In 2000, Caesars Palace made plans to renovate the defunct Circus Maximus Showroom (opened 1966) and the special
Omnimax Dome (opened 1979). At this time, the owners were approached about a new business venture with Celine Dion. Once the venture was launched, the renovation was cancelled. A new entertainment venue was set to be built in place of the old showroom. In May 2000, the owners made the decision to fully close and prepare the demolitioning of the Omnimax Dome due to recurring issues (which included alleged leaking from the dome-style screen since it opened and aging of the whole auditorium) and to have more area space for the newly planned venue. The showroom closed in September 2000 with a performance by
Steve and Eydie. The theatre was built specially to house Celine Dion's "
A New Day...". The construction was initiated by
Park Place Entertainment to coincide with other renovations to the hotel complex including additional retail space, meeting areas, restaurants, spas, and a 20-story all-suites hotel tower. The original construction cost was estimated to be between $65 and $75 million. Additional technical aspects drove cost to over $100 million. Both buildings were torn for preparation of construction for the new theater and hotel renovations in early 2001. The theatre was designed by the world-renowned firm
Scéno Plus and constructed by
Perini Building Company, with the project beginning in December 2001 and completed on February 4, 2003 (six weeks before its estimated completion date), opening on March 25, 2003. Dion filmed a television special for
CBS to showcase the first night of her residency (entitled "
Celine in Las Vegas, Opening Night Live", hosted by
Justin Timberlake), including behind the scenes look at the theatre and the show. Since its incarnation, the venue is operated by
AEG Live and is currently owned by
Caesars Entertainment. The success of Dion's show drew more entertainers to perform at the theatre. Elton John brought his
Red Piano show to the theatre from 2004, until 2009. Additional entertainers include
Kylie Minogue,
Diana Ross,
Romina Arena,
Faith Hill,
Ricky Martin and
Luis Miguel. The venue has also hosted numerous comedy shows by
Kathy Griffin,
Jerry Seinfeld,
Chelsea Handler,
Dave Chappelle and
Ellen DeGeneres. The premiere of the
11th season of
Hell's Kitchen was filmed in front of a live audience at The Colosseum. In 2018, Celine Dion filmed in the venue the music video for her song
Ashes from the movie
Deadpool 2 alongside Canadian actor
Ryan Reynolds.
Technical aspects The design for the theatre was based on the ancient
Colosseum in
Rome. It was designed with 180,000 watts of amplification and 139 speakers. It also includes a by
LED screen manufactured by
Mitsubishi Diamond Vision, adding $10 million to the construction budget. The video screen provides the illusion of
3D stage scenery. The stage itself includes ten motorized
stage lifts which compose 75 percent of the stage. Unlike the Colosseum in Rome, the theatre was built in an intimate setting, with the furthest seating being from the stage. To reinforce its intimacy, the venue is equipped with 200 acoustical panels to control the amplified sound. ==Performance history==