Las Vegas — Pop music superstar Katy Perry made a special appearance for the world premiere of her new Viva Vision light show. She arrived to the Main Street stage by riding the Slotzilla zipline. About 15,000 people were on hand to see Perry at the Fremont Street Experience on Saturday, May 27.
The new Viva Vision light show features three of her big hits “California Gurls,” “Firework” and “Waking Up in Vegas.” She also performed a concert as part of her “PLAY” residency at Resorts World Las Vegas the same evening.
“I just came from flying…but I also came from playing a show earlier this evening,” Perry told the crowd. “Has anyone been able to see the show?”
Katy Perry spoke with Paul McGuire, Fremont Street Experience’s chief marketing director, on stage.
Q: Two years you’ve had this show. You recently announced your last dates as part of your residency at Resorts World. Tell us what you love about the show and these amazing outfits that you have.
“I’m on my second year, my final few shows that are left. The last show is November 4th. If you haven’t seen it, I highly encourage you to see it. It’s wild! Listen, I created this show during the pandemic, which was a bummer time, right? I was rewatching my favorite movies like ‘Honey, I Shrunk The Kids’ and ‘Peewee’s Playhouse’. I was like, I just want a larger-than-life show where I can sing all of the songs. It’s one giant sing-a-long. I sing all of the songs that you guys know. Every night is super fun, super weird. It’s a weird show.”
Q: Everything is larger-than-life.
“It’s full of so much heart. I get to pick people out of the audience at random. I get to tell my story. I have a huge family history here in Las Vegas. I was actually here on Fremont Street shooting a music video called ‘Waking Up in Vegas’ 15 years ago.”
Q: Tell us why you selected Fremont Street for “Waking Up in Vegas”. It will be part of the Viva Vision show itself—one of the three songs. I’d love to hear your background story on that.
“How many of you are actually from Las Vegas? (crowd cheers) I came to Las Vegas every summer to visit my grandma. She raised my dad here and my dad’s sister. In the 1960s and 1970s, my aunt was a topless showgirl. My grandma was the seamstress for that show at the Stardust Hotel. You know what the funny thing is? I don’t believe in coincidences. The Stardust Hotel is exactly where the Resorts World Hotel is built. I’m performing on the same dirt as my family lineage. Listen, I’ve had so many memories here. I remember every summer my parents would drop us off at the Excalibur. We would go into the basement and play all of the games.”
Q: We approached you several months ago to do a Viva Vision show. What were your initial thoughts and tell us about the process and what you loved about it.
“You guys suggested a couple of songs which you guys will hear. They’re just quintessential moments and songs and bits of music videos. I think you might know all of the songs, and if you do, we can all sing along.”
Q: Before we start the Viva Vision show, do you have any fun stories from Fremont Street or Las Vegas that you’d want to share?
“I don’t really talk about this much, but I guess I will tell you. I had been to Vegas so many times but I went to Vegas when I was 18 with my second boyfriend at the time. He was in a band and I was doing my music thing. We thought it would be funny if we did a fake wedding. We faked out our parents and all of the people we worked with. I went to the thrift store and found a 1970’s wedding dress, took the pictures, signed the fake certificate and then we brought it home and showed it to our families. They were shocked and horrified. I was like I’m going to put this in a song and it’s called ‘Waking Up in Vegas.’”
Her Viva Vision light show will be shown daily at 9 p.m. on the canopy at the Fremont Street Experience.
Katy Perry’s “PLAY” residency continues at Resorts World Las Vegas on the following dates: July 28-29, Aug. 2, Aug. 4-5, Aug. 9, Aug. 11-12, Oct. 4, Oct. 6-7, Oct. 11, Oct. 13-14, Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 3-4.
Follow Katy Perry on her official website at: https://www.katyperry.com
For tickets and more info about Perry’s “PLAY” residency at Resorts World, go to: https://www.rwlasvegas.com/entertainment/katy-perry/
Pop music superstar Katy Perry at the Fremont Street Experience on May 27, 2023. 
Perry invited a girl from Idaho onto the stage 
She then autographed her cast and posed for a photo together. 
The first of three Katy Perry Viva Vision shows 
Perry spoke with Paul McGuire, Fremont Street Experience’s chief marketing director, on stage. 
