Ask nearly any longtime Las Vegas resident if they can imagine the Strip without Jubilee, and the answer is often an unhesitant “no.” The production both epitomizes and carries on the legacy of the authentic, bejeweled, feather-headdressed, statuesque and topless Vegas showgirl as conceived and refined by the late Donn Arden at the Stardust in the 1950s. Vegas was a mob town back then, and Arden knew his audience. They wanted sex and violence, and Arden gave it to them in the form of spectacle such as staged scenes from “Samson and Delilah” and bared breasts belonging to dancers of a certain height.
Audiences are less likely to see Jubilee today for titillation than to be transported to another era. It’s an homage to tradition that choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. appreciates, having first witnessed Jubilee soon after it opened at MGM Grand (now Bally’s) in 1981. Gatson, best known for his collaboration with Beyoncé on the iconic “Single Ladies” music video, is now charged with delicate and difficult task of revising the show for contemporary tastes. That meant maintaining the essence of the show as well as its major components and characteristics such as the Heavenly Stairway to the Stars, tribute to the Titanic, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance montage and the “Donn Arden walk” that each showgirl must perfect.
Nowadays, Jubilee is about class. “That’s why I can’t let Donn Arden and his whole thing down,” Gatson says. “And more important, when I look at the kids who have been here and I look in their eyes, they’re the ones who keep me really giving it 100 percent. I could have taken the money and run, you know? That’s just not me. Anyone who’s ever worked with me knows I’m very passionate about my vision, and I think I’ve been preparing for this for 35 years. It’s just really important that I get it right.”
At the time of this interview, Gatson was in the midst of revising the show for its March 29 grand reopening. Current songs had been added to the opening and closing of the show. The lighting approach had been revamped, as evidenced by the illumination of a cast member during a pole-dancing act. Projections had been added with an eye on creating warmth rather than technical marvel. Gatson let the run time expand as he worked, then started to figure out where he could contract or condense some scenes and steps.
He also checked out nearly every other Vegas production before rolling up his sleeves and came away with two goals. First, he wanted guests to come away with the same kind of elation he felt coming out of every Broadway musical he had ever witnessed. Second, he wanted women to leave the show feeling empowered.
“That’s my goal,” says Gatson, who partly attributed working with Beyoncé (since she was a Destiny’s Child) as his motivation. “Every woman can be a Jubilee (dancer) in their own way. You don’t have to walk around topless or nothing like that. There’s an inner beauty that’s more important than all that stuff. That’s the kind of story I’m trying to tell—you don’t need all that. Love and strength, that’s all you need.”
Gatson brought in high-caliber teammates to work on the new-look show. Lead choreographer Anthony Burrell also worked with Beyoncé, as well as Katy Perry, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige, among others. Chris Grant was Beyoncé’s assistant choreographer for her I Am … Sasha Fierce world tour and was handpicked by Michael Jackson to be featured in the This Is It concert series. Grant makes the MJ dance moves onstage in the new Jubilee. “I’ll go on record saying Michael Jackson left his soul of dance in that kid,” Gatson says.
He could also easily see a musical based on the story of his co-choreographer Danielle Polanco, starring the dancer herself. “My goal, my dream, has always been to bring back the movie musical,” says Gatson, whose résumé includes 300 music videos and seven MTV Video Music Awards. “I don’t understand what happened to people being like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, or Cyd Charisse or Gene Kelly. Why don’t we have those triple threats today?”
With choreographers such as Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins no longer around, Gatson sees it as his job to parlay his career experience, including Jubilee, into a position of influence that enables him to convince producers to make contemporary musicals. Meanwhile, he’ll be inviting Beyoncé, Jay Z, Rihanna and Mariah Carey to come check out how he’s pushing the showgirl experience into the future, with the intent of influencing their fans to come check out the new Jubilee. “I feel that’s my goal in life,” he says. “That’s my legacy, that’s my destiny: to bring back the movie musical, and really make people appreciate dance like they used to.”
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