Spiegelworld – producers of Vegas hit shows including Absinthe – to bring Californian desert town to life as world’s first ‘Circus Town’
Spiegelworld, the audacious theatrical producer behind three hit shows and a restaurant in Las Vegas, today announced it has purchased the small, desert town of Nipton, California with plans to revive it as the center of the circus company’s global operations.
It will be a living town where Spiegelworld artists and performers will retreat to dream, create, and undertake unfettered artistic experimentation which will feed into the creation of Spiegelworld’s world-class shows. It will also be a place where visitors and passers-by can have an experience unlike anything else.
Located one hour’s drive from Las Vegas on the edge of the Mojave National Preserve, Nipton sits on a freight railway line and was once a major cattle-loading station for nearby ranches. The hotel, built around 1905 and frequented by silent film “It Girl” Clara Bow, sits alongside an original family homestead, general store, town hall, and school house.
Spiegelworld’s Impresario Extraordinaire Ross Mollison said, “Having a rambunctious circus company purchase a small town may sound like the Schitt’s Creek spin-off series. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. When we visited as guests a few years back, we fell in love with the peacefulness, the vast desert vistas, and the fireside chats with freight train drivers, miners and workers. Jim Eslinger, self-proclaimed mayor of Nipton, warned me that you need to have respect for the Mojave, and the desert will tell you if it is happy or unhappy with what you’re doing.
“Spiegelworld performers and artists are already embracing the potential of Nipton and are excited to get involved in the creative direction of the town, the restaurant, accommodation, artist retreats and small festivals we plan to present. Nipton will showcase the beauty of our circus family and I simply can’t wait to share that community under the magical desert stars.”
Spiegelworld’s plans for this circus-oasis in the desert include an art-directed, luxury accommodation and restaurant experience for a limited number of visitors, and to build on the town’s existing large-scale sculpture commissions with an artist-in-residence program. However, the most exciting potential for Nipton is providing a spiritual home for Spiegelworld where its artists and performers can create and develop new work.
The purchase of Nipton is part of a global expansion for Spiegelworld. The producer is currently resurrecting the 1929 Warner Theatre in Atlantic City as The Hook, a major entertainment venue and restaurant opening in June 2023 – part of a $400M investment on the New Jersey shoreline by Caesars Entertainment – as well as developing its long-awaited Discoshow for Las Vegas, a future attraction for Caesars in New Orleans, and new shows and restaurants for other markets around the world.
In February, Spiegelworld will be housing a creative team in Nipton led by Spiegelworld comic artists Max Baumgarten and Wayne Wilson to develop ideas for a show inspired by the Las Vegas arrival of the 2023 Formula 1 Grand Prix.
More details on Spiegelworld’s plans for Nipton will be released in the coming months. For more information, please visit www.spiegelworld.com.
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