Sometimes when a show doesn't work, there's a tendency to blame the theater or host property. But that wouldn't wash in the case of the Blue Man Group and "Hairspray."

Curiously, the Blue Man Group sputtered after its move from Luxor to The Venetian last October, and "Hairspray" got off to a slow start after replacing it at Luxor in February.

"We had a rough end of 2005," says Blue Man co-founder Matt Goldman. "We definitely were underperforming to our expectations and projections."

The producers realized a different path must be pursued to attract The Venetian's convention traffic. "Trying to convert the convention business in the moment, day of, is almost impossible," he says. But shifting the focus to group sales and private, off-calendar performances has been "off the chart."

The producers also discovered something that might be ironic to the "Hairspray" producers: "We underestimated how good of a job we did branding our show with the Luxor," says Goldman. So good, that during those months when the Luxor theater was dark between the Blue Men and "Hairspray," 25 percent of the Blue Man audiences were routed to The Venetian from Luxor.

The Blue Men also adjusted prices, simplifying five confusing price breaks and making all orchestra seats $110 and all balcony seats $85. They are ready to add an entry price of $65 for the back rows of the balcony.

Finally, they discovered the hard way that visitors didn't associate The Venetian with entertainment. (What, all that hard work by Melinda, the First Lady of Magic in the old days was for naught?) Goldman believes the arrival of "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" and the probable addition of impressionist Gordie Brown will be "a total benefit to us" rather than competition for ticket dollars.

Meanwhile, back at Luxor, the launching of "Hairspray" turned out to be "not nearly as easy as we thought it would be," says co-producer Myron Martin. Despite a media blitz that put the musical's logo on buses, billboards and even the side of the Luxor pyramid itself, the producers now seem resigned to the show building by word of mouth.

"The great news is every night I'm there and listen in the lobby after the show is over, people have a great time," Martin says.

The biggest surprise was that the expensive move to hire the original Broadway stars, Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa, didn't produce better numbers for their limited three-month run that continues through the end of this month.

The most logical explanation is that Fierstein's marquee value is limited to the theater community and doesn't extend to the mainstream. "That (former) audience is not big enough to create sellouts," Martin acknowledges. "But I still believe it was the right thing to do."

Hiring the two "was the only way to brand the show as the real deal, not just a 'tab' (shortened) version for Vegas," Martin says.

"If that was the goal, we succeeded famously. If selling out every performance was the goal, we didn't do so well," he says. But moving away from 10 p.m. shows to 4 p.m. matinees has helped on weekends, and the producers may change the Wednesday day off to another day of the week. ...

One show's fight for survival has taken the battle to the enemy's home turf. If the nightclubs have become the enemy of the ticketed shows, "we're trying to make them a friend," says Victoria Ribeiro, director of marketing for "The Fashionistas."

The kinky dance show at Krave nightclub is sending costumed cast members to do promotions in other nightclubs. The troupe recently visited Tao at The Venetian, which produced a bump in sales. Next Tuesday, they plan an 11:15 p.m. meet-and-greet at ghostbar at the Palms.

"We're trying to tie ourselves to their demographic," Ribeiro says. "We have a large and really pretty cast," she adds, so cast members pose for photos and pass out discount coupons to the show. ...

It's getting crowded over at Krave with the arrival of an interactive dinner show, "The Soprano's Last Supper." Note the strategic placement of the apostrophe in the title; comparisons between the spoof and the hit HBO series end with a letter from HBO acknowledging the producers "have adequately distanced your production from the HBO series ... such that it is clearly a parody thereof."

The husband-and-wife team of Ryan Sands and Maggie Cupps direct and produce the comedy for Dillstar Productions. The company is backed by Mandalay Sports Entertainment, which owns and operates the Las Vegas 51s.

Dillstar has 14 of these "Soprano" shows across the country; the company also stages "Joey and Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding" around the country. Tony Carro has staged "Joey" for the producers locally and is involved in the day-to-day supervision of the "Soprano" cast. The cast includes Janien Valentine (formerly Masse), who starred on the Strip in "Notre Dame de Paris" and "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus."

The dinner show moves the Funny Business comedy club into the smaller part of the nightclub that was formerly a restaurant. The new setup sounds more comedy-friendly with cabaret table seating for 175 people.