Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Saturday’s performance of ‘O’ was a royal treat … and a missed encounter

Tom Jones

AP Photo/ Roger Allen/Daily Mirror/Pool

Prince William, Natasha Bedingfield, Tom Jones, Joss Stone and Prince Harry attend a reception after a concert in memory of Princess Diana at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, July 1, 2007, on what would have been the 46th birthday of William and Harry’s mother.

Click to enlarge photo

Prince Harry is seen on a recent trip to Germany.

You really never know when, where or how you’ll encounter a newsmaker in Las Vegas. Example: A week ago Saturday, I was in the men’s room at MGM Grand Garden Arena during the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez bout and found myself standing next to the fine actor Steve Buscemi.

Trust me, I didn’t wake that day thinking, “I might well run into the fine actor Steve Buscemi in a men’s room today.”

But that is possible in Las Vegas, as it is such an appealing destination for so many famous individuals. And, on occasion, these individuals do need to use public lavatories.

A better example: On Saturday night, I was seated in the same row at “O” at Bellagio as Prince Harry.

But unlike the men’s room encounter with Buscemi at MGM Grand, I had no idea this famous man was present. Incredibly, laughably, this is true.

Prince Harry was in town this weekend, partying at Tryst on Friday and on Saturday taking in “O” with a few of his buddies from the British Army Air Corps. The 27-year-old member of the royal family has just completed two months of training at Arizona’s Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field.

Keeping with tradition, when finishing that commitment, the servicemen hit Vegas for a weekend of fun and frivolity. He also dropped $300 at a blackjack table (a loss mitigated by free cocktail service) and later hit XS at Wynn Las Vegas, according to my colleagues Robin Leach of VegasDeluxe and People’s Mark Gray, who have been dutifully charting the prince’s whereabouts on his first Vegas visit.

My unnoticed brush with royalty was a wholly random event. I’d not seen “O” since it opened 13 years ago and am working on a big story about Cirque du Soleil. I was seated in the last row of the lower section of O Theatre at Bellagio — 103, to be specific — during Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. show.

To my left were seven empty seats, which remained empty during the pre-show shenanigans of the two clowns who meander through the crowd and perform slapstick, spraying water on unsuspecting audience members and opening and closing a damp umbrella. Goofy stuff, but Prince Harry and his crew weren’t around for any of it.

Only when the lights dropped for the formal start of the show were those seats filled, and all I can verify that seven guys occupied those seats. Often during these performances, I’ll ask the person next to me where he or she is from, but not this night. I was fixed on the watery fantasy playing out onstage. If you’ve ever seen the mesmerizing, even hypnotic production that is “O,” you understand that there is scant opportunity during the show to turn to your neighbor and ask, “So, might you be friendly with British royalty?”

It could have been any celebrity or even biblical figure seated in those seats, to be honest, and I would not have noticed. The scene was devoid of any bling-adorned entourage members or menacing security officers. Prince Harry is blessed with boyish, Richie Cunningham-esque, good looks and blends into a scene as if he’s just another student from USC hitting Vegas for a swingin’ weekend.

Thus, nobody in the audience realized he was seated in the theater, which is not difficult to fathom. He was partying at Tryst for at least an hour on Friday before club-goers realized the red-headed guy in the VIP area was, in fact, third in the line of succession to become king of England.

The show played out, to vigorous audience response, and the only time I took notice of what was happening to my left was when one of the guys climbed over the chair back and left his seat to grab, likely, a Corona. That’s what they were drinking. Coronas. Just before the cast took its final bows, the entire crew filed out, to no fanfare, several steps ahead of the crowd.

It wasn’t until I was over at Caesars Palace about 20 minutes after leaving Bellagio, racing to make the Matt Goss show (which, unbeknownst to me, would be my second brush with British royalty in a single evening) that I was notified that Prince Harry was at “O.” It came in an email blast. I read it while walking to the Cleopatra’s Barge Gossy Room at Caesars, and it stopped me.

“What?!”

It was verified that he was not only at the same show, but was seated in the same row as me. Nice work by the Bellagio crew to keep one of the most famous helicopter pilots on the planet so effectively under the radar.

Consider it a lesson learned, or maybe reinforced. I can only be reminded that whenever you’re in a show in Vegas, take a look at those seated near you, because in this city, you never know.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

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