Bruno Mars scheduled to open new theater at The Cosmopolitan for New Year’s

Bruno Mars will inaugurate a new theater at The Cosmopolitan on New Year’s weekend, and follow it with six more dates in 2014.

Mars will be the first act to play The Chelsea, a 3,000-seat venue, with shows on Dec. 29 and Dec. 31, then return Feb. 15-16, May 23-24 and Aug. 22-23. Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday.

Mars, fresh from the weekend’s iHeartRadio festival this weekend, has proved himself a dynamic, old-school live performer as well as a top-selling songwriter and recording artist, with sales topping 10 million. The new theater will be a comparably intimate venue for Mars, who sold out the MGM Grand Garden arena in August.

The 50,000-square-foot Chelsea replaces the ballroom of the same name that hosted previous Cosmopolitan concerts. It’s described as an “avant-garde,” transformable space capable of hosting a variety of events.

A resident show in the vein of “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace is said to be in development as a standing show between special events.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.