Jennifer Lopez Returns to Vegas With Jazz Hands, Ja Rule & 27 Songs: 5 Best Moments From Opening Night
Written by admin on January 1, 2026
With Broadway vibes, J. Lo’s Up All Night Live show debuted to a sold-out crowd at Caesars Palace on Dec. 30.
Jennifer Lopez performs during the debut of her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on December 30, 2025 in Las Vegas.
Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Live Nation Las Vegas
Nearly 10 years since she launched her first Las Vegas residency across the street at the former Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood, Jennifer Lopez popped the cork on her new show, Up All Night Live, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace by popping out of a disco-ball inlaid champagne bottle.
A parade of dancers, wind machines, nearly-nude bodysuits, winks about her past high-profile romances and a few clapbacks to the haters filled the more than two-hour set, staged for a crowd of 4,000-plus on Tuesday (Dec. 30). As Lopez belted out song after song, hit every dance move and blew through more costume changes than anyone could count, she left it all on the floor of one of the city’s most important stages. Every part of the show worked in tandem to usher in a new era for Vegas residencies, leaning more toward the theatrical than a greatest hits rundown.
The production was maximalist, with cinematic transitions that made the evening feel less like a concert and more like an abstract autobiography set to a beat. Between moments of humor and defiance, Lopez reminded the audience why her Vegas return has always felt inevitable: the grand sets, the theater, the stage and an adoring fan forum fit her best here, where she has the creative license to let it all out. While only 12 dates have been announced so far, this residency could be a shoo-in to break her previous 120-date record and $100 million gross.
These were the best moments from opening night of Lopez’s Up All Night Live residency.
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In Her Broadway Era
Think of this as Lopez’s “Eras” residency. Organized into four Broadway-style acts, each themed around a different chapter of her career, the 120-minute-plus avalanche of music and dance featured many of her biggest hits reimagined into jazzier versions. Highlights from Act One, titled “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” touched on her ingenue influences from the world of theater — such as Bernadette Peters, Rita Moreno and Chita Rivera — and opened with “Let Me Entertain You” from Gypsy, followed by a mashup of “Waiting for Tonight” coupled with “Mambo” from West Side Story, for which she donned showgirl regalia. Up next was a jazz-hands “Jenny from the Block,” and a nod to the luggage-cart acrobatics from Thoroughly Modern Millie with 2007’s “Do It Well.”
Act Two, “Tales from Manhattan,” began with a treatment of “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” through the lens of Marilyn Monroe’s infamous “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In true J. Lo fashion, the strapless pink gown dropped to reveal a pink lace corset, as well as A Chorus Line-inspired “Louboutins.”
The standout in Act Three, “Kiss Kiss Kill Kill,” a laser-webbed “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” also showcased her strongest vocals of the night.
“Shall We Dance,” the Act Four theme, drew heavily from the work of Bob Fosse, with nods to Chicago and Dancin, as well as Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. The black-and-white sequined top hat and tails look was the perfect base coat for a sequence of dance numbers, culminating in the “Get Loud” closer.
In the final chapter, as guests exited the theater, the screens read “The Best Is Yet to Come” — a tip of the fedora to Frank Sinatra.
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Surprise, It’s Ja Rule
Vegas residency openings have come to rely on a headlining-grabbing surprise. That moment in Up All Night Live comes courtesy of Ja Rule, who joined Lopez during Act Two for a back-to-back medley of their catchy ’00s hits “Ain’t It Funny” and “I’m Real.” Whether Ja will be a recurring character in the show remains to be seen. Her “All I Have” duet partner, LL Cool J, appeared in a video montage.
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The Covers
Reminiscent of Lady Gaga’s Jazz and Piano residency at Park MGM, J. Lo’s show was packed with covers from Broadway and beyond — a testament to the dedication that Lopez has put into her vocal training over the years.
Act Three featured three of the best takes, with Sarah Vaughan’s “Whatever Lola Wants,” Lana del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” and Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel.” Other favorites and appropriately refreshing choices elevated Act Four, including Judy Garland’s “Get Happy” and Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
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The Deep Cuts
Lopez surprised fans by including some of her deeper cuts in her Vegas set list — such as the Spanish-language “El Anillo,” which hasn’t been performed since 2019, and “Louboutins,” appearing during her live set for the first time since 2009.
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The J. Lo Winks
In Up All Night Live, Lopez takes a more personal approach to her stage show as the acts are intercut with narration, revelations and some candid winks about her four marriages and her infamous body.
In reflecting on it being 10 years since her Vegas debut, she said, “That went by in a blink, didn’t it … At that time, I had only been married twice. That’s not true. It was only once. Felt like twice. I’m just kidding … The good news is that I’m learning and I’m growing. We’re in our happy era right now.”
Later, she admitted that she too scrolls the internet: “Why do we do this to ourselves? It’s so crazy … I’ve been doing this a long time. I can just ignore a lot of it; it really doesn’t mean much. I tell my kids that all the time.”
“[People say] ‘She always smiles with her mouth open’ … ‘Why does she always dress that way?’ … ‘Why doesn’t she dress her age?’ … ‘Why is she always naked?’” Dropping that line, she clapped back, “If you had this booty, you’d be naked too.”
Up All Night Live continues Dec. 31, 2025. 2026 dates include Jan. 2 and 3, and March 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28.
