At the end of May, Kevin Jeffrey and Lord Caruso, the duo behind the long-running show Magique, were expecting their fifth successful summer for their top-rated show at The Theatre, the venue on Keystone Avenue that they had made significant investments in renovating.
Then came the unexpected news from their landlord: The owner of the shopping center had new plans for the building, and a theater did not factor in. The performers would have to pull a rabbit out of their hat—and they did.
Jeffrey and Caruso could continue leasing the space if they wanted, but under some rather unpalatable conditions.
“Rather than enter a lease that was very favorable for them—in which they could basically kick us out in 30 days, at any time they wanted—in addition to raising our rent after we’d been stellar tenants for four years, we just thought it was a little greedy, and very good for them, but not good for us. So we started looking at other venues,” said Jeffrey. (He said the owner is a real estate investment group in Portland, Ore., but declined to name them.)
“It’s business, but it’s hard not to take it personally,” he added. “In hindsight, it probably made sense to them. The building’s aging, and if they can sell it to someone willing to start over and build something shiny and new, it’s hard to argue against that from their point of view. I think if I’m bitter about anything, it’s the fact that they led us to believe everything would stay the same back in the beginning of the year and then waited until six weeks before our lease ended to tell us—so for us, it was clearly a one-sided deal.”
Magique started roughly 20 years ago, when Jeffrey and a team of dancers and other talents performed on Carnival cruise ships, and in casino residencies at venues including Las Vegas’ Tropicana, Reno’s Eldorado and more. That came to a halt when the pandemic hit. In fact, Jeffrey admitted that when Magique took residence at The Theatre in 2021, it was meant to be a temporary home for only a year or two until casino shows came back. This year, now that The Theatre was no longer a viable option after four successful years, they turned to a casino once again.
With the summer tourist season in full swing, the timing for the move was less than ideal. Performing-arts venues in the Reno-Tahoe area are notoriously difficult to find, with available spaces being either closed (like The Theatre), closed for decades and dilapidated (like the Lear Theater), not conducive to performances (many companies occupy warehouses for storage and rehearsals), too costly for cash-strapped arts troupes, or already occupied, particularly in the summer, when Artown is in full swing. But as if Jeffrey and Caruso had waved a magic wand, one venue emerged as a possibility—the Nugget’s Celebrity Showroom.
“The Nugget has been on my radar probably for three decades,” Jeffrey said. “My first job in show business was running spotlight at the Celebrity Showroom right out of high school, so I’ve had a fascination for that room, and the fact that they never gutted it and turned it into anything else made me think that was our first choice. And, luckily, they agreed that having this attraction there would be mutually beneficial—and so, within six weeks, we moved.”
It’s a better venue for Magique for several reasons. The showroom enables larger crowds—the show frequently sold out in its previous location. Plus, it was designed intentionally as a performing arts space, featuring dressing rooms, storage space for props and costumes, and more, unlike The Theatre, which began life as a movie theater and required Jeffrey and Caruso to invest in renovations to make it suitable for their show. Additionally, being in the casino makes it ideal for tourists, who can stay in a hotel room, dine at one of the Nugget’s restaurants and catch the show, all without ever leaving the building.
“It all came very suddenly, but we’re thrilled it did, and we’re very happy to be here,” Jeffrey said. “The fact that they were willing to give us a three-year residency made it especially attractive for everyone.”
With the new venue, the team added an additional two performers, bringing the total to 10. The show expanded so that it now includes more than 20 illusions, more than 100 eye-popping costumes (which Caruso makes by hand himself), synchronized lighting, lasers and pyrotechnics, cinematic multimedia backdrops, a grand finale of epic proportions, and a thrilling new soundtrack. The show reopened in mid-August and is set to run every Saturday (and, quite often, other days) for the next three years.
Candlelight Concerts, the series of uniquely themed classical-music concerts lit only by the glow of thousands of candles, which also had been performed at The Theatre, followed Magique to the Nugget for its monthly performances as well.
“Magique’s vibe remains the same, but we’re constantly changing music, effects, lighting and costumes, a little at a time, because most of our guests come back,” Jeffrey said. “It’s really nice to have a residency where that can evolve naturally, rather than constantly chasing gigs, like we spent a lot of our careers doing.”
Kevin and Caruso present Magique each Saturday night and some Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at the Celebrity Showroom at the Nugget, at 1100 Nugget Ave., in Sparks. Showtime is usually 8 p.m., with 4 p.m. matinees scheduled approximately monthly. Tickets start at $55. For tickets and information, visit BestShowinReno.com.
Upcoming Candlelight Concerts at the Celebrity Showroom include “Candlelight: Featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and More” at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12; “Candlelight: Coldplay vs. Imagine Dragons” at 8:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12; and “Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics” at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26 and Thursday, Oct. 30. Tickets start at $27. For tickets and information, visit candlelightexperience.com.