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MGM: Old Yo-Ho-Ho Getting Heave-Ho

MGM Mirage executives plan a transformation of Treasure Island's exterior, changing the megaresort's look to match its evolution from a pirate-themed property to a hip spot with allure to value-conscious adults.

Company officials are expected to announce today plans to change the resort's wildly successful pirate show and its skull-centered marquee.

They're making the moves to eliminate a lingering perception that the property's still the same Treasure Island that opened in October 1993.

"We've evolved from a yo-ho-ho feel to a more sophisticated feel," Treasure Island President Scott Sibella said. "We want to change the exterior to introduce the outside to what we've already done inside."

The current pirate show, "a show you'd see at Disneyland," will be changed to a "sexy and beautiful, adult Broadway-caliber show."

A number of women will be added to the cast of the new show, which will premiere Oct. 26. The current production's last shows will run July 6.

"We kept the pirate, Caribbean feel, and made it sexy," Sibella said of the show now being created by choreographer Kenny Ortega. The ships and pyrotechnics will remain, but "spectacular, sexy dancing" will signal the property's true feel, Sibella said, adding that shutting down one of the property's two signature attractions, along with "Mystére," wasn't a decision Treasure Island executives made lightly.

The existing 12-minute show attracts about 4.5 million people per year.

Auditions for female cast members, to be called "the Sirens of Treasure Island," will run in six cities around the United States.

The first "Siren Search" will be held in Las Vegas May 5-6.

The current 30 male members of the show's cast will be given the first auditions for an undetermined number of male roles.

Treasure Island is also retiring the giant skull from its Strip-front marquee, with plans to hold an early summer ceremony to remove the skull and truck it up Las Vegas Boulevard to downtown's Neon Museum.

"It's a cool sign, but it needs to complement what we're doing inside," he said.

The existing marquee will be totally redesigned, starting with the property's name, which now reads "Treasure Island at The Mirage."

The new sign's largest lettering will read "TI," capturing a "trendy, sexy" abbreviated name Sibella said Las Vegans and resort guests already use.

"It's like the old D.I.," he said, noting the new logo will be similar to the Desert Inn's long-standing emblem.

The building's exterior also will have new lighting effects, "similar but more sophisticated" than the prismatic colored lights that bath the Palms, he said.

When the Treasure Island megaresort opened, its family-friendly pirate theme was pervasive.

Rooms with pirate decor, the Strip's best arcade, and of course, the pirate show and Treasure Island's skull logo sent a message that the 2,900-room megaresort was a fun, family resort.

The trouble was, Mirage Resorts and later MGM Mirage executives quickly realized that the heavily pirate themed property wasn't the kind of place that attracted people looking for a weekend getaway.

The bosses, beginning with Steve Wynn and continuing with Mirage Resorts CEO Bobby Baldwin and Sibella, began a long transformation of the property that collectively has cost about $150 million.

The hotel's front desk area was moved near the pool about three years after it opened. Slides were removed from the pool, and cabanas were added.

Pirates were removed from almost everywhere, replaced by stylish furnishings. New restaurants and nightspots were introduced. The Breeze Bar's casual elegance replaced the flashy Gold Bar near the casino center, and the 25,000-square-foot arcade was replaced with a version only one-twentieth as large.

"We're doing what the (Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority) is doing with their (television commercials)," Sibella said. "We're going back to the old Vegas.

The interior changes have worked, Sibella noted.

"We're one of the most successful properties in town on a (return on investment) basis," he said, noting that Treasure Island produces $100 million in annual cash flow.

Treasure Island hotel rooms averaged 95 percent occupancy during the quarter ended March 31, with an average daily rate of $110, among the top 10 results on the Strip.

The property's guests used to be 75 percent families; now the number has dropped to 25 percent.

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