Only 15 months after its first
opening and "Monty Python's Spamalot" at Wynn Las Vegas is about to see its final days. Wynn Las Vegas
representatives announced Thursday that the Hotel's Grail Theater will close in
July; they have also expressed that the show will be replaced by the Las Vegas long runner,
Danny Gans. Wynn has brought many musicals and shows to the Las Vegas Strip and
he is often credited for bringing Cirque du Soleil shows to Las Vegas as well as some other acclaimed
productions.
"Monty Python's
Spamalot" was launched in March 2007; however, Broadway musicals don’t set
audience records in Las Vegas.
"Spamalot" runs seven shows a week and usually sells 80 percent of
the 1,500-seat theater every night. "It's pretty good. It's good enough to
keep it going," said Steve Wynn. Unfortunately, the decision had nothing
to do with the show’s popularity but with branding the show's theater as part
of the $2.1 billion Encore, a adjacent hotel casino-hotel now under development,
Wynn said.
"You have to have an
entertainment centerpiece like Bellagio had 'O,' like Mirage had Siegfried and
Roy. You have to establish the brand and make a clear statement that this is
it's own place. The things that have worked the best in this city are things
that can't be seen anywhere else. My dream is to one day have musical theater
that has the capacity to be spectacular, that has great music, but can only be
seen here. It doesn't go on tour, it doesn't open in New York" Wynn said.
In the past, several other Las Vegas shows and musicals have been closed after
running for only a few months, "Avenue Q" closed at Wynn Las Vegas
after only 9 months on the stage; and "Hairspray" was retired from the
Luxor Hotel and Casino after
about four months. Finally, "The Producers" ran for a year before getting
removed from the Paris Las Vegas. "Mamma Mia!" is also to closing
this summer after thousands of presentations at the Mandalay Bay Resort and
Casino, setting a record as the longest-running Broadway in town.
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