The end is near, but ‘Jubilee’ still shines

By John Katsilometes

Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 | 12:31 p.m.

This show has been a Las Vegas institution for 34 years, so entrenched in the city’s entertainment mythos it could be one of the state’s historic places.

The Old Mormon Fort, Hoover Dam and “Jubilee.”

But for the first time since the show opened on July 31, 1981, the laden-with-rhinestones production is facing certain end. Announced late Saturday night is the show’s closing date: Feb. 11. That’s just two days after the death of legendary “Jubilee” associate producer and stage manager Fluff LeCoque, a regretful piece of timing that only caused a deeper level of dismay among the cast when it was told of the closing at an 11 p.m. meeting Saturday.

Nonetheless, the 7 p.m. Sunday performance at Bally’s Jubilee Theater is performed impeccably and with great spirit, even as this sparse audience is listless in its response. As usual, many Asian fans have filed into this performance, as tour groups of that culture have served as its one reliable demographic. They watch the show casually, enjoying its beauty in a reserved sort of way.

Such familiar scenes are summoned, including the Samson & Delilah revival and Titanic re-enactment, a cataclysm played out with buoyant choreography, mid-level pyro and lifeboats filled with real people huddled with mannequins. These epic numbers, exhaustively performed and expertly executed, are met with the same smattering of applause as a pro golfer receives when making a 5-foot putt.

The cast, 65 members strong, performs as if this audience is incidental. Whether the room is full to its 1,040 capacity or on a night like this one when it is less than half full, the performances never waver. Dancers smile and glide around the stage in grandiose costumes bedecked in millions of rhinestones, sequins of all colors, vividly hued feathers and headpieces up to 2 feet tall.

The half-dozen singers — three men and three women — belt out the number “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody,” giving way to a full-blown disco medley near the end of the performance. The message at the top of the show has now become something of an epitaph: “The showgirl is a Las Vegas icon.”

* * *

Even the most ardent fans of Donn Arden could see this coming. The signs were evident when “Jubilee” underwent an extensive overhaul covering more than two years in an effort to modernize the production. Recruited was Frank Gatson Jr., known for his work with such superstars as Beyonce and in such large-scale productions as Up With People. Gatson attempted to reinvent the Las Vegas showgirl with the character “Miss Jubilee” and further modernize the show by attempting to achieve a nightclub vibe through the use of video screens and more contemporary dance numbers.

Dancers were directed to move into the audience and try to entice some grooving during a Michael Jackson medley, which was soon lopped from the show. When Gatson was relieved of his post, “Jubilee” was left in a sort of creative limbo, where much of the work ordered by Gatson has been edited away, but the show never has fully returned to its classic-showgirl roots. In the end, the show was left to sink or swim with “Titanic,” not the most optimistic analogy for fans of the showgirl.

But even before the show’s recent overhaul, there were signs that “Jubilee” was on unsteady footing. Its last standing competitor among Las Vegas showgirl productions, the similarly styled “Folies Bergere,” closed at Tropicana in 2009 just months shy of its 50th birthday. And, yes, the evidence dates to the beginning of Cirque du Soleil’s expansion on the Strip.

Hear it from LeCoque herself. Of the closing of “Folies,” LeCoque said in 2011 during “Jubilee’s” 30th anniversary: “We were the last two shows that were all about showgirls and big production numbers, with the guys as singers and the whole nine yards.” Of the advancement of Cirque, she said: “The attraction of Cirque du Soleil has taken over. It used to be so many shows here were filled with wonderful dancers and showgirls.”

“Jubilee” is not closing because the show is a substandard piece of art. Not at all. The show is alive, colorful, magnificently choreographed and uniformly talented. There was ample evidence that upon its closing, “Folies” had become “moldy,” which is as lethal to a production show as it can be to an aging house. That has not been the case with “Jubilee,” not at all.

Instead, “Jubilee” is closing because the very appeal of the showgirl is waning. Audiences who have the choice of watching a statuesque dancer sashay across the stage might not be so impressed if they have also witnessed a hologram of Michael Jackson performing as if he is still alive, as Olympic-caliber acrobats fly over the top of the audience on bungee chords and harnesses, amid flashing strobes and a blasting sound system, with artists careening around the stage on inverted trampolines. And that’s just one example of Cirque’s competitive advantage on the Strip.

