‘Spamalot’ bound for Vegas, not L.A.

A long-term production of “Monty Python’s Spamalot” will open in a new 1,600-seat theater at the Wynn Las Vegas resort in 2007, and as part of the deal, tours of the show will bypass California.

The resort’s owner, Steve Wynn, has snagged the last two winners of the best musical Tony Award: “Spamalot” won this year, and the 2004 winner, “Avenue Q,” is scheduled to open in its own new theater at Wynn Las Vegas in September.

Although “Avenue Q” isn’t scheduled to tour at all, a “Spamalot” tour will open next spring in Boston, with subsequent engagements in Chicago and Washington announced. But the blackout on a “Spamalot” tour in states close to Las Vegas -- California and Arizona, as well as the rest of Nevada -- means Southern California won’t see the show at home for a long time.

The news stoked fears that Las Vegas could dry up prospects for Broadway tours in L.A.

Although “Avenue Q” is a small-scale show with puppets and no top-star names in the cast -- and local presenters acknowledge that it might not have fit comfortably into the large venues that usually showcase Broadway tours in the Southland -- the larger and starrier “Spamalot” is a different story.

“We were hoping it would be the cornerstone of our 2007 season,” said Martin Wiviott, who runs the Broadway/LA subscription series at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

He added, “We’re all disappointed and concerned.”

Center Theatre Group’s new artistic director, Michael Ritchie, who had said earlier that he would book “Spamalot” into the Ahmanson Theatre “in a heartbeat,” could not be reached for comment Monday.

In Las Vegas, the so-called sit-down production of “Spamalot” will be cut from two hours, including intermission, to 90 minutes without an intermission. Such surgery is applied to many Las Vegas versions of Broadway shows, although “Avenue Q” has been spared.

Wiviott said “Spamalot” is “perfect for a Vegas audience; it’s like a big revue.” However, he predicted that shows with more complicated or more serious stories -- he mentioned “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “The Light in the Piazza” and “Doubt” -- “won’t play in Las Vegas.”

Wynn told Associated Press that the new theater for “Spamalot” will cost $50 million and that he has agreed to play the show for 10 years if he picks up a three-year renewal option. Tickets will cost from $80 to $100.

Wynn Las Vegas already has another show, “Le Reve,” running, although it didn’t come from Broadway.

And, Wynn told AP, “I’m not sure that we’re done yet.”