A Barking Dog

Tony winner Avenue Q will end its current run at Wynn Las Vegas on May 27th. In a previous post, I had opined that Vegas would become a force in musical theater and would likely be an asset to NY based productions. I still feel the same way. While much of the theatrical press was reporting this as a failure of the Vegas musical model, that doesn’t quite fit the facts. I think this represents more a change of business model on the part of Steve Wynn and less on the musical theater model of Vegas.

What I think supports this are a couple of things. First, the show was profitable. According to the producers, the show was doing as well as the B-way show financially as well as other musicals currently running in Vegas. The problem I think, is that Wynn paid too much to get an exclusive, didn’t fully or properly promote it until well into the run and later figured out that the same sort of model he used to get Avenue Q and also used to get Spamalot wasn’t fiscally sound. Initially Spamalot was to be in a purpose built theater in addition to Avenue Q but in the planning phase Wynn realized that the exclusive deals cut made the productions too much a gamble (pardon the pun) and opted not to build another 80 million plus dollar theater to house a production that might not return the enthusiastic expectations of people coming to Vegas specifically for theater. I see this more to do with specific issues with the financial and business model situation at Wynn Las Vegas rather than a failure of musical theater in Vegas. Wynn is adjusting his business to the current climate and if not for the signing of Spamalot, it’s likely that Avenue Q would have continued in the Broadway Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.

From an exclusive podcast at The Strip Podcast, Wynn was kind enough to elaborate in an interview with Steve Friess. It was the basis for a Newsweek article but contained enough Wynn spin to require a Varsity sized dose of Dramamine. Not that I don’t respect the guy, I do. I tried to get a couple of gigs at his place and think he’s one of the few true visionaries left in town. Wynn is doing what he does best, roll with the punches and change it up to meet the current situation. In the podcast, Wynn waxes that he loves the show, but as a business decision it makes more sense to not build the Grail Theater from the ground up and keep his 250k sq ft convention center space in a contiguous config. Convention and exhibit space still rules the roost in this town, in terms of return on investment. There is also the fact that most of the construction projects in town are delayed, or at least hobbled by the lack of available skilled labor. Most of the high profile casino/condo projects are being delayed due to the lack of a workforce to build the projects. Wynn couldn’t build the Grail Theater fast enough and also fit it into a config suitable to his new building and it was easier to buy Aveune Q out of the existing contract than continue on the planned course. I think what this shows, more than anything else, is that the exclusive deals that Wynn signed for those two shows was a poor business decision. People aren’t going to flock to Vegas to see a show that won’t likely tour in their hometown, but will still see a show that they are interested in seeing. All’s not lost, it’s possible that Avenue Q will reopen in another room in town. If the sports book at South Coast was taking bets, I’d throw down.

Based on a few reports from the theater elite in NY, this signifies that the so called “Las Vegas audience” isn’t ready for such seemly high brow affair. Bullshit, I say. We get the same tourists they get in Manhattan. And the bridge and tunnel crowd isn’t any more highbrow than those that come into Vegas from So Cal or the Bay Area. While it is a different experience, I think the self absorbed, arrogant prats that make up most of the Broadway “journalistic” scene are more jealous than anything that any place other than the vaunted Great White Way could have any sort of influence on the theatrical business. To hear some tell the tale, this is the beginning of the end of musical theater in Vegas. Horseshit. Hairspray just opened, to rave reveiws and pleased crowds. (thanks John for the tix) Vegas is a force to be reckoned with.

Betting against Vegas is like shoveling your money into a furnace.

On Tues, Feb 7th the inauguaral meeting of the Southern Nevada AES Section. I would have liked to see us use the Las Vegas name because the branding is so strong but I don’t want to leave our our friends and colleages in Jean, Primm, Pahrump and Searchlight.

The meeting is at 1pm at the Clark County Library conference room at 1401 E Flamingo (just east of Maryland).

The boom of musical theater to the Las Vegas resorts has caused quite a few divergent opinions in the industry. It’s no secret that some of the more stalwart characters in the New York theater scene regard the culture of Sin City much like Milburn Drysdale regarded the culture of the Clampett clan. It’s not so much the fact that the home of the Rat Pack is doing musical theater or the production values. In terms of production value Las Vegas is second to none in terms of complexity, integration and artistic appeal in the creative elements. We can hold our own, and well, a little bit of everyone else’s too. I’ve trotted around this planet many times in the last few decades and I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world. Entertainment technology included.

