As the first all-new integrated resort to be built on the fabled Las Vegas Strip in more than a decade, Resorts World Las Vegas opened in July of 2021 to exceptionally high expectations. Fortunately, the spectacular resort has more than delivered—the $4.3 billion, 88-acre property has swiftly taken center stage in the city’s highly competitive entertainment scene. Boasting three hotels with more than 3,500 guest rooms and over 40 world-class eateries, the luxury property is also home to Las Vegas’ newest state-of-the-art 5,000-capacity Resorts World Theatre, as well as an equally magnificent nightclub and day club, the product of a collaboration between Resorts World, Scéno Plus, AEG, and Solotech, along with a cadre of other key players.
With regular superstar residencies, including Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Katy Perry, as well as numerous corporate and one-off events, Resorts World Theatre has quickly become one of the busiest venues on the Strip. “We’re already approaching 100 shows just in the first nine months we’ve been open,” reveals H.C. Rowe, the Theatre’s VP and General Manager with AEG Presents.
The challenges of designing a venue that could not merely accommodate such a wide and diverse roster of shows and events but deliver a world-class experience for both the audience and the artists were many and varied, and Solotech’s team delivered both the expertise and the components to bring this ambitious vision to life. As Solotech’s Business Development Manager and Senior Engineer Aaron Beck observes, “Solotech’s scope of work included full systems integration, including audio, video, lighting, and control. The Theatre and the nightclub and day club are all world-class in every respect.”
While most projects of this scale are subject to scheduling challenges, the timeline for the Resorts World project was of an order of magnitude higher. With construction already delayed for many months, logistics were further impacted by the Covid shutdown. The result was a mad dash marathon to complete the venues in time for the official Fourth of July opening ceremonies. Fortunately, the entire team, including a number of high-quality partners, pulled through and delivered one of the most impressive projects to be completed in the city of Las Vegas in well over a decade.
Theatre in the (sur)round
The Theatre at Resorts World boasts one of the first and largest installed immersive sound systems in Las Vegas, if not in North America. The 14.1 surround system is comprised of more than 250 L-Acoustics loudspeakers and implements the company’s L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal technology to deliver a fully spatial experience that touches every seat in the house.
As François Blais, Scéno Plus Vice President of Technology and Specialized Equipment explains, the decision to go with L-ISA technology was fueled by a desire to deliver an experience that was not just louder, but better. “The client was looking for something unique that would make this venue stand out—not an easy thing to do in Las Vegas. We wanted to give the audience more than just better sound. We wanted to give them a completely new experience.”
Scéno Plus collaborated with François Desjardins, Solotech’s VP of Research and Development, and L-Acoustics’ André Pichette, along with AEG and the Resorts World team to design an audio system that could meet this vision. The L-ISA technology has exceeded expectations all around. Infrastructure cabling for audio, video, fiber, control, and power, as well as custom racks and cases, were all fabricated in-house by Solotech’s Las Vegas team.
Visually speaking
The lighting and visuals in the Theatre are equally stunning. An array of Robe lights is controlled via three MA Lighting grandMA full-size lighting consoles. Grass Valley LDX Series 4K cameras and four installed Panasonic AW-UE100 PTZ cameras capture the action, with a Barco E2 mixer managing video wall systems. And more than 640 ROE Visual CB3 LED tiles—over 5,000 square feet—provide nearly endless possibilities for creating stunning visual effects. “The systems are designed to be highly flexible, and each artist uses it in different configurations,” observes Bob Sandon, Resorts World’s Technical Director with AEG Presents.
Indeed, flexibility and creativity are at the heart of the Theatre’s design ethos. “The Theatre overall was designed to give the artist the most flexibility they can with their productions,” states Rowe. “We have encouraged the artists to build and design some of the biggest productions they’ve ever had—certainly productions that are so large you can’t tour the country with them. The artists have delivered on those requests.”
A venue built for the artist as well as the audience
As Blais tells it, one of the primary goals in designing the Theatre was to create not just an intimate feel for the audience but to design a top-notch experience for performers as well. “We wanted to create a space where artists would perform and say, ‘hey, this is one of the finest venues we’ve ever played, and we want to return again and again.’”
