In Las Vegas, everything has an end date. Casinos and resorts seemingly need updates nearly as soon as they open and what seems cutting edge today may be dated in a just a few years.
The Las Vegas Strip undergoes nearly endless change. Casinos rise and fall, celebrity restaurants have their moment -- even their years -- and then pass into history. A lot of once iconic names are no longer found on the famed 4.2-mile stretch of road and that goes not just for casinos and eateries, but also performers.
Siegfried & Roy were once the darlings of the city and, well, that one did not end well. Donny Osmond long delighted Las Vegas fans with his sister Marie, but now he's solo in his show at Caesars Entertainment's (CZR) Harrah's. Wayne Newton still performs, but for how much longer?
Everything eventually ends even in a city that offers a healthy dose of nostalgia along with the cutting edge. You can see the latest, hottest DJs play at Caesars and MGM Resorts International's (MGM) many venues, but you can also catch Sting, Boys II Men, Backstreet Boys, and many other acts whose best days have perhaps past.
Some icons never go fully away and Michael Jackson -- who's both no longer with us and a controversial performer due to the many allegations made against him -- remains on the Strip, but in jukebox show form. That's actually a good solution because while Michael Jackson the man may have done some things wrong, Michael Jackson the artist still has a lot of fans.
It was a good arrangement until abruptly somebody pulled the plug.
Image source: Shutterstock
Michael Jackson Loses His Las Vegas Strip Venue
A lot of deceased performers remain alive in Las Vegas. Whitney Houston, for example, also has a show at Harrah's where the singer appears as a hologram. Elvis Presley, of course, still has a large Las Vegas presence (both official and unofficial). Jackson also appears in Las Vegas in a number of ways, one of which was in "M.J. The Evolution" which ran at Mosaic on the Strip.
"Michael Jackson’s spirit channeled through the vibrant energy of its talented cast. Feel what it would’ve been like to watch the pop king perform with 6 compelling acts and 15 hit songs through state-of-the art technology, exclusive video footage, and sensational dance choreography," the venue shared on its website.
That was supposed to change in the fall when Mosaic on the Strip's owners planned to shut the venue down to turn into a retail property, but the end came much sooner.
Mosaic on the Strip Shuts Down
Operated by SPR & Promotions Dean Coleman, Mosaic on the Strip housed three shows, "M.J. The Evolution," Elyzabeth Diaga’s “Queens of Rock,” and a burlesque revue “Lady Like.” All three were abruptly shut down when Coleman smelled burning wires backstage, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Given the imminent closure planned in just a few months, Coleman did not see the logic of doing any repairs to the doomed facility.
“I wasn’t going to pay the money, first and foremost,” Coleman told the paper. “Secondly, to get the work certified by the fire department and tracking what it was would have been a very time-consuming process.”
The closing was so abrupt that tickets for all three shows were all still on sale on the Mosaic on the Strip website as of the afternoon of July 3. The website even includes "We're OPEN with Live Shows!" at the top of its site, a line calling back to covid closures, not its unexpected shutdown.
Mosaic on the Strip has operated under a number of different names and housed dozens of shows during its lengthy history as a live performance venue.
All three shows that had been using the theater are going to try to find new venues in Las Vegas.
