Broadway musicals will return to the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts for the first time since the resort re-opened last summer. The four-show subscription season will feature "Forever Swing," "Fame," "Fosse" and "Les Miserables."

"Forever Swing" is a big band musical revue set in the late 1930s and early 1940s featuring the fictitious Tommy Vickers Band and 27 hit swing tunes. This show will kick off the season March 21-24.

"Fame" is inspired by the Academy Award-winning movie and the hit TV series about students at the legendary High School for Performing Arts in New York City. This contemporary musical is set for April 18-22.

"Fosse" is about the award-winning, famed choreography that Bob Fosse brought to life in such Broadway hits as "Cabaret," "Sweet Charity, "All That Jazz" and "Chicago. "Fosse" is scheduled May 22-26.

The heavier-themed "Les Miserables" will bring the play based on Victor Hugo's classic novel about fugitive Jean Valjean to life Sept. 19-22. For ticket information, call 1-866-477-LAMP, ext. 5267 or 702-785-5054.

The $100 million, 18.8-acre MGM Grand Theme Park is being renamed to The Park at MGM Grand and changing its focus to an attraction for groups of 50 to 7,000 people.

Many of the amusement park's rides are being sold. The newly named park will add new team-building attractions, such as rock-climbing walls and obstacle courses designed to build coporate staff-cohesion. Three of the park's rides will remain: the 250-foot-high, Gateway Arch-shaped Sky-Screamer swing ride; the 69-foot-high, 30 mile-per hour Lightning Bolt roller coaster, and the Parisian Taxi Bumper ride. The park's theaters are expected to begin hosting movie premieres, concerts and television shows.

Veteran female impersonator Kenny Kerr is back on the Strip with "The New Kenny Kerr Show" at the New Frontier. Ironically his first Vegas gig was next door to the north of the Frontier at the defunct Silver Slipper. He headlined there from 1977 to July 1988.

After his first ten years in town, Kerr's show moved around making stops at the Sahara, the Plaza downtown, the Stardust and the former Debbie Reynolds Hotel.

Kerr's new show at the Frontier has a new format. It's more of a concert with him as the only impersonator onstage. A five-piece band and three backup singers, who each take a turn doing a song or routine, back Kerr whose show schedule is ambitious. He's doing 8:30 and 10 p.m. shows, Monday through Saturday. Tickets are $32.95, call 702-794-8200.

On March 9 and 10, Bobby Vinton, known as a successful love singer of the "Rock Era," will headline at Paris Las Vegas in Le Theater des Arts. Tickets are $45, call 1-877-374-7469 or 702-946-4567.

During Vinton's strongest years from 1962 to 1972, he had an astonishing 28 Top-40 entries. Among his mega-hits were "Roses Are Red (My Love)," "Blue on Blue," "There! I've Said It Again," "Mr. Lonely," and "Blue Velvet," which became his signature song.

In 1874, his enduring crooning career experienced a major comeback with the song "Melody of Love," which made number three. This song enjoys the distinction of being the only major American hit single sung partially in Polish.

Olio! the newest dining experience at Studio Walk inside the MGM Grand opened last month featuring Neo-Italian cuisine. The ultramodern restaurant has several stand-out signature highlights including the world's longest Antipasto Table; multi-leveled, multi-layered dining areas with colorful ribboned ceilings and an eight-foot high fireplace; a retro bar and lounge area with beaded curtains, plush furnishings, and the private Dark Room photo booth; Olio! Teatro - a private two to 50-seat dining and screening room with a separate entrance and butler service; and the Frozen Gelato Wall with the world's first vertical gelato service.

Olio! Is open daily from 11:30 a.m., call 702-891-7775. Dinner is served until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The total seating capacity is 300 plus.

California restaurateur Kevin Wu, known for his Royal Star Seafood Restaurant in Santa Monica, expanded his dining options when the Venetian opened in 1999 by bringing another Royal Star Seafood dining experience to the opulent mega-resort. Every year Wu marks the end of the Chinese New Year with an annual celebration on Jan. 15 during the lunar calendar's full moon.

The Royal Star offers cuisine from all regions of China and features hallmark Cantonese and Mandarin specialties. A major attraction for this eatery is Dim Sum service offered from 11 .m. to 3 p.m. Dinner service is from 5 to 11 p.m.