Artists and crew alike have indeed been duly impressed with the Theatre’s design, from both an aesthetic and a practical perspective. “The theater has clearly been designed with production in mind, and that’s pretty rare,” remarks Joe Holdman, Lighting Programmer for Luke Bryan. “Most people build a theater assuming the audience perspective—make it look really nice for the audience. But they don’t pay enough attention to practical issues, like how are you going to load in and out, how do you hang things, how does it sound. Clearly, whoever designed this room actually thought about those things.”
Justin Kitchenman, Luke Bryan’s Lighting Designer, agrees. “The way the lighting rigs are designed is just beautiful. There are multiple overlapping residencies here, and each artist’s design team has done a great job of utilizing the same core group of fixtures and processing in completely different and unique ways, to totally make it their own. The designers have really left almost nothing to chance. It’s as close as you can come to a full turnkey system.”
Taking it to the clubs
The Solotech team also worked with Resorts World on the other primary venues, Zouk nightclub and its counterpart, Ayu day club, as well as the upscale Fuhu restaurant and Red Tail gaming bar. Like the Theatre, Zouk is particularly notable for its flexible design, featuring cutting-edge lighting technology and touring-grade L-Acoustics audio.
The Zouk nightclub boasts a powerful K3i system in the main venue, and a separate A15-based system covers the club’s exclusive Empire Room. “This is a venue that mainly caters to DJs, but we have designed it to enable us to also put bands on stage,” explains Yago Pita-Alvarez, Executive Director of Entertainment for Resorts World. “We do have several residencies as well—A-Listers and B-Listers alike—and the design of the room allows us to cater to everyone’s specific style.”
Of course, Las Vegas is not just about nightlife, and the Ayu dayclub has been designed to entertain those who prefer to soak up the sun. The main stage is served by a massive dual array L-Acoustics system. There is also a separate VIP area and the East Pool Bar as well as 20 private cabañas. Add to that a massive lighting system with CHAUVET wash lights and MadeinLED pixel strips, all driven by MA Lighting grandMA consoles, and it’s clear that guests don’t have to wait for nightfall to get their groove on.
“Dayclubs have become more and more competitive, and Solotech has responded with the kind of systems professional touring acts demand,” remarks Beck. “If you’re going to bring in Miley Cyrus to open your club, you need to be able to provide the same level of P.A. system her engineers specify on tour. The L-Acoustics system meets that standard.”
And the beat goes on
Of course, Solotech’s strengths extend well beyond design and installation, and with Resorts World’s Theatre, clubs, and restaurants now running at capacity, the alliance with Solotech has only just begun. With multiple residencies and a steady stream of corporate events and other one-offs, production changeovers are a fact of life for the Theatre, as well as the other venues, and Solotech boasts a long history as a leading production presence in the Las Vegas market.
The Solotech team has already become an integral part of the day-to-day production infrastructure for most of Resorts World’s events, providing a reliable supply of critical equipment and staffing to meet each date’s specific challenges. For the opening of Luke Bryan’s run, a small army of additional crew and several truckloads of extra gear were deployed to streamline the show’s spectacular production. As Technical Director Sandon observes, Solotech maintains a major, well-stocked facility just minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, simplifying and streamlining the logistics of providing the “stacks and racks” and other ancillary equipment needs that inevitably arise. “It’s great to have Solotech working with us. They have a large warehouse right up the road, and they work with virtually all the acts that come through here, so implementing more gear and personnel is never a problem.”
And as Resorts World’s Pita-Alvarez points out, Solotech delivers far more than just gear, with a multinational team of professionals covering the full spectrum of production expertise. “I’ve worked with Solotech for many years on different projects and have made a lot of good friends within the company,” he reports. “They have the bandwidth and the capability, both technically and logistically, to do pretty much anything and everything. Here in Las Vegas, they are involved with pretty much every large production.”
“Solotech has been a really great partner for us on this project,” adds Richard Perks, Director of AV Infrastructure for Resorts World. “They’re one of the best integrators in the theatre and production space, and they do fantastic work.” As Sandon concludes, “The great thing about working with Solotech is, they’re the best at what they do, and they’re there for whatever we need. When I call the office, I know I’m going to get a real person on the phone who can help with whatever we need. You really can’t ask for more.”
This content has been shared by Solotech, a leading AVL solutions provider. Learn more about Solotech at www.solotech.com
