By Scott Cronick
So, there’s some good news and bad news about Spiegelworld coming to Atlantic City summer.
First, the good news: Ross Mollison, the witty, personable Aussie who is the founder and Impressario Extraordinaire of Spiegelworld, assures everyone that The Hook and its sister restaurant Superfrico will be unlike anything Atlantic City has ever seen before.
If you have ever seen any of the three shows on the Las Vegas Strip that Spiegelworld produces – “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace, “Opium” at The Cosmopolitan, along with the Italian American psychedelic restaurant Superfrico and speakeasy Ski Lodge, and “Atomic Saloon Show” at The Venetian, you can take his word to the bank.
Now, the bad news: The Gazillionaire, the raunchy, filthy, hilarious Absinthe master of ceremonies, will not be coming to Atlantic City.
“I know that will be a relief,” Mollison joked. “At least for me … because he’s a very exacting boss. He’s very hard to work for.”
Here’s The Hook
Spiegelworld, which in my opinion hosts the three must-see shows in Vegas – particularly Absinthe, my favorite, is about to change Atlantic City – and Caesars – in a big way.
A lot of companies and restaurants and shows say that, but Spiegelworld will actually do it … in so many ways.
For starters, there has always been the question if Atlantic City can sustain a year-round attraction like Vegas’ long-running shows?
Spiegelworld will put that question to the test.
No other show has even attempted to do this since “Legends in Concert” closed on the Claridge stage many moons ago … it has to be at least a decade, if not 15 or more years.
If anyone was going to succeed, it would be Spiegelworld, and it will do so with The Hook, a dual name for both the theater and the show the Vegas-based company will debut on June 30 inside Caesars in the space that was formerly a slot hall that connected Caesars to the Wild Wild West Casino.
The company is being smart and historic about how it attempts this pretty miraculous feat, starting by paying homage to the stunning Warner Theatre, an Atlantic City Boardwalk icon dubbed the “Wonder Theatre of the World.” Opening in 1929, the building became an East Coast mecca for star-studded entertainment, featuring more than 4,000 seats.
Back when Bally’s Atlantic City was transforming its façade to its Wild West theme, someone was smart enough to basically save the stunning original, ocean-view façade of the Warner. Now, Spiegelworld is taking it to another level, restoring the former front of the theater – including its stained glass – to not only look better than it probably has ever looked, but it will also serve as the theater’s Boardwalk entrance.
“As soon as I saw the façade, I thought someone was clever enough to leave this here,” Mollison said. “When the rest of this building was torn down, the façade was saved, and as part of the renovation, we are doing a lot of work. We started at the top and worked all the way down.”
Once inside, guests will be treated to Superfrico and a myriad of discoverable bars – including one on the boards – but more on that later.
The main attraction is The Hook, “a riotously funny, seductively beautiful show that completely lures you in,” according to Spiegelworld.
It is only for adults, only in Atlantic City.
“Expect Spiegelworld’s signature blitz of the ridiculous, the funny, the jaw-dropping and the superhuman,” Spiegelword announced, adding it will feature an international cast directed by British comedy director, Cal McCrystal (“Atomic Saloon Show,” “One Man Two Guvnors”).
Other than that – and the fact that there is no Gazillionaire – Mollison is quite tight lipped about what exactly The Hook will be. A preview video shows cirque-like acts doing crazy stunts wearing exotic costumes and interacting with the audience in The Hook as well as Superfrico.
“You have to come see it yourself to understand,” he said of the 420-seat theater. “I would say it’s a world first. No one has seen anything like this before. The show goes into the restaurant, and the restaurant goes into the show. Actors will participate in the restaurant. All I can say is I think we continue to evolve. A lot of the places do the same thing every year, but every time we try to create a new show, create a whole other experience. Yes, there will be components of ‘Absinthe’ and ideas from ‘Opium’ and ‘Atomic Saloon’ and other things.”
As for the theater itself, it’s going to be gorgeous, featuring super high ceilings, a balcony, ornately painted proscenium and balcony border, and giant overhead catwalks with access to the roof that somehow gives Mollison pleasure, but he wouldn’t elaborate.
“It will have incredible intimacy,” he said. “For those who have seen our shows in Vegas, I would like to see this as a melding of the ‘Absinthe’ theater with the ‘Atomic Saloon’ theater. It has the scale that comes with ‘Absinthe’ at Caesars Palace right on the strip, but it equally has the intimacy of the ‘Atomic Saloon.’ We didn’t build this to do a house musical or play or do cinema. Unlike many theaters, we built this for us designed to our exact specifications for Spiegelworld.”
A Star is Born
Spiegelworld actually began not too far north in New York City on Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport on the East River in 2006 with “Absinthe.”
“I always loved the boardwalk … I always love the pier,” Mollison said. “At the time, it was a derelict pier, nobody could care less. You go back there now, and you look at what we helped create: An entertainment mecca with restaurants. That’s what’s happening there right now, and we are pleased to have been part of it.”
