Only a born entertainer like Usher could put on a Las Vegas residency show like the one he debuted last year at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, an electrifying party that blitzed through his many R&B ballads and dance-club hits. Anyone in the audience could see how much fun this superstar was having onstage. Now he’s doubling down with a new production, My Way—The Las Vegas Residency, at the splashy Dolby Live theater at Park MGM, and Usher can’t wait to surprise and delight his fans all over again.
How did it feel to not only launch your first Vegas residency show last year, but to be the first resident to launch a new show after the long pandemic shutdown?
Now that I’ve had a year to reflect and understand how hard it was to navigate that moment and make it look like it was easy, I really have my team to thank, and fans for purchasing early and holding on. I just wanted to show up for them. There were times when it felt like it was going to fall apart (because of COVID) and restrictions … but we managed to figure it out. The show must go on. Whatever it cost us, we did it. And it wasn’t necessarily about making money, it was about that spirit that would reignite the energy in this city.
It feels like R&B music is really having a moment in Las Vegas right now, with your show and Silk Sonic also at Park MGM, and you just headlined the Lovers & Friends Festival on the Strip, too.
Bringing Lovers & Friends to Las Vegas was a deliberate choice on my, and my partners, behalf, and it was a wild success. I didn’t just participate as an artist, I’m part of the festival. We went to the (Las Vegas Festival) Grounds and had a major success, and we’d love to come back again and again and again.
Why move to Dolby Live and start a new show there?
I love the venue, I love the energy and I love the accommodations. It just felt like a natural transition. After considering the type of creative (content) I wanted for this next show, it would be the perfect house to give me that opportunity to shock people. I don’t want to give it all away, but I’ve been experimenting with some things onstage. I always said if I go to Las Vegas, I would want to play it my way, and maybe there’s some Frank Sinatra somewhere deep in there. I think I got some things off my first time, but this time? I really get to do it my way.
The theatrical preshow experience at your Colosseum show created a lot of buzz. Are you planning to produce a different version of that?
I love immersive theater. That was intended to make you feel like, “Even though I’ve never been to Atlanta, I get a chance to be in the places that inspired these songs.” And, also, to have something a little elevated. When you come to an Usher show, I’m curating the entire experience. With the new show, there’s a special ticket that’s not just a meet-and-greet, it has a whole preshow experience that happens above the stage, and an afterparty. It’s all part of the experience.
It sounds like you’re just getting started here. How long do you plan to keep this up?
As long as the arms are open to me, I will be here. I’m going to continue to bring things and experiment and have fun in this city. But don’t just look at the tickets, look for the extended experience. There are so many hidden secrets. Investigate, look around, allow me to usher you in. Come on.
Dolby Live at Park MGM, July 20 & 22-23, ticketmaster,com
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