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Thursday, December 31, 1998
Longtime Excalibur revue producer Peter Jackson dies
By Mike Weatherford
Review-Journal
Peter Jackson, the charismatic French-born producer of the Excalibur's "King Arthur's Tournament," died Wednesday of kidney failure. He was 67.
Jackson helmed the popular dinner show staged in a dirt-covered arena for eight years. The show coincidentally is closing Sunday, and Jackson was preparing a new, improved version called "Tournament of the Kings." It will debut at the Excalibur on Feb. 4.
The producer had been hospitalized for a week at Valley Hospital Medical Center, but his illness "came as a surprise to us," said Mike Hartzell, director of entertainment for Circus Circus Enterprises.
Premature word of Jackson's death spread to cast members as they reported to work on Tuesday, only to have the news retracted until Jackson died shortly before noon Wednesday.
"It was kind of a big drama last night," hotel publicist Paul Speirs said Wednesday. "It was an emotional roller-coaster."
Jackson "introduced Circus Circus Enterprises to the world of production shows," Hartzell said, and gave the company "one of the most successful shows ever produced in Las Vegas."
The Excalibur will dim its lights for eight minutes -- one for every year the show ran -- after the revue's final performance, Speirs said.
The revue, which features jousting knights and medieval pageantry, opened June 19, 1990, and logged an estimated 5,600 performances.
The cast performed 12 shows a week for the first year, then stepped up to a schedule of 14 shows per week, seven days a week, that's unmatched by any other show on the Strip, Hartzell said.
Circus Circus contracted Jackson's show through an independent production company he ran with his son Patrick, who will remain as producer of the new show that Peter planned to direct.
Jackson attended a Nov. 18 media luncheon to unveil costumes, scenery models and other details of the new revue. "I have never seen Peter so excited about anything," Speirs said.
The native of Marseilles, France, had a colorful resume by the time he came to Las Vegas in 1988 to stage "Abracadabra" at the Aladdin. By then, Jackson told the Review-Journal, he had worked as a dancer, singer, Parisian television host, and as a nightclub and cabaret show producer in New York City. He produced revues for Playboy Clubs in New York and Chicago, and for Playboy's casino in Atlantic City, N.J.
His experience with the Italian "magic circus" Casantelli prepared him for the Excalibur revue, which was similar to "Medieval Times" attractions in California and Florida. The family attraction involved stuntmen and horses as well as Vegas-style razzle-dazzle.
Jackson was not so successful when he attempted to clone the basic formula for a companion show, "Winds of the Gods," at the Luxor. The show closed in November 1994 after running 13 months.
But Jackson's employees were fiercely loyal to a producer known for his upbeat presence and for making the most of limited budgets. "His generosity touched everyone he came in touch with," Hartzell said.
Jackson is survived by his son Patrick and two grandsons, Nicholas and Christopher.
Visitation is today at Davis Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave., from 1 to 5 p.m. Services are 1 p.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church, 3050 Alta Drive.
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