We try to avoid feeling atingle, but the announcement of an opening date for “DiscoShow” has us experiencing some serious atingulation.
“DiscoShow,” from the producers of “Absinthe” and “Atomic Saloon,” opens July 27, 2024.
Disco is life, so we can’t wait for the much-anticipated opening of this new show and its adjoining restaurant, Diner Ross.
Seriously, youths, a lot of your best music has a disco vibe. We barely know what a Doja Cat is, but her song, “Say So” has disco written all over it. “Stupid Love” by Lady Gaga? Disco. “Dynamite” from BTS. Justin Timberlake and SZA’s “The Other Side,” definitely disco-based. “Juice” from Lizzo, too. The list goes on and on. The original disco hits are all that, just better. They slap, as you are fond of saying.
The show is in the former Imperial Palace sportsbook space, what is now Linq. It was the Quad for a minute, but they realized Asian gamblers think the number four is bad luck, so that name was scrapped. Long story.
Anyway, the IP’s sportsbook sat untouched for years, until Caesars Entertainment (owner of Linq) and Spiegelworld (the company that produces “DiscoShow” and others) stripped the room down to its naughty bits and rebuilt a new entertainment venue and restaurant from scratch.
Never one to miss a public relations opportunity, producer (he actually prefers the understated title, “Impresario Extraordinaire”) Ross Mollison took the first whack at the old-timey IP sportsbook equipment.
Yes, Ross Mollison is the same inspired weirdo after whom Diner Ross is named. Bonus points for the play on Diana Ross. (It works better if you pronounce it with Mollison’s Australian accent.)
Ross Mollison has a love for wordplay, as evidenced by the menus at his restaurant at Cosmopolitan, Superfrico. The menus use Australian rhyming slang. The Penelope Cruz menu is the booze. The Calvin Klein menu is the wine. Frank Skinner is dinner, and so on.
Mollison’s “OPM” show recently closed at Cosmo, but Superfrico is still going strong.
It’s worth noting the chef behind Superfrico, Anna Altieri, is also whipping up the eats at Diner Ross.
But back to “DiscoShow.”
Here’s a blurb from the news release, “The world of ‘DiscoShow’ is inspired by the spirit of David Mancuso’s legendary New York City loft parties which began on Valentine’s Day 1970 at his home, later moving to a multi-level space at 99 Prince Street. They were a wild extension of the childhood parties the nuns used to throw at his orphanage, complete with colored balloons, punch and a simple record player. While New York faced its toughest times, and President Ford told the city to ‘drop dead,’ Mancuso and his friends simply said, ‘let’s dance.’ The DJ stood at the altar and salvation was found on the dance floor. Disco was born.”
Ross Mollison’s projects always have layers and stories. (The pair of penguins logo seen at Superfrico represent Mollison and his son, for example.) The good news is you don’t have to know what he’s talking about to appreciate his shows and restaurants.
The bar at “DiscoShow” will be called 99 Prince, and will operate from “midday to dawn.” Meaning you’ll be able to get cocktails there even when the show isn’t happening.
Then there’s the theater and bar space, Glitterloft, “where Spiegelworld’s mixologist supremo, Disco Niko Novick has concocted disco-bevs that Steve Rubell would have happily jammed down.”
Trying to translate a news release from Ross Mollison into American English is an adventure all its own.
Here’s a relevant part about the show, “Playing Wednesday to Sunday at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., the 70-minute live show will be unlike any other in the world. Once you make it past Mother’s velvet rope, you’ll be in the room where it’s gonna happen for you; it’ll be you meeting the characters who made ’70s disco supreme; follow them into their lives, onto the streets and at the club. You can be a bystander and just watch, or you can lose yourself to the music; maybe even find yourself. A soundtrack of ‘Le Freak,’ ‘Good Times,’ ‘We Are Family,’ ‘Disco Inferno’ and ‘Everybody Dance’ are just the beginning. The explosion is still heard in the music of today.”
Basically, this isn’t one of those “sit-down and watch”-type shows.
We shared some scoop about a casting call for the show, and it was fairly evident the show is going to be interactive, with characters mingling with the audience. We also got the vibe the theater (sorry, Glitterloft) won’t have chairs. We plan to attend, anyway.
The show’s casting notice said, “We’re not just looking for performers; we’re searching for storytellers. Those who can weave tales through a gesture, a stance, a fleeting glance. We are looking for folks who can commit wholeheartedly to the devising process. While prior experience in devising is preferred, a strong aptitude and willingness to dive into this approach is equally valued.”
On the bright side, the things that make Ross Mollison’s shows so peculiar also make them wildly entertaining and unique.
Not all the spaghetti sticks to the wall (“Vegas Nocturne” closed at Cosmo after 100 shows), but a lot does. “Absinthe” changed Las Vegas entertainment forever, and makes serious cheddar.
How successful is “Absinthe”? Ross Mollison used the profits to buy a town. We are not making this up. It’s Nipton, California.
Because we personally love Ross Mollison and his imagination, we are cautiously optimistic about “DiscoShow,” despite the somewhat nebulous description of what it actually is.
“DiscoShow” has “disco” right in the name.
The drinks and food will be expensive, but excellent. Superfrico slays, and No Pants outside the “Absinthe” tent serves some of the best burgers in Las Vegas.
We’re hoping there’s a spot inside the Glitterloft where people can stand against the wall and watch all the shenanigans without actually taking part. As a local, we aren’t really the target audience for “DiscoShow.” Tourists want to party, loudly, and they want to dance like nobody’s watching. (See also Fremont Street Experience.)
We can totally see visitors dressing up in disco-era clothing and dancing their hearts out to songs where they know all the lyrics. For example, it’s physically impossible to not stand up and dance at the end of the Australian Bee Gees show at Excalibur. We tried to stay seated and ruptured our spleen.
The biggest difference between “DiscoShow” and “David Mancuso’s legendary New York City loft parties” is going to be the fact Linq is a Pepsi house. If you get our drift.
More details: “DiscoShow” plays Wednesday to Sunday, 7:00 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., tickets start at $99; 99 Prince opens for cocktails starting at noon, Wednesday to Sunday (free entry); Diner Ross serves dinner starting at 5:00 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday.
Find out more about “DiscoShow” on the official Web site and we’ll see you there in July.
While we aren’t particularly a fan of interactivity, and won’t be dressing up disco-style, our hair will be in the spirit of “DiscoShow,” as we’ve had the same hairstyle since 1978, so there’s that.
Update (2/8/24): Ross Mollison provided this photo of the “first beer at 99 Prince.” It seems the first customer at 99 Prince was a mime.
