In December 1978, the walls came tumbling down. For the first time, a casino showroom, the domain of Liberace and Wayne Newton, welcomed rock 'n' roll to its stage.

It was controversial and pretty roundly criticized in the industry. Rock 'n' roll audiences, it was argued, would not gamble and did not know how to behave in the supper-club atmosphere.

The argument was sound. When the Sahara Tahoe, now the Horizon, experimented with rock, it did so not with any sedate act. It did so with Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare."

The nightmare, it turned out, was not only onstage. It was in and outside the room as well. The maitre d' could not control the crowd. People barged in, grabbed any seat they could and created almost as much noise as the concert, ending the evening by throwing drinks and causing general chaos.

But the deed was done. Now Cooper's audiences have matured and represent the middle-age demographic sought by the clubs.

So, Cooper returns to a showroom Friday. This time he brings his new "Theater of Death" production to Harrah's Tahoe.

"I remember that engagement very well," says Cooper from the road. "I do believe we broke down barriers. It was extra special because we had Vincent Price narrate opening night. We couldn't believe he would do it.

"The new show is very much like that. It's the same type of production. I've been doing rock productions for 30 years and I decided it's time to invent another show people will talk about as much as they did that one. This is that show."

If it's like "Welcome to My Nightmare," be prepared for amazing visual effects. Cooper was on the cutting edge with filmed effects, costuming and split screens back then, and he does not hold back on the cost of his shows.

"This was deliberately built for the theater. Of course, there's always going to be a lot of state fairs and arena shows in the summer with us playing before 20,000 people. But this is a show that looks better in a small space. It's a true theater piece.

"It's like any Alice Cooper show in that there's plenty of great rock 'n' roll, but also a lot of humor. We've come full circle in a way.

"For a long time, I never knew how to describe what I do. And then one time after a show, Groucho Marx came backstage. He said, 'Do you know what it is you do? It's vaudeville. You're the last hope for vaudeville.' "

Cooper says he was influenced many years ago by the 1941 movie "Hellzapoppin," which starred Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson and was full of sight gags and jokes in extremely rapid succession. It was based on a successful Broadway show. An attempt to revive it many years later with Jerry Lewis flopped.

"I sat there watching that movie, laughing all the way, and kept asking, 'How did they get to that?' The gags just kept coming and coming. Another show like it is one I saw in Paris, all sight gags. I don't speak French and was laughing for two hours."

It's the sheer audacity of it that works. He was accused of being an immoral influence on youths in the early days, of being evil, of being satanic. But he's now seen as none of those. He's seen as every bit as much an entertainer as, well, Liberace.

Mention Alice Cooper in a crowd today, and rather than see turned-up noses or get uptight attitudes, you'll get a flood of Alice Cooper stories. And they can be truly innocuous, like when somebody got a first dose of Faust when Cooper got Gonzo to sell him his soul on "Sesame Street."

Now, there's a whole new generation.

"Guitar Hero. What a phenomenon that is. It has bridged a gap. Now every 10-year-old knows 'School's Out' and "Fire on the Water.' They think those are their songs now."