be back at a different casino-hotel as soon as possible. "It’s what I want to do with my life at this time in my life. I am an entertainer," she continued. "I have a stack of the greatest reviews of my career. I love my show, love working and plan on being a headliner in Vegas for the next decade. I felt at 'home' onstage. More comfortable than ever before."
Another short-lived Westgate presentation, The Elvis Experience, was an elaborate recreation of Elvis Presley’s International Hotel shows, starring Martin Fontaine. A source in the showbiz community says it "is not returning. It was always intended for a short run. They are working on a different Elvis show. Apparently."
The Westgate, under previous ownership, was also the site of Triumph: It Runs on Steam, a much-hyped steampunk production show that turned out to be full of hot air and quickly ran out of steam, folding while still in previews. Thus it joined the unenviable coterie of Vegas shows that have closed before they formally opened. (Begging the question of whether they thus can be said to have even existed?)
Planet Hollywood has been Ground Zero for blink-and-you’ll-miss-them shows. Anyone remember The Coop Show? Dancing Queen? Rocktellz with The Jacksons? We didn’t think so. Sydney After Dark went dark in record time, as did ultra-obscure Viva Veracruz, which was put out of its mercy after its opening received four postponements – surely a Vegas record. Point Break Live lasted for less than a week and the big-budget Surf: The Musical was axed after less than a month. The highest-profile flop distinction, however, surely goes to MGM Resorts International’s and Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis at Aria.
This megabomb was razzed by local critics and, although it was contracted to run for 10 years, went dark after struggling through less than two. (Road-tested Zarkana was quickly imported to fill the Aria showroom.) The Cirque dud was an anomaly – a high-profile show that went bust. The Tropicana revival of Mamma Mia! was another. Vegas casinos rarely risk their main showrooms on acts that aren’t proven quantities. Cirque du Soleil-plus-Elvis was considered a sure thing and Mamma Mia! had lasted six years at Mandalay Bay. If risks are taken, they usually happen in secondary and tertiary venues.
A special category of now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t belongs to illusionist Steve Wyrick. A Miracle Mile venue called the Wyrick Entertainment Complex struggled along for three years with Wyrick’s Real Magic plus some musical nostalgia acts before closing in December 2009, pursuant to a $54 million bankruptcy. Wyrick popped up again in May 2011, at the (then) Las Vegas Hilton, announcing a new show called Ultra Magician. Its June 29 debut was postponed, then pushed back again to August 5. When Wyrick’s show finally limped into the marketplace it only lasted until late September when it went on "indefinite hiatus" because Wyrick couldn’t pay the rent on the showroom. (Casinos’ habit of four-walling their showrooms may account for the high number of here-today/gone-tomorrow shows that play Vegas; the casino isn’t bearing much risk.)
Don’t look for help from the Millennial generation either. Youthfully skewed Jabbawockeez just got demoted to a 250-room venue at MGM Grand.
