Vegas Shows

Shows in Las Vegas

Looking over the above list of shows in Vegas, it’s hard to dispute that Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world. In fact, the shows are probably our favorite single thing about Las Vegas. While the city has its palatial hotels, world-class restaurants, and remains an international gambling Mecca, you really can’t find such a rich variety of shows like these anywhere else in the world.

In addition to being a unique experience for visitors, the Las Vegas show industry has become big business – how could it not be with a Donny & Marie VIP ticket at the Flamingo costing some $295 or a front row seat with a backstage meet and greet with Celine Dion running $1,375.

Over the last several years, Vegas shows have been one area of the local economy that has been pretty much recession-proof. And that’s a great thing. Both a true testament to the talent of the people that make it all happen and an encouraging sign that Vegas will continue to turn out great entertainment – and lots of it - for years to come.

Vegas’ wild ascendance to become the entertainment capital of the world didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t always a sure thing. In fact, several milestones really stand out.

While the modern history of Vegas shows dates to 1930s with a handful of nightclub acts at the clubs along Boulder highway, the concept of nightly entertainment really owes its existence to the hotels such as the El Rancho and Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo that pioneered the, then, nearly desolate Strip by offering non-stop and ever more outlandish entertainment to compete with the more established offerings Downtown.

It was during the 1950’s Vegas really gained its iconic status as an adult playground and the place to be for non-stop diversion as Hollywood stars flocked to Las Vegas, both as visitors and as performers. The likes of the Jimmy Durante, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Nat King Cole all performed in Las Vegas shows. Even Ronald Reagan did a stint. A young Wayne Newton got his start in 1959 at the age of 15 in a Vegas show. The Rat Pack was in its heyday. This golden age of Vegas was also when the city also first became renown for its Las Vegas-style reviews featuring lavishly dressed chorus girls and topless performers and really gained its “sin city” moniker.

Up until the 1970s, however, Vegas entertainment was looked upon by the powers that be primarily as just another way to lure gamblers putting Las Vegas shows on par with the all you can eat cheap buffets. As a result, by the 1970s Vegas’ show offerings suffered a major period of decline as its seminal stars aged and drifted away and the city gained a reputation for corruption and tackiness, and performing in Vegas was considered the last respite for a flagging entertainment careers – something of a humiliation. What was a town associated with A-list entertainment in the 1950s in the span of just a couple decades had developed a reputation as a place for has-beens.

On such flagging entertainer was The King himself, Elvis Presley, who came to Vegas to revive his carrier, but ended up revolutionizing the entire concept of what it means to put on a show in Las Vegas.

Elvis did 837 shows between 1969 and 1977 at Kirk Kerkorian’s International Hotel - this was the era of the iconic Vegas Elvis, clad in a white sequined jumpsuit and accompanied by his own 50-musician orchestra and gospel choir.

At the end of Elvis’ first month in Vegas, it became apparent that shows could be hugely profitable ventures all by themselves. What cost the hotel half a million to put on, brought in over two million in revenues. A new era was born – one in which the business of putting on shows was itself a profit center. Once the notion that Vegas can be more than a just gambler’s paradise caught on, the city exploded.

Vegas transitioned from being an adult playground into being a family playground; shows such as the magic of Siegfried and Roy became widely popular.

Today Vegas boast virtually every type of show imaginable from its showgirl roots to innumerable variations on music, magic, comedy, hypnosis to ever more amazing production shows such as Cirque du Soleil and headliners such as Celine Dion.

The days of Vegas as the last stop for has-beens are clearly over. Today the city boasts world-class shows and concerts from some of the top entertains in the word on a daily basis. Show offerings that were once tacky and uninspired are today modern, edgy, sophisticated, sexy, and smart.

When it comes to shows in Vegas, there is really something for everyone… the only requirement is that you have to come to Vegas to enjoy them.

We hope that you enjoy our Vegas show listings and reviews and hope even more that you post your comments and reviews so that others can hear what you think. Your feedback and opinion are important so don’t hesitate to SIGN UP and let us know your thoughts.

vegas show archive - past shows in Vegas.