BY DAVID MCKEE

In a break with casino-entertainment tradition, the Plaza Hotel & Casino downtown has announced a business relationship with Insurgo Theater Movement — a far cry from casino staples like Rat Pack tributes. Insurgo won’t be going into the Plaza’s first-floor showroom but a 75-seat, third-floor space, currently “being developed,” according to a Plaza press release. (No word yet on who’s going to take the showroom over from The Rat Pack is Back!)

Although the longstanding rumor in theatrical circles was that Insurgo would debut at the Plaza with yet another revival of Cannibal! The Musical, it will instead bow on Sept. 1 with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Even if that’s not the cheery fare casino patrons expect, it’s also perfectly reflective of the present-day state of the Vegas economy. Godot will be the premier offering in what’s described as “a full season of shows,” the first such residency by a repertory troupe in a major Vegas hotel. (RagTag Entertainment four-walls the Ovation showroom at Green Valley Ranch on Tuesday nights.)

Godot will be immediately followed by two late-night performances by traveling players Four Clowns (Sept. 2 and 3). Cannibal! will be revived at an as-yet-undisclosed autumn date for an open-ended engagement. Although Plaza manager Anthony Santo paid lip service to the nearby Smith Center in a prepared statement, he’s scored a coup by landing a theatrical tenant while the Smith Center has nothing to show for itself on that front beyond some inconclusive discussions with Cockroach Theatre.

The Insurgo/Plaza marriage was brokered by Downtown Cocktail Room owner Michael Cornthwaite. “All I know is that I put [Insurgo founder] John Beane together with the guys at the Plaza and there was a space I had in mind. Hopefully, we will have the first black-box theater in a hotel in Las Vegas that I know of,” Cornthwaite said, adding that he knew Insurgo was unhappy with its Commercial Center space, aka The Bastard Theater. Revelation of the Insurgo-Plaza pairing was delayed by contracting and infrastructural issues, such as the construction of dressing rooms, causing news of the Insurgo move to leak several weeks prior to today’s press release.