Mirage
The Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island. The marquee in front of the Mirage is the largest free standing marquee in the world.
The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn and designed by Joel Bergman. It opened in November 1989 and was the first resort that was built with the money of Wall Street through the use of junk bonds.
Its construction is also considered very noteworthy in that Wynn had set a new standard for Vegas resorts, and is widely considered to be the father of today's Las Vegas. Prior to the Mirage's opening, the city was experiencing a decline in tourism that began in the 70s, especially around the time the state of New Jersey legalized gambling and tourists (in particular those on the East Coast) began to frequent the casinos of Atlantic City. Also, this was a time when Las Vegas was no longer considered a fashionable destination, so a new, high-profile, project was necessary to jump-start the ailing industry. When it opened, the Mirage was the first casino to use security cameras full time on all table games.
From 1990 through 2003, the Mirage was the venue for the Siegfried & Roy show. The two headliners combined magic and the use of wild animals. The closing of the popular attraction in 2003, after Roy Horn was injured by one of the white tigers used in the show, impacted the Mirage for a while.
In 1993, the Mirage hosted an extended run of the Cirque du Soleil show Nouvelle Expérience in a tent in the Mirage parking lot. It was during this time that Steve Wynn decided to invite Cirque to create Mystère for the soon-to-be-built Treasure Island resort next door. Finally returning to where they began in Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil has a permanent production at the Mirage, Love.
In 2004, Danny Gans took over the main showroom and marquee becoming the resort's main entertainment attraction. Gans left the Mirage in 2009 to star in a show at the Encore Las Vegas.
Mirage | eTips Inc.
