Las Vegas Shows

The best advice we can give anyone visiting Las Vegas wishing to see a Las Vegas show is to BOOK EARLY. Holiday weekends are high-tide in Las Vegas, especially for the headliner shows. Next, in terms of peak demand, are the convention periods. Las Vegas shows and nightclubs are very busy every night during conventions. For those of you who love crowds, "It's Show Time" on all weekends. If your stay will include a weekday (Sunday-Thursday), and your not particularly fond of long lines, try to book the headliner performances for weekday attendance.

The best deals on Las Vegas show tickets are in the summer months (mid-May through mid-September, excluding holidays and convention periods, and immediately following a major holiday). Of course, many headliner productions go west when temperatures reach tripple digits; but the lines are short, the prices are cheap and the shows are wonderful. Several productions offer incentives during the off-season, usually in the form of a free drink or two.

Family friendly shows are plentiful throughout the year in Las Vegas. Adult only shows are usually billed as such, and some offer the same show in two versions; one for a general audience and the other for adults only. For example, the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana offers an early PM production for a general audience, where children may be present, and a 10PM showing for adults only. For clarification, the age of an "adult" can vary by production, from 18 to 21, so read the play-bill for age restrictions, the Reviews, or ask our agent to help you book your show.

For those shows that pre-assign seats, the advantage of booking your show early is...well, obvious to anyone who does not book early. You should select from available seating which will put you as close to the stage as you would feel most comfortable, but not so far back that you need binoculars to see the performer's faces. Another advantage to booking pre-assigned seats early is to avoid those little gremlin dead-zones present in almost every large theater in the world. For example, try to avoid seats in the far upper left and far upper right corners of the theater where, for some inextlicable reason, and known only to people who get paid a lot of money to know inextlicable things, the acoustics can be terrible. Is there anything worse than not hearing Ceiine when she hits her high-note?

Many Las Vegas shows do not pre-assign seats, which brings us to our next best piece of sage advice.

For those Las Vegas shows with open seating, try to get to the theater at least half an hour early. Be ready to toke the usher $20 or so to "find good seats." The further back you find yourself in line, the bigger your tip should be to help find that good seat. If you don't like tipping, or if you find yourself at the rear-end of line; pray.

The best way to select a show is to read the reviews or ask someone who has seen it. Keep in mind, however, that all Las Vegas show reviews are samples of someone's opinion. Everybody has opinions, and just like the movie reviews, sometimes they're dead right, but sometimes they're just dead wrong.

If you feel adventurous, you can do the bum rush. What's the "bum rush" you ask? Technically, it's a verb meaning 'to stampede toward the stage.' Here it is used metaphorically to mean going to all the cheap-seat shows you can pack into one night. This will take some careful planning because there are so many shows on the Las Vegas Strip, and they all have their own Curtain Call. Anyway, pick out a hand-full of cheap-seat candidates where their proximity to one another allows you to walk from one to the other before the doors slam closed. You might have to leave early from one to get to the next, but who cares, your on a bum's rush. And, bye-the-bye, plan to meet some very interesting people along the way, who are, just like you, on the bum rush, and having a great time of it too! (Regardless, be safe and use your common sense.)

To help you select a Las Vegas show, we have assembled the most comprehensive Las Vegas Show Guide available right here. Just click on the link to begin. And enjoy! After all, enjoyment is what shows in Las Vegas are all about!