No, “Jubilee” is closing because its audience is thinning. The fascination with the showgirl might still remain, as dancers dressed in the classic showgirl costumes cause a stir at public events. But the appetite for numbers featuring two dozen showgirls in full Bob Mackie costumes — which is how “Jubilee” opens — is not nearly as strong as it was two or three generations ago.

If anything, the hotel did attempt to keep the pulse of the show beating when it could have shut down operations even before calling in Gatson. Bally’s owns the show and all of the costumes and intellectual property, and it is conceivable it could return “Jubilee” to the stage, in some form under that title, and has actually said in its news release that it was considering a new show featuring showgirls.

We’ll see. We heard the same sort of message as “Folies” closed, with a rumored reopening downtown (Neonopolis being one venue specified) that never materialized. “Peepshow” at Planet Hollywood also was rumored for a return to the stage, maybe at the then-I.P. or even Flamingo, but that never happened, either. Though the cast was not told of any plans for Jubilee Theater after Feb. 11, there is word out of Caesars Entertainment that a new show is already in development.

As it is, the Las Vegas showgirl lives on, here and there, in such productions as “Vegas! The Show” at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, which features a number near the end of the show that hearkens to the more lavish scenes in “Jubilee” and “Folies.” Bonnie Saxe, mother of producer David Saxe, danced in “Folies.” Saxe says the reason he developed that particular scene is because he could see the demise of the large-scale showgirl productions coming. So, too, could the cast of “Jubilee.”

* * *

Members of the “Jubilee” company and family — a total of 165 counting the cast, stagehands, designers and other members of the production team — knew something was seriously amiss when a meeting was scheduled for after Saturday’s second show.

According to those who were present at that backstage summit, in the room were two members of the Bally’s HR Department (never a good sign in this sort of meeting), stage manager Diane Palm, Caesars Entertainment Regional Director of Entertainment Damian Costa, Caesars Entertainment Director of Entertainment Gene Lubas (late of 1923 Bourbon & Burlesque at Mandalay Bay and Cirque’s “Viva Elvis” at Aria) and assistant company manager Suzanne Swanson.

Palm has been with “Jubilee” from opening night as a dance captain in the original cast. She served under LeCoque for years as assistant company manager, and her dance background dates to “Lido de Paris,” “Casino de Paris” and “Hallelujah Hollywood,” the show that preceded “Jubilee” at MGM Grand (now Bally’s). Palm’s voice halted and eyes welled as she talked of Fluff’s influence on her life and career and impact on entertainment in Las Vegas.

The show was to close for business reasons. In show business, when show meets business, business wins, every time.

Costa then began to address the group and was met with a call of “who are you?” from the company. It was a serious question, as execs of Costa’s level are not often in the room at these meetings. He told of his position in the company, and reiterated that the hotel tried to keep the show afloat, to no avail. Salaries were trimmed, but Bally’s is a comparatively expensive place to do business, as it is an entirely union hotel.

Those cut loose have been given 60 days notice rather than 30 contractually required. There would be an effort to place as many as possible in Caesars Entertainment shows. But the job market is scarce, nearly non-existent, for the real Las Vegas showgirls and the type of talented artists and support team who put on “Jubilee.”

The cast is devastated, know that. Being a part of “Jubilee” is a unique experience for the show’s steep history. The culture of the show is so familial that even the costumes have formal names — the Swirl and Mohawk and such — and are considered co-stars in the production. Most of those costumes, too, are out of work when Feb. 11 rolls around.

* * *

At the close of Sunday’s show, the showgirls and male dancers again cascaded down the long staircase toward the front of the stage. Audience members applauded and smiled from their seats, having enjoyed a pleasant night at a pretty show.

Two visitors from Hawesville, Ky., Colton and Tasha Powers, were seeing the show for the first time. He’s 26 and an electrician; she just turned 27 and works as an assistant for a cosmetic surgeon in nearby Greenville. The couple is staying at Paris Las Vegas, connected to Bally’s by Le Promenade. The show is a favorite of Colton’s parents, who have seen it three or four times.

What did they think of the experience?

“There is no stopping to set up another scene, and that’s pretty amazing,” Colton said. “I thought there would be some down time to stop and set up, but this show really flows well. I enjoyed it a lot.”

Said Tasha: “It’s just beautiful. You have to see it. It’s a total Las Vegas show, and you can only see it in Vegas.”

We have always said that around here, but won’t after Feb. 11.“Jubilee” will then serve as a Las Vegas history lesson of what Strip entertainment, on its grandest scale, used to look like.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.