Entertainer says he’s exporting Vegas to the rest of the country

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, June 4, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Tourism is down. Conventions are down. Fewer folks are coming to Las Vegas to see shows.

So if America isn’t coming to Vegas, magician Rick Thomas — known for his white tiger co-stars — is taking Vegas to America.

“There’s nothing wrong with taking Vegas to the people,” the 46-year-old performer said shortly before departing on a 50-city tour of the United States and Canada that will continue at least through August. “When stage lights go on, it doesn’t matter where you are.”

Taking a full-scale magic show on the road isn’t as complicated as it might seem.

“It’s a series of one-night stands,” Thomas says. “We’re taking the show we did in Vegas, including two tigers and a full cast and crew. We’ll set up in the mornings, do a show that night, pack it up and drive to the next city. Most cities are within two hours of each other.

“When you have the show and a large enough truck or two and can wheel the illusions out and you have a good cast and crew that knows what they’re doing, all you have to do is educate the local staff. It’s a pleasure. It’s great to travel. It’s exciting for me. The cast is all coming out of Las Vegas and we’re all ready to go and get a breath of fresh air.”

Most of the theaters he will perform in are about 1,000 seats, and he expects to play to sold-out houses.

“Sometimes there is greater success by going to smaller towns,” he says. “People are people. It doesn’t matter if they live in Podunk, Iowa. Wherever they may live they’re going to enjoy the show. Sometimes when you go into one of these towns you’re the only show in town.”

Thomas traveled a lot early in his career — cruise ships, Asia, South America, Europe. He spent almost five years in Guam.

He landed in Las Vegas in 1996 and spent almost nine years as a headliner at the Tropicana. In 2005 Thomas felt the Tropicana was becoming a little shaky, so he took his show to the Stardust, where he performed with his white tiger until the venue closed in March 2007.

“My show was the final show at the Stardust,” Thomas says. “If they hadn’t imploded (it) I would still have my show there. I loved that room.”

The resort closed to make room for the multibillion-dollar Echelon, but when the economy soured, the project was put into mothballs.

Should Thomas have stayed at the Tropicana, which just closed its “Folies Bergere” after a run of 49 years?

“Who knows,” he says. “Hindsight is 20/20. Nobody in Las Vegas could predict what was going to happen.”

Thomas went from the Stardust, a Boyd Gaming facility, to the Orleans, another Boyd resort.

“That was about the time you started seeing a turn in the industry,” he says.

Thomas was at the Orleans about six months and then began touring in Asia.

“They have the same issues, and some are worse than ours,” he says. “But they still want entertainment.”

He was happy with the year or so he spent in the Far East.

“I felt like I was alive again,” he says. “I felt like I was really doing something, accomplishing something.”

Thomas hasn’t been visible in Vegas for the past couple of years. His only local gigs have been corporate events.

But don’t count him out. His roots are firmly planted here and he says he isn’t going to pull them up.

“When I first came to Vegas with my own show on the Strip it was like winning the lottery,” he says. “I was thrilled to be part of it. I believe there is still a place for me in Vegas, and when I come back from this tour I feel the show will be on the Strip.