Treasure Island (Las Vegas, USA)
Treasure Island
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (also known as Treasure Island Las Vegas and "TI") is a pirate-themed hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Treasure Island's facade was built with a lagoon containing two pirate ships. Free pirate battles were performed daily for spectators over the next two decades. The resort has also hosted Mystère since 1993, making it the longest-running show by Cirque du Soleil.
Treasure Island opened with the free Battle of Buccaneer Bay pirate show, performed in the lagoon along the Strip. The 15-minute show was performed several times a day and featured 22 actors. It depicted the landing and subsequent sacking of a Caribbean village by pirates, serving to attract customers from the Strip and into the resort after each show in the same fashion as the volcano fronting the Mirage resort. Notable special effects included a full-scale, crewed British Royal Navy sailing ship that sailed nearly the full width of the property, a gas-fired "powder magazine" explosion, pyrotechnics, and the sinking of the sailing ship Brittania along with its captain.
Battle of Buccaneer Bay held its final performance on July 6, 2003, with a total of 16,334 shows performed over the course of nearly 10 years. It ended as part of the resort's ongoing revamp, which would include a new pirate show. Sibella described the original show as something that would be expected at Disneyland, while calling its successor a "sexy and beautiful, adult Broadway-caliber show."
The new Sirens of TI pirate show debuted in October 2003, marking the resort's 10th anniversary. The Buccaneer Bay was renamed Sirens' Cove and the new show utilized many of the technical elements of its predecessor. The live, free show was intended to appeal more to adults by including singing, dancing, audio-visual effects, bare-chested pirates and attractive women in the large outdoor show produced by Kenny Ortega. The original two ships were kept for the new show but repainted and altered, as well as some special effects.
Sirens of TI was closed on October 21, 2013. The closure was initially intended to be temporary, but was made permanent the following month, to the dismay of the show's actors. The reason cited by Treasure Island was the construction of the new retail space nearby. The shows had cost $5 million to put on annually. While Ruffin said the shows brought "a tremendous amount of attention" to Treasure Island, they amounted to minimal foot traffic inside the resort. The pirate ships remain on display in the lagoon, and are lit up at night.
Treasure Island is home to Cirque du Soleil's Mystère, which introduced the entertainment style of Franco Dragone. It opened on December 25, 1993, and has been voted nine times as the best production show in the city by the Las Vegas Review-Journal reader's poll. It is Cirque's longest-running Las Vegas show, reaching 13,000 performances in 2022. Mystère has been updated several times throughout its run. It takes place in a 1,600-seat theater, designed by Scéno Plus. To maximize use of the Mystère theater, Ruffin signed entertainers to perform there on nights when the show is not running. Such entertainers have included Bill Cosby, LeAnn Rimes, and Sinbad. The resort has also hosted boxing matches.