Venetian® Macau-Resort-Hotel

The Grand Opening of The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel 28th August 2007. 1,200 media 3,000 VIP guests 5,000 ticketed audience 50,000 public audience

August 28th 2007 was the auspicious date chosen for the opening of The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel, Asia’s largest integrated resort and the second largest building in the world. Luminous was selected to assist the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and The Venetian Macau Limited with educating over 1,200 members of the international media; entertaining 3,000 VIP guests as well as a ticketed audience of 5,000; and managing a queuing public of approximately 50,000.

The day began with a press conference held by Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and his senior management. It was important for Luminous to produce an experience reflecting Mr Adelson’s mission to: “… reproduce the capital of entertainment in Asia for Asians.”

In addition to a series of press conferences and media lunches, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was staged at the indoor retail mall in St. Mark’s Square. There Mr. Adelson and his wife Dr. Adelson launched a gondola to a rousing chorus from The Singing Gondoliers. They also congratulated the first couples to be married within the property. A variety of whimsical “Streetmosphere” characters entertained the crowd, while guests enjoyed a fashion show from the illustrious jewellery houses of Mikimoto, Chopard, Tiffany and Piaget.

Early in the day, the public started to queue along the Cotai Strip. Under advice from Luminous, the Venetian Macao took care of these guests with free entertainment, water and snack stations, as well as First Aid tents. After so many large openings in Macau resulting in overcrowding of the streets and ‘injury’ in some instances, the Luminous team worked overtime to create a good experience for all.

At 4pm, invited VIPs who had not yet checked-in started arriving on The Red Carpet in the Porte-Cochère. They entered to the sounds of operatic performers and the camera flashes of a large media gathering. Four hundred and seventy Venetian staff, dressed as Gondoliers in colours matching the seven colour-coded lanyards given to the guests for easy reference, greeted guests and walked them through the “Ultimate Venetian Experience” to St Mark’s Square for a pre-show cocktail.

The Central Government of the People’s Republic of China sent 22 models dressed in custom-made evening wear which was designed to symbolically represent the Venetian dream. One hundred Venetian characters guided guests at all stages and later became the focus of the Arena Ceremony.

To the sound of a lone mandolin, the lights dimmed and the Arena Ceremony began. With an original music score and a romantic poem about a dream that turned into a reality, the 100 vintage-costumed Venetian characters filed into the seating bowl. They moved in perfect unison thanks to an “in-ear” audio system technology enabling the choreographer to give direction that could be heard at all times.

The rest of the show boasted a breath-taking line-up of Canto pop stars and international acts, including Taiwanese singer A-mei, David Tao, and Alan Tam who was lowered to the stage in an enormous Murano Chandelier.

After joining Alan Tam in a duet of “Endless Love,” Superstar Diana Ross headlined the evening with a rousing performance of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” backed up by her energetic dancers. Guests also enjoyed stunning aerial and acrobatic performances by Cirque du Soleil, whilst an enormous floating dragon danced around the arena. Additionally, the audience was wowed by a flying gondola, built by Luminous, that transported a Cirque singer high over its heads.

At the auspicious time of 7:18pm, the official ceremonial party, which included Edmund Ho, the Chief Executive of Macau, pulled the lever to open the property. This triggered a stunning pyrotechnic display within the arena, whilst at the entrance of the property, firecrackers exploded simultaneously to mark the occasion — entertaining the thousands of general public gathered outside.

The evening VIP dinner for 3,000 in the vast Venetian ballroom featured four arias from world-renowned opera singers from La Fernice; a performance from the Las Vegas cast of The Phantom of the Opera; and a return appearance by Diana Ross that brought the audience to its feet.

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