Every year, millions of people attend the unique, dazzling, and exciting shows which help make Las Vegas famous. When tourists attend one of these performances, they expect to have an entertainment experience which they cannot find anywhere else in the country. They don’t expect to suffer an injury caused by the show itself.
But that’s precisely what occurred this week at the V Theater in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Strip. During a Wednesday evening performance of the Ultimate Variety Show, one of the performers accidentally injured an elderly woman who was sitting in the front row of the venue.
The act features the Skating Aratas, a husband-and-wife duo which executes spectacular and dangerous dance moves and maneuvers while wearing roller skates. At the culmination of their portion of show, the two skaters spin at high speed in a tight circle while being held together only by a strap that is looped around both skaters’ necks. But on Wednesday night, the strap around Jenny Arata’s neck was fastened too tight, which restricted her blood supply and caused her to black out. Her husband Vittorio Arata saw her distress and tried to slow their furious spinning. In the process, the strap loosened and his wife was propelled into the air toward the audience. Jenny Arata landed in the lap of an elderly woman in the front row.
Though the victim was conscious and responsive, theater personnel called paramedics and she was taken to a hospital on a stretcher. Hours after the performance, another woman sitting next to her reported being injured as well, and she was also treated at the same hospital. (Both women were Asian and didn’t appear to speak English, which may have contributed to the delay in reporting the second injury.)
The V Theater and Planet Hollywood will almost certainly try to reach a financial arrangement with the two theatergoers which is agreeable to everyone involved. But if such a settlement is not achieved, then the two women could file personal injury lawsuits against the theatre and the resort with the goal of collecting reimbursement for medical expenses as well as compensation for other damages.