Goulet forced to close

Wednesday, July 25, 2001 | 11:14 a.m.

Hemorrhaging to the tune of more than $100,000 per week, Robert Goulet abruptly canceled his performances at the Showroom at the Venetian Tuesday afternoon.

The decision to drop the curtain on "Robert Goulet, the Man and His Music" came less than halfway through a nine-week contract between Goulet's Rogo & Rove Productions and H & H of Nevada.

Although the 1,000-seat Showroom is in the Venetian, it is owned by David Horowitz, who has a long-term lease agreement with H & H.

Showroom general manager Scott Iwamoto could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but a source close to him, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the parting as amicable.

"There are good feelings toward (Goulet). He is a great talent," the source said. "(The Showroom) remains hopeful that Mr. Goulet will be able to go out and do something to attract a larger audience and raise enough money to pay the rent due on the room."

The contract, which was for July 3 through Sept. 1, required the room to be rented by Goulet at the rate of $15,000 per show and that there be six shows per week, for a total of $90,000 a week in rent.

"We were bleeding ourself dry," Goulet said. "It was costing us 200 grand a week."

Cash-flow figures supplied by Goulet, and by the source speaking for Iwamoto, show the loss to be closer to $135,000 per week.

Goulet's ticket price range was $50-$75, which was a cut in the original range of $78-$88. Each show averaged about 100 customers, according to the Showroom.

Even if every customer bought the more expensive ticket, the most that a show could have brought in would have been $7,500, about half the room rental rate.

Vera Goulet, the singer's wife and business manager, said the cost of renting the room was about half the cost of the show. The other expenses included paying for the lights, sound, advertising and for co-star Paige O'Hara and for the Vincent Falcone Orchestra.

If it was costing Goulet $30,000 per show, or $180,000 per week, and he was only bringing in $7,500 per show ($45,000 per week), then he was going in the hole about $135,000 a week.

Goulet blames the financial problems on a number of things, including key investors withdrawing financial support.

"The backers we had backed out the day before it opened," Goulet said.

He said as a result he and his wife invested $750,000 of their own money into the production.

"The hotel didn't help us, and the owners (of the Showroom) didn't help us in promotions," Goulet said.

Goulet also noted there were no conventions in town.

"There were not enough people at the beginning of July," he said. "The town was empty. We did as much as we could to promote it, but there are 7 billion shows to see."

Goulet said he had hoped he would be at the Showroom for a long time.

"They have no appreciation for the arts (at the Showroom). We just had to say goodbye," he said . "I thought we would be there another two or three years, now I have to go out and look for other work."

Goulet said he was "hurt and saddened" that his performances at the Showroom ended prematurely.