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| Sunday, May 1, 2005 | PRIOR ISSUE - ARCHIVES |
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| Toby Keith Brings Country, Vegas Gives A Hoot, Newton Moves To Hilton, Paul McCartney Sets Date, Danny Gans Extended, Beach Boys Play, "Fab Four Mania", Alicia Keys On Key, Rita Rudner Marks Four, Poker On The Rise, 'Self Medicated' Film, Wolfgang Puck Express, Wine Maker's Dinner, CineVegas Film Festival, Tix4tonight Adds Location, Swim-Up Blackjack, Classic Automobiles Museum, LEPCON 2005 Coming, More... | |
Country entertainer Toby Keith will perform in concert at the Mandalay Bay Events Center with special guests Lee Ann Womack and Shooter Jennings on Friday, Aug. 19. Tickets are $47.25, $68.25 and $99.25, call 702-632-7580.
Keith's tour announcement comes on the heels of four Academy of Country Music Awards nominations and the 40th Annual ACM Awards will be telecast live from Mandalay Bay on May 17.
This month, Keith will release "Honkytonk University," his first studio album in two years. His single "Honky Tonk U" is an autobiographical tale of Keith's youth and a summer spent working in a nightclub his grandmother owned. His last studio album, "Shock'N Y'All," was Billboards' Top Country Album of 2004.
Lee Ann Womack was nominated for three ACM Awards this year and has previously won five ACM Awards. Shooter Jennings, son of country legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, recently released "Put The O Back in Country" on Universal South.
Hooters of America, which owns 375 Hooters around the world and purchased the 711-room Hotel San Remo on Tropicana Ave. last year, is planning a $130 million renovation that will transform the property into the Hooters Casino Hotel by next February. The casino will remain open during construction except for about four weeks when it will need to close in order to expand the casino to 35,000 square feet.
The staff will double to about 1,000 workers and new restaurants will be added giving Hooters eight dining options including Dan Marino's Fine Foods and Spirits, an upscale steakhouse owned by the former Miami Dolphins quarterback. Other new eateries and bars will include Pete and Shorty's Sports Book and Bar, Hooters Beach Club, 24-hour Owl's Nest Cafe and a bigger version of the chain's famous restaurant that will be the second-largest Hooters.
The Hotel San Remo has had many names over the years. It's been known as the Paradise, 20th Century, Treasury, Pacifica, and Polynesian.
It is official now, Wayne Newton will be headlining at the Las Vegas Hilton, where he starred from 1987 until 1993. His six-week engagement will begin on June 14. Performances will be at 9 p.m., June 14-18, July 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, and Aug. 16-20, 23-27. Tickets are $75 plus tax and service charge, call 702-732-5755.
Vocalist Delisco, who was the winner of Newton's recent reality show, "The Entertainer," will perform in the show.
Paul McCartney will perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Nov. 25 and 26 on his upcoming North American tour that is dubbed the "US" tour. His concerts are promoting the release of his yet-untitled upcoming Capitol Records album. Tickets are $100, $175 and $250; call Ticketmaster at 702-474-4000.
Danny Gans' contract with The Mirage has been extended through April 2008. He opened there in April 2000 and his contract would have expired next spring.
The Beach Boys will perform at the Mandalay Bay Beach on June 3, tickets are $44, and Huey Lewis is booked on June 4, tickets are $49.50.
If you're a Beatles fan, even though it's been more than 30 years since the group broke up; you can certainly get a good fix by seeing "Fab Four Mania" at the Aladdin's V Theater. Their 6 p.m. show depicts three periods of the group's career: 1963-66, when they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and America embraced them; the Sgt. Pepper psychedelic years 1966-'67; and '67-'70. The four impersonators use their own voices and play the instruments. A couple film clips fill in during costume changes and they close with "Hey Jude." Tickets are $52-$62 and $19.95 for children 12 and under; call 702-932-1818.
Piano-playing pop star Alicia Keys will perform at the MGM Grand Garden May 27-28. Tickets are $50, $75 and $125; call Ticketmaster at 702-474-4000.
The Orleans Arena has booked singer LeAnn Rimes for a concert on May 28 and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus from June 23-26. For tickets, call 702-284-7777.
The Most Brothers will take center stage at the Riviera Comedy Club, May 9-15. The duo has many film and television credits. Rounding out the comedy bill is Ray Garvey a retired New York Police Officer, who has the odd distinction of appearing in every Woody Allen picture ever made, and Chris Monte, who is making his Riviera debut.
Last month, Rita Rudner marked her four-year anniversary headlining her own show at New York-New York. She and her husband-manager, Martin Bergman, are working on producing a Broadway musical featuring the song catalogue of hit maker Carole King.
It's almost comical how most every major Vegas casino closed its poker room over the last 10 years. Now the gaming world is scrambling to clear space for poker rooms. Some of the casinos embracing the game once again are the MGM Grand (23 tables), Imperial Palace (10 tables), Rio (10 tables), Gold Coast (eight tables), and the Tropicana (six tables).
