Treasure Island’s on-the-Strip pirate battle, “The Sirens of T.I.,” continues to be the shot being heard around the world – the one that the property took five years ago to herald its new grown-up image.
The spectacular battle of the sexes consisting of sensual women, pirates, stunts, song, dance and pyrotechnics, was designed to shoot large holes in the longtime mindset that Treasure Island was child’s play. “The Sirens of T.I.,” which debuted on the hotel’s 10 anniversary, October 26, 2003, has achieved its intent – that is, to blow spectators away with a more sophisticated ambiance.
That’s thanks to the talents of renowned television producer/director Kenny Ortega, whom then-T.I. president Scott Sibella called upon to energize the exterior of the hotel once interior renovations were completed and the huge exterior pirate’s skull was taken down and a new marquee was installed. While the initial show,”Buccaneer Bay Pirate Battle,” had attracted five million people a year for 10 years, it had begun losing its edge. Sibella knew that, for the first time, he wanted a female presence in the show. That’s when the property called on Ortega and he brought the siren idea to Sibella.
“I call this ‘a musical on two ships,’” says Ortega. “It’s an evolution of a production dealing with water, ships and pirate history. Scott wanted a feminine energy represented. I thought that sirens were a beautiful way of luring, encouraging, mystifying and creating havoc. In ‘Homer’s Odyssey,’ they were portrayed as half-bird half-mermaid, I did a little research and learned that, in myth, the seamen would hear the lilt of the sirens’ voices and become hypnotized and drawn towards them. The men would then find themselves in rough seas, incapable of turning about. They were lured into capsizing by these muses of the water.”
In his research, Ortega also learned that if a captain could escape and sail his ship past the sirens, the sirens would turn into rock. So he wrote a script that took the myth of the muse and bent it and had fun with it. He considered what made the original pirate battle successful, that it had been a big stunt show with lots of special effects and pyrotechnics. Ortega then created a battle between the sirens and pirates using those facets while turning the show into a 20-minute musical with singing and dancing.
Ortega, its creator, director and producer, notes that “The Sirens of T.I.” has a things-aren’t-always-what-they-seem theme. To entertain and bedazzle audiences, the show begins mysteriously and climaxes with a great deal of fun and surprise.
“It’s still a battle between two ships but the battle is a bit differently motivated,” he explains. “The sirens’ ship is called The Song and is an ‘of this place’ entity. When you first see it, it appears to be ghostly and uninhabited. Then the sirens step out into then light. The Minotaur is the pirate ship housing a bunch of Mediterranean jocks who sail the seas looking for adventure, rum and booty. They get a little too close to the sirens and their meeting is unavoidable. The pirates find themselves almost in a whirlpool. Overall, the sirens are mystical heightened reality characters with voices that can either lure you to your doom or into an unforgettable life experience.”
Ortega describes “The Sirens of T.I.” as part rock‘n’ roll .theatrical concert, part stunt show, and cinematic in scale like the kind Disney and Universal made famous. He put an exemplary team together to accomplish that. Emilio Estefan, Gloria Estefan;s husband who owns his own record company, is the executive music producer and main music writer. With three other producers/writers/lyricists within his company, he wrote all the music for the show.
The show’s costume designer, Ingrid Ferrin, also did the costumes for the movie “Batman.” Wet Design, the company that built Bellagio’s fountains (for which Ortega was the first choreographer), created new water effects for the show. Producer/artistic director Michael Cotton has worked with Ortega for 30 years on projects, including the Olympics, some of Michael Jackson’s tours, and the MTV awards. Leroy Bennett, who has worked with Prince and did Paul McCartney’s world tour, is the lighting designer. Travis Payne, four-time MTV Award-winning choreographer who has worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Usher, is the choreographer for “The Sirens of T.I.”
Before the production debuted, top Hollywood casting director Greg Smith went on a nationwide search to find sirens for the show. He began with auditions in Las Vegas and continued them in cities across the country. Today the cast boasts 20 members – 11 sirens, 9 pirates, 2 singers and 3 divers.
For Ortega, the hardest part of putting the show together was the size of the theater and the fact that spectators are so widespread throughout the property. The “stage” is the size of four football fields filled with water. Ortega had to create theatrical devices to shift attention from one ship to the other and back again.
“The show couldn’t be plot-heavy,” he reveals. “This isn’t Shakespeare. I wanted the music, energy and overall theater to grab people and bring them into this fantasy world. They don’t have to follow a great plot to get them to smile at the end. It’s about interesting characters, hot music and the fact that it’s basically an awesome spectacle. We want the talent to shine. The show is talent-driven, music-driven and effects-driven. It has the same fun spirit as the original pirate battle. It just turns the page.”
As to the provocative nature of “The Sirens of T.I.” (T.I. being the nickname given to the property by its customers; it also suggests a hipper image), no parent has to cover his or her children’s eyes when watching this free outdoor show.
“This is about adult women luring adult men into dangerous and exciting situations,” says Ortega. “It is not a sex show. It is more theatrical high art that’s finding a home in Las Vegas. Work with substance can thrive here now. For the most part, this has always been an adult town. Refocusing on adult aims is healthy. It’s all about balance. This show is an extension of the new T.I, energy.
One thing’s for certain – “The Sirens of T.I.” is truly a “blast” for all ages.
Monty Python's SPAMALOT, the deliriously funny live spectacle that opened March 8, 2007 in the Grail Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Photo includes John O'Hurley, Justin Brill and the Las Vegas cast. Photo credit: Carol Rosegg.
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ADDITIONAL
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BOBBIE KATZ
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The Sirens of T.I.
