United Kingdom The Legends in Vegas: After Hours: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, 16.10.2026. (JPr)
As ever there is a lavish programme and producer Steven Howard introduces Legends: Vegas After Hours by writing ‘When we first brought Legends of the Dance Floor (review here) to the stage in 2024, our ambition was wonderfully simple: to reunite five of Strictly Come Dancing’s most loved male professionals and remind audiences why they had become such enduring favourites. The response exceeded anything we could have hoped for.’ In 2025 there was The Return of the Legends (review here) when Howard realised how ‘It wasn’t just the dancing that people loved; it was the friendship, the humour, the effortless chemistry between the performers, and the genuine joy they shared every night on stage.’ What next? Well, ‘There was only one destination that seemed fitting Las Vegas … A place where anything seems possible, and entertainment reigns supreme. Neon lights, legendary performers, glittering casinos, spectacular hotels, dazzling showgirls, wedding chapels, lavish pool parties and unforgettable nights. Las Vegas captures the imagination like nowhere else on earth.’
Once again, a show lasting two-and-a-half hours (including interval) was the ultimate celebration, not only of the camaraderie between Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite, but their still exceptional abilities as dancers when as James Jordan said, ‘If you realise between the five of us we are nearly 250 years old!’ Having proved that ‘age is just a number’ the ‘standing ovulation’ (Vincent’s words!) they received at the end of Legends: Vegas After Hours was spontaneous and probably guarantees another full house when they return in The Golden Years next year.
Pasha married Rachel Riley in Las Vegas in 2019 but seems to be the only one of the Legends who have been there, leaving Vincent to talk up the Las Vegas of the North, Blackpool! And yes, the current show is more North-West England than Nevada desert; though that is not to belittle Blackpool since there is always plenty of similar high-class entertainment there. The supremely talented partners for the Legends (Lowri Beth, Julia Ruiz Fernández, Victoria Martin, Polina Mayer and Rebecca Scott) sashay in as showgirls sparkling in pink with ostrich feathers and fans for the first of a series of high-energy group numbers. Throughout the costumes are colourful, sequined or stylish by turns for both male and female dancers. I must admit to some disappointment that none of the iconic songs we hear are sung live despite there being able singers already in the cast, at the very least, I believe. Of course, the soundtrack often really did bring back memories of some of those Las Vegas ‘legendary performers’ being fêted.
Apart from looking like an ageing boy band, more seriously the Legends will remind those of a certain vintage of ‘The Rat Pack’ and the programme explains how ‘In the 1950s and 1960s … Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop … became the faces of the city’s nightlife. Their performances … combined music, comedy and effortless charisma, helping establish Las Vegas as the place to see the biggest stars in the world.’ Indeed, there is a lot of banter in this show … well ok, risqué banter! Amongst much else – and laugh-out-loud funny – we hear about James Jordan’s broken body (later hearing how the tour’s sponsors are Nurofen and Viagra!), Vincent’s eagerness for strippers and quips about his size, and what the ultimate bad boy Brendan got up to during his time on Strictly … and of course the ‘Strictly Curse’.
Scott Coldwell’s energy-sapping choreography often started slowly, building to a high-octane crescendo driven by a dramatic key-change in the music. Throughout Legends: Vegas After Hours there are a number of group dances involving most if not all of the ten dancers which are entertaining mash-ups of Latin and ballrooms styles but were often somewhat similar. Really catching the eye are the more individual sequences when each of the Legends do what they do best. There is so much that was wonderful which means I can only give some of my own particular highlights and others will have their own of course. In a tribute to some Las Vegas icons, with the Bellagio Hotel and its fountains on the (ever-changing) huge LED screen behind the dancing, Vincent and Victoria Martin danced a sultry Argentine Tango to Liberace’s Moonlight Sonata; there was some cha-cha-ing to The Four Seasons from Pasha and Julia Ruiz Fernández; something of a typically fleet-footed quickstep to Sammy Davis Jr.’s ‘If They Could See Me Now’ from Ian and Beth Lowri in matching white tie and tails; and Brendan and Rebecca Scott waltzing elegantly to Barry Manilow’s ‘Mandy’ Finally there was a jive which began hilariously with James on a chair with Polina Mayer dancing round him (he had suggested earlier it would be too much for him), but of course there was soon a jaw-dropping, truly exhilarating and exhausting performance from both of them to Tina Turner’s ‘Proud Mary’. The first half was little relentless but there were some more relaxed moments when Ian and Vincent (with ‘Me and My Shadow’) and then James and Brendan (with ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’) reflected on their enduring friendships.
There was a great start to the second half with much pasodobling and tangoing and from then on – notwithstanding more chat including about tattoos (which was near the knuckle, or more rather somewhere else!) – the dancing was even more entrancing than before; for Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ there was something of a waltz from Ian and Bath; Vincent and Victoria almost reprised their earlier Argentine Tango to Michael Jackson; for Elvis’s ‘Unchained Melody’ there was a slow romantic duet for Pasha and Julia; a bare-chested James paso-ed passionately with Polina to ‘Survivor’; and there was a sensual rumba from Brendan and Rebecca to the theme song from the Bond film Licence to Kill.
After the admittedly slightly disappointing first half, Legends: Vegas After Hours had taken a grip on the audience who were reluctant to let it end. ‘The Rat Pack’ were remembered and there was a particularly stylish slow number to ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ from Pasha and Julia before all came together for ‘My Way’ Frank Sinatra’s signature song. By now the audience were on their feet and deservedly so. Rousing sampling of ‘Let’s Get Wild’ and ‘Rhythm is Going to Get You’ ended with ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ as the perfect full stop to another fun evening for a whooping, cheering audience.
Jim Pritchard
Featured Image: Vegas After Hours © Kate Hunter (for The TCB Group)
Click here to book your tickets for The Legends in Vegas: After Hours touring in 2026 and The Golden Years tour in 2027.
Legends
Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone, Ian Waite
Female Partners
Lowri Beth, Julia Ruiz Fernández, Victoria Martin, Polina Mayer, Rebecca Scott
Creatives include:
Director & Choreographer – Scott Coldwell
Assistant Choreographer – James Cutler
Music director – Tom Oakley
Set & Lighting design – Joshua Palmer
Screen content – Ryan Howard
Costume stylist – Carol Howard
Producer – Steven Howard for The TCB Group