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Las Vegas could be on the verge of an artistic revolution
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ike every performer in town where the vacuum would suck you, who has been called back to because more and more bad news action, Petra Massey sounds kept happening and more friends overjoyed to return to her and family were affected. It was this stage in Atomic Saloon Show. “I felt global thing, and yet these beautiful like a bottle being uncorked,” the positives happened as well, where British-born comedian says of people really came together.” reopening May 5. “The rush The local performing arts I got after 13 months of not community absolutely did doing any shows or any kind that, supporting each other of performance really hit me. in meaningful ways big and It was amazing.” small. There were benefit The hit Spiegelworld show at events being livestreamed the Grand Canal Shoppes at Veand virtual connections pronetian originally launched just moting self-care and home a few months before the panexercise routines. Less visible THE demic shut down the Strip, and was a forced but obvious INCIDENTAL many of its cast and crew were undercurrent of individual TOURIST new to Las Vegas. Massey, on creativity and artistic exploBY BROCK RADKE her second tour of Vegas duty ration. (her comedy troupe SpymonAs the entertainers of Las key served in the opening cast Vegas continued to stay home of Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity and away from the live stage, in 2003), began volunteering at her scratching out a way to keep moving son’s school and ended up becoming forward, new takes on old ideas buban outreach facilitator and games bled up. Concepts simmered. Firstteacher for five months, “just for my time discussions and collaborations sanity and to help them out,” she says. were sparked. New work began. “It was such shaky ground. You Massey says the landscape has didn’t know where you could walk or changed quite a bit since her first ar-
