Ahead of tour opener, does Lady Gaga have bigger plans for Vegas?

Lady Gaga is opening just across the street from the spot where she closed nearly a year ago to the day.

Her “Mayhem Ball” tour kicks off Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena. She bowed out of “Jazz + Piano” at Dolby Live at the adjacent Park MGM in July 2024.

This convergence of artistry, audacity and theatrics would be a fine moment to announce residency plans for Las Vegas. But it’s not happening. At least, not yet.

Lady Gaga’s production team has hauled into the MGM Grand Garden to rehearse for “Mayhem” (we now have two odd-fitting favorites, Gaga and Brad Garrett at his comedy club, performing just a few storefronts apart at the MGM). But those rehearsals are not a firm indication Gaga will be reteaming with MGM Resorts International for a new residency production.

MGM Resorts’ executive vice president of entertainment, Chris Baldizan, said Tuesday: “We love Lady Gaga and plan to do everything in our power to have her as part of the MGM Resorts International family, for many years to come.”

When Gaga’s dates were announced in April, Baldizan noted: “It’s doubtful she will be back in 2025 at Dolby. We are thrilled to host her at T-Mobile in July and look forward to hopefully welcoming her back to Dolby in 2026.”

The “we” are MGM Resorts and AEG, who co-own T-Mobile Arena.

And we are not ruling out the possibility of a Lady Gaga Sphere production. This is simply because we understand that anyone who can fill the Bulbous Wonder with splendor and fans is a residency candidate. Gaga toggling with “The Wizard of Oz” would be some kind of righteous.

As mentioned in this space, Gaga told the crowd and her orchestra in her closing show at Dolby Live that she would return to Vegas. “When we come back, we hope you’ll come back. We’ll have a whole new show for you.”

Retrospectively, she might have meant the tour production. But those around that show felt it was forecasting a residency.

Whatever her long-term plans, Gaga has been going nonstop since that final-bow announcement at Dolby Live. She released “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars, a month after closing at Dolby Live, performed at the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics, released “Mayhem,” co-starred in “Joker: Folie à Deux” (generating a wince-inducing 31 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and has assembled the about-to-launch world tour.

Also amid this career tableau, Gaga and her beau, the entrepreneur and businessman Michael Polansky, announced their engagement in July 2024. We were in the room and recorded the couple’s first public kiss on New Year’s Eve 2019, during Brian Newman’s wild “After Dark” performance at NoMad Library. Unknown to almost everyone in the Library that night, this gentleman has made his presence felt in the Gaga camp.

Polansky is not a benign, sideline-occupying partner. He has co-written several songs on “Mayhem,” among them “Disease,” “Vanish Into You,” “LoveDrug,” “How Bad Do U Want Me,” “The Beast” and “Blade of Grass” (a reference to Polansky’s proposal, in which he fashioned a ring from a blade of grass). The also collaborated on “All I Need Is Time,” specifically for the “Fire Aid” relief show in L.A. in January.

He seems all about the pop vibe, leaning more toward the spectacle of “Enigma” than the retrospectively orchestrated “Jazz + Piano.” Maybe “Mayhem” is a harbinger for the style of production that would play Vegas. I’d wager we won’t see a graduated version of “Jazz + Piano,” wherever Gaga performs. That is a hunch.

We’ll have our ears and phones and minds open for anything Gaga has to say at T-Mobile, or otherwise.

Designs on Vegas

Lest we forget, Lady Gaga’s costume design-entrepreneur sister, Natali Germanotta, and her husband, Alex Dolan, have opened On Stage Essentials costume shop at 3550 E. Post Road. This strengthens the family’s relationship with Las Vegas. The siblings’ parents, Joe and Cynthia Germanotta, attended the grand opening this past weekend. Vegas is teeming with costume professionals, and early word is the items offered are not only imaginative and unique, but cost-effective. That last piece is a big deal in the Vegas entertainment community.

Tyler, Dion … and you

It hit me like a flying bat during Ozzy Osbourne’s “Back to the Beginning” send-off show July 5: Steven Tyler and Celine Dion remind me of each other. Not artistically, aesthetically or fashionably, but in their career paths.

Tyler has shown he can destroy the place, in short bursts. The Demon of Screamin’ unloaded Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” to cap a three-song set that also featured “The Train Kept A-Rollin’” and “Walk This Way.”

Almost forgotten was that Aerosmith halted their own farewell tour last year because Tyler had suffered a serious vocal injury. He showed no signs of vocal problems at the Ozzy concert. But when you take the next step — asking his reps if Aerosmith might perform even a few dates in Vegas, you get a “no idea.” Touring is ruled out; that much is certain. But coming back to the Strip remains a remote possibility.

Dion has also popped up in several personal appearances, including her turn at the Paris Olympics last year (following Gaga) and her 12½-minute set at “1001 Seasons of Elie Saab,” a fusion of music, fashion and art in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November. Dion is reportedly still working to stay in stage shape and singing regularly at her Lake Las Vegas estate, attempting to offset the symptoms of stiff person syndrome.

But the time and distance between these headlining productions is not good if you want to see them come back. The longer we wait, the less likely it is that Tyler or Dion will return. In the meantime, catch them on video, because right now that’s all we have.