Talking With Michael Shulman – April 29, 2024

The Talk About Las Vegas Podcast | a podcast by Ira Sternberg

This week, Ira spoke with writer, photographer, artist and philanthropist Michael Shulman. In this episode of “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Michael talks about writing a compre-hensive history of Las Vegas entertainment residency for his website -https://www.shulmansays.com - (a version of this article was published in Business Traveler, August 2023); who the first residency headliner was (and this is going back to 1944); how it was originally an amenity to bring in the high roller; how the Rat Pack played a part; Elvis and his residency; why he (Michael) almost got kicked out of the Liberace Museum; the importance of the resident artist; how Celine Dion changed everything in the world of residencies; why Las Vegas is the residency capital of the world; how a residency is a win-win for both the casino and the entertainer; the audience comes to the entertainer rather than the other way around; what performer might have had “the most wonderful” connection with an audience; the most surprising thing he found in his research (and it has to do with Elvis); how strong country has become; the importance of production designers; the criteria for a residency; and the future of residencies.