Las Vegas Weekly

June 29, 2009 · 1:08 PM

Photo Gallery: Michael Flatley’s Dance and Irish-themed casino plan

By Robin Leach

Michael Flatley is flanked by two dancers.

Photo: TVT

Opening weekend performances of Michael Flatley’s new run of Lord of the Dance were so successful that he hopes the show will continue past its initial run through August. I talked with the Irish-American entertainer backstage at the Steve Wyrick Theater in Planet Hollywood as he hugged and congratulated his cast.

“We committed to stay in Vegas until August, but I would love to see it run longer. That’s the hope now after the great initial response and reaction,” Michael said.

He told me that before the current global economic turmoil, he had all the pieces in place to move forward on his longtime dream to open an Irish-themed casino here in Las Vegas.

“I’d say we were right at the point to finally pull the trigger and start getting the lawyers ready to do all the licensing applications work. Then bam, the economy came to a halt overnight, so once again we’ll have to wait till things get back to normal. But, yes, the dream is still there, and one day I know we will make it happen.”

Meantime, Michael revealed that he’s going to dance again as the star of Lord of the Dance.

“We have been booked now for a long engagement in Taiwan, and I will get my feet of flames back into action for the first concerts in July,” he said. “I am excited about being onstage again, but more excited about the show here in Vegas. We have a touring company in Europe, this one here in America and the new one in Taiwan.”

Lord of the Dance previewed in Dublin in June 1996 and started a worldwide dance phenomenon. In 1998, in front of an audience of 25,000, Michael combined all of his casts, with 100 dancers stretched across the 180-foot-wide stage in multiple levels set up in London’s Hyde Park to perform the precision tap dancing, a record that still stands to this day.

He summed up: “I’m hopeful we will enjoy a long residency in Vegas because it’s nice to stay put in one place for a while.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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