The Las Vegas production of Spamalot — which as you may recall, I didn't think was very good — is closing July 13. That's a little more than a year after it opened and that's probably a big disappointment to the folks behind it. It's also a disappointment to those of us who've watched one Broadway-type show after another not do well in Vegas. Mamma Mia is still running and so is the Vegas remodel of Phantom of the Opera, but pretty much everything else has crashed 'n' burned. Jersey Boys opened there last night and we'll see how that one does.
In the past, I've suggested that one of the problems is that people who want to see Broadway shows don't want to see the truncated versions that Vegas offers. That may drive off a few patrons and the quality of some productions may keep others away. But the more I think about it, the more I think there's more to it than that. Maybe people who visit Las Vegas have so many other options…and a yearning to do the things one can only do in Vegas. I'm going to think about this some more and write a piece here one of these days about it.