The thing that has the classic B-way gang knickers in a twist is the changing of established shows to fit in the Vegas model. Ninety minutes, no intermission, two shows a night most nights. Anyone that’s done the casino and corndog classic rock circuit knows all well what the deal is. Get ‘em in, get ‘em drunk, entertain them and turn them loose on the casino or other attractions. They just reworked Avenue Q to fit in the Vegas format. They’ll do the same for Spamalot, Phantom of the Opera and the rumored Producers for their Vegas runs. The other thing that some are fretting about, the lock in of B-way hits to exclusive deals in Vegas. Case in point, Avenue Q and the soon to open Spamalot. Wynn inked a deal for multiyear exclusives for both shows outside of New York and the West End. That means no Spamalot truck and bus coming to a local performing arts center near you. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, truck and bus, or even regional runs aren’t able to afford either logistically or economically the production value of the big shows. I’ve got several pals doing theater truck and bus or regional runs and they do a hell of a job, but you just can’t make it feasable to offer the same production value on that basis then you can in a theater purpose built for the show.

My point, depending on where you stand is either an insightful prediction or me talking out my ass. Las Vegas will save the musical theater business.

What…The…Hell…Did…You…Just…Say…?

Las Vegas will save the musical theater biz in a way that until recently not too many have thought about. Theater is expensive to produce and it’s a crap shoot. Having it based in Manhattan certainly isn’t doing it any favors. It’s been said that 80% of all B-way shows lose money, the next 10% break even and the rest are the money makers. What the hell kind of business model is that? That’s as stupid as how the record industry works. Granted, legit theater stuff like Death of a Salesman or The Graduate (two of my favs) probably won’t work here as a casino show. Comedy and musicals will though. There is a lower cost, higher standard of living for the employees, most of which are not bound by prohibitive union contracts. I love my brothers and sisters in Local One but some of the work rules and limited availability of theater space puts some constraints that add to the already difficult business climate. In terms of theater construction and development, we can build them twice as fast for a third the cost. In twelve months we could match every seat on Broadway in a modern setting and not even flinch. This could be a boon for those that can’t get their productions financed in New York. The casinos are always looking for new ideas and in the big picture dropping a few mil on something where you already have the infrastructure isn’t a bad bet. I might not be a theater arts major, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express the other night.

Since moving down I’ve become pretty interested in the economic growth and forecast of the LV Valley. During CES some kats I’d met online that were pretty involved in the tech space were having problems getting rooms at an affordable rate. Reminded me of the glory days of Comdex when we’d stay in Primm (if we were lucky) or have to schelp to Laughlin. The growth rate is pretty incredible, projected at about 6% this year with an estimated 6000 people moving to town each month. It shows in the traffic, infrastructure and the service at some lower end or moderately priced stores catering to the locals. It really is a boom town.

The expansion is nuts. Most of the older casinos are being replaced with either newer resorts or condos. A few months back I found Nick Chirstensen’s goulishly funny Las Vegas Casino Death Watch. It’s a great way to keep up on whats happening with the older places. Once upon a time Vegas was a much different place. Cheap food and drinks to entice those wishing to partake in games of chance. These days it’s swanky restaurants and high priced drinks. There are still places to go to get a good deal but old Vegas has been replaced with high end Vegas and is just starting to see a sort of “Manhattanization” of high rise luxury condos. My place is slated to be leveled in a month for a casino expansion and condos. The two places I had my eye on to replace this place are in the process of being converted to condos. My pals at the big production shows have been experiencing this west of The Strip for the last year or so. I’ll likely move further off The Strip, which is kind of a drag or move into some accomodations that might not be so hospitible. Or safe. I could move down to Henderson or out toward Summerlin like the other middle class white folk but there’s something about being about to stand out on the balcony and have a view from Mandalay Bay all the way to the Stratosphere. The New Year’s fireworks shows were quite spectacular, similar to the view I had in Seattle that stretched from the stadiums to Fremont, with a direct shot at the Space Needle. I’m having a blast down here and though things didn’t quite go according to plan, it’s the best move I’ve made. Right up there with moving from Hollywood to Twin Peaksville just in time to ride the grunge rock trend to the next level of my career. If anything, I wish I would have moved down a year or two ago.

