Broadway and Hollywood actress Ginifer King says that Las Vegas has presented nearly everything when it comes to entertainment, but her castmates and she in “For the Record: Baz” vow that we haven’t seen anything yet.
Their show opens at Light in Mandalay Bay on June 19 (also the grand-opening night of Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn at Caesars Palace and the first night of the 2015 Electric Daisy Carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), and Ginifer says: “You don’t even know what’s going to hit the town.
“It’s a 360-degree theatrical experience. The audience and you are not sure what you’re in for, and all of a sudden an entire world explodes. The first five minutes, your head will be spinning because so many things will be happening.”
For Ginifer, her run on the Strip is a dream come true. For one of her castmates, Justin Mortelliti, it’s a homecoming as he was a lead in “Rock of Ages” at the Venetian for two years. He’s acted in several of the “For the Record” shows in Los Angeles.
The cast there has been expanded for the move from Hollywood to Las Vegas: Constantine Rousouli, Ciaran McCarthy, Ruby Lewis, Olivia Harris, James Byous, Jason Paige, Zach Villa, Derek Ferguson, Briana Cuoco and Amy Ryerson.
Here’s Robin’s Q+A with a very excited Ginifer:
Q. This is a very wacky theatrical show being performed in a nightclub and not a theater?
I’m so excited to get to Las Vegas! It’s all of my dreams coming true. You don’t even know what’s going to hit the town. Everyone’s so excited.
Q. When you say all of your dreams are coming true, what dreams did you have?
As a child, I’ve always loved performing live. My parents were so wonderful always taking me to New York City and Las Vegas to see all of these amazing performers and shows growing up.
To have the opportunity in my career to have been on Broadway with people like Bernadette Peters and Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner, and now to get to go to Las Vegas and star in a show that is a celebration of one of my favorite film directors (Australian Baz Luhrmann) in one of my favorite movies.
I love Las Vegas. I think the whole town is going to enjoy the theatricality and all the sexiness that is the show. We have been coming to Las Vegas over the years. Most recently, one of my favorites was when Garth Brooks was doing his one-man show at the Wynn. That was one of the best concerts I’d ever seen, and to see it so stripped down in such a place where things are usually flashy and shiny, it was a wonderful juxtaposition. He’s such an entertainer.
Of course, all of the Cirque shows, “Love” was one of my favorites. I’m a huge Beatles fan. Just the way they married the music with all the aerial things and all their acrobatics and the way they tell the story just floors me. It’s a whole new way of telling a story.
That’s what really attracted me to “For the Record: Baz” — it’s a new way of telling a story. Very immersive, very exciting.
Q. Did you see the show “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace? When I wrote that your show was coming here, I said the only way that I can describe it without having seen it is that it sounds like Joel Grey from “Cabaret” wandered into “Absinthe” one night plastered out of his mind.
No, I haven’t seen “Absinthe” yet, but I will. I think you could feel confident with your description.
Q. How do you describe “Baz” from working on the inside of the show?
It is like a modern cabaret. It’s a 360-degree theatrical experience. We’re taking movies and celebrating them through their soundtrack. It’s almost like you’ve wandered into the best basement cabaret experience. The fourth character to all of us is the audience, and you’re not sure what you’re in for and all of a sudden an entire world just explodes.
The first five minutes, your head will be spinning because so many things will be happening. You literally would have walked into the party scene in “The Great Gatsby.” It’s just all of the movies flowing in and out of each other. It’s the nightclub that we today dream of because you are experiencing it along with us.
It’s so sexy, it’s so exciting, and it’s so different. You’re not just observing. You’re a part of it. It’s happening all around you.
Q. When you first heard of this concept before you really knew what it was, what was your initial reaction to it?
I thought this is probably going to be really cheesy, and I’m not sure that any live performance can do his movies justice because I’m such a big Baz Luhrmann fan. So throughout the experience and when I went to go see one of their first shows, it’s unbelievable how you were taken away from any kind of thoughts in your day. You’re just swept up in the magic.
The people who I’m performing with are some of the best singers I have ever heard, some of the best performers. It’s really spectacular to see such talented people performing some of the best scenes, some of the best songs ever written. It’s magic. I was onboard right from Day 1.
Q. Is it just because it’s Baz Luhrmann, or is it because of the way that the translation of his hit movies have been wrapped up together that makes it work?
