A call to Westgate Las Vegas confirmed what we suspected, in that the short answer to your queries are "no" and "no." The almost 30,000 square feet of space that briefly housed "Graceland Presents: Elvis the Exhibition" (previously home to Star Trek: The Experience) is still all locked up, with the artifacts -- which the property claims to be holding as collateral in a dispute over unpaid dues -- still inside. Interestingly, the concierge with whom we spoke informed us that a week or so ago there was talk of the attraction reopening, with the implication that some kind of settlement had been reached or was in the works; she added that later rumblings seemed to undermine the likelihood of that theory coming to pass, however, and now those on the ground are, like the rest of us, waiting to see what happens and for some kind of formal update.
For those unfamiliar with this strange debacle, here's the back story. The owner of Westgate Las Vegas, David Siegel, apparently is a big fan of The King and, in the same way that he tried to launch a big presence at the property for Suzanne Summers, of whom he's also a long-time fan, he had big plans to put Elvis firmly back on the map at what was once the singer's official Las Vegas home.
Amid much fanfare, the property launched a double dose of Elvis last spring, including the Elvis Experience, a production-show tribute starring Martin Fontaine, which debuted April 23. It then closed abruptly May 27, which the media was informed had always been the plan and that the show had run its intended course and would soon be replaced by a new Elvis-themed spectacular. The latter never came to pass, but while at first there was some confusion regarding the status of the accompanying memorabilia exhibit, the property made it clear that the artifacts on loan from Graceland were there to stay.
Fast forward to this year, when on February 26 it was suddenly announced that the attraction, which was billed as the largest outside of his Graceland estate and which featured hundreds of unique items, including jewelry, personal correspondence, his first gold album, a 1957 Harley-Davidson, a 1962 Lincoln Continental, a 1971 Stutz Blackhawk, the American Eagle jumpsuit Elvis wore onstage at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1972 and the $1 million "tablecloth" contract he signed to perform at the property, other items of clothing he sported in Viva Las Vegas, personal effects from his wedding to Priscilla, and even domestic items from Elvis' home.
However, less than a year into the ten-year contract that curating entity Exhibit A Circle had signed with the Westgate, the company summarily pulled the plug; Westgate responded immediately by placing a lien against its tenant, confiscating the contents of the exhibition, and cutting off the video feed that had enabled the Elvis estate to monitor their artifacts remotely around the clock. A spokesman for Westgate Las Vegas insisted this was in light of Exhibit A Circle having broken its contract, which was suspected to have been on account of poor attendance figures, and because the hotel sought restitution for millions of dollars that it had spent to outfit the space the "Graceland Presents Elvis" exhibit was housed in and for adaptations made to what had been dubbed the associated Elvis wedding chapel and Elvis Theater. The hotel also claims that its tenant was behind on rent.
Exhibit Circle A responded by claiming Westgate broke the contract first, although did not specify how. The last we heard was last month, and that this lawsuit is being reviewed by an independent arbitrator. Meanwhile, a couple of weeks after the exhibit was closed, a second lawsuit was filed, this time by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the official controller of the Elvis estate and its revenues, claiming that the Las Vegas hotel had "aggressively" seized its property and that it wanted the items back.
Although this latter case is ostensibly entirely separate from the first lawsuit, and although Exhibit Circle A is, in theory, an independent contractor hired by EPE, the manager of the former is also the managing partner of the company that owns a majority of Elvis Presley Enterprises. The timing of the whole debacle was especially ironic, since the Westgate in February had just secured permission to have Riviera Boulevard -- which connects Paradise Road and the Strip -- renamed Elvis Presley Way once the Riv has been imploded, and the newly-named road would have extended past the intersection with Paradise and loop right through the Westgate's valet area. This whole concept has also been nixed by Elvis Presley Enterprises, which stepped in to block the process.
At the time of this writing, we could find no trace of either case on any Clark County District Court calendar, but we'll keep you posted of developments as soon as there are any. In the meantime, should you wish to catch the Elvis Experience production show starring Martin Fontaine, it will be performing at various locations in Canada this June, July, and August, commencing with a run at the Theatre du Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau June 16.
As one final afterthought, LV Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes recently posted his thoughts about why Elvis no longer seems to be The King of Las Vegas when it comes to box office success, and whether that's down to his legend having waned, or something intrinsic about the nature of the shows and exhibits that have been attempting to perpetuate his legacy. An interesting read.
