Jubilee!was aLas Vegas Strip-based spectacular revue.[2]It opened on July 31, 1981 at an initial cost of 10 million dollars and was originally produced byDonn Arden.[3]Donn Arden set the standard for all the spectacular Las Vegas shows that celebrated female beauty, in combination with a demand for only the best; in costumes, set, and talent. When it closed in 2016, this resident show atBally's Las Vegaswas the longest-running production show in Las Vegas. TheJubilee!showgirlswere an icon of old Vegas. The show used costumes designed byBob Mackieand Pete Menefee. UNLV Special Collections houses many of the original costume design drawings which can be accessed online through theShowgirlscollection from UNLV Digital Collections.[3]Many of the show's sets dated back to the original production and include the sinking of theTitanicand the bull used in Samson and Delilah. The bull was 27 feet (8 m) tall and collapses down to 13 feet (4 m) after it has been destroyed. The bull was the heaviest single piece of scenery in the show weighing 3 tons (2700 kg). It took 9 stagehands to move it from one position to another.Jubilee!'slongest serving principal dancer from the opening night until her departure 23 years later was Linda Green. The final closing cast consisted of 3 female singers, 3 male singers, 18 male dancers, 23 topless dancers, and 19 female dancers. Within the female covered and topless dancers, they were further categorized as "short" and "tall" dancers. A "short" dancer is a female dancer between 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) and 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) and a "tall" female dancer is between 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and 6 ft 2 in (188 cm). One may have been surprised at how tall the dancers were because of the proportions of the stage, which was three and a half stories high, giving the illusion that the performers are smaller in relationship to the stage.
| Jubilee! | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Revue |
| Show type | Resident show |
| Date of premiere | July 31, 1981 |
| Final show | February 11, 2016 |
| Location | originally at theMGM Grand Hotel and Casino,which later becameHorseshoe Las Vegas |
| Creative team | |
| Producer | Donn Arden |
| Costume designer | Bob Mackie |
| Costume designer | Pete Menefee |
| Official website | |
The show ended its 35-year run on February 11, 2016.[4][5][6]
Creators
edit- Donn Arden- Producer
- Fluff LeCoque - Associate producer
- Michael Pratt - Assistant company manager
- Winston Hemsley - Choreographer
- Rich Rizzo - Choreographer
- Pete Menefee - Designer
- Bob Mackie- Designer
Notable dancers
edit- Tiffany Coyne,model[7]
- Greta Jones, Full Show Swing
- Janet Ford Spelman, Principle Dancer, Tropicana Casino Legends Hall of Fame Inductee
- Kaleigh Jones, Featured Dancer
- Michael Forsch, Line 3 Captain
- Nathaniel Burich, Full Show Swing
- Sabina Kelley,Best Ink,Tattooed SuperModel, 1st Heavily Tattooed Dancer to Headline a show on the Vegas Strip
- Jessica Lane, Featured Dancer (Dolly Sister)
- Lisa Louise Wilson, Principle Singer, Singer Line Captain and Female Singer Swing (Fired)
Acts
edit- Act 1Showtime! Putting It into the Right Vernacular
- Act 2A Specialty Act that varied over the years, toward the end was a hand balancing act
- Act 3Samson and Delilah Tonight, a Lesson from Ancient History[8]
- Act 4Another Specialty Act that varied over the years, sometimes a magic act, towards the end was a gaucho act
- Act 5Titanic Away We Go on the Mighty "Unsinkable" Ocean Liner
- Act 6Another Specialty Act, towards the end was an aerial act
- Act 7The Finale A Tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Former staff at time of closing
edit- Damian Costa - Entertainment Director
- Diane Palm - Company manager
- Suzanne Swanson - Assistant company manager
- Darrell Clulow - Technical director
- Alicia Morse - Stage manager
- Amy Schrage - Assistant Stage manager
- Donna London - Wardrobe manager
- Gene Lubas - Show Manager
- Ryan Rappaport - Entertainment Manager
- Daniel Salas - Showroom Manager
- Carol Beeman - Production assistant
- Ken Billington - Lighting Designer
Technical/show information
edit- At its closing dateJubilee!features a cast of 66 showgirls and show boys. When it first opened the cast had over 100 performers in it.
- The theater seated 1,033 people in a combination of theater style seats, swivel chairs, tables and booths.
- The show was topless, for 18 and over
- There were 75 stagehands working on the show.
- The total width of the stage wall to wall was 190 feet (58 m).
- All of the dressing rooms were in the basement, 2 flights of stairs below the stage, making for some dancers to do over 1,700 stairs a night.
- The heaviest set piece lifted by a motor weighed over 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) and the heaviest set piece of scenery lifted and lowered by the crew weighed 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg).
- The sinking effect of the Titanic was achieved by a combination of the ship and the stage moving at the same time, creating a singular illusion.
- Over 1,000 costumes were designed for Jubilee! By Pete Menefee and Bob Mackie.
- The feathered headdresses worn by the showgirls weighed up to 35 pounds (15 kg).
- There were between 20 and 2,000 feathers on a single costume.
- Delilah's crown was the largest jeweled headpiece in the show. The crown was 2 feet (60 cm) tall and is covered with 20 pounds (10 kg) of rhinestones.
- The costumes worn in the Grand Jewel Box Finale tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld, was designed by Bob Mackie. There were 36 individual designs, each based on the jewel tones of amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and ruby.[9]
Legacy
editScreenwriter Kate Gersten visited theJubilee!show before it concluded and was inspired to write a play about the dancers in a similar Las Vegas show's closing. That unproduced play became the basis for the screenplay she wrote forThe Last Showgirl,starringPamela Andersonas a Las Vegas showgirl near the end of her career at the closing of a long-running show.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Phil Konstantin."Jubilee Dancers at KUSI TV".americanindian.net.Retrieved23 June2017.
- ^Bell, Joseph N. (15 July 1988)."Donn Arden's Art: Beauty, Disasters Wrapped in Extravagance".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved10 November2024.
Donn Arden...was there, sleeping in a suite on the 10th floor when the fire broke out early in the morning of Nov. 20, 1980...Margaret Kelly...
- ^abUNLV Libraries."Jubilee!".Showgirls.UNLV Libraries Digital Collections. Archived fromthe originalon 30 July 2012.Retrieved10 September2012.
- ^"End of an era: 34-year-old 'Jubilee' concludes — what's next?".lasvegassun.com.11 February 2016.Retrieved23 June2017.
- ^"'Jubilee' show at Bally's to close after 34-year run ".lasvegassun.com.12 December 2015.Retrieved23 June2017.
- ^"Curtain coming down on 'Jubilee!'--Las Vegas' long-running showgirl revue".14 December 2015.Retrieved23 June2017– via LA Times.
- ^Wright, Becky."Tiffany Coyne the real deal".Hers.Utah: Standard-Examiner. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-01-14.Retrieved16 October2013.
- ^Liann Hanson (14 November 2010)."Moonlighting Vegas Cop Takes It Off Onstage".NPR.org.Retrieved23 June2017.
- ^Merrill, Jane (2018).The showgirl costume an illustrated history.McFarland. p. 224.ISBN978-1-4766-7174-1.OCLC1240159008.
- ^Coppola, Gia;Anderson, Pamela;Gersten, Kate;Shipka, Kiernan;Song, Brenda(September 7, 2024)."Pamela Anderson's Role Of A Lifetime In 'The Last Showgirl'"(Interview).Deadline Hollywood– viaYoutube.
External links
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