Heaven knows, there are conventions for soap operas, sitcoms and every iteration of science fiction (I’ve been to more than a few of the latter). But a fan convention for a Broadway show? That’s unheard of.
Yesterday, fans of Phantom of the Opera hit town for the first-ever Phantom con, at the Venetian, where they’ll score some face time with director Harold Prince and the Venetian’s resident Phantom, Anthony Crivello. (You have to give Sheldon Adelson props: If Glenn Schaeffer had been running the Venetian, he’d have turned down Phantom on the grounds it was free publicity for Paris-Las Vegas. But Adelson knew a good thing when he saw it.) The Venetian has even rolled out a package of goodies to keep Phantom fans on-property. Smooth move there, Rob Goldstein.
Having recently passed its third anniversary, the Vegas-ized Phantom looks well on its way to blowing past Mamma Mia!‘s six-year milestone. We could easily be celebrating its 10th anniversary come 2016. Yours truly gets name-checked in Steve Friess‘ interview with Prince. My only quibble with the story — and it’s a very minor one — is that it doesn’t mention Prince’s original stagings of Stephen Sondheim‘s Company and Follies, two of the high-water marks in Broadway history. And if you think Phantom is a “downer,” take Follies out for a spin sometime:
As for fan conventions, except for the annual Star Trek hootenanny at the Las Vegas Hilton, Vegas doesn’t do such a great job of attracting them. We’ve got to work on that. And when Stargate SG-1/Stargate Atlantis/Sanctuary star Amanda Tapping graces a Vegas stage, we can say, “Job well done.”
Deathtrap. Sometimes there are shows that warrant venturing away from the comfort zone of the Strip. Las Vegas Little Theatre‘s production of Ira Levin‘s Broadway hit is not one of them.
