Resorts World Las Vegas

With superstar residencies including Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Katy Perry, as well as numerous corporate and one-off events, Resorts World Theatre has quickly become one of the busiest venues on the Strip. “We’re already approaching 100 shows just in the first nine months we’ve been open,” reveals H.C. Rowe, the Theatre’s VP and General Manager with AEG Presents.

The challenges of designing a venue that could not merely accommodate such a wide and diverse roster of shows and events but deliver a world-class experience for both the audience and the artists were many and varied, and Solotech’s team delivered both the expertise and the components to bring this ambitious vision to life.

Solotech worked with Resorts World, Scéno Plus, and AEG on the integration of the Theatre’s production infrastructure, including one of the first and largest immersive sound systems in Las Vegas, if not in North America. Specified by François Desjardins, Solotech’s VP of Research and Development, and L-Acoustics’ André Pichette, the 14.1 surround system is comprised of more than 250 L-Acoustics K2 and KS28 loudspeakers, implementing the company’s L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal technology to deliver a fully spatial experience to touch every seat in the house.

Lighting and visuals in the Theatre are equally stunning. “We have over 5,000 square feet of LED tiling, with nearly endless possibilities,” observes Bob Sandon, Resorts World Theatre’s Technical Director with AEG Presents. “The systems are designed to be highly flexible, and each artist uses it in different configurations.”

Indeed, flexibility and creativity are at the heart of the Theatre’s design ethos. “The Theatre overall was designed to give the artist the most flexibility they can with their productions,” states the Theatre’s H.C. Rowe. “We have encouraged the artists to build and design some of the biggest productions they’ve ever had – certainly productions that are so large you can’t tour with them. The artists have delivered on those requests.”

Artists and crew alike continue to be duly impressed with the Theatre’s design by Scéno Plus, from both an aesthetic and a practical perspective. “The Theater has clearly been designed with production in mind, and that’s pretty rare,” remarks Joe Holdman, Lighting Programmer for Luke Bryan. “Most people build a theatre assuming the audience perspective – make it look really nice for the audience. But they don’t pay enough attention to practical issues, like how are you going to load in and out, how do you hang things, how does it sound. Clearly, whoever designed this room actually thought about those things.”

While most projects of this scale are subject to scheduling challenges, the timeline for the Resorts World project was of an order of magnitude higher. With construction already delayed for many months, logistics were further impacted by the Covid shutdown. The result was a mad dash marathon to complete the venues in time for the official Fourth of July opening ceremonies. Fortunately, the entire team, including a number of high-quality partners, pulled through and delivered one of the most impressive projects to be completed in the city of Las Vegas in well over a decade.

The Solotech team also worked with Resorts World on the other primary venues, Zouk nightclub and its counterpart, Ayu day club, as well as the upscale Fuhu restaurant and Red Tail gaming bar. Like the Theatre, Zouk is particularly notable for its flexible design, featuring cutting-edge lighting technology and touring-grade L-Acoustics audio based around a powerful K3i system in the main venue, as well as a separate A15-based system in the club’s exclusive Empire Room.

“This is a venue that mainly caters to DJs, but we have designed it to enable us to also put bands on stage,” explains Yago Pita-Alvarez, Executive Director of Entertainment for Resorts World. “We do have several residencies as well – A-Listers and B-Listers alike – and the design of the room allows us to cater to everyone’s specific style.”

Of course, Las Vegas is not just about nightlife, and the Ayu dayclub has been designed to entertain those who prefer to soak up the sun. With a massive L-Acoustics K3i system covering the main stage and multiple smaller systems addressing the bars and 20 private cabanas, partiers don’t have to wait for nightfall to get their groove on. “Dayclubs have become more and more competitive, and Solotech has responded with the kind of systems professional touring acts demand,” remarks Aaron Beck.

Elsewhere on the property, Solotech has helped to create the Red Tail gaming lounge as much more than just another sports bar, outfitting the venue with an L-Acoustics line array beefy enough to rock the house with live DJs on a nightly basis. And despite its high-end subtle elegance, the ultra-modern Fuhu Asian restaurant boasts a multi-zone sound system featuring the equally elegant L-Acoustics Syva systems as well as short-throw 5XT and X8 loudspeakers.

Of course, Solotech’s strengths extend well beyond design and installation, and with Resorts World’s Theatre, clubs, and restaurants now running at capacity, the alliance with Solotech has only just begun. With multiple residencies and a steady stream of corporate events and other one-offs, production changeovers are a fact of life for the Theatre, as well as the other venues.

The Solotech team is an integral part of the backline and production support for most of Resorts World’s events, providing a reliable supply of critical equipment and staffing to meet each date’s specific challenges. For the opening of Luke Bryan’s run, a small army of additional crew and several truckloads of extra gear were deployed to streamline the show’s spectacular production.

As Technical Director Sandon observes, working with Solotech extends well beyond the initial design of the venue. “It’s great to have Solotech working with us. They have a large warehouse right up the road, and they work with virtually all the acts that come through here, so implementing more gear and personnel is never a problem.”

Pita-Alvarez adds, “I’ve worked with Solotech for many years on different projects, and have made a lot of good friends within the company. They have the bandwidth and the capability, both technically and logistically, to do pretty much anything and everything. Here in Las Vegas, they are involved with pretty much every large production.”

“Solotech has been a really great partner for us on this project,” remarks Richard Perks, Director of AV Infrastructure for Resorts World. “They’re one of the best integrators in the theatre and production space, and they do fantastic work.”

As Bob Sandon concludes, “The great thing about working with Solotech is, they’re the best at what they do, and they’re there for whatever we need. When I call the office, I know I’m going to get a real person on the phone who can help with whatever we need. You really can’t ask for more.”