Las Vegas , Nevada

During my US trip in 2019 , I spent 2 days (and 2 nights) in Las Vegas. I left my group for a day, I wanted to explore the city on my own. It's nice to have a company, but I always prefer that way , in every city, alone and on foot. 

I wanted to see MGM Hotel, the place where from November 1996 to December 1998, David Cassidy was the star of 'EFX'. At the time MGM Hotel&Casino was the world's biggest casino resort, and 'EFX' the world's biggest and the most expensive theatrical production. It's absolutely amazing that after 25 years from the time when he was the highest paid solo performer in the world, David Cassidy  achieved great success again.. on Broadway and  later in Las Vegas, where he was voted the Best All Around Performer and Best Singer.

It's unbelievable how hard he worked for it. He'd agreed to take the job on the condition that he got creative control. The plot was rewritten and about half of the original songs were cut or repleaced. It was a very complicated show, a lot of special effects , large cast and enormous sets. Also dangerous to perform, and David was injured a few times..He worked all the time - 10 shows a week, 50 weeks a year, about 1500 performances..

The MGM was about 4km from my hotel, and it was a great walk. 

I left my hotel very early,it wasn't easy, because the ground floor of Circus Circus Hotel&Casino is a big underground city in itself, full of slot machines, restaurants, shops. I stopped many times, never saw anything like this.. some people looked like they didn't know there was a real world outside..It took me about 30 minutes to get to the exit. Wow..what a place in the middle of a desert, surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides.

Las Vegas was just coming to life, not so many people on the street, but the sun was shining, the music was playing, the fountains were working, beautiful girls invited passers-by for evening shows, and I was walking up and down the stairs, admiring  hotels on my way, talking with strangers and thinking how David Cassidy (and his family) could have felt there. Of course Las Vegas is not just the Las Vegas Boulevard, for David it was only his workplace, he lived in a big house in the residential area..and it's difficult to believe , but there are over 60 parks in that strange city.

At last, I made it. MGM, nearly 7000 rooms, can you believe it? I sat at the foot of the statue of Leo, the MGM lion, put my headphones on and started listening ..Let It Shine..River In Time..The Intergalactic Circus..Of course David Cassidy earned a lot of money ..but was he happy here? In that artificial world? Doing the same show every evening. Healthy or unhealthy. I enjoyed my stay in Las Vegas very much. But I was there only for two days..

Let him shine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ynTbvyQr0