One thing that has been puzzling me was what was going to happen in the next few years as all these resorts are being replaced by newer resorts. The average occupancy rate in town is 93%. We have about 125k rooms available right now. According to Las Vegas Tripping, we’ll lose nearly 15k rooms over the next couple of years as several properties revamp. While it’s true we will be getting the benefit of a Hooter’s Hotel and Casino (no, really dude I couldn’t make this up) those rooms were already available as the San Remo but what’s going to happen to the growth rate when we lose 12% of the hotel room capacity for the next few years? About 40 million people come through town a year and in order to keep up this sort of growth rate, we need to be able to house them. In the long run it will be good as from the Wynn north on The Strip, it needs a bit of a facelift. Downtown has been faltering for years and I’ve got an idea. As the mega resorts on The Strip have been catering to the more well to do, the properties downtown can capitalize by getting that old Vegas vibe back. They kind of do that now but they need to kick it up a notch. Five buck t-bones, two buck beer, 99 cent breakfast, affordable rooms. The stuff that made Vegas famous. It’s true that a lot of the need to go to Vegas was lost as tribal gaming opened up all over the country. Those tribal casinos don’t have the Strippers, err I mean Sirens of TI, Carrot Top twice nightly or the biggest headliners and production shows (including B-way hits) in the biz. Going to the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt Pleasant, MI (like I have) though a nice place, is no substitute for the real thing. The demand is certainly there, let’s hope that it isn’t reduced by the lack of capacity over the next few years while the next phase of the expansion is happening.

In the next week or so I’ll change from seasonal resident to official full time resident of the Silver State. Y’all certainly do some things, well shall I say “interesting”. That’s another subject entirely though I do like the incorporation rules and structure. I hit it up to the Northwest for a few hours this afternoon to finish off some biz so I could make the move final. Herb was nice enough to supply me with the transport. Under a Franklin each way, though no seat assignment. With today’s trip, with the exception of the kart racing team (I’ll get that in the next month or so), my big gnarly workbox and a few assorted audio tidbits, it’s all down here. Time to get legit and change the drivers license. Good news though! I just saved a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico. No, really. Gotta get new tabs and plates, the fancy Vegas Centenial kind and an NV license. For whatever reason I decide to keep the CDL I’ve had for nearly 15 years. I don’t tell too many people I can pilot a CDL because well, I’d have to drive the truck. Old farts only drive if a young turk can’t do the gig, or has trouble backing into the slot. It’s handy having a CDL and also an international drivers license as overseas that can be an asset, even if you never drive. There is nothing like having tachiographs from Euro tours in your name when you didn’t really do any of the driving. Or so I’m told.

To transfer the CDL is like having to renew it back in Twin Peaks land. Show the valid license, pass the vision test (that’s harder for me these days) and produce the med card. Trouble is, my med card is a year or so past due. My thinking is that I’ve already got the CDL and if I decide this show biz thing isn’t for me, I can always get a gig driving clean towels or beer to the casinos. Casinos need lots of beer and towels. At least I do when I’m at a casino. This past spring when I was having the full work ups I suppose I could have got the DOT card but I was more concerned with my ticker jumping out of my chest or my arteries getting so stuffed that they couldn’t pump blood that I didn’t think about using the grand or so worth of physical and tests to get a current DOT cert. So I figure I’ll reup, but where to get the card? Well, Google Local should be able to help with this, right?

Err, wrongo. I Google “medical clinic dot physical las vegas” get the following…

Las Vegas Hilton Steakhouse

Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort

Las Vegas National Golf Club

I don’t think I asked where the doctors are, because obviously they’d be out on the golf course, but the steakhouse? First of all, any self respecting doc would be at Morton’s or Envy or the joint in the MGM Grand. I’ll think I’ll do this the old fashioned way in the morning. Break out the Yellow Pages and start calling around.

I’m about ready to start to head down. I’ve removed nine full sized Hefty bags of clothing, mostly gig shirts. Some good ones too, they’ve just gotten too small over the last couple of years. Or perhaps I’ve grown out a bit. I thought about giving them to the shop rats at my pals next to the BBQ joint, but would rather donate them. They (or you) should be able to get them for a couple bucks each at Seattle Goodwill and the money goes to a good cause.

