This show’s new frontier was getting Sting and his wife to spend a night with a bunch of Aussies stripping on the Strip.
“Australia’s Thunder from Down Under” celebrates its 25th Las Vegas performance Sunday. The show opened at New Frontier (since demolished) on July 5, 2001. A year later, it took over the showroom at Excalibur. “Thunder” performs 8 p.m. daily , with additional performances at 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at Thunderland Showroom.
The venue is also home to music (Australian Bee Gees) and magic (the legend Mac King’s 3 p.m. show).
Myriad celebs have attended “Thunder” over its run at ExCal. Sting and his wife, Trudie Skyler, swept into the male revue after the onetime Gordon Sumner played the Colosseum on April 8, 2023.
The previous June, the couple balanced out their adult content with a Luxor twinbill of Carrot Top and “Fantasy.”
Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Kelly Clarkson, Paris Hilton, Jessica Biel and Kelly Ripa have all stopped in for the dance fest. The guys have been featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” “The View,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” “Live with Regis and Kelly,” “Drop Dead Diva” and Disney’s “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”
“Thunder” has been a super-steady, if gyrating, moneymaker that anchors Adam Steck’s SPI Entertainment production company. Steck is in partnership with Billy Cross — himself an Aussie, of the non-strip variety — in the Vegas show.
Steck promoted the show on its U.S. tour a couple of years before opening at the New Frontier. The entertainment vet said the production offered “zero sleaze.”
High praise, for a show in Las Vegas’s trou-shedding division.
” I was shocked and blown away by how great the show was. My preconceived notion was that all male revues were the dollar-bill, sleazy, tipping kind,” Steck says. “But Australia is a non-tipping country, so the show was created to thrill audiences without tipping.”
The producer has found that his audiences, which are primarily bachelorette partiers (and former Police bassists), “love Australian men.” It must be the accents.
‘MJ Live’ sets its dates
“MJ Live” has locked in Sept. 21 as its opening date at Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. The production plays 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays (which means, dark Sundays). to to tix4.com for intel.
“MJ Live” closes its run at Harrah’s Showroom on Sept. 9, leaving Donny Osmond as that room’s sole headliner. The well-traveled show opened at Harrah’s in November 2024, and has amassed about 5,500 performances since opening at the Rio in 2013. The faux-Jacko has also starred at The Strat (2015-2021), Tropicana (February 2022-March 2024), Sahara (March-November 2024).
For the uninitiated, “MJ Live” is a showcase of Michael Jackson’s recording-career highlights. The show is a partnership between Las Vegas production company Red Mercury, David Saxe Productions and Vegas icon Dick Feeney.
Feeney says the show is “creating a unified entertainment destination” at Saxe’s entertainment fortress. The partnership “enhances the guest experience, streamlines operations, and provides a strong foundation for future growth.”
Feeney adds that he is hoping new audiences will find the show at the mall connected to P.H.
The production runs the Jackson classics, among them “Bad,” “Billie Jean,” and “Beat It.” The Jackson 5 stretch features “I’ll Be There,” “I Want You Back,” and “ABC.”
Saxe Theater is busy with with the sample-platter “Vegas! The Show,” ’80s family hit makers The Jets and the profanity-embracing comic Eddie Griffin.
Saxe says the Jackson show is a “spectacular” fit, adding, “We are very excited … and and can’t wait to experience the Michael mania.”
Cool Hang Alert
The pop-up Camp Palms: No Kids Allowed at (checks notes) the Palms is a real kick. This space is for ages 21-over, in case the title missed its mark.
Camp Palms a 1980s-themed camping and comedy excursion. It reminded me of Bill Murray’s “Meatballs,” which was released in 1979, but no matter.
The space is next to Scotch 80 steakhouse, where Santa’s Saloon was staged over the holidays. It’s an adult-themed summer camp scene, replete with themed cocktails, fake campfires, campsite delicacies (tiny hot dogs and sliders and such), comic sketches and dance numbers.
Members of the cast waded into Scotch 80 on Tuesday night to shake up some unsuspecting diners.
Hours for the self-described “least supervised place on Earth” are 5 p.m.-“late,” through July 31. Bring marshmallows. Someone might offer to toast ‘em.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.