The high energy of a popular television game show is headed for Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.
“The Price is Right Live” will turn some audience members into contestants on Feb. 3.
The host is Todd Newton.
“I have the great privilege of standing alongside contestants as they play for cash and fabulous prizes,” Newton said during a recent phone interview. “They can win vacations, they can win a new car, they can win kitchen appliances, they can win chunks of cash. It just depends on what game they play.”
Success depends on guessing the price of consumer goods.
“It could be clothing; it could be electronics,” Newton said. “It could be just about anything. You want to come as close to the actual retail price as you can, without going over. That’s the premise.”
The “Price is Right” brand is known for the exuberant catchphrase “Come on down!”
The touring game show is spun from the long-running daytime-TV version that airs on CBS and is hosted by Drew Carey.
The Horseshoe stage will display some of the familiar sights that home viewers are used to seeing on the TV show.
“There are over 90 different pricing games on the television show,” Newton, 47, said. “I tell people that coming to see the live show is a lot like going to see your favorite band in concert, knowing that they’re going to play all the greatest hits.
“People love Plinko, so we always play Plinko, and people love Cliffhangers and, of course, The Big Wheel and the Showcase, so they’ll definitely get to see all of those favorites,” said Newton, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Additionally, there is a “contestants row” in the theatrical version, “just like it is on television,” Newton said. And in further keeping with the design and atmosphere of its namesake TV program, “The Price is Right Live” employs models who “present the games and the prizes.”
“I think people enjoy the authenticity of it, and that’s really what we strive for,” Newton said. “It all comes to life right there before their eyes.”
Noting that he has hosted several game shows, Newton brings veteran experience to “The Price is Right Live.”
In 2012, he snared a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Game Show Host.” That accolade was for his work on the Hub Network’s “Family Game Night.”
Those going to the Horseshoe shows can register for a chance to become a contestant.
“Registration opens three hours prior to showtime, and then all of our contestants are chosen at random, so everyone has an equal shot to play,” Newton said.
Registration is scheduled to take place in the area of The Venue, which has an admittance policy of 21 and older.
The website for “The Price is Right Live” mentions “the more than $10 million in cash and fabulous prizes we’ve given away” during its years of production.
“We are in our 16th year with the show,” Newton related. “We’ve been traveling all over North America … bringing the games that people love from television to their hometowns.”
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘The Price is Right Live’
Where: Horseshoe Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond
When: 3 and 8 p.m. Feb. 3
Tickets: $19.50, $34.50, $49.50
Information: 219-473-7000; http://www.horseshoehammond.com
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