DiscoShow early release preview courtesy of Spiegelworld.

SPIEGELWORLD’S DISCOSHOW

A New Boogie Wonderland Opens on the Strip

By Stacey Gualandi

“I’ve always said I want Spiegelworld to be about no rules, so as long as you don’t get injured and you don’t ruin anybody else’s experience, then we don’t need the rules.”

That is the gospel according to Ross Mollison, Spiegelworld’s chief impresario extraordinaire, or as he calls himself, “a naughty boy from Melbourne, Australia, just having fun in Vegas.”

Mollison is the mastermind behind the legendary, long-running Las Vegas productions Absinthe at Caesars Palace, Atomic Saloon Show at The Venetian and Superfrico at The Cosmopolitan. They are all a one-of-a-kind, in-your-face, over-the-top Big Top. Oh, and a little dirty.

“Fortunately for us, Vegas keeps recreating itself, and if I want to stay relevant there, it’s incumbent upon me to do that as well,” Mollison says.

Well, there ain’t no stopping him now. Mollison wants to turn the beat around with his latest—”DiscoShow”—a circus-turned-Studio 54 dinner and show space now in previews at the Linq (3535 S. Las Vegas Blvd.) He says it’s a chance to experience the 1970s dance craze culture again.

“It’s something that I can’t wait to experience with a community of like-minded people who are going to enjoy reliving that period and that music,” Mollison says. “But it’s all done through a contemporary prism that is globally unique. Nobody has ever built a show like this.”

This is surprising, but Mollison admits it took many years of hustle to officially bring “DiscoShow” to the dance floor. Ultimately, it will be a celebration of disco’s origin story.

“Obviously, you can see the theatricality of Bianca Jagger riding naked on a white horse, of course,” Mollison jokes. “But around 2014, I started researching disco and reading all the books I could find on it and discovered [famous DJ] David Mancuso and the Loft in New York, and the whole reason that disco was created. I fell in love with that story.”

When “DiscoShow” was first announced in 2023, everyone was Le Freaking out. But Mollison has no shame about keeping details close to his sequin vest.
“I really want people to come without too much expectation other than to say, you’re going to get on a subway, and there happens to be a bar in the subway,” Mollison reveals. “Now, strictly speaking, that’s not historically correct. There were no bars in the 1970s subways of New York City, but nobody wants to move more than 10 feet without a bar.”

From there, young hearts will run free to Glitter Loft, another layer before reaching the actual disco show.

“It’s another bar, but it is loosely based on what a loft may have looked like in Soho in the 1970s,” Mollison adds. “Then out of that comes a space where you can go and have dinner and more cocktails.”

That space is cleverly named Diner Ross after the boss, Miss Ross, herself. Mollison says it will offer Tomahawk steaks to share and a burger (like the “best burgers on the Strip” at No Pants at Absinthe).

“There are elements of food that I love, but there’s gotta be a casualness to it,” Mollison adds. “All these buzzwords like elevated, immersive, and all that stuff are none of that. It’s just gonna be great and fun.”

Spiegelworld is like a three-ring circus right now. After “DiscoShow” officially launches, Mollison plans a new show and restaurant concept in New Orleans incorporating elements from Vegas hits. This follows the recent debut of “The Hook,” its dinner-and-a-show concept in Atlantic City.

“[In June], I think we had our biggest week ever. I think the whole of New Jersey and Philly are discovering the renewed Atlantic City and just how gorgeous that coastline is,” Mollison says.

But Las Vegas certainly has Mollison to thank for spreading Spiegelworld’s successful seed along the Strip.

“I think it’s exactly the opposite. I am grateful for Vegas,” Mollison admits. “I started in 2000 trying to get “Puppetry of the Penis” [in Vegas]. I finally found a casino that said yes, and then the Gaming Control Board said, ‘If you do that, we’ll take your license away.’ I had been trying to get my shows into Vegas for years, and I finally got in with Fontainebleau in 2008, but then they went bankrupt. So, that was a tragic part of the story. Fortunately, Caesars Palace gave us a chance in 2011.”

With the grand opening set for Sept. 7, “DiscoShow” has got to be real. And speaking of Miss Ross, can we expect disco divas from decades ago to appear?

“Nicky Siano learned the art of DJing and disco standing next to David Mancuso,” Mollison says. “He will be there on opening night. That, to me, is a disco legend.”

It takes one to know one!

In the meantime, Mollison says you should be dancing. But will he?

“I don’t think anybody’s gonna be interested in seeing that. It’s terrible,” Mollison jokes. “We have professionals for that.”