Sunday, October 20, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Mike Weatherford

Romeo unfazed by closing

Most entertainers should probably stick to their night jobs for the time being.

Back in June, I wrote that singing magician Darren Romeo's afternoon berth at The Mirage would serve as a test case for how many of the 75 or more shows now crowding the Strip could move into earlier time slots.

The idea is that if the core audience is saying no to late shows -- impressionist Bob Anderson recently encountered resistance to an 11 p.m. set at the Stardust -- perhaps there is an underserved market for matinees.

There are successful afternoon shows already. But most of them are budget-minded or flat-out loss leaders, often using the come-on of being "free" for the price of a $6 or $7 drink.

Romeo and his management took the bold step of seeking a $30 ticket for a show that was, at least in part, bigger and more expansively staged than the afternoon bargains.

The show closed Oct. 12.

There was no control group for this test, so the results are still inconclusive. We still don't know if this was a rejection of the time slot, of singing magicians in general or Romeo in particular.

Romeo and his camp position the closing as a preordained step toward a regular evening show.

Siegfried & Roy "want to groom me for the future," Romeo says of his mentors. "It's still a methodical plan." If it was always in the plan to move from afternoons to evenings, "we might as well do it sooner than later."

Bernie Yuman, who manages both Romeo and Siegfried & Roy, agrees it's "time to take him to the next level," but adds, "where we go from here is to be seen." There's no pending news on where "or what the timeline is."

But this is a setback for producers who imagine a Branson, Mo.-like scenario, where shows start at 10 a.m. and run all day, much like a movie theater.

Romeo's deep-pockets ad campaign included radio ads and taxi tops. He did interviews with every possible media outlet. And still, "the crowds weren't as big as I wanted them to be," Romeo says.

Yuman calls the afternoon market "limited."

Is it limited for everyone? Or just for more magicians? Romeo's afternoon competitors include another fully produced revue by Rick Thomas at the Tropicana, not to mention the smaller but funnier Mac King show at Harrah's.

The assumption must have been that having "Siegfried & Roy present" in the title would muscle the show past the competition. Instead, it might have obscured Romeo's true distinction, singing, and overemphasized the magic that turned out to be the least impressive part of the show.

At least Romeo was a safe volunteer for this. As Siegfried & Roy's protege, he won't be on the streets and you don't have to feel sorry for him. Unless, of course, the next step of his methodical plan doesn't work either.