Park Theater – Opening Night Report

BigAzMarty reports on the Opening Night of Park Theater

Hey, all BigAZMarty here with the opening night report on The Park Theater that opened on Saturday night in Las Vegas at the Monte Carlo (soon to be The Park MGM and NoMad hotel/casinos). Wife had a presale offer of a while back on Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders opening at the Park Theater; immediately I said go for it. I had my qualms about the venue and history of MGM properties using smaller than movie theater seating to pack more people in. So here we go with Pros and Cons:

Pros:

1. Absolutely engineered for accurate sound, the sound out of the hidden speakers (they are behind the sound-transparent fabric that is also projected onto for the extended stage video and static imaged like curtains and are simply amazing. No lip syncing and was astounded as to how good Stevie Nicks (68) and Chrissy Hynde (65) sounded. There was absolutely no reflection of sound or false reverb you get from a stadium environment. The sound does compare to Caesars Palace’s Coliseum for sure.

2. Stage size is nice and big enough to put a band in front of the main band’s equipment to facilitate a quick turnaround (25 minutes between the end of The Pretenders and the beginning of Stevie Nicks). The opening band still has a ton of room to work with as Chrissy was all over the stage all night long. However, this stage is smaller than the Coliseum, and the whole theater seems smaller by just a bit. Sort of reminded me of a smaller version of LA’s Universal Studios old Amphitheater (back in late 70’s through the 80’s).

3. Pretty and new, all of this is brand spanking new and was nice to sit on seats without any stains. The side screens and the displays all worked perfectly and detailed.

4. The exit was fairly quick and easy (complete backward from entry process…see Cons).

5. The VIP sections were fantastic looking and we, from now on, will opt for these seats (they actually seem to be long couches and looked very comfortable). They had their own servers, and I saw food and drink being served even between songs by very nice looking staff (i.e. women servers in little black dresses and male servers in suits, at least I think they were). I would pick the ones halfway down the main area as the ones up near our seats were looking through the railing at the show (set just a little too far back).

6. Once inside and in your section the Ushers were helpful…they would back up and look at the row you were seated in and tell you which side to approach from. We had aisle seats, but they were helping people that were in the middle of the aisle in front of us and were suggesting the best ways to get to their seats. However they did not do what Caesars Palace does and escort you to your seats, so yes there were some people in the wrong places that had to move.

7. The Theater allows for very interesting stage lighting, although some of it is rather bright and audience-facing which had us looking at the side screens instead.

Cons:

1. OMG, the entry process is just painful. The doors were supposed to open at 7 PM and acts to start at 8 PM. We were held back to 7:30 as we had aisle seats and they wanted to allow people to get in and seated (didn’t happen due to #2 cons). They route the access in through the area where the old theater doors were, but they need to start lanes much further back as people were running down the rope side where you had some space vs. people waiting in the cattle lines before you get to the lane splits. The lane splits happen right before the doors, so that was bad. You will experience an older airport metal detector and a plywood table and what looked to be Tupperware containers to put your wallet and phone in…they examined purses on the spot. Once in you have to look for your section and head up (if higher up) or towards the right to appropriate doors. Now to the left is two escalator banks that go up, however, no one was going on the far left one for some reason which meant everyone was on the right one and it was packed. This all needs to be worked out somehow.

2. Concessions, holy cow on our level there were only two little ones and the lines would match any popular Disney attraction on a popular weekend. My wife decided she wanted to get two waters by herself ($7 Fiji water each) and was gone for 45 minutes. One little bright spot they televise the event at the concession stands, so they don’t miss anything. Lucky for her The Pretenders started about 45 minutes late, and she only missed like one song.

3. Seats….c’mon MGM, although padded was nice, the drink holders hit everyone in the hips because the arms are too close into the hip area (arm length way too short and low) and don’t flip up to gain more space between seats. The knee-room was actually good so that sort of made up for it. But, I actually had to stand up and go down to where the ushers were and just stand for a bit to lighten the bruised and numbness I was getting from my right hip where I walloped it sitting back down after letting some people out of the aisle. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one because at least five others were down doing the same thing.

4. This is actually the biggest concern and a word to the wise. Make sure you go to the bathroom before you get into the Park Theater. In the men’s bathroom near our section, there were only two urinals and one stalled toilet. Needless to say, a lot of people were diving for the Monte Carlo casino bathrooms after the show (the line was almost halfway out to the middle of the casino floor). So empty that all out ahead of time because you are not going to be able to get a quick one in during the show.

5. Security was fairly tight, and I didn’t see near the amount phones in use taking photos that I did at the Coliseum. I did see a ton of Ushers and Security walking around looking and discussing with people that had the phones out during the show.

So, some Pros and some odd Cons….I will be back at New Years for the Bruno Mars show but hopefully, I will not bang my hip. And, because it’s a single act I should be out of there before 12:30 AM. I have some photos as well for you to enjoy pre-show start. Those big lamps on the stage floor were specific to The Pretenders act and had a nice, almost Austin, Tx feel to them. We enjoyed the opening and were expecting some pros and cons but a very good audience experience. I expect Bruno Mars will be a lot more standing than sitting, so that will be good.

[Photos: BigAzMarty]

BigAzMarty

A computer professional who has worked at several types of positions with several different businesses and still learning and changing.
Introduced properly to Las Vegas and Laughlin by the spouse and have been going ever since 1990.
A frequent visitor from not to far away where it’s almost always 10 degrees warmer than Vegas.