Courtesy Magic Mike Live Las Vegas
Chelsea Phillips-Reid is the center of attention at “Magic Mike Live.”
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Las Vegas entertainer Chelsea Phillips-Reid has all the good stories. She can tell you about a childhood gig singing with Dolly Parton. She can tell you about catching a flight to Los Angeles to meet with Channing Tatum. And she’s happy to share all these stories and more on her fascinating new podcast “The Side Hustle” with friend and fellow performer Sarah Lowe.
“No matter who you are in entertainment, whether you’ve been on Broadway or acted in a TV show, at some point you’ve worn a costume and worked at a kids birthday party, or had to hold a sign somewhere,” Phillips-Reid says on the latest episode of the Sun on the Strip podcast. “We thought, let’s have this podcast about the weird, wacky, wonderful jobs that you have to work when you’re trying to get the jobs you want. And it’s been great to have something to work on [during the pandemic] and also, we get to talk to all of our friends.”
The podcast was one of the projects she launched while waiting for her current Vegas show, “Magic Mike Live,” to reopen. Phillips-Reid was part of the original cast when it opened at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2017, and it’s planned move to the Sahara on the Strip was postponed because of the pandemic last year. Tickets are on sale now for “Magic Mike Live” at the Sahara, set to return to its new stage on March 26.
“I don’t know how they did it, but somehow our creative team managed to find the coolest group of people. I feel like I won the lottery just to get to hang out there,” she says. “Everyone [in the cast] is a smart, talented, cool person you genuinely want to hang out with. This year has been sad [since] we’re not working, but it really does feel like there’s grief from missing that camaraderie and that family we have backstage.”
As one of the emcees of the dance-centric male revue — her counterpart is Jordan Kai Burnett — Phillips-Reid says she’s sort of the “big sister” to the audience, reminding everyone that there is no right or wrong way to enjoy the show.
“That’s what [creator] Channing [Tatum] had envisioned, that this is a show created for women and not just to experience the spectacle of these incredible dancers, but to actually feel seen and feel powerful and feel important,” she says. “Not only do these guys dance and sing, they come around and make connections with people, which I love being a part of.”
Find this week’s Vegas entertainment news, interviews and more every Wednesday with the Sun on the Strip podcast.
