Roughly three-and-a-quarter years after its oh-so-promising debut, “The Hook,” the groundbreaking (for Atlantic City) production show at Caesars Atlantic City is in its home stretch.
On Sept. 6, the program that reportedly cost $40 million to bring to life, $36 million of which went into building out the theater known as The Hook, will cease operations, thus ending what turned out to be a failed experiment.
What went wrong
When, in December 2022, Las Vegas-based production company Spiegelworld announced the deal to develop the concept—which included the theater, show and a “psychedelic Italian” restaurant called Superfrico–the news was the equivalent of a 10,000-volt shot of electricity to AC’s show biz scene. As laid out by Spiegelworld overlord Ross Mollinson, the plan was to provide Atlantic City with a foundational element of Las Vegas’ casino-entertainment landscape: A permanent, year-round production housed in its own, custom-built theater.
The show itself was hardly groundbreaking as it combined raunchy, adults-only comedy with the kind of specialty acts (aerialists, jugglers, contortionists) that fill the rosters of Cirque du Soliel extravaganzas and the countless knockoffs that followed in their wake. But, especially in its early days when the talented Scout Durwood shared star billing with the first of several performers who appeared as emcee “Dick Marlin,” “The Hook” was a sharp, breezy and fun 75 minutes.
What made the concept exciting was that it would—theoretically, anyway–provide people living within three hours or so of AC a reason to come here on weeknights during the cold-weather months.
But Mollinson and his minions, though bullish on the city, apparently didn’t think things through to a large-enough degree: History has long-proven that short of Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson returning from the dead and performing, it’s unlikely anything would bring in enough paying customers from Staten Island or Cherry Hill or the Philly Main Line on a Tuesday night in January or February. Quite frankly, from that first winter of 2024, the year-round format clearly made no business sense.
Of course, weather wasn’t the only impediment to bringing the Vegas playbook to AC. The reason attractions like the various Cirque shows, Penn & Teller’s decades-long residency at the Rio casino and Spiegelworld’s long-running (and hilarious) “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace not only survive, but thrive, is that even in the dead of winter, tens of thousands of people are going there for massive industry expos.
For instance, during the first week of 2026–pretty much the slowest week of all in Atlantic City—the annual Consumer Electronic Show, had an attendance just south of 150,000. And once the festivities shut down for the day, many of those attendees went looking for entertainment.
Unfortunately, Atlantic City simply doesn’t do business anywhere near that scale.
Another issue with “The Hook” was that, as Mollison told this reporter in early 2023, it was significantly dependent on repeat business. However, while cast members were regularly replaced, the nature of the acts remained constant; one aerialist simply took over for another, which meant there was little incentive for a large swath of the public to see “The Hook” more than once or twice.
What’s next?
Caesars execs haven’t offered any forward-looking hints. So far, the only official word from the midtown gambling den was the following statement that was issued in June when the program’s closing was announced. It read, in part: “This transition marks the start of a new chapter, reflecting our continued focus on innovation and delivering fresh, compelling experiences to The Boardwalk and beyond…we remain focused on delivering exciting reasons for guests to return again and again.”
So, in the absence of hard info, let’s do some speculating.
The Hook (as noted, the room shares the show’s name) is a marvelous performance space. As such it would be a shame for it to be permanently shuttered.
The complex’s size of roughly 420 seats and amenities make it unique and if, as could happen, the gambling den’s management doesn’t want another production show, it still could be successfully utilized.
For instance, there is a dearth of rooms this size that are suitable for up-and-coming acts, comedians in particular. In fact, it would be perfect for a weekends-only comedy club showcasing artists who have outgrown smaller chuckle huts, but aren’t quite ready to sell 1,000-1,500 tickets at places like the Music Box inside Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Sound Waves at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
If bands were included, the long, narrow runway-like stage would have to be removed. This would eliminate some of the space’s intimacy, but it would still be a great place for live music, and such an alteration would likely add seating/standing room capacity.
Nonetheless, there’s no reason production shows couldn’t thrive there, especially on a limited schedule; AC-based producer Allen Valentine has enjoyed years of success with a once-a-week strategy at various AC properties.
There is another type of ongoing program that could work without any physical changes to the space, and which would solve the “same-old, same-old” issue that plagued “The Hook:” An improvisational-comedy troupe along the lines of Chicago’s Second City or the Los Angeles-and-New-York-based Upright Citizens Brigade. Because of the nature of improv, no two shows can be identical, thus giving the public a reason for repeat visits.
Obviously, we’ll eventually learn the plans. Any concepts may very well be impacted by the expected sale of the Caesars Entertainment gaming empire to Fertitta Entertainment, which currently owns Golden Nugget Atlantic City. What’s certain is that the venue is too valuable an asset for it to disappear.
The legacy
So, what will be the legacy of “The Hook?” To put it as succinctly as possible, it should be remembered for what it was: A noble idea that was doomed from the start by conditions and situations over which it had virtually no control.
And while Mollison and the Spiegelword crew may go down in local history as the authors of the biggest entertainment failure of the legal-gaming era (with $40 million worth of help from the no-longer-in-place Caesars management team that signed off on the deal), it would be unfair to not give them credit for taking a shot others were too timid to attempt.
For tickets to the final shows, go to ticketmaster.com.
