The original MGM was located on the corner of Flamingo and The Strip. ( now Bally's ) Opening in 1973, it was the second hotel built in Las Vegas by Kirk Kerkorian who owned MGM Studios and all the MGM trademarks.

It was also one of the strip's most popular entertainment destinations. It featured two large theaters: The Ziegfeld theater and the Celebrity Room. The Ziegfeld featured two featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden, firstly Hallelujah Hollywood and then Jubilee ( still running today ) The Celebrity Room hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow.

The Ziegfeld theater, was, like the Lido showroom at the Stardust, designed for and by Donn Arden. With the largest stage in the world and the largest backstage area. Arden was to stage his biggest extravaganza yet, his 3 million-dollar tribute to classic MGM Hollywood musicals ”Hallelujah Hollywood! The show, which opened in 1974, ran until 1980, and included the magicians Siegfried and Roy, who had also starred in Arden's later Lido shows at the Stardust. The costumes were designed by Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie. Its flamboyant finale was a tribute to the Ziegfeld Follies, featuring The Grand Stairway and The Great Ziegfeld Walk. Florenz Ziegfeld in his wildest dreams, wrote one reviewer, could not have conceived anything as grand and glorious. To sum it up, a review in Playboy wrote, "Hallelujah Hollywood! is everything old Hollywood has come to represent ”glitter, gaudiness, glamour”turned out with that special perversity only Vegas can provide. The show was comprised of over a 700 costumes, at least three costume changes for each cast member for each number.

In 1980 Donn Arden was asked to create a new refreshed show called Jubilee,as preparations for the opening just weeks away where underway set designer Ray Klausen was staying at the hotel when he awoke one morning to panic and the smell of smoke. Fire broke out in the kitchen of the MGM and consumed most of the casino, while damaging the entire hotel. More than 80 people lost their lives in the fire. Mr Klausen escaped by tying bed sheets together and lowering himself from a balcony and Little damage happened to the theater and the sets. Although delayed Jubilee was saved and opened to rave reviews in the summer of 1981 with a cast of 85 showgirls ( and 75 stage hands ) and is still running strong today some 28 years later, making it the longest running show in Las Vegas history.

Many stars played in the Celebrity Room at MGM. Names like Dean Martin,
Johnny Mathis, George Carlin, Andrew Dice Clay, Jeff Foxworthy, The Carpenters, Engelbert Humperdink, Penn and Teller, Neil Diamond and countless more.

Dean Martin was the best known and best loved performer ever to play in the Celebrity Room. He would come to town and play 2 shows a night for two weeks straight. Old Red Eyes was responsible for bringing over 30,000 patrons to MGM each time he played. Dean Martin's TV Celebrity Roasts were held right in the theater and before each roast Dino would always try to get a picture of the Celebrity participants. Imagine a photo shoot with the likes of Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, and Telly Savalas.

Sharing the Ziegfield showroom was an early version of Catch a Rising Star. Many great performers and comedians filled the stage, and the hotel. Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley's dad, made his Las Vegas premiere at Bally's. He sang his hit song Achy Breaky Heart.

Liza Minelli was a regular performer at Bally's and right on the Ziegfield stage is where, for the first time in public she sang old Judy Garland songs. Seems that she had once promised her mother that she would never sing any of her songs so there would never be a comparison of the two performers. When Liza told the audience this story and then sang You Made me Love You the entire audience stood and swayed back and forth.

Between the Celebrity Showroom (which was closed in 2001 to make a corridor through to Paris Las Vegas), and the Ziegfield Theater, MGM and then Bally's played host to every major entertainer ever to play in Las Vegas

If you have any information about the history of entertainment at this property please do contact us, we aim to update this section of the site as frequently as possible so that we can ensure as accurate as possible correct historic information.