Thursday, June 10, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.
"Miss Spectacular," an original musical by the creator of "Hello Dolly," "Mame" and other Broadway musicals, will debut in a new 1,500-seat theater at the Mirage within two years.
That was one of several announcements made Wednesday by an at-times testy Steve Wynn at the Mirage Resorts Inc. annual shareholders' meeting.
The Mirage chairman was clearly perturbed over questioning from one stockholder about the company's stock performance, and launched into a lecture about the role of institutional investors on Wall Street.
But when another stockholder suggested Wynn had "dumped 6 million shares," implying the stock sales contributed to investor concern about the company's future, Wynn nearly launched into one of his legendary temper tantrums.
"I sold stock I've owned for 26 years until, at age 56, I found something I wanted more than stock," he fumed through gritted teeth. "And I don't have to answer to anybody for it."
While he noted that the sales still left him with 26 million Mirage shares, Wynn for some reason didn't say what he wanted more than stock, leaving many of the estimated 800 or show shareholders in attendance wondering what that was.
Still, a large portion of the audience at the Bellagio realized he'd spent most of the after-tax proceeds buying great paintings, a passion that has made him the most active collector of masterpieces in the art world today and has contributed to the success of the resort's Gallery of Fine Art.
Wynn's sharp response brought an equal amount of applause and puzzled stares, though later he gave an oblique apology for nearly going ballistic. He said he'd learned an important lesson about investing from a partner of history's most successful stock buyer -- Warren Buffet.
"Buy stock in a company that will do well even if it's run by an idiot," Wynn said, paraphrasing the advice, "because sooner or later it will be."
Wynn kicked off the meeting with descriptions of Bellagio and Beau Rivage, the hotel-casinos Mirage Resorts has opened since last year's session. He said as the wave of new hotel openings in Las Vegas draws to a close, the novelty of seeing some properties will wane and Mirage will prosper.
"In the year 2000, you'll see the true personalities of all these places emerge, and competing with Bellagio and the Mirage will be a very daunting task," he said.
Wynn disclosed the company is building 90,000 square feet of meeting space behind the Mirage. When it opens next year, he said, the convention area "will be the most beautiful in town."
Wynn said he and Sandy Gallin, the former Hollywood agent hired last year to expand the company's entertainment offerings, "have been discussing projects with every important director, set designer, lyricist and choreographer active in the past 10 or 15 years."
"That's because entertainment is the key to the vitality of resorts ... a primary motivating factor in drawing people to Las Vegas," he said.
He said "Mystere" and Siegfried & Roy draw 15,000 customers to Treasure Island and the Mirage each week, while "O" brings in another 18,000 to the Bellagio. Annual theatrical gross at the three properties totals $160 million, Wynn said, and "a nice portion of that is profit" shared with the companies owning the rights to those shows.
"The big migration on the Strip each night is determined by entertainment," he said. "Twenty percent of our audience comes from our rooms and the rest come from other hotels. We're net receivers of bodies because of our entertainment."
Because entertainment is "product driven, not price driven," the search for high-quality material continues in the United States and Europe.
"We're engaged in a number of very serious discussions with people in the American and British theater," he said. "This activity is in full swing."
Wynn seemed to take special delight in announcing that Jerry Herman, "a giant who is a legendary creator of great musicals," is overseeing production of "Miss Spectacular."
Wynn didn't disclose the story line of the original script, but said all rights to the production are owned by Mirage Resorts. "If the show goes on the road to New York or Chicago, we get the money."
Wynn also wouldn't disclose the design for the billion-dollar-plus resort Mirage plans for Atlantic City. But he did say Mirage executives "are in the final stages of amending a design ... a concept that's radically different than anyone has ever seen before."
"We may employ the same technique here," he said, referring to the resort Mirage plans to build on Strip land it owns between the Jockey Club and the Monte Carlo.
While there were some tense moments during a few exchanges with shareholders, there were also moments of levity. One stockholder asked Wynn if he'd accept an invitation from an Atlantic City promoter to co-host the Miss America pageant with arch-rival Donald Trump.
"I admit that in the galactic scheme of things there is a remote probability I'll do that," he said dryly. "But the odds are akin to the probability that my wife Elaine and I will be landing on Alpha Centauri tomorrow afternoon."
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