Well the “For the Record” series is not just Baz Luhrmann. With this show specifically, the theatricality and the way his movies are shot, they’re just so gorgeous. They have such a beautiful way of taking that off the screen and making it come to life, so it naturally lends itself to be very theatrical. But what’s exciting is getting all these movies that people recognize … the stories are told in a new story, in a way that all of these star-crossed lovers are woven together.
It’s not like you’re just going to watch “Moulin Rouge: The Musical” or “The Great Gatsby: The Musical.” It’s its own show. It is its own homage to all things Baz Luhrmann. With “For The Record,” they’re able to do this with many movie directors. “The Quentin Tarantino Show” is unbelievable, and “The John Hughes Show” is so fun and takes you back to those ’80s teen films.
They’ve really done a wonderful job with this series of completely transforming you to another time or era or place. You get so wrapped up, that’s why we have so many people here in Los Angeles who keep coming back to see it. We have people who flew in from Australia to see our show because they’d heard about it.
It’s one of those things that initially, it’s hard to explain because it is so new. There’s not really a definition for it It’s so different, it’s not your traditional Broadway show, it’s not your traditional Las Vegas show. It’s a total immersive experience.
Q. I used the word wacky. Can you give me three words similar to it that would describe it? I’m guessing eccentric would be one.
Eccentric could work. I would probably say delicious. I would say imaginative. I would say spectacular.
Q. You know that in Las Vegas, the nightclub business has sucked a lot of money out of the theatrical side of entertainment. Scott Zeiger from Base, now the head of the Cirque du Soleil theatrical division who’s bringing your show here, believes that what you’ve created in Los Angeles is a way to get people back into theater before they go to nightclubs. How do you feel about that?
Well what’s really cool out here in Los Angeles where we’re performing at DBA in West Hollywood is the party continues, and that’s something that’s really been fun. The show out here is two hours, but for 90 minutes of it it’s like having a club experience, and that’s so exciting.
You’re so wrapped up that the party just continues. When the show is done, it’s seamless the way they transform that room, and all of a sudden it becomes a club and a party, and the audience is encouraged to stay. People stay and more people come later. Maybe they’ve seen the show before but had gone out to dinner but wanted to be a part of the show’s club party.
It’s a really wonderful party before a club. It’s the best pre-party you could ever imagine. One of my favorite things is to say to someone who’s never been, “I promise you, you will love this, and if you don’t, I will pay for your ticket.” Then they end up staying until 3 a.m. when the club closes.
Q. Is everybody in your cast excited about coming to Las Vegas to do this residency?
Oh my gosh, are you kidding? Our producer just got married this past weekend, so all of us were in Connecticut for the wedding and we could not stop talking about it. That’s all we talk about now: We can’t wait to get to Las Vegas and bring the show and share it with the audience. It’s a new place that we haven’t done the show before.
Q. You touched on Quentin Tarantino, John Hughes. “Baz” is one of a series of “For the Record” shows that are being done, but how long has “Baz” been running in Los Angeles?
“Baz” has been running on and off for about four years. The show has really been like an American Dream in that is started out just a small idea and it was very bare bones in the beginning. We would get up and maybe people would sing songs and maybe perform a scene, and each time they’ve brought “Baz” back, they’ve refashioned it to make it a little bigger and grander.
So it hasn’t been running simultaneously for four years, but we’ve done four versions of it, and usually it runs about nine months. It feels like it’s always running, but we have taken little breaks. The demand for the show out here is unbelievable. People love “The Baz Luhrmann Show.” It’s so sexy and romantic and tragic. it’s all those emotions people love feeling in a 90-minute span.
Q. Have you been with the show from the beginning?
Not from the very beginning. When I moved out to Los Angeles, they were probably on their second show. They had done Tarantino and then John Hughes. A friend mentioned the “For The Record” shows and said I should check it out.
I went but was skeptical. Instantly, though, I was hook, line and sinker. I’ve definitely been around a good solid 3 1/2 years, close to 4 years, and it’s been awesome. His shows are fantastic. I feel like I’m a part of something major.
Q. Major quirky?
Major quirky, yes, but it’s also how you can describe me. It’s like a band of mischiefs who’ve all come together to create this fabulous theater experience that is completely immersive and so exciting.
Q. Did you get to meet Baz Luhrmann when he came to see the show that he had nothing to do with?
Isn’t that crazy? I unfortunately didn’t see him when he came, which has been the sadness of my heart because I’m such a huge fan. He loved it. After the show, of course you’ve seen his quote, “It’s f$%*&#! awesome!” I think it was overwhelming for him in a way.