In February of 2000, Wu opened a second restaurant at the Venetian called Noodle Asia. The noodle shop caters to people who enjoy a quick meal. The 80-seat dining experience is located between the La Scena lounge and the Race and Sports book.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

The Blue Note Jazz Club is a place to keep your eye out for top-notch entertainment. Recently saw Kool and the Gang perform there to a standing room only grooving crowd. The music club can accommodate over 500 guests nightly. Making it a true nightclub experience, you can order from the club's dinner menu before and during the performances.

The Blue Note Cafe features upscale American cuisine. It is a separate dining room with an open bar, that's open for lunch, a pre-show drink or dinner. For reservations call 702-862-8307.

Barenaked Ladies will perform on Sunday, March 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tickets are $30 and $35, call 1-877-632-7400 or 702-632-7580.

The Canadian born band released "Maroon" last year. The album's first single, "Pinch Me" is nominated for a 2001 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Performance." Most recently, the group was nominated for five Canadian Juno Awards, which is the equivalent of the Grammy Awards.

The Las Vegas area is currently a hot bed of activity for the film industry. "Rush Hour 2," starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as the odd-couple cops, is shooting around the deserted Desert Inn through mid-March. Long-time Las Vegas comedian Alan King is also starring in the film as the Red Dragon Casino's owner.

"America's Sweethearts" are filming at the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. This cast has John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the title roles along with co-stars Billy Crytsal, who co-wrote the screenplay, Julia Roberts and Hank Azaria. The story is about a Hollywood couple who has just split but still has to promote a new movie together. Crystal is the publicist who tries to make the press believe everything is really fine. This movie is scheduled for release this summer.

This film is the second of three made-in Las Vegas projects for Roberts. Last year she made "The Mexican" with Brad Pitt and it will open in theaters on March 2. Meanwhile, that date will be the start of the remake of the Rat Pack romp "Ocean's Eleven," which will feature George Clooney, Roberts and Pitt.

The Desert Inn's owner, Steve Wynn claims he is just months away from revealing final plans for his newest Strip resort casino. The resort is described as a 52-story, 585-foot tower, with 2,300 all-suite rooms and it's suppose to take 30 months to build.

The Riviera Comedy Club will headline a sighted Irish fellow from Chicago, Jim O'Brien, and a blind Mexican from Southern California, Alex Valdez, March 12 - 19. Blind since age seven, Valdez discovered early that cracking jokes helped people to accept his disability. He became the first stand-up comedian with a disability in the country.

Other funnymen Marty Rackham, Tony Ricco and JR Brow will join O'Brien and Valdez. Television audiences know Rackham from many different shows especially for his role as Jake Jarmel, Elaine's boyfriend on "Seinfeld." He has also had a reoccurring role on CBS' "JAG," played Ray Ramono's high school buddy on "Everybody Loves Raymond" and recently appeared on HBO's "Sex And The City" lying poolside at the Playboy mansion. Tickets ae $16.95 plus taxes, call 702-794-9433.

Visitors to Harrah's have the opportunity to win a new custom-designed snowboard from Coors Light during the "Splinter to Winter" promotion running through Feb. 28. Drawings are held nightly in the Carnaval Court Bar & Grill. Winners are picked at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and at 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

To qualify for the snowboard drawings, customers receive one ticket with every purchase of Coors Light beer at the Carnaval Court Bar and Grill only. Winners must be present to win and be 21 yeas of age. For information, call 702-369-5000.

Guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Elvin Bishop will appear at the Suncoast in northwest Las Vegas, March 10 and 11. For 30 years he's been singing and recording his rollicking brand of electric down-home blues.

Bishop's new release, "The Skin I'm In" is his most serious blues album ever. The album features ten original tunes by Bishop. Tickets are $16.95, $21.95 and $26.95 plus tax, call 702-636-7075.

The eighth annual Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz Festival will be staged April 18 at Hills Park in Summerlin. The show will highlight Randy Crawford, Rick Braun, Ronnie Laws and Steve Cole among others. Tickets are $50, call 800-969-8342.

The 28-year-old Park Place Shopping center located less than a mile off the Strip at Twain Ave. and Maryland Parkway will undergo a $16 million redevelopment plan. Roughly 16 acres will be redesigned and nine acres are going to the county for a park.

Demolition of the existing 100,000-square-foot shopping center will begin in the next 60 days. The new center is expected to open in November.

CONTINUE ON TO...:
>THIS WEEK'S LAUGHLIN SEGMENT
>LAST WEEK'S LAS VEGAS SEGMENT
>VEGAS VIEWS FULL ARCHIVES
>Return to "Heard Around Town"
>Return to Las Vegas Leisure Guide