Jennifer Lopez achieved a rarity on the Strip. Her show at the Colosseum has nearly sold out every performance, reportedly at 95 percent capacity. Yet she has not announced an extension, and we’re not seeing it happening, at least at Caesars Palace.
Added dates to “The JLo Show” would have been announced by now, at the close of her final scheduled weekend at the Colosseum.
This project seemed like a show that could run an Adele-style 100 dates, lavishly staged, custom-designed for the Colosseum stage. You could possibly say this show was built for a mere 12 shows. But the production I saw was built for a longer run than a dozen dates.
Residencies end for myriad reasons, but not many apply to Lopez:
Scheduling: JLo has no tour dates on the books that would interfere with a return. There is an opening at The Colosseum between Rod Stewart’s show on June 6 and Jerry Seinfeld’s performance June 26.
Ticket demand has sagged: Not in this case. As noted JLo’s a hot ticket.
The artist is so difficult to work with to not be worth the effort: Those who work directly with Lopez on the show say she’s great. She just played a free show for friends and family on Thursday. Lopez and the execs have reportedly laughed and joked around after several shows. If there was any serious acrimony, they hid it well.
The guarantee to the headliner is too high to risk more dates: I’d wager this as the mitigating factor. As we say, a great show doesn’t always mean a great deal.
Whatever the reason, JLo (who covered Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel” at Caesars) has left the building. The Colosseum is summarily stacked with headliners. Seinfeld is up next, April 17-18; David Byrne is April 20; Cyndi Lauper opens her five-show set April 24.
This leaves open the option for JLo to pursue a residency at a different Las Vegas venue, but I’m not seeing anyone lined up to take another residency. I wouldn’t bet on MGM Resorts venues, for a start. Lopez has also previously headlined at then-Zappos Theater (today’s PH Live) at Planet Hollywood. But it will a spell to see her again.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.