"Jubilee," presented inside the Jubilee theatre at Bally’s Hotel and Casino is one of the few truly Vegas-style shows left in Las Vegas. It has become an icon and an institution in our town and celebrates that which made Las Vegas famous. It is a "more is more" show. More girls, more sets, more costumes, more songs, more...everything! It is a Parisian-style show with a Ziegfeld touch. It is an extravaganza in the classic style. If Las Vegas is representative of excess, then "Jubilee" is representative of Las Vegas.
Being an icon and an institution, though, does have its drawbacks. The show is often stuck in the past and seems inflexible to change for the future. It would be wonderful to see this show re-invent itself and find a way to rekindle that spark which made this show great.
The show is still enjoyable to watch on one level, and it is certainly still worth seeing, but the production feels a bit at sea and out of step with the contemporary Las Vegas.
Don’t go to this show looking for any story, theme, or meaning. This is just one big production number after another, broken up by a couple of specialty acts. The sheer size and scale of the sets, and the large number of cast members can be overwhelming. The excessive number of topless showgirls can be a bit daunting as well--just how many breasts are we supposed to look at in one night?
The production numbers are big and pretty. The movement of the sets is very effective. The attempts at relating any series of events to create a storyline within these numbers, however, falls victim to a certain amount of cheesiness--especially when the performers attempt any type of dramatic storytelling. I think that I would prefer to just watch the sets move and have the performers just stand there and look pretty rather then have them attempt drama.
Each number, of course, is an excuse to parade out an excessive number of…well, everything, and when every number is supposed to be a tremendous highlight of the show, it diminishes any ebb and flow to the show. If everything is a highlight, then nothing truly stands out.
The costumes (at least for the women) are amazing. They are everything that one would expect of a Las Vegas showgirl--huge hats, lots of feathers, lots of rhinestones and sequins...and not much else. The men’s costumes, though, are a bit less attractive. The bejeweled G-strings that look good on the women look horrible on the men. The male costumes always seem to throw emphasis on the men’s worst attributes, and while some of the men have very good physiques, the costumes are truly unforgiving.
There are several acrobatic specialty acts that break of the evening. Each of these acts is wonderful and is a much-welcomed break to the excess with which we are continually bombarded.
Because of the size and scale of this production, I would suggest sitting further back in the house. I was sitting unforgivably close and kept thinking that the cheesy things that I was seeing would look fine from about fifty feet away.
"Jubilee" is a production for fun and relief from your day. It sometimes feels as if its running time is a bit long, and the show could certainly use an update. The Titanic has been sinking on the stage for more than twenty years, and it is time to let it rest on the bottom of the sea. This is not a production to go to and be enlightened by the art and the artistry. It is a pretty show and a big show--nothing more.
"Jubilee," presented inside the Jubilee theatre at Bally’s Hotel and Casino is one of the few truly Vegas-style shows left in Las Vegas. It has become an icon and an institution in our town and celebrates that which made Las Vegas famous. It is a "more is more" show. More girls, more sets, more costumes, more songs, more...everything! It is a Parisian-style show with a Ziegfeld touch. It is an extravaganza in the classic style. If Las Vegas is representative of excess, then "Jubilee" is representative of Las Vegas.