Spiegelworld expanded there to include other shows, a restaurant, hammock garden, outdoor bars, VIP cabanas and a late-night music program. The company eventually toured before opening an enhanced version of
“Absinthe” at Caesars Palace Las Vegas in 2011 in a 650-seat spiegeltent – which is where Spiegelworld got its name – right outside Caesars’ main lobby before becoming such a hit that a custom-built, more permanent tent was constructed there. Still running, “Absinthe” was named the No. 1 greatest show in Las Vegas history by Las Vegas Weekly. Having seen it – and most other long-running shows in Vegas – it’s hard to disagree.
Throughout the years, Spiegelworld returned to New York City with a new show, “Empire,” in Times Square, later touring it to Sydney, Australia, New Zealand, Tokyo, Portland, Toronto and Montreal; premiered multiple shows in Las Vegas, including “Vegas Nocturne” at The Cosmopolitan, among many other projects resulting in “Opium” and its outer space theme at the Cosmo in 2018 and its Wild Wild West-themed Atomic Saloon Show in 2019 at The Venetian, the latter two which are both still performing.
In a pretty stunning move this past January, Spiegelworld purchased the whole town of Nipton, Calif., – population 15 to 20 – for $2.5 million, stating it will become its new base of operations and where Spiegelworld will “retreat to dream, create and undertake unfettered artistic experimentation.”
Libations Galore
You certainly won’t go thirsty inside – or outside – The Hook.
Right outside the main entrance guests can have a drink and a bite at Cheval de Plongee, a French, tongue-in-cheek play on the bar that guests will first find when they walk inside, the Horse Dive Bar – obviously homages to the Steel Pier’s diving horse shows – that will feature a glow from the boardwalk through the stained glass.
Once they get inside the theater, there will be another as-of-now-unnamed bar, plus another inside Superfrico.
Each bar will have unique, themed specialty cocktails … nearly 40 in total, including a yummy, sweet but boozy Cracker Jack-themed one we were treated to on a recent tour.
“All of it is themed around this incredible story of what used to be an attraction in Atlantic City, and it’s something we decided to look back at because it’s an incredible story,” Mollison said. “It’s an incredible part of history. But no horses will be diving. Both the Horse Dive Bar and Cheval de Plongee will have very different feels. On the Boardwalk you can have a delicious Superfrico chicken parm sandwich as well as an array of cold sandwiches. And, of course, there will be great cocktails on both because that’s the best way to enjoy a Spiegelworld show: With a cocktail in hand … or a beer of a glass of wine.”
Superfrico
Spiegelword’s Italian concept Superfrico is literally hidden backstage of The Hook.
The 150-seat restaurant opened its first location in Las Vegas in 2021, offering Italian, psychedelic comfort food featuring random live performances.
“It has always been close to my heart that when you go to a circus in Europe, they say, ‘Come back to our kitchen backstage and let’s have dinner after the show.’ And you go back and have dinner with all of the actors,” Mollison said. “That’s the modern hospitality concept here that combines entertainment and food and beverage of the absolute quality.”
When you first enter Superfrico, the Backdrop Bar will be the first thing you see and will feature a DJ. Then there are several small dining rooms, including The Dressing Room, some secret ones that guests will have to find when Superfrico opens, as well as the Aviary, which will feature an Audubon Collection from an esteemed Amerian artist.
“I love the idea of being surrounded by the sea … and birds,” Mollison said. “Going to a restaurant … it’s not about the artwork matching the upholstery. It’s about the artwork matching the love of life. It’s very personal to me.”
The kitchen, a chef’s dream come true with all-new equipment and plenty of space, will crank out amazing pizza, square and round; appetizers like hamachi crudo, fried mozzarella, spicy soppressata meatballs and grilled oysters; pastas like shrimp scampi spaghetti, Trapanese pesto gemelli, beef cheek rigatoni and brown butter gnocchi; main dishes such as fresh fish, roasted sea scallops and chicken and eggplant parm; an array of steaks including a 40-ounce Tomahawk; and desserts ranging from roasted coconut panna cotta to banana walnut tartufo.
But Mollison promises Atlantic City’s Superfrico will also be reverential to the history of Atlantic City, particularly the legendary Hackney’s, which started as a clam shack in 1912 and grew to the largest restaurant in the world, featuring 3,200 seats and taking up a full block of the boardwalk along Absecon Inlet by 1929. Even at that size, there were lines down the boardwalk to get in.
“There will be a couple homages to the menu,” Mollison said. “When I saw the old pictures of the staff dressed up as a lobster – what a fantastic piece of history. And who doesn’t love lobster? Why not celebrate that? Hopefully some of the dishes we create here, we can take out to Las Vegas.”
Mollison also said there will be a dining experience that comes in from the loading dock … “but that’s a secret.”
Countdown begins
Although it is still under major construction, Mollison said both The Hook, Superfrico and all of its bars will be ready by June 30. Reservations can already be made at Spiegelworld.com.
“This is going to give people an impetus to head to Atlantic City instead of New York,” he said. “Come to an incredible restaurant and see an incredible show. There is nothing like this show in New York … no contemporary adult entertainment in this space. Fact check me: Tell me what is the closest thing Spiegelworld does to New York?”
No fact check needed.
We believe you.
And we know Spiegelworld will kill it in Atlantic City.
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
