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Olivia & Dai Richards
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Sun on the Strip
Olivia & Dai Richards
Brock talks with Vegas showbiz couple Olivia Nicole Richards (of X Country) and Dai Richards (of Tenors of Rock).
Super Bowl weekend should be a sweet one for singer Dai Richards. “Tenors of Rock,” the musical tribute show that brought him to Las Vegas from the U.K. more than five years ago, has yet to reopen at the Planet Hollywood Resort, but Richards will be performing in front of a live audience again with his pandemic-born band Original Chaos on Friday and Saturday on the Strip.
Even better, he’ll be singing at the Carnaval Court bar at Harrah’s Las Vegas, the same resort property where he met his wife, “X Country” dancer Olivia Nicole Richards. The couple married in 2018 after he saw her perform in the burlesque show at Harrah’s Cabaret.
“He had to do some thorough Instagram stalking to find me after that,” jokes Olivia on this week’s episode of the Sun on the Strip podcast.
She’s been back onstage in “X Country” since October when the show became the first Strip casino production to return to live performances since the shutdown in March 2020.
“There are not many performers, especially in America, doing live performance right now, so we’re overwhelmingly grateful. But there are a lot of adjustments to make with the current restrictions,” Olivia says. “Our No. 1 priority is to get out there and perform and be safe about it. Backstage, there’s a lot of guidelines. You should see how much sanitizing spray we go through.”
She had to acclimate to performing while wearing a mask, no easy feat considering the fast pace and athleticism involved in the dance-centric show. “The first time, I was frustrated, but then you get used to it. You learn how to breathe and take a moment backstage. But it’s fast and our cast is small, there’s only five of us, so if you’re not onstage, you’re backstage changing for the next act. There’s not a lot of recovery time.”
Her husband was in the audience for that first show back and says he noticed how the cast and crew was working hard to create a great experience despite tough restrictions like the 25-foot distance between the stage and the audience.
“The girls are always amazing but even so, you can really see the extra effort they put in, because they’re projecting across that extra space,” Dai says. “It really comes across and it’s just such a good show.”
He has performed here and there at different venues in Las Vegas and during livestream shows, and while the COVID era has been obviously challenging, Dai says he’s embraced the opportunity to be creative in a new way with Original Chaos.
“The longer I stay in Vegas, the more I see it’s a tight-knit community and you have to try to barge in on that community so you get noticed more,” he says. “We are lucky that Caesars [Entertainment] gave us the opportunity to play at Carnaval Court. It’s fun to do something new with new people, and with new songs I haven’t done before.”
Find this week’s Vegas entertainment news, interviews and more every Wednesday with the Sun on the Strip podcast.
