As mentioned here a while ago, the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas is retooling its infamous pirate show. Four or five times a day except in inclement weather, a bunch of guys in pirate suits swarm over two ships and mime to an unintelligible soundtrack as the crafts fire on one another. There's a lot of noise and flames and pyrotechnics and at the end, one of the ships sinks…and if you stick around for a while after the show, you get to see them dredge it back up so they can reset for the next performance.
Crowds have flocked to see it because it's kind of corny and/or because it's free, but that ends July 7 as the whole front of the hotel receives a makeover. Here's part of the casting notice for the new offering…
Treasure Island Hotel will hold an open call for Battle of Buccaneer Bay, an outdoor theatrical spectacle. A new, modern interpretation of the Las Vegas favorite being revamped by Emmy winner Kenny Ortega to include the "Sirens of T.I.," a singing, dancing, acrobatic band of female pirates. Prod./dir. Kenny Ortega, choreo. Travis Payne. Rehearsals start Aug. at the Buccaneer Bay at the Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas. Performances run indefinitely, contracts are for one year. Breakdown — Females: 21-28. All auditioners wear body-concious outfit and bring heels. Singers who dance: prepare 16 bars of pop rock or R&B ballad and bring sheet music, accompanist provided. May sing to tap or CD with no lead vocal on track. Dancers: strong in jazz and hip hop, gymnastic and aquatic abilities a plus for some roles.
Over on one Vegas message board, some folks are acting like this is some sort of desecration of a grand tradition; like the Statue of Liberty is going topless or something. (There's also one guy who keeps posting, "Who the hell cares what's out front? We just go to these places to gamble." It's probably Bill Bennett.) To most though, it's typical of the transitory nature of everything in town. Shows close and old hotels are imploded or completely renovated all the time. The pirate show isn't even a long-standing tradition that is coming to an end. It's only been there since the hotel opened in '93. It's indicative of the rapid turnover that is becoming the norm in Vegas that ten years seems like Ancient History. Anyway, if you want to see the current pirate show, you have a little less than two months. The new show is supposed to open October 26.