Jubilee!

Jubilee!
GenreRevue
Show typeResident show
Date of premiereJuly 31, 1981 (1981-07-31)
Final showFebruary 11, 2016 (2016-02-11)
Locationoriginally at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, which later became Horseshoe Las Vegas
Creative team
ProducerDonn Arden
Costume designerBob Mackie
Costume designerPete Menefee
Official website
Jubilee! - Full Cast and Crew photo - 2014
Jubilee! Cast Photo (Final Cast) 2016 - Costume Showcase
The Dollys from the Follies
Disco Section Costume - Close Up
Dolly Sisters getting ready
Jubilee! showgirls[1]

Jubilee! was a Las Vegas Strip-based spectacular revue.[2] It opened on July 31, 1981 at an initial cost of 10 million dollars and was originally produced by Donn Arden.[3] Donn Arden set the standard for all the spectacular Las Vegas shows that celebrated female beauty, in combination with a demand for only the best; in costumes, set, and talent. When it closed in 2016, this resident show at Bally's Las Vegas was the longest-running production show in Las Vegas. The Jubilee! showgirls were an icon of old Vegas. The show used costumes designed by Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee. UNLV Special Collections houses many of the original costume design drawings which can be accessed online through the Showgirls collection from UNLV Digital Collections.[3] Many of the show's sets dated back to the original production and include the sinking of the Titanic and the bull used in Samson and Delilah. The bull was 27 feet (8 m) tall and collapses down to 13 feet (4 m) after it has been destroyed. The bull was the heaviest single piece of scenery in the show weighing 3 tons (2700 kg). It took 9 stagehands to move it from one position to another. Jubilee!'s longest serving principal dancer from the opening night until her departure 23 years later was Linda Green. The final closing cast consisted of 3 female singers, 3 male singers, 18 male dancers, 23 topless dancers, and 19 female dancers. Within the female covered and topless dancers, they were further categorized as "short" and "tall" dancers. A "short" dancer is a female dancer between 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) and 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) and a "tall" female dancer is between 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and 6 ft 2 in (188 cm). One may have been surprised at how tall the dancers were because of the proportions of the stage, which was three and a half stories high, giving the illusion that the performers are smaller in relationship to the stage.

The show ended its 35-year run on February 11, 2016.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Phil Konstantin. "Jubilee Dancers at KUSI TV". americanindian.net. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ^ Bell, Joseph N. (15 July 1988). "Donn Arden's Art: Beauty, Disasters Wrapped in Extravagance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 November 2024. Donn Arden...was there, sleeping in a suite on the 10th floor when the fire broke out early in the morning of Nov. 20, 1980...Margaret Kelly...
  3. ^ a b UNLV Libraries. "Jubilee!". Showgirls. UNLV Libraries Digital Collections. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  4. ^ "End of an era: 34-year-old 'Jubilee' concludes — what's next?". lasvegassun.com. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. ^ "'Jubilee' show at Bally's to close after 34-year run". lasvegassun.com. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Curtain coming down on 'Jubilee!'--Las Vegas' long-running showgirl revue". 14 December 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2017 – via LA Times.