Talking With Michael Shulman – April 29, 2024

Ira David Sternberg: Modern Las Vegas is home to many artists performing in residencies, including Adele, Bruno Mars, and Garth Brooks. But the concept of a residency in Las Vegas for popular performers goes back to 1944. That’s right, 1944. Everything old is new—maybe not even again—according to my guest, writer, photographer, artist, and philanthropist Michael Schulman. He wrote a comprehensive history of entertainment residencies in Las Vegas for his website, SchulmanSays.com. For everything about Michael, you can go to that same website, SchulmanSays.com, and follow him on all social media. This article was originally published in Business Traveler in August 2023. Michael, welcome back to the show.

Michael Schulman: Thank you, Ira. Nice to be back.

Ira: Thanks, it’s been a few years, and I wanted to have you on because I found the article intriguing. Most of us don’t think about it as an old phenomenon, more as a relatively new phenomenon.

Michael: Well, and it’s interesting—sorry for cutting you off—but part of the reason for that, and it’s a wonderful reason, is that when people think of Las Vegas residencies, they start with Céline Dion and go forward, right? Céline changed everything. And the person responsible for Céline changing everything was her husband and manager, René Angélil. It was his idea to take Céline’s showmanship and combine it with Franco Dragone’s production—who had previously done "O" and Cirque du Soleil—and fuse the two together. And so when most people think of the Las Vegas residency, they start in the 1990s. But as you were starting to get into, it goes back a half-century prior to that.

Ira: Were you surprised about that, Michael, when you started researching for your article?

Michael: Was I surprised that it went back that far? No, because I love popular culture, and I love Elvis, The Rat Pack, and Liberace, and that triumvirate is where the Las Vegas residency show really got its start. When Las Vegas first opened, you had big acts coming out like Jimmy Durante and people like that, but they would only do a few nights here and a few nights there. And Liberace was really the one who got it started. Not only that, but by the 1970s, I believe he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world based on his residency show, which was paying him the equivalent in today’s dollars of about a million and a half dollars a week—16 weeks a year.

Ira: And that was at the Las Vegas Hilton?

Michael: It was. He was a fascinating entertainer, and I think people’s perception of him keeps changing from decade to decade. You really get a sense of his talent in the performing arts. He goes back, as you say, to the 1940s. I always remember growing up watching him, even in the 1950s, where he would perform on television with his brother George.

Michael: Oh, my mother talks about watching "The Liberace Show" with her grandmother. She was like, "Nobody thought he was gay. My grandmother said, 'Oh, he’s such a nice young man. He lives with his mother, and she lives with him,' and blah blah blah." I remember once, 15 or 20 years ago, I had a birthday, and a bunch of people came in from New York, and we decided to go to the Liberace Museum. Now I should point out that this group was mostly out-of-drag drag queens, hungover from the night before, and we almost got kicked out of the Liberace Museum because the docents at the Liberace Museum had no sense of humor when it came to Liberace. Now, nobody had a bigger sense of humor about Liberace than Liberace himself.

Ira: Absolutely right.

Michael: And a bunch of out-of-drag, hungover drag queens were going to pick right up on that. They were going to go straight for the world’s largest rhinestone and walk right up to it. So, there was this movie playing in a loop, a black-and-white film of Liberace by the pool, and he’s like, "I love having the kids come over and swim in the pool," and I remember Lady Bunny being like, "You bet you do, you old queen." And this woman comes over in her sequin piano key vest and says, "I’m sorry, you can’t talk about Mr. Liberace like that." And we were like, "Is she for real?" Then there were these two little old ladies—they must have been from Oskaloosa or something—stage whispering. "They say he was gay, but I don’t believe it." And we’re all like, "Sequin pom-poms on his socks—what aren’t you understanding?" It was mind-boggling, but yes, Liberace was a pioneer. As a matter of fact, when the Neon Museum opened up on its opening night, I remember going up to Alex Epstein and saying, "Dibs on the Liberace Museum sign." And she was like, "For real?" And I’m like, "Yeah, it’s great. It’s small, it’s not the Stardust sign, I’m not Boyd Gaming, neither is my family, but we can do this small sign. It’s pink and gay and fabulous, bring it on." She was like, "Great, fantastic." Which is how the Liberace Museum sign got refurbished at the Neon Museum.

Ira: For those listeners and viewers who haven’t been to the Neon Museum or some of the other great museums in Las Vegas, please go because there’s a lot of history there.

Michael: There really is, and it’s also inherently Vegas-y.

Ira: Yes, very much so.

Michael: You learn a lot about Vegas history at the Neon Museum. I can’t say enough great things about it. And we’ll get into residencies in a minute, but there are so many great museums that have come to Las Vegas. We have the Punk Rock Museum, the new Las Vegas Museum of Art that Heather Harmon is leading with Elaine Wynn and Michael Govan from LACMA, which is going to be down in Symphony Park. It was just announced today in the LA Times. And just these wonderful organizations that are expanding the way people look at culture in Las Vegas.

Ira: We have to include the Mob Museum as one of those.

