NBC’s ‘Today’ show goes full-tilt Las Vegas
It was a Halloween celebration. But it felt like Christmas came early for Las Vegas.
NBC’s “Today” show laid out its themed broadcast on Monday morning and it was all-Vegas, baby. The production couldn’t have been a more effective tourism campaign if MGM Resorts International and the LVCVA had drawn up the script.
POV: you report the news at 7am and have a costume reveal at 8am pic.twitter.com/RWJvyb0uR2
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 31, 2022
Those powerhouse Vegas entities, along with Cirque, were in fact behind the segments, which were broadcast throughout the morning. All of the show’s anchors took their respective roles. The whole show looked like a “Legends at Today” performance. As it was:
* Carson Daly debuted his tribute (a very “wigged” tribute) to legendary magician and MGM Grand headliner David Copperfield. Dylan Dreyer played his sidekick, the late, ground-breaking magician Adelaide Herrmann.
* Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie took to the “O” aerial hoops, appearing at Rockefeller Plaza with artists of Cirque’s flagship show.
* Al Roker donned a Sammy Davis Jr. costume, holding the mic loosely by its cord, mimicking Sammy.
* Sheinelle Jones sashayed as a Vegas showgirl in a bright-red costume and headdress. She also tap-danced flawlessly.
David @Copperfield is joining our Halloween celebrations! 🪄 pic.twitter.com/syPfJgWFED
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 31, 2022
* Craig Melvin portrayed Muhammad Ali (for the city’s great prizefight heritage).
* Willie Geist dressed in the requisite Elvis jumpsuit, and also performed a requisite Elvis impression of “Burning Love.” Geist-as-The King was also a wedding officiant for …
* “Today” audience members and Utah residents Eleanor Molver and McKay Blanchard. Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager were witnesses. The ceremony, Geist said was legally binding (he has been ordained), was at A Little White Chapel replica. This familiar wedding fortress was also the backdrop of …
* Peter Alexander as Ben Affleck and Kristen Welker as Jennifer Lopez, once more known as “Bennifer,” in a revival of that couple’s wedding at A Little White Chapel in July.
* And, Bush Hager’s wild performance as Celine Dion, calling out, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” No karaoke bar is safe with this interpretation (Dion’s camp has not responded to requests for comment).
The “Today”-Vegas concept grew from the Virtuoso Travel Week convention in August. Reps from the luxury-travel organization work with “Today” on the show’s travel segments. Those travel reps felt, correctly, Vegas would make an appealing theme for a Halloween show.
The “Today” team then contacted MGM Resorts International officials, who in turn summoned to Cirque for “O” and also Copperfield’s reps. MGM looped in the LVCVA, which provided such annual tourism numbers and the stats related to the city’s wedding industry, and also images of playing cards, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, and showgirl costumes.
“O” artists trained Kotb and Guthrie for their aerial number and sent five performers to New York. Kotb and Guthrie wore authentic Cirque costumes and performed on hoops from the production.
Daly was the segment’s character announcer, appearing as a street vendor barking out specials and brandishing discount show coupons. He was shown in front of an image of the Theatre at Resorts World entrance, name-checking Vegas resident superstars Elton John, Cher and Dion.
In a Q&A segment tied to the theme, the anchors answered a series of Las Vegas questions. Kotb said her favorite Vegas show was Lopez’s show at Zappos Theater (she danced with Lopez’s mother, Guadalupe, that night). Guthrie was asked to name a celebrity couple who had been married in Vegas. She pulled Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, married at Graceland Wedding Chapel in downtown Las Vegas in 1981.
Kotb and Bush Hager said their favorite movie is “The Hangover.” Daly was asked of his favorite Vegas memory and tore up the question card saying, “What happens in Vegas …” The phrase that never dies.
Daly and Dreyer had an especially daunting task. They learned and perfected a Copperfield routine in a couple of weeks. The two performed the act where the assistant rises while seated cross-legged in a chair.
Daly sold it, even matching Copperfield’s movements and voice inflections. The show presented video of Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear. Daly made a miniature Statue of Liberty figure placed on his shoulder disappear. Dreyer made the Statue vanish from a postcard. Copperfield came away impressed, offering the duo to fill in at his MGM Grand theater when he’s off.
“They really cared about the method, and had asked for videos of my movements, the dialogue in my show,” Copperfield said Monday. “I thought it looked great, and it was great for the city.”
Copperfield had a pre-sunrise “hit” to appear remotely from Vegas. He had material ready for the time difference, “I know this is the ‘Today’ show, but it’s ‘The Tonight Show’ in Vegas.” Copperfield couldn’t work the line into the live telecast. Save it. We expect “Today” will be back.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