Many events associated with the Las Vegas Centennial celebration are planned throughout the year, but many of them are in mid-May since the actual birthday is May 15. On that day there will be a re-creation of the Land Auction that started Las Vegas on Fremont Street. The world's largest birthday cake will be on display at Cashman Center from 2 to 8 p.m. There will also be a free concert and fireworks display with a ticket at Cashman Field with entrainment by Boogie Knights, Flying Elvi and Kool & The Gang. For more information, visit www.lasvegas2005.org.
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The independent film "Self Medicated" has a strong Vegas connection. The movie, which stars 24-year old Monty Lapica who graduated from a local high school, is also written and directed by him. It's his true life story account about his struggle to come to terms with the death of his father and find his own identity. Lapica's dad died when he was 14, and three years later his mother arranged to have him "kidnapped" and sent to a special rehabilitative institution. This riveting and noteworthy film will probably be screened at CineVegas, a nine-day film festival in June, and has a cast and crew with impressive credits. For instance, the Director of Photography, Denis Maloney worked on "The Contender," "Natural Causes," "The Winner," "The Music Within," "Love of All Things" and "The Moguls." Composer Anthony Marinelli wrote for "The Man From Elysian Fields," "15 Minutes," "Timecode," "Hotel," "Young Guns," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," and "Demolition Man." This movie and Lapica show promise of stardom. Lapica graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount University School of Film & Television. One star chef, Jimmy Sneed, who left the Wynn Las Vegas project weeks before the opening, was replaced by David Walzog, who will run a contemporary steakhouse. Walzog was the executive chef for five Glazier Group restaurants in New York, including Michael Jordan's Steak House NYC. He has been nominated for three James Beard Foundation awards and is currently publishing "The New American Steakhouse Cookbook." The deli Zuzu Crackers at Wynn Las Vegas is actually a tribute to casino host Charlie Meyerson, who worked for Wynn over the years and used the term as a verbal alternative. A Wolfgang Puck Express outlet has opened in McCarran International Airport's new Terminal D Gates. It is open daily from 5:30 a.m. - 10 p.m. All items are priced between $4.95 and $8.95 and are available for dine-in or take-out. The Carmel Room at the Rampart Casino at the JW Marriott will host a Wine Maker's Dinner featuring the wines and food of Napa Valley, Calif. on Monday, May 16. Special guest Michael Burton from Wilson Daniels Ltd., will host. Cost is $95 plus gratuity, call 702-507-5955. More wine dinners featuring Australian wines will be held at Sazio inside the Orleans on Tuesday, May 17 ($39 plus tax 702-948-9500), and at Spiedini at the JW Marriott in Summerlin on Tuesday, May 31 ($58 plus tax 702-869-8500). Internationally acclaimed director Wim Wenders will be honored with the Vanguard Director Award at this year's CineVegas Film Festival taking place June 10-18 at Brenden Theatres at the Palms. The tribute will include a screening of his new film, "Land of Plenty." The half-price ticket outlet Tix4tonight is opening a third location in the Fashion Show mall. The Tropicana's Swim-Up Blackjack, located in the main pool surrounded by five acres of lush tropical grounds, will open for the season on May 27. The famous aquatic card game with two separate blackjack tables is open daily from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily. Bets are from $5-$25 a hand.  The Spa Vita di Lago at the 349-room Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas was the only off-Strip spa named one of America's top spas in the Mobil Travel Guide's just released 2005 edition of "America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas." Starting with a list of hundreds of spas nationwide, Mobil inspectors narrowed the list to 69 spas to be included in the new guide. The Four-Star rated spa has 24 treatment rooms. Local Elvis impersonator Donny Edwards will appear as a Vegas Elvis with the jumpsuit in an episode of the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless" on May 16. Celine Dion, who is in the middle of a three-year contract at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, has created a new fragrance called Belong. Dion worked with Coty Beauty and was involved with every aspect of the perfume's development. The pentagon-shaped glass bottle is presented in a soft violet color box. The Strike Zone Bowling Center is new at Sunset Station in Henderson. If you like convertibles, then you should visit the Sunbelt Antique and Classic Automobiles Museum. The owner of a multi-million-dollar television empire has collect 245 classic cars made between 1932 and 1978 and 105 are in the museum. Tours of the museum located at 1608 Gragson Ave. near Bruce Street and East Washington Avenue can be arranged by calling 702-657-3277. Shadow Creek, the MGM Mirage golf course that Steve Wynn created in the 1990s, is ranked No. 3 on Golf Digest's list of best public course. The Aquae Sulis Spa at the JW Marriott is featuring The Glow Facial for Mother's Day and through the month of May. The 50-minute potent facial costs $125; call 702-869-7807. The Las Vegas Magic Invitational conference for close-up and cabaret magicians will be held June 12-14 at Palace Station and feature lectures, workshops, shows and jam sessions. LEPCON 2005, the Def Leppard Fan Convention, will be held at the Riviera this year. On Saturday, Sept. 10, Pyromania, a Def Leppard tribute band, will hold a concert. In addition to Wynn Las Vegas opening a few days ago, there are other hotel-casino projects currently in the works including the Palazzo, a 3,000-room sister resort to The Venetian; a 950-room tower at Caesars Palace; Red Rock Station, an 850-room project in Summerlin; and a 660-room South Coast a few miles south of the main Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard.
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