Las Vegas resorts offer a wide variety of entertainment options for visitors. Production shows feature talented performers from around the world singing, dancing, contorting and conjuring nightly to the delight of huge audiences. From magic shows to comedy acts, acrobats, tribute bands and elaborate showgirl productions, Vegas has something for every audience to enjoy. With this list of best musicals in Las Vegas, anyone can enjoy a nostalgic romp through the decades.
Jersey Boys at Paris
Jersey Boys is the Vegas version of the Broadway hit that won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical. This musical journey through time chronicles the history of the Four Seasons beginning in the 1950s with four teenagers growing up on the streets of New Jersey. From there, the show follows the group’s meteoric rise to stardom and their subsequent fall from grace. It ends with a tribute to the final time the original members appeared on stage together for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Jersey Boys features four seasons (acts) with each one narrated by a different band member. Live musical performances woven throughout the story include some of the group’s most popular songs, including “Oh, What a Night,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.”
The Beatles LOVE at Mirage
The Beatles LOVE at the Mirage is what you get when the musical genius of the Fab Four and the creative minds behind the wildly popular Cirque du Soleil entertainment group come together. There are so many reasons this high-energy production consistently makes any list of the best shows in Las Vegas. You don’t have to be a fan of the Beatles to appreciate how their music has withstood the test of time. Audience members journey back to the 1960s when Beatlemania swept the planet. Acrobats, aerial artists, and extreme inline skaters jump, spin, whirl and tumble to the soundtrack, which includes more than 30 of the Beatles’ most popular tunes. But this is not your typical Cirque show where the acrobats play primary roles and the music is secondary. In LOVE, the music is definitely the star. The theater offers 360-degree seating with the most distant row a mere 98 feet from the stage, so there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.
Rock of Ages at Venetian
If you are a child of the 1980s, Rock of Ages is the show for you. Unlike LOVE and Jersey Boys, this show features fictional characters. Drew and Sherrie fall in love while attempting to hit the big time on Los Angeles’ notorious Sunset Strip in 1987. Along the way, they do what they can to prevent their beloved Bourbon Room from an embarrassing transformation into a Foot Locker. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to follow the predictable plot but that’s not what Rock of Ages is about anyway. It’s all about the music at a time when spandex, big hair, and face melting guitar solos ruled the industry. The show is a headbanger’s delight with more than two dozen rock anthems, including Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again,” Poison’s “Nothin’ but a Good Time” and Twisted Sister’s, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” This is a show where the audience is expected to fist pump to the beat. In fact, each audience member receives a lighter shaped flashlight to hold on high while swaying to the strains of the show’s power ballads.
No matter which show you choose, get ready to clap your hands, tap your feet, and sing along to some of the most time-honored musical hits of all time.
