''Raiding the Rock Vault'' is a

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs perf ...

based on

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

songs, featuring a cast of musicians from well-known rock bands. Since its debut in 2012, the show has appeared mainly at casinos in the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

area.

History

The concept for the show originated in 2011 with British record producer

Simon Napier-Bell Simon Robert Napier-Bell (born 22 April 1939) is an English record producer, music manager, author and journalist. At different times, he has managed artists as diverse as the Yardbirds, John's Children, Marc Bolan, Japan, London, Ultravox, Bon ...

, who envisioned a touring rock supergroup playing covers of hit songs from the 1960s and 1970s. Napier-Bell joined with his longtime business partner, Harry Cowell, to produce the show. They enlisted John Payne, former lead singer of the band

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, to help develop the idea. Interest in the concept soon faded, though, because the projected production costs were too high. Months later, Payne, inspired by his involvement with the touring production of '' Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds'', reimagined the concept as a theatrical production with a plot line that would tell the story of rock and roll in chronological order. Payne brought record producer David Kershenbaum on to co-write the script with him. Cowell financed the show for $1 million through his publicly traded production company, Papa Entertainment. ''Raiding the Rock Vault'' debuted on November 29, 2012 with a performance at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. That show was recorded to be shown to potential promoters for a concert tour. The feedback from promoters, however, suggested that the show would be well suited for Las Vegas. Cast member

Paul Shortino Paul Shortino (born May 14, 1953) is an American rock singer and musician who has sung for Rough Cutt/The Cutt, Quiet Riot, Bad Boyz, and Shortino. He briefly recorded with J.K. Northrup as the duo, Shortino/Northrup. He has also recorded as a ...

arranged for the producers to meet with executives of the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, and a deal was quickly reached. The show opened in March 2013 at the LVH. Cowell fired Payne from the show in June 2014 because of an unspecified business dispute, shortly before the LVH came under new ownership and became the Westgate Las Vegas. Westgate owner David Siegel liked the show and asked to buy the rights to it, planning to rename it as ''Westgate Rocks''; Cowell refused the offer. Uncertain about their standing at the Westgate, the producers accepted an offer to move to the

Tropicana Las Vegas The Tropicana Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Bally's Corporation, on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties. It offers 1,467 rooms, a gaming floor, and of conventi ...

. Meanwhile, Payne filed a lawsuit claiming he was owed royalties and performance fees; it was eventually settled. The show closed at the Westgate in September 2014, and then reopened in November in the 1,100-seat theater at the Tropicana. In the interim, the show was revamped to remove material developed by Payne, including the narrative about the discovery of the "rock vault" in a

Mayan temple Maya architecture spans several thousands of years, several eras of political change, and architectural innovation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Often, the buildings most dramatic and easily recognizable as creations of the Ma ...

. Instead, the songs were bracketed by comedy sketches portraying stories recalled by two fictional

roadies Roadie refers to support personnel who travel with a band on tour. Roadie or roadies may also refer to: * ''Roadie'' (1980 film), a 1980 film starring Meat Loaf * ''Roadie'' (2011 film), a 2011 American comedy film * ''Roadies'' (TV series), an A ...

from their years of touring with rock bands. A sister show, ''Raiding the Country Vault'', featuring classic

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

songs in a similar format, was launched by Cowell and Napier-Bell in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...

in May 2016. The producers ended the run at the Tropicana in July 2016, because they were not able to consistently sell the 300 to 400 tickets per night needed to cover their costs. The show started a new run in March 2017 at the 650-seat Vinyl nightclub at the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

. To fit in the smaller venue, the comedy sketches were eliminated from the show, along with the "vault" prop that had previously sat at the center of the set. In 2017 and 2018, a second company of ''Raiding the Rock Vault'' appeared for limited engagements at the Starlite Theatre in Branson. Producers also had plans for a worldwide tour, and pop and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

versions of the show. In December 2019, ''Raiding the Rock Vault'' played 3 shows in London, England. On September 30, 2019 it was announced that the show would move to RIO Las Vegas in 2020 as the current location, Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, would be closing for renovations. On January 11, 2020, ''Raiding the Rock Vault'' launched at 172 Live Music club inside RIO All-Suites Hotel and Casino Las Vegas.

Cast

Notable musicians who have been part of the show's rotating lineup at some time include:

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.raidingtherockvault.com/, Raiding the Rock Vault Production shows in the Las Vegas Valley 2012 musicals Jukebox musicals Rock musicals 2013 establishments in Nevada