3/20/2023
Broadway Las Vegas / Discovering The Smith Center
A special surprise awaited Smith Center audience members at the March 17 performance of Broadway smash “Frozen.”
After the rousing finale, the cast gathered on stage with Smith Center President and CEO Myron Martin for a thrilling announcement: that evening marked the 1,000th Broadway performance at The Smith Center.
“One of our top goals with The Smith Center was to make Broadway the longest road in America, and bring the best of Broadway shows to Las Vegas,” says Martin, who stood that night with balloons displaying “1,000” on stage. “Celebrating our 1,000th Broadway performance shows just how much Southern Nevadans have embraced The Smith Center and its Broadway Las Vegas® Series. We hope audiences give standing ovations for the next 1,000 performances that grace this stage.”
Unbelievable as it may seem, some thought this milestone might never happen.
Doubts at the Start
Since opening in 2012, The Smith Center’s Broadway Las Vegas® Series has presented Tony-winning Broadway productions almost every month of the year — except during the COVID shutdown — including megahits like “Hamilton,” “Wicked” and “The Book of Mormon.”
But when a group of visionaries first proposed creating a performing arts center in Las Vegas decades ago, some worried that Broadway shows simply wouldn’t sell here.
“We heard a lot of doubts about whether there was enough interest to sustain ongoing seasons of Broadway shows,” Martin recalls.
Bringing Broadway to Las Vegas
But The Smith Center’s leadership team believed in their dream.
They envisioned creating the first venue in Las Vegas to present full-length Broadway productions throughout the year – which they strongly felt community members craved.
“If people in Las Vegas wanted to see full-length Broadway productions years ago, they either had to fly to New York City or catch a touring show in L.A.,” Martin says.
The Smith Center’s success depended on high interest in its inaugural Broadway season, he recalls.
“The pressure around our first season was very high,” Martin says.
Surpassing Expectations – And Other Markets
The Smith Center proved doubters wrong even before opening its doors.
In the summer of 2011, the center announced the on-sale of season tickets for its inaugural Broadway Las Vegas® Series, which included hits like “The Color Purple” and “Mary Poppins.”
Three months before opening, The Smith Center reached 10,000 season ticket holders.
This dwarfed the 6,700 Broadway season subscriptions sold before the 2009 opening of the Margot & Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.
“This achievement demonstrated that The Smith Center was fulfilling a strong need for world-class performing arts in Las Vegas,” Martin says.
The Smith Center’s location even fit perfectly into the routes of touring Broadway productions, he adds.
“Las Vegas officially became a stop for Broadway tours,” Martin says.
Lighting Up the Stage with ‘Hamilton,’ ‘Wicked’ and More
The high demand for Broadway shows at The Smith Center never dropped.
Since the center’s opening, it has always maintained over 10,000 Broadway season-ticket holders.
Thanks to the theater connections of its executive team — including Martin, a voter for the Tony Awards — the center continues to present top Broadway productions such as “Moulin Rouge” and “Frozen,” plus multiple runs of blockbusters like “Hamilton” and “Wicked.”
“Our Broadway series brings the very best of Broadway to Southern Nevadans in their own backyard,” Martin says. “And it will for many years to come.”