9M pounds of crab legs later, Bellagio’s Day 1 employees keep resort humming

Thousands of Bellagio employees, including some of the 1,221 who have been with the resort since day one on Oct. 15, 1998, celebrated the Strip resort’s success with a party Friday at the property’s employee dining room.

Employees partied 24/7 over all shifts, receiving 25th anniversary hoodies, pins for their years of service, a photo booth and artists drawing caricatures of posing employees.

Workers also enjoyed a dinner as part of the celebration.

“It’s a great celebration,” said Kahosha Kimwanga, who’s been with the resort less than a year as a representative of the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, one of the many attractions that attract more than 15,000 people a day to the Strip resort.

Other numbers are equally staggering. The resort has 6,000 employees — it had 1,200 when it opened in 1998 — 183,700 Bellagio fountain shows have been performed since opening day and 13,508 couples have been married at the Bellagio since it opened.

Food servers have offered 27,375 pounds of caviar, 9.1 million pounds of crab legs and 547,500 bottles of champagne popped in 25 years.

Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil’s “O,” a show performed on a liquid stage, a technological marvel that alternates between a solid surface, a splash pad and pool.

There have been 19.1 million tickets sold to 11,345 performances in a show with 1,200 costumes and headpieces for 77 performers.

The “O” theater has 26 speakers and 14 technicians and 222.069 feet — more than 42 miles — of cable to light the theater.

Pavelko guides theater

The theater for “O” is the baby of Rhonda Pavelko, Bellagio’s entertainment manager and an employee since day one.

“To me, it’s home, and I’m not saying that to be cliche or anything like that,” Pavelko said in an interview during the celebration. “It’s home for me. I feel like every day I’m leaving my home and then I’m coming back to home. There’s a special feeling when you know that you walk into a place that you’re going to be part of somebody’s memories, one way or the other. I’m always hoping for a good memory, and that’s what we strive for, but you’re walking into somebody’s memory. And it’s even in passing in a hallway, saying hello, making eye contact with someone, speaking to someone in an elevator. I mean, it’s kind of indescribable.”

She said she enjoys going to work every day.

“I think what excites me the most about coming to work is that even when you first walk in, to me, it smells like summertime,” said Pavelko, who worked for Caesars Entertainment in her early years, then opened The Mirage and MGM Grand before coming to Bellagio.

Filming ‘Ocean’s 11’

One of the more exciting days for Pavelko was at a time when “Ocean’s 11” was being filmed at the property.

“I actually got to run into them,” she said. “When they filmed, they created a facade of an elevator right in front of the box office. And it’s the part where Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia are coming down and they’re talking. And if you look to the left you can see the box office kind of in the background picture. We were coming and going outside of the office. I had to get back in my office and I had to ask Andy Garcia to excuse me so I could get past him so I could get in the door. And I was like, ‘Woo! I got to see Brad Pitt walk away.’”

Pavelko said she’s fascinated with the celebrities who draw inspiration from Cirque du Soleil, including Celine Dion and Pink. They’ve attended multiple shows, sometimes with their families.

She said she was proud of her company when it went through some dark hours last month, knowing that her “family” would survive the crisis of a cyberattack.

“To be honest with you, it’s incredible leadership (that got the company through it). And I’m not just saying that. The communication was so transparent, and it was so honest, and so open. And they had a plan of action right away. And it really trickled down, and we just knew everything was going to be OK.

“For this information to make it down even to me or to my team, that’s outstanding leadership,” she said. “Because that gives me something to strive for. I want to do the same thing with my team. They’re telling me I’m going to tell them. We know we’re safe. We know we’re OK. Our guests are going to be OK. We can take care of them. They’re still going to get the experience they were supposed to get. And that’s the key right there.”

One of her new prize possessions is a special nametag she received identifying her as a day one employee.

“It starts a lot of conversations with our guests,” she said. “They ask me some of the same questions you asked me, about what it was like when we first opened.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.