Studio City’s House of Magic attraction closes

Oct 09, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau-based casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd is said to have closed ‘The House of Magic’ show at its majority-owned Studio City property (pictured) in the Cotai district. The attraction is no longer being promoted on Studio City’s official website.

GGRAsia has learned that the last performance was held on Sunday. Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd said in a note on Monday that The House of Magic had closed that day.

“The House of Magic has not been a successful venue. Melco is looking at repositioning portions of the property [Studio City] but has not yet announced a replacement feature,” said analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Cathy Huang.

The House of Magic was designed by American magician Franz Harary. It featured a 300-seat theatre, complemented by several smaller venues that hosted performances by other entertainers.

GGRAsia asked Melco Resorts why it had decided to close The House of Magic, and if it would be replacing the magic shows by other attractions, but had not received a reply by the time this story went online.

Studio City features several non-gaming attractions, including a figure of eight Ferris wheel, a virtual reality ride called ‘Batman Dark Flight’, and a ‘Warner Bros. Fun Zone’, based on that Hollywood brand’s popular animated characters.

Melco Resorts has a stake of 60 percent in Studio City, with the remaining 40 percent held by New Cotai Holdings LLC.

This is the second non-gaming attraction offered by Macau casino operators to have come to an end in the last two weeks. Sands China Ltd announced in late September that it was ending a five-year partnership with California-based DreamWorks Animation SKG.

Under that deal, Sands China was authorised to use cartoon characters from DreamWorks Animation for entertainment purposes in non-gaming areas at its Sands Cotai Central property, for what was branded the ‘DreamWorks Experience’.

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