There were also more than a dozen file storage boxes, some dating back to 1988 and containing info from PA companies long out of business. There were a few boxes of my personal files from the building of the last PA company (the one by the BBQ joint) that has become the power player in this area and now tours the globe on a regular basis with select clients. It was nice to review how the four of us (Mark, Jon, Rob and myself) were able to pull it together with very few resources. It was very cool to be a part of that. I’ve started a series of shorts documenting it. Hopefully I’ll finish them soon. It was in the days before email for the masses. We did most everything by fax. Lot’s of paper.

Tours from years past, laminates, interaries, luggage tags, set lists. Hard to believe I squirreled all this shit away for the last 15 years or so. I kept a few lams and set lists and all the interaries, but the rest I tossed. I found two boxes of AES reprints and publications, including the excellent Dick Heyser anthology. I’m keeping those. Books. Books, books, books. I’m keeping my 104 O’Reily books though have sold or donated another 40 or so. Of course I’ll keep the now collectors item Screaming Life, Charles Peterson’s excellent photo essay that my pal Dansound gave to me a few years back. There’s also the note from the local band guys expressing thanks for the support for a benefit cause. Too bad one of them killed himself more than 10 years ago. There are a few notes and pics from the couple of chicks that sing and play guitar that grew up not far from here. They kind of paved the way for women in rock. Forgot I had those.

Moving is a pain, but I would have had to move anyway. When I returned from the last jaunt, I was met with a notice that the building had been sold and was being converted to condos. I saw that coming. The so called “luxury apartment” market in this area has dwindled and those building have been being converted to condos. You can buy your half mil one bedroom or you can move. I’m glad I’m moving.

In the next few hours I’ll be migrating the Internet services at Roaddog Manor to a rented server at Serverbeach. The mail will que but won’t deliver for a few hours and there may be some issues later tonight accessing A Barking Dog. By the morning all should be fine. Charlotte may be offline for a few days until I get down to Vegas and start to settle in. It’s a bummer because the guys that run the LAB archives now have been so lame. As for The Roaddog Forum, unless someone can offer a compelling reason to keep it, I’ll be taking it offline. There have only been a handful of posts this year and if people wish to use it, I’ll keep it up. But I don’t want to keep it up if no one wants to use it.

See y’all when I get to Vegas.

Well, it’s now “official”, I’m considered a part time resident of the State of Nevada. Got the phone number, mailing address and sights on a couple of places to live, save for chosing which lease to sign. For those that haven’t heard, over the course of the next few months I’ll be moving to Las Vegas. Why Vegas? Well, I couldn’t book passage to the face of the sun.

Seattle has been great for the last 15 years. I’ve been a part of some pretty cool stuff, though I seem to have fished this pond dry, so to speak. I’m still getting local work though most of what I do these days is tour related. I could probably keep working up here and eventually retire and ride off into the sunset. I’m not getting any younger (fortunately) and in the next decade or so it’s likely the tour gigs will get farther and fewer between as is normal with the older set, or as some call us, the “ancestors”. I’m not quite ready to hang up my lanyard and will still tour in the meantime, but Vegas offers opportunities not available in other cities. It’s quickly becoming (or already has depending on who one talks to) the entertainment technology capital of the country, if not the world.

I’d like to thank some people that have made my stay in Seattle an excellent experience. Thanks to the local crews and IA Local 15, particularly the Paramount, Benaroya, 5th Ave and Seattle Center crews, you guys (and gals) are tops. The members of WAPS and AES, particularly Mac Perkins and Dan Mortensen. Thanks to the Carlson show and shop crew particularly my good friend Allan Bagley. Most of all very special thanks to my dear friends, Mark Carlson and Jonathan Stoverud-Myers, the principals of Carlson Audio. We had some good times and some intense times and you guys should be proud of what you’ve done. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple of guys.

Look forward to seeing you in Vegas. If you’re already down there and want to meet, let me know. I should be settled in by early fall a few weeks after I return from the next leg. If you’re on a tour that is swinging through town, let me know and I’ll come by and say hi, eat your catering and take up space while you’re trying to get your work done. I plan on writing about the move and the various happenings in Vegas as it relates to the pro audio/ entertainment technology biz. Lastly, if you’re down there and need the services of a guy that’s been around the block a time or three, let me know.