Magicians like Danny Cole will have a permanent venue to perform in starting this fall in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Provided

By Kathryn Reed

A long undeveloped commercial space is about to become South Lake Tahoe’s first indoor entertainment venue.

The third floor of the movie theater at Heavenly Village was once going to be a residential unit. By November it is slated to be a 110-seat events center with a separate high-end bar-lounge area.

Gary Casteel, whose Trans Sierra Investments owns the site, and Paul Reder of PR Entertainment, plan to spend more than $1 million converting the vacant area into a state-of-the-art live entertainment destination. This will be in the dome area of the movie theater building.

This week the City Council agreed to sell 5,100-square-feet of commercial floor area to Trans Sierra for $100,000. Next up is the permitting process. The goal is for it to be open in the fall.

“We need more entertainment in the village. This rounds out what we do,” Casteel told Lake Tahoe News.

The hub of the South Shore, which opened more than a decade ago, is completely full. Casteel credits the vibrancy of the village to having the right mix of tenants.

“My thought is you could get over the shoulder season if you do events and give people a reason to come up here.”
— Paul Reder, president PR Entertainment

Casteel and Reder’s history dates to their days at Caesars Tahoe. Both believe this partnership will be successful, profitable and beneficial for the city as well as the overall region. They’ve been working on the project for about 18 months.

Reder has produced more than 3,000 shows on the South Shore in the last 26 years. One of the most successful genres has been magic. He started producing those in 2003. Seven years later he and co-producer Tony Clark won the Merlin Award for Producer of the Year. In the world of magic this is like winning an Academy Award.

When the Horizon closed last year no other casino wanted that type of entertainment even though night after night the magic shows would sell out.

“The magic show concept resonated so well with the community because there was nothing else to do with the family. There are only so many times you can see a movie,” Reder told Lake Tahoe News. He said Illusion Fusion sold more than 30,000 tickets a year and that on TripAdvisor it was the No. 1 attraction in Lake Tahoe.

The Heavenly Village venue will host two shows a night, six nights a week. The early show will be family oriented, while the later show will be for those 21 and older. Both will be magic-based. Clark will be the producer and magical consultant.

Reder said his experience is that there is a demand for family entertainment. There is also a demand for year-round entertainment.

“My thought is you could get over the shoulder season if you do events and give people a reason to come up here,” Reder said.

He also anticipates having speakers give talks at the theater, renting the space to community groups, using it for meeting space during the day, and potentially having music acts who want to perform in an intimate setting.

Reder is working now on getting the shows lined up.

The lounge area will include two fireplaces and overstuffed couches with a living room feel. Areas can be sectioned off for privacy. Small plate, tapa-style food offerings will be available. It will be a place to hang even when not seeing a show.

A separate entrance will be created on the third level of the parking garage so people will be able to walk into the venue from there. Not everyone will be driving since there are about 5,000 hotel rooms within walking distance. The main entrance will be near the movie theater.

The goal is to use locals as much as possible in the next few months – including the architect, designer and construction team.

The only thing left to be known is what the name of the venue will be. Trademark issues are being worked out so that is still forthcoming.