Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.
Where: Steve Wyrick Theatre.
When: Saturdays through Thursdays
Lineup: Ronn Lucas, 3 p.m., $27.45 to $32.95
Martin Nievera, 5 p.m., $29.95 to $39.95
Steve Wyrick in "Real Magic," 7 and 9 p.m., $65.95 to $87.95
Information: 777-7794.
"Years in the making! A cast of thousands!"
Teaser for a movie epic?
Or the hype for magician Steve Wyrick's new entertainment complex at the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood?
Actually it only seemed liked the $35 million venue was years in the making. It took about 15 months to build.
And the core of its cast is just three performers - Wyrick, singer Martin Nievera and puppeteer Ronn Lucas. Plus, a rotating roster of stand-up comedians will take center stage on Friday nights.
Still, antsy fans were beginning to wonder if it would ever open.
Wyrick may be able to make a 60-foot Lear 35 jet appear onstage, but he doesn't know how to pull a complicated theater out of thin air.
"It was my own ignorance," says the affable Wyrick, a Texas native who moved to Las Vegas in 1996.
It also didn't help that construction delays hit projects across the valley because of the building boom.
But Wyrick blames himself, saying he underestimated the time it would take to complete the project because of the ease of earlier projects. This is his fourth venue in Las Vegas. He started at the Lady Luck, which remodeled its tent showroom to his specifications in three months. When he moved to the Sahara in 2000, the $56 million construction project took nine months. It took only three months to get his first Aladdin showroom ready for his opening in 2003.
"This is the only project I've been in on from the ground up," he says. "The incredible thing is that the demolition at the site took close to three months" - and cost $1 million.
He spent "many, many hours" with architects and oversaw every element of the construction, like a mother taking charge of the birth of her own child.
"It doesn't take that long to build a theater, but I added the whole entertainment complex," Wyrick says.
A lot of the designing took place while they were building.
"I'm kind of a perfectionist," he says, picking a piece of lint from one of the new sofas in the ultralounge. "I must admit I've done a couple of things a couple of different times - but this is a real long-term deal for myself and I wanted something that's going to be really special."
The center of the new entertainment complex is the 500-seat Steve Wyrick Theatre.
The Lady Luck had about 350 seats. "A nice, intimate setting," he says. The Sahara had 830. "It was a little large, and it felt a little cold." His first venue at the Aladdin was also an intimate room, but the 400-seat capacity was too small.
"I have taken all the theaters I have worked in, taken all the positives and eliminated all the negatives, to create this one," he says.
The light and sound systems are as good as any in town, he says. There's an LED screen on the back wall of the stage, similar to those in Celine Dion's shows.
At the same time he was overseeing the construction, he was creating a new show to fit the new digs. He wanted to work out a few of the kinks before debuting it here, so he opened a trimmed-down version in May in Atlantic City.
"In my show," he said, "I've tried to get away from what most magicians try to do: Roll out a box, do a trick; roll out another box, do another trick.
"What I have done is create a real environment in which I create the magic. Each vignette is a scene in which I create magic that is much more believable," Wyrick says. "For the first time I feel like I've really pushed the envelope."
His new routines include underwater magic and pulling a body from his own.
"Inspired by a woman very precious to me," says Wyrick, a slimmed-down version of himself after losing 40 pounds.
"It's Broadway meets magic."
Inside the new complex
The Steve Wyrick Entertainment Complex houses a theater, ultralounge, nightclub and rolling boutique on four tiers occupying 33,000 square feet in the Desert Passage at the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood resort.
Steve Wyrick Theatre
The centerpiece of the project is a 500-seat theater. The headliner is veteran magician Steve Wyrick, who dreamed up the complex. Singer Martin Nievera and ventriloquist Ronn Lucas will perform shows earlier each day.
Martin Nievera
Martin Nievera, a balladeer with a powerful voice, is one of the most popular performers in the Philippines. His show includes songs by the Rat Pack, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and others from the Golden Age of Las Vegas. Nievera also is a prolific songwriter and recording artist with 25 albums to his credit. He performed at the Golden Nugget for four months in 2004.
Ronn Lucas
Ventriloquist Ronn Lucas is a veteran Las Vegas performer and was a staple at the Rio for many years. Lucas has a cast of puppet characters in his act, including Buffalo Billy (the puppet comedian who thinks he's a ladies' man) and Scorch (the lovable green teenage dragon).
The Magiq Shoppe
The retail shop is on wheels and disappears after hours to make more space available for Triq Ultra Lounge. The shop features a Steve Wyrick clothing line as well as magic tricks and books by the magician.
Triq Ultra Lounge
On the first floor, an upscale lounge features plush Italian furniture, cracked glass backlighting and high-priced drinks. It's open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Cover charge is $20; free for "Steve Wyrick: Real Magic" patrons.
Triq Nightclub
On Saturday, the last piece of the puzzle opens. When the shows in the theater end on Friday and Saturday nights, the entire complex will transform into a four-level nightclub, housing two floors of lounges, with the theater stage serving as a dance floor. VIP tables feature stripper poles for go-go dancers who will entertain patrons who buy two or more bottles of alcohol. Tony Verdugo will be the nightlife director at Triq. - Jerry Fink
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