by Jackie Brett Send Me E-mail

Van Halen, America's top rock band has announced their historic reunion, marking their first concert tour in more than nine years. Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar will perform at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, Aug. 7. Tickets are $65, $85 and $125 plus tax, call 702-632-7580.

The Grammy Award-winning band over a 25-year career has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. Twelve Van Halen albums have been certified multi-Platinum. The band holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most No. 1 rock tracks (11) at album radio.

Warner Bros. Records will be releasing "It's About Time," a newly recorded Van Halen track from the upcoming best of Van Halen album scheduled for release this June.

Paris Las Vegas in association with Tribeca Theatrical Productions co-founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have announced the lavish rock musical "We Will Rock You" will open at Paris in September. The show, which features complex laser light effects and six gigantic plasma screens, will be presented in the 1,450-seat Paris Theatre Des Arts theatre.

"We Will Rock You" highlights 25 of Queen's greatest hits - including "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are The Champions," "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and has played to sell-out crowds since it opened in London's West End in May 2002. The show has already played almost 600 performances and to date grossed $75 million.

The extended engagement at Paris Las Vegas marks the first run of the show in the United States. "We Will Rock You," has already completed over 100 shows in Melbourne, Australia, recently opened in Madrid, and will open in Sydney, Moscow and Cologne in the Fall of 2004.

To celebrate springtime and the current Claude Monet exhibition, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has teamed up with the Bellagio Conservatory to recreate a Monet painting with thousands of seasonal flowers and plants. The three-dimensional version of Monet's "The Water Lily Pond, 1900" can be seen free in the Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens through May 16.

While the Bellagio Conservatory is well known for colorful and unique garden displays, this is the first attempt to bring a painting to life and make it three-dimensional. The variety of water lilies, iris and ferns that grace the pond mimic what Monet would have been inspired by in the gardens at his home in Giverny, France.

The Conservatory Garden's spring installation took months to plan and design. The Bellagio horticulture staff traveled all over the country in search of the most authentic water lilies and weeping trees to closely resemble the most famous part of Monet's garden. Over 100 people were involved.

Claude Monet: Masterworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston running through Sept. 13, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets for the exhibition are $15 and $12 for students and seniors over 65, call 877-957-9777 or 702-693-7871.

This week, Mary Scinta, known as Mama Scinta and mother to The Scintas headlining at the Rio, joined the lineup of entertainers performing in the hit Off- Broadway interactive play, "Tony N' Tina's Wedding" also at the Rio. She is playing the role of the proud grandmother Mama Nunzio, two nights a week on Wednesday and Thursday.

The play's Italian-American family matriarch role is a natural with her real life family that includes 14 grandchildren. Mama Scinta rarely misses a performance of The Scintas and has her own reserved booth.

"Tony N' Tina's Wedding" is the longest running show in Off-Broadway history. Performances at 7 p.m. are in the Calypso Room adjacent to the Masquerade Village entrance. Tickets are $78.95 plus tax for general seating, call 702-777-7776.

The Godt-Cleary Gallery at the Mandalay Place retail center and Barbara Sinatra are presenting an exhibition of paintings and memorabilia by entertainer Frank Sinatra through May 31. For more than 40 years, Sinatra had a secret passion for painting. A selection of personal memorabilia including photographs, prints and albums will be available for purchase.

Another display highlight are works that were part of Mr. and Mrs. Sinatra's personal America fine art collection by artists such as Walt Kuhn and Moran Rockwell.

Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar and all the Sesame Street friends will appear at UNLV's Cox Pavilion, May 6 - 9, in Sesame Street Live's "Out Of This World."

Station Casinos has announced plans to purchase two small casinos in Henderson: the 11,000-square-foot Magic Star and the 8,600-square-foot Gold Rush.

Details about the Venetian's new mega-resort Palazzo, which will be situated next to the Venetian on the corner of Sands Avenue and the Las Vegas Strip, have been revealed. Plans call for the $1 billion 3,020-suite Palazzo to be 53 stories, making it the tallest hotel tower in town and 105 feet taller than Wynn Las Vegas that is going up directly across the street and will open in 13 months. The Palazzo will also contain a 100,000-square-foot casino, 400,000 square feet of meeting space, a 225,000-square-foot mall, 4,000 underground parking spaces, and a 1,500-seat theater.

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