Eric Jamison/Courtesy Wynn Las Vegas
The famous singing frog has returned to the Lake of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas, now with some new songs in his repetoire.
Monday, Oct. 12, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Wynn Las Vegas has officially rolled out an extensive update of its Lake of Dreams show and it couldn’t have come at a better time. With Strip production shows and concerts still calculating a way to return to their theaters and showrooms, guests are ostensibly starving for some form of awe-inspiring, Vegas-style entertainment.
And make no mistake, the new Lake of Dreams presentations certainly qualify as a show, one that’s seemingly designed to work around the current restrictions for live entertainment in Las Vegas.
The Lake of Dreams "Space Oddity" show at Wynn Las Vegas.
Available from the outdoor patio spaces of fine-dining restaurants SW Steakhouse or Lakeside or the Parasol Down lounge, a dozen new “acts” make use of advanced lighting, animation and visual effects and combine those tech tricks with new music and a unique theatrical landscape made up of the three-acre lake, man-made 11-story mountain with 1,500 pine trees and 90-foot-tall waterfall. The Lake of Dreams upgrade totaled $14 million including an invisible overhead 3D fly system, 4K video projectors, a new laser mapping system, floating video orbs that project images from the inside and more than 5,500 LED lights.
While the show almost seems tailor-made for pandemic circumstances, the upgrade has been in the works for years.
"Artistic collaboration, imagination, and innovation in technology have inspired our journey over the past two years to bring all-new, state-of-the-art entertainment to Lake of Dreams," said director Kenny Ortega in an October 7 announcement. "Towering puppetry and animatronics burst to life. This one-of-a-kind living theater features music, filmed live action, animation … and inspired production design coming together in a dazzling spectacle of light and magic."
The original Lake of Dreams show made its debut when the resort opened in 2005 and may be known best for the giant animatronic singing frog character lip-syncing to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.” The 30-foot amphibian is back and better than ever, including a fedora-topped version of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” while images of that city’s skyline are projected against the waterfall.
"Throughout my 30-year career, I've found that people are thrilled by fantastic characters," said production designer Michael Curry. "After the success of the Lake of Dreams frog, who for 15 years has been singing male songs, we wanted to create a female perspective. The fabulous Lady Birds are driven by dozens of computer-controlled servo-motors and are decked out in spectacular bejeweled costumes to rival any Las Vegas headliner. They sing, they dance, and are truly one-of-a-kind characters."
The trio of 28-foot-tall birds also take the “stage” on top of the waterfall to “perform” songs like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade.” Other new Lake of Dreams highlights include an act dubbed “The Nightclub,” essentially a music video come to life set to “Side Effects” by the Chainsmokers and Emily Warren, and an immersive show soundtracked by a dramatic cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” that transforms the entire lake environment into an outer space scene.
Later this year Wynn will release a documentary-style video “Behind The Waterfall” that chronicles the show’s creation process featuring interviews with the team behind the Lake of Dreams and a visit to Curry’s production studio.
The new Lake of Dreams shows are about 3 to 5 minutes each and run nightly every 30 minutes from 7 p.m. until midnight. For more information, visit wynnlasvegas.com.
