Michael Shapiro is a well-traveled musician who has toured the country, opened for acts like Cheap Trick and the Romantics, and produced and recorded his own album. He’s done it all, but for the past seven years he has returned to Las Vegas, the town where he grew up, to take over assorted lounges and showrooms with Reckless In Vegas, a hard-edged take on a power trio. This summer, the band landed a residency at the renovated Sahara Theater in a resort that similarly combines modern twists with classic Vegas style. Now, along with bandmates Jack E. Roth and Chris Nichols and their extended cast of dancers, singers and performers, Shapiro is delivering a unique night of entertainment you can only find at this iconic Strip destination.
What makes Sahara Las Vegas such a natural fit for Reckless In Vegas?
We’ve done plenty of shows (around town) and we started to build a pretty good following. We realized there’s just a lot of people in town that have come to our shows, and we just want to give back to them. Some locals are reluctant to come to the Strip because of high prices and parking fees and overpriced cocktails, and because it’s just hard to get in and out of casinos. The Sahara is a really unique, beautiful boutique property, it’s moderately priced, and it’s an easy in and out.
How much did you have to change your show to suit this venue?
We changed a couple of things, but the integrity of the show hasn’t changed. We take a lot of time to be very careful with our arrangements, our interpretations of classic songs. There are a lot of traditionalists out there that don’t want you to mess with Sinatra, so we have to be very careful.
Your sound mixes punk rock riffs into these beloved songs from the Rat Pack and Elvis. Once you got the music down, what else did you to do to spice things up?
We changed the opening and ending into these three-song medleys, so it really moves and keeps people captivated. We hired a great choreographer and brought in some dancers for a few numbers, and there’s more costumes, more set design, and more production than ever before.
Other Strip resorts have scaled back on this type of show. Why do you think Sahara was ready to give it a shot?
Our whole mission is to keep vintage Vegas alive and present it with a modern approach. We want to pay homage but make it more accessible to people who maybe want to have more edge to it. The Sahara recognizes that and who knows, maybe this can be the catalyst to show this type of show does have value. But I’m doing what I love, and my cast is having a ball, and the fans that are coming out love it.
You also started a program where local businesses sponsor the show and facilitate a donation to local nonprofits with every ticket sold.
The idea that we’re onstage playing music to someone who bought a ticket and some of the money is going to a local charity, it doesn’t get better than that.
Sahara Las Vegas, ticketmaster.com
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