New York production looks to Las Vegas for escape

There was once a sitcom about nothing. It was called “Seinfeld,” and it was a hit.

Today there is a show running in New York, whose star’s name means “nothing.” And it wants to be a hit — in Las Vegas.

“Lord Nil: Seven Deadly Sins” is playing Stage 42 in New York. The stunt-magic production’s namesake is a daring Italian escape artist. The man with the mystery moniker became famous during his 2018 run on “America’s Got Talent.”

The veteran performer acts out a series of escape acts based on the seven deadly sins of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth.

The emcee is Las Vegas’ own Steph Payne, narrating Lord Nil’s escapades as the character Vice. Payne’s is the only voice in the show, as she lures the show’s star into the seven sinful traps. The show features a dance troupe, a guitarist.

In his sin-inspired odyssey, Nil (name derived from “nothing”) is imperiled by an axe, circular saw and hot grease, and is chained to a water tank. The show is large in scale and set in New York City, employing dystopian symbolism.

Reviews have been generally positive, praising Nil’s stage presence and the cast’s talent, critical of the script for lacking clarity in the acts’ relationship to the various sins. Some fan reviews have referred to the effort as a “Vegas show,” and not entirely positively.

As Nil says, “What scares me is to fail. Escape is not guaranteed. If I fail to make an escape … The consequences are unimaginable.”

And yet, there is confidence the headliner will succeed. The show is booked through Aug. 31. There is no escape clause, as it were.

The production boast myriad Las Vegas connections. Among the “Lord Nil” co-producers are SPI Entertainment founder Adam Steck and Rainer Hackl, whom we’ve known as magician Hans Klok’s longtime producer.

Steck is a partner with MGM Resorts International with Excalibur’s Thunderland Showroom, where Klok performed for seven months in 2019, taken down by COVID. The venue is currently home to generation-spanning magician Mac King, “The Australian Bee Gees Show” and “Thunder From Down Under.”

Steck also books The Strat Theater, residency venue for ventriloquial icon Terry Fator, the adult comedy revue “Rouge,” and such headlining shows as Everclear on Saturday, and the “Brotherly Love” live podcast starring Joey, Matthew and Andrew Lawrence on Aug. 15-16.

The venue that makes the most sense for Lord Nil, in all of this, is MGM Resorts’ Luxor Theater. The venue is formerly home to Criss Angel’s magic show, the ill-fated “R.U.N” by Cirque and “America’s Got Talent Presents Superstars Live.” The theater has been dark since “AGT” loaded out in May 2024. It is, in a word, “big.”

Sahara can’t be ruled out in the Nil sweepstakes, either, with its former Foundry room. Or maybe it’s the current Foundry room. That venue can use a residency production, and might be in line for some escapism Whatever, the Lord needs a spacious, empty manor and a willing partner. Reviewers who link it to Las Vegas are onto something.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.