What Does the Future Hold for Arts and Entertainment in Las Vegas?
By Miranda Alam
I learned pretty early on, thanks to a community theater production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, that I was not meant to have any sort of performing role on a stage...ever. And still, despite that mortifying experience, I never lost my fascination with the stage.
On a whim I enrolled in a photojournalism class at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and eventually began contributing photos to the school paper. Concerts were by far my favorite thing to photograph. I was the kind of person who had to be as close as possible to the stage for reasons only partially related to my height. At most venues, photographers will work in the space between that barrier and the stage or, “the pit.” It’s a difference of just a few inches, but to me it felt like I’d landed on another planet. The best planet. I was hooked.
It wasn’t until I started volunteering as a card runner for Getty Images that I got to see up-close what it really took to pull off huge, multi-day events like the iHeartRadio music festival, Latin Grammys, boxing matches, and Consumer Electronics Show (CES). For each gig, I always had to show up several hours before any event, which allowed me to wander hallways, production areas— any place my laminated media credentials granted me access. My inner Alice in Wonderland was fascinated.
In 2018, I traded in ‘card runner’ for ‘photo editor.’ By 2020 I was set to have my most exciting and profitable year yet— my first year scheduled to work Awards Season, with gigs booked through November. Working the Golden Globes, GRAMMYs, and Oscars for the first time was as exhausting as it was exciting, and I remember feeling that this was where I needed to be.
Then suddenly, my work calendar evaporated as productions along the Strip, across the United States, and around the world shut down indefinitely amid the pandemic. Millions of people in every corner of the industry were impacted— performers, stage technicians, designers, production crews, ushers, food vendors, parking attendants, security guards, custodial staff, and more. Many jobs that, if done right, means they go unnoticed by attendees. An invisibility working against them now.
COVID-19 was the world’s biggest story, and here in Las Vegas, it wasn’t long before local journalists began sharing stories of how the pandemic impacted the lives of local performers stranded from the stage. These weren’t just Strip performers, either. Subjects included also belonged to local Indie venues and community theaters, art galleries, and museums—the places we consider our city’s arts and culture hubs.
I worry that too few of us noticed the gaping hole that immediately formed in the first couple of months into the shutdown when it was reported that hundreds of smaller community venues were forced to close indefinitely. A hole that continued to grow the longer we let it fester. The grants included in the coronavirus relief package signed into law in the final days of 2020 were a step in the right direction.
But so much damage has already been done. Lives have been lost, careers have been destroyed, unmet work visa requirements have forced some out of the country, and the number of people permanently leaving the industry continues to grow. My biggest fear is that this pattern of taking action far too late will continue— that it will take waking up one day to realize that the consequences of our inaction has manifested a great cultural depression.
Historically, in trying times, humans turn to entertainment in order to cope. As a means of escape. To express ourselves and collectively share our experiences. Las Vegas is the Entertainment Capital of the World. What is the Entertainment Capital of the World without live entertainment? What is Las Vegas without the arts? What happens when we finally realize we need these people— this industry— only to find that, in order to survive, they packed up and left long ago?
Double Down Blogger image credit/ Chase Stevens.
Miranda Alam is an award-winning Las Vegas photographer and photo editor originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a contract entertainment photo editor for Getty Images and has contributed photos to The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, HuffPost, NBA, WNBA, NASCAR, Las Vegas News Bureau, and Las Vegas Weekly among others.
Performing in the Dark: The Sudden Disappearance of Live Entertainment is on display online as part of the Nevada Humanities Exhibition Series. A virtual Performing in the Dark curator’s talk will take place on Friday, March 5, 2021, at 7 – 8 pm on Zoom. Register here. The exhibition will be on continuous display on the Nevada Humanities website.
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