Michael: Of course, absolutely. Another inherently Vegas-y thing.

Ira: Oh yeah, you can’t get that anywhere else.

Michael: True.

Ira: When you look at the history of the residency, starting with who we were just talking about—Liberace—the number of performers that have had residencies, and I know it’s a broad term, so if you wouldn’t mind explaining the concept to anybody who doesn’t quite know what that means.

Michael: It’s interesting, and I’m going to use a metaphor for this that AEG and Live Nation are probably not going to enjoy. But anybody who has killed multiple people is considered a serial killer. Any Las Vegas artist who performs in the same venue over and over again for a certain amount of time is considered a resident artist, whether that’s Billy Joel performing once a month every month at Madison Square Garden in New York, or whether it’s Debby Boone performing for three months at the Crazy Horse in Paris, or Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood. It’s a residency show. Now it so happens that Las Vegas is the Ur residency city, if you will, because the casinos had the budget to pay for entertainers to come out and do whatever. And it wasn’t only singers; Don Rickles had a residency that went on for decades.

Ira: And we’re the residency capital of the world.

Michael: Oh, indeed.

Ira: Could you explain before we get into further detail just why it’s important? You talk about in the article the importance of entertainment to Las Vegas, and specifically to some of the resorts or casinos, in terms of how they differentiate themselves by having certain kinds of entertainers.

Michael: That has changed.

Ira: Yes, especially in the old days when they were able to attract high rollers or whales.

Michael: Absolutely. The reason the Rat Pack was so revered from the casino side, and why they were given so many passes on so many things that other people would have been like, "You can’t do that," was because they brought in the whales. And for anybody who’s not familiar with Vegas parlance, a whale is a high roller, very simple. And what the Rat Pack did was they brought in a lot of high rollers. Liberace, and he was the first person to tell you this, he brought in a lot of the wives and mothers of the high rollers. The high rollers weren’t going to see Liberace; they would be in the casino, and their wives and mothers and whoever would go see him. That was his crowd. Elvis was more for the girlfriends and daughters, until he was older and at the Hilton. But Elvis’s first residency was a flop at the Last Frontier. I think he was there for about a week and a half or two weeks. It opened and closed with nary a boo, barely a blurb. And Liberace was one of his first champions here in Las Vegas.

Ira: It’s funny how that works, because that was one residency entertainer promoting another soon-to-be residency entertainer.

Michael: Absolutely. And Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager

Ira David Sternberg: We were talking about the evolution of residencies in Las Vegas. Michael, can you shed light on how the modern residency differs from its early days?

Michael Schulman: Absolutely. In the early days, residencies were primarily about bringing in high rollers. The entertainment served as an amenity, much like a high-end restaurant or spa. Artists like the Rat Pack and Liberace were instrumental in this strategy. However, as Las Vegas evolved, so did its approach to entertainment. The significant shift began with Céline Dion's groundbreaking residency in the 1990s. Her show, combined with Franco Dragone's production expertise, set a new standard. It wasn't just about the music; it was a complete spectacle.

Ira: How did this change impact other artists and the overall entertainment landscape in Las Vegas?

Michael: Céline's success paved the way for a new era. Artists realized they didn't have to tour incessantly; they could set up a base in Las Vegas and have fans come to them. This approach offered stability and allowed for more elaborate productions. Following Céline, artists like Elton John, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Lopez launched their own residencies, each bringing unique elements to their shows. The productions became more sophisticated, integrating advanced technology, intricate choreography, and thematic elements that transformed concerts into immersive experiences.

Ira: Speaking of productions, what goes into creating these residency shows from a business standpoint?

Michael: It's a complex collaboration between the artist, their management, production designers, and the hosting venue. Financially, it's a significant investment. The artist's fee is just one component; production costs can be substantial, especially for shows with high-end sets, special effects, and large teams of dancers and musicians. Venues like the Coliseum at Caesars Palace or the newer Voltaire at The Venetian are designed to support these grand productions. Often, the artist has a vision, and teams of professionals, including renowned production designers like Baz Halpin and Raj Kapoor, bring it to life.

Ira: Are there any trends or shifts you foresee in the future of Las Vegas residencies?

Michael: Intimacy seems to be a growing trend. Venues like Voltaire and the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas offer more personal settings, allowing artists to connect more closely with their audiences. This contrasts with the massive stadium-like venues and provides a different experience. Additionally, genres like country music have found a significant foothold in Las Vegas, with artists like Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert launching successful residencies. The diversification of genres and personalized experiences are likely to shape the future of residencies in the city.

Ira: That's fascinating. It seems Las Vegas continues to reinvent itself as an entertainment hub.

Michael: Indeed, Las Vegas remains at the forefront of live entertainment, continually adapting and setting new standards. The city's ability to host a diverse range of artists and productions ensures its place as a premier destination for performers and fans alike.

Ira: Michael, thank you for sharing your insights. For those interested in delving deeper, be sure to visit SchulmanSays.com. It's been a pleasure having you on the show.

Michael: Thank you, Ira. Always a pleasure.