I have been there when the other directors have come. When they experience their films and their body of work in this very different way, it’s like a lifetime achievement award, like you’re watching your entire career and body of work happen in front of you in a very sensational kind of way.
It can be overwhelming; it’s exciting. Baz really loved it when he came. I hope he comes to the opening in Las Vegas. I think he will be so proud of how the show has grown and just to be a part of this.
Q. Has there been talk about changing anything for Las Vegas? Adding something or removing something?
Well I know that we’re adding me coming down in a swing from the ceiling in sparkling diamonds, so I am beyond excited about that. There will be technical elements that are really exciting that will be added to the show that we weren’t able to do in DBA that Light and Cirque are providing for us, so we’re able to take it to the next level.
There are going to be a lot more effects, and with the lighting we’ll be able to tell the story with more elements but still keep it the same. There will be more cast members for the Las Vegas show. We’ll use all of the video screens to create original film-type aspects that will go along with it.
We’ll use Light’s entire back LED light screen, as well, to set the mood. DBA, the nightclub here in Los Angeles, is about 6,000 square feet, and we’re moving to Light, which is about 38,000 square feet, so we have to use all those elements to really fill the room.
Q. What did you do before you went over to this weird world of Baz?
I had the most fun career right out of college. I was in “Gypsy” on Broadway with Bernadette Peters and was able to play Gypsy Rose Lee over 40 times. It was probably the most wonderful way to begin a career. I played Shelby in “Steel Magnolias” with Delta Burke and Christine Ebersole, and I did “Cyrano de Bergerac” on Broadway with Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner.
While I was doing “Cyrano,” Jennifer was very instrumental and encouraging me to get out to Los Angeles and start doing TV and film, so after I’d covered all of the “Law and Orders” in New York, I said, “It might be time to come out here.” I got to do Chris Colfer’s first feature “Struck By Lightning.” I had a wonderful role in that.
For the last two years, I’ve been a series regular on the Nickelodeon show called “The Haunted Hathaways,” which has been a physical comedian’s dream. It’s been so much fun. I’ve played a handful of serial killers on “Criminal Minds.” I’ve had a very fun career in that I don’t just sit down in one specific genre. I’ve been very blessed to move around and get to do all different kinds of things.
I’m originally from Texas. My personality is just as big as my home state. I moved to Chicago for a hot second right after college, and while I was in Chicago I booked “Gypsy” in New York City. So New York and L.A. have been my home for the majority of my adult years.
Q. How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an actress — or a comedy actress?
Gosh, that started at a young age. At church we were doing this musical called “Why,” which was about a bunch of kinds asking why do we have to go to church, and people would just laugh every time I was onstage. It hit me like, “Oh my gosh, I can handle this.”
My brother was very athletic, and I got very tall very early, so they automatically put me in sports. But I knew that when I was on the basketball court and I was looking out into the audience that I was more interested in performing than playing basketball. I knew very early that the stage and being in front of a camera are where I was meant to be.
Q. The show has an open-ended run at Light?
Yes. We’re so excited about moving the show to Las Vegas that we’re hoping that it will be home for quite some time. It’s not going back to L.A. after a limited number of performances. There will be another “For the Record” in L.A., eight “For the Records” in total. There are eight shows already created, and there are new directors who are still excited about creating new shows, but “Baz” will only be in Las Vegas.
The speed at which these shows go, there’s just not a dull moment. It’s really exciting. I hesitate to use the word overwhelming because a lot of times people use that in a negative connotation, but it is in the best way possible and most exciting way overwhelming, like your heart will burst.
Q. It’s a case of the audience just letting it go, right?
Yes. The best thing I would say to someone who’s never seen one of his shows is to let go of any kind of expectation, know that you’re getting ready to go on the most fabulous rollercoaster of a ride, and be open and have a couple of drinks and laugh. Let go of any inhibitions, any expectations. It is not like anything you’ve ever seen before.
I promise that you will love it, and if you don’t, you can come backstage and I will pay for your ticket.”
Ginifer is kidding, of course, but said her promise that we’d love it is real. Her colleagues and she move here in one week to get ready for their June 19 opening night.
Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” fame has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past 15 years giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
{ SOURCE: The Las Vegas Sun | http://goo.gl/Nv6XQl }
