Babs-approved ‘Baz’ moves from LA to Las Vegas
Las Vegas audiences, as it has never been performed in the city. Others who have become fans include Quentin Tarantino, a frequent visitor to the production in LA who is known to pop his head backstage before performances and call out, “Let’s go, thespians!” Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Garry Marshall are among the show’s fans in Hollywood.
“This has become a place for people to go who want to feel a cool nightlife experience, but aren’t the type who would go to a big nightclub,” Scheel explains during Thursday’s first day of rehearsals in the Light space. “The work of mouth has carried the show from 60 seats to what we have now in LA, which is about 210. It’s just grown and continues to grow, very organically.”
As Scheel talks, cast members descend from the wings on the stage built specifically for the production, a performance space with three short runways jutting toward the audience. “Lady Marmalade” is the song, as the dancers meet in the middle of the stage and face out to an unseen audience.
It is apparent that those in the cast, many of whom glance skyward at the colored, rectan- gular lights beaming down from the top of the club, are impressed with the size of Light.
The 500-seat club might seem a relatively intimate space compared with some Vegas venues, but is a veritable fortress compared with DBA.
“This is a larger scope, and we will need to get used to moving around this room, because it will be a lot more challenging for us, physically,” says Ginifer King, who portrays the plumb role of Satine in the production. “But this is actually an ideal space for what we do.”
Which is to blend the stories and music in Luhrmann’s films, specifically “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby” into a freewheeling rock-musical production. The numbers are familiar, as are the themes. We’ll hear “Lady Marmalade,” naturally, along with “Kissing You, ““Love Is in The Air” and “Crazy In Love.” Though Scheel is not fond of the word “immersive,” which is already becoming stale when describing these sorts of nightclub productions, the show does bleed into the audience in a manner that is foreign to fans of traditional musicals.
The fourth wall is broken down even before audience members are seated, as the Sidler and Green Fairy characters meander through the club and warm up the crowd. Even afterward, the cast in LA hangs and mixes with the audience.
This type of interactivity brings to question why the show needed to be cut by 30 minutes, but that inartistic decision is a byproduct of the time-honored tradition in Vegas that audiences won’t sit still for a 2 1/2-hour show.
“They want people back in the casino, right?” Scheel says, as if answering his own question. “But what we are trying to establish here is an experience that is beyond just the stage show. You are in a club, you are enjoying live music and a great story, and you are not just sitting and watching. You are experiencing.” There is even an effort to provide padded seating areas atop the booths at Light, so audience members can view the spectacle in a more casual posture.
“Baz,” to its undying credit, does feature a live band and advanced choreography from Spencer Liff (“So You Think You Can Dance”).
If Scheel and the production team are seeking advance word of mouth, they have at least achieved a level of curiosity. The entertainment community is asking about this production of Hollywood that has infiltrated a genuine Vegas mecca of electronic dance music. The show’s 8 p.m. start will lead to the more typical evenings of DJs and EDM, and the show is being staged when the club has usually sat dark (show nights are Wednesdays through Mondays; tickets are $55).
I ask Scheel what needs to happen for him to say, simply, “Baz is a success.”
There is an inordinately long pause, as only “Lady Marmalade” is audible.
Finally, he says, “To be here three years from now … To find our audience. Success, for me, will be to change the landscape of how entertainment is presented and how nightlife is perceived in Las Vegas.”
It’s not such a far-flung objective. Just ask the famous folks who have already embraced the show elsewhere.
But if “Baz” becomes a hit on the Strip, we suggest using valet.