Tony winner 'Avenue Q' will vacate the Wynn Las Vegas' Broadway Theater to make room for 'Monty Python's Spamalot' on May 28.
The puppets are making way for Python in Vegas.
"Avenue Q" will vacate its theater at the Wynn Las Vegas on May 28, to be replaced after a venue renovation by "Monty Python's Spamalot."
Wynn, meanwhile, will relinquish its exclusive non-touring arrangement with "Q."
Reports of weak sales have dogged the Sin City incarnation of "Q," but producer Kevin McCollum insisted the show is "a profitable venture." "If it was a disaster, we'd be closing right away," he said.
Steve Wynn in a statement chalked the move up to a tough business decision brought about by plans to accommodate "Spamalot" while expanding the resort with additional casinos, rooms and meeting and retail spaces.
"We realized that if we could convert the Broadway Theater currently housing 'Avenue Q' to the Grail Theater for 'Monty Python's Spamalot,' we would be able to most efficiently accommodate those new elements," he said. And, he added, avoid "having to invade our golf course real estate."
The exclusive Vegas run of "Q," a deal struck after the show took home three Tonys in 2004, was a surprising departure from Rialto touring tradition and judged a risk for a small-scale, raunchy show featuring puppets that sing comic tunes about racism and porn.
The Broadway production of "Spamalot" regularly occupies the No. 2 or No. 3 spot on the Rialto top 10. It's also bolstered by the strength of the Python brand.
The Vegas version will be cut to 90 minutes, as "Q" eventually was, and aims for a March 2007 opening. Wynn's hold on "Spamalot" is only a partial exclusive, keeping the touring production, which kicks off in Boston next month, out of California and Arizona.
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com