The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a theater located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theater is the main entertainment venue for

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars P ...

. Deemed the ''Home of the Greatest Entertainers in the World'', the theater has hosted numerous concert residencies by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, Celine Dion,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

, Shania Twain,

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

, and Adele. Celine Dion has had the longest residency (1,141 shows as of June 8, 2019) at the venue grossing a total of $650 million since her arrival in 2003. She also performed her record-breaking 1000th show at the venue on October 8, 2016. The venue has an estimated seating capacity of 4,100 and is inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome along with aspects of contemporary architecture. The cost of the theater was $108 million, becoming the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas, beating the "O" Theater at the

Bellagio Las Vegas Bellagio is a resort, luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. Bellagio was conceived by casino owner Steve Wynn, and was built on the form ...

Background

In 2000, Caesars Palace made plans to renovate the defunct Circus Maximus Showroom (opened 1966). During this time, the owners were approached about a new business venture with Celine Dion. Once the venture was launched, the renovation was cancelled. A new entertainment venue was set to be built in place of the old showroom. The showroom closed in September 2000 with a performance by

Steve and Eydie Steve and Eydie is the name of an American pop vocal duet, consisting of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. They originally began working together on ''Tonight Starring Steve Allen'' in 1954 and performed together until Gormé retired in 2009. Both ...

. The theatre was built specially to house Celine Dion's " A New Day...". The construction was initiated by Park Place Entertainment to coincide with other renovations to the hotel complex including additional retail space, meeting areas, restaurants, spas, and a 20-story all-suites hotel tower. The original construction cost was estimated to be between $65 to $75 million. Additional technical aspects drove cost to over $100 million. The theatre was designed by the world-renowned firm

Scéno Plus Scéno Plus Inc., founded in 1985, is a Montreal-based performing arts and entertainment design firm providing a complete range of integrated specialized services. It specializes in the design of cultural and recreational venues such as multidis ...

and constructed by Perini Building Company, with the project beginning in December 2002 and completed on February 4, 2003 (six weeks before its estimated completion date), opening on March 25, 2003. Dion filmed a television special for CBS to showcase the first night of her residency (entitled " Celine in Las Vegas, Opening Night Live", hosted by

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

), including behind the scenes look at the theatre and the show. Since its incarnation, the venue is operated by AEG Live and is currently owned by

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

. The success of Dion's show drew more entertainers to perform at the theatre. Elton John brought his Red Piano show to the theatre from 2004, until 2009. Additional entertainers include

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, Romina Arena, Faith Hill, Ricky Martin and

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

. The venue has also hosted numerous comedy shows by Kathy Griffin,

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

, Chelsea Handler,

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

and Ellen DeGeneres. The premiere of the

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

season of Hell's Kitchen was filmed in front of a live audience at The Colosseum. In 2018, Celine Dion filmed in the venue the music video for her song

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from the movie Deadpool 2 alongside Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds.

Technical aspects

The design for the theatre was based on the ancient Colosseum in Rome. It is connected to the casino near the

Forum Shops The Forum Shops at Caesars, also known as The Forum Shops, is an upscale shopping mall on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is connected to the Caesars Palace resort, and both feature a Roman theme. The mall project was announced in 198 ...

. The venue is in diameter with the rotunda above the floor. The stage measures and has a

proscenium arch A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

with a height of and a width of (one of the world's largest stage openings). It was designed with 180,000 watts of amplification and 139 speakers. It also includes a by

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

screen manufactured by Mitsubishi Diamond Vision, adding $10 million to the construction budget. The video screen provides the illusion of 3D stage scenery. The stage itself includes ten motorized stage lifts which compose 75 percent of the stage. Unlike the Colosseum in Rome, the theatre was built in an intimate setting, with the furthest seating being from the stage. To reinforce its intimacy, the venue is equipped with 200 acoustical panels to control the amplified sound.

Performance history

Headliners

Shows

Accolades

*Billboard Backstage Pass Awards: "Top Small Venue" (2004) *Billboard Magazine: "Venue of the Decade" (for venues 5,000 and under) (2009) *Billboard Touring Awards: "Top Small Venue" (2005–2007; 2009–2010) *Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Best of Las Vegas" (2010) *Pollstar Concert Industry Awards: 100 Top Selling Theater Venues (2006) Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colosseum At Caesars Palace 2003 establishments in Nevada Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada Music venues in the Las Vegas Valley Theatres in Nevada Caesars Palace