"She underperformed and Resorts World lost money": Katy Perry's "Play" residency called a flop

Lately, things have not been going well in Katy Perry's favor. Ever since her return trip from space with Blue Origin, the California Girls singer has been facing backlash from netizens. In addition to this, the ticket sales for her latest Lifetimes Tour have been reportedly low, and a few shows have even been canceled. Some fans have deemed this era as Katy Perry's flop era.

A source revealed to NewsNation a few details about Perry's previous residency that lasted from 2021 to 2023. The source said this about Perry's Play residency:

"The residency was a disaster for Resorts World, a complete failure. There was a bidding war between Resorts World and Caesars … and Caesars technically lost out — but in the end, Caesars won."

They also revealed how much Katy Perry was getting paid for her gig:

"Katy was getting paid between $750,000 and $900,000 a show because of the bidding war and the entire run she underperformed and Resorts World lost money."

More details about Katy Perry's Play residency

Play was Katy Perry's first concert residency, which had a total of 80 shows over three years, from 2021 to 2023. The main inspirations for Perry's play in terms of visuals include the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and the musicals: Pee-wee's Playhouse and Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Some of the songs Katy Perry performed during the residency included some of her biggest hits, such as California Girls, Bon Appétit, Dark Horse, Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), I Kissed a Girl, Roar, Teenage Dream, and more.

While the source states a loss for Resorts World financially, critics have praised the opening night/first show of Perry's residency. Have a look at what they had to say.

Regarding opening night, this is what Rolling Stone's Mark Gray had to say:

"the production was larger than life... the show is quintessential Perry, who indulged the emotional, the over-the-top, the whimsical, the psychedelic, and even the cheesy over the course of 95 minutes."

Melinda Sheckles from Billboard also said that Perry's first show:

"left another unforgettable mark on the Strip in front of a sold-out, all-ages crowd of 5,000 loudly purring KatyCats... 'Perry Playland' transports the audience into another dimension of rainbow fluff, heart-shaped confetti and larger-than-life anthropomorphic household objects—it's part fantasy, part hallucination and thoroughly high-camp Perry."

Lastly, Joyann Jeffrey, who is a Yahoo! contributor, said:

"perfectly wrapped up 2021 in a nutshell when she toasted a giant face mask onstage, and sang on top of some giant toilet paper rolls, which sat beside a huge bathtub and toilet."

She also mentioned that the outfits that Perry and the others wore were:

"equally as amazing."

Katy Perry has mentioned in the past that she wants to do more shows in Las Vegas. In her words:

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"I can see myself being in Vegas for periods of time for the rest of my life, especially since I live so close in California... I’ll still go on tours and be putting out records, but it’s a great touchstone to come back to."

However, since her previous residency concert fell short of expectations, it is unclear whether Perry will be performing again in Vegas or not.

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