Sunday, May 13, 2001 PRIOR ISSUE   -   ARCHIVES
Madonna, America Superstars, McGraw & Chesney, Marty Allen, 2nd Annual World Swimsuit Model Search, Christopher Titus, Ringo Starr, Blues Traveler, More...

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by Jackie Brett

The Material Girl Madonna has added an extra concert to her Las Vegas appearance in September. Originally planned only for Sept. 1, the Drowned World Tour will also perform an additional show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 2. Tickets are $75, $125, $250 and $350 plus applicable service charges, call 702-474-4000.

Superstar country performers Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney will headline in the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, June 23. Tickets are $35, $55 and $85, call 702-474-4000.

McGraw kicked off his musical career in 1994 with a multi-platinum album "Not A Moment Too Soon," which sold more than six million copies. His current award-winning album "A Place In The Sun" debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and Country Album Charts. In addition to being the reigning Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Male Vocalist, McGraw is among only five other male entertainers (Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Ronnie Milsap, Garth Brooks and George Strait) who have won the coveted Country Music Association Album of the Year for two consecutive years.

Aaron Carter, dubbed "The Little Prince of Pop," brings his Aaron's Party Tour to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, June 22. Tickets are priced at $25, $35 and $40 plus applicable service charges, call 702-474-4000.

Carter's latest release is a hot new single, "That's How I Beat Shaq." The track has given the 13-year-old's second album, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)," a huge boost on the Billboard album chart. The album nearly doubled in sale jumping from No. 15 to No. 4.

Carter was featured on the soundtrack to the first "Pokemon" movie with the hit song "(Have Some) Fun With The Funk" and celebrates the recent release of his latest album. He has performed around the world including a recent run on Broadway as the character JoJo in "Seussical: The Musical." Prior to his Broadway debut, Carter opened for Britney Spears and his older brother Nick's group, the Backstreet Boys.

The Righteous Brothers are moving to the Las Vegas Hilton for a 12-week deal next year as an anchor act. The resort is aiming to have three anchor acts next year.

The Rio has booked Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band for Sept. 1 as the last stop on a six-week tour.

Mandalay Bay Resort has announced the star-studded lineup of their third annual Bay Rock beach concert series set in an 11-acre beach environment. The series will begin May 25 with Blues Traveler and continue with Eek-A-Mouse on June 9, Reo Speedwagon on June 29, The B-52's on July 13, Cheap Trick on July 14 and Indigo Girls on July 27.

Bay Rock shows are held the Mandalay Bay Beach Stage where concertgoers are invited to bring their blankets and sit on the beach or wade into the surf and listen to the music from the famous 1.6 million-gallon wavepool.

Blues Traveler reached commercial success in 1994 with the album "Four." It was the 12th largest selling record in 1995 certifying it platinum six times. In the summer of 1997, the group released its next studio album "Straight on Till Morning" and went on tour internationally. After the sudden death of bass player Bob Sheehan, an energized and new Blues Traveler has surfaced with new studio alum set for release this year. Show tickets are $28.50 in advance and $32.50 the day of the show call 702-474-4000.

A three-year contract will have Paul Anka playing at three different MGM Mirage properties with two being in Las Vegas. He will continue to perform during Siegfried and Roy's vacation weeks at the Mirage. He's starring there now through May 22, with future dates being Sept. 14-22 and Nov. 29-Dec. 4.

Anka will also be one of the headliners at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre. His dates this year will be June 21-July 4, July 26-Aug. 8, Sept. 27-Oct. 2 and Nov. 1-7.

"All Access: Front Row. Backstage. LIVE!" is the new IMAX film currently premiering at the Luxor in a 312-seat theater. As its name implies, the film provides a rare glimpse at the action behind the scenes of great rock concerts - rehearsals, sound checks, casual conversations, musical collaboration and more - interspersed with actual performances.

Projected onto a screen measuring nearly seven stories high, IMAX films have frames that are 10 times the size of conventional 35-mm film.

The mega rock concert features a line-up of legendary artists including Carlos Santana, Sting, Al Green, George Clinton and B.B. King plus contemporary musicians like Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock. Many of the performances in "All Access" were filmed in the days following the 2000 Grammy awards, during which the featured performers garnered a total of 23 Grammy Awards.

The IMAX Theater is located at Pharaoh's Pavilion inside the Luxor. Tickets are $8.95 per person or $13.95 for a double feature. The movies now showing are "All Access," "Cyberworld 3D" and "Mysteries of Egypt." Call 702-262-4555 for show times.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

The Stratosphere recently signed a one-year contract extension with "American Superstars," the celebrity tribute production. "American Superstars" has played the Stratosphere's Broadway Showroom since April 1996 with tributes to today and yesterday's hottest stars. The cast features impersonations of Elvis, Gloria Estefan, Charlie Daniels, Madonna, Ricky Martin and Michael Jackson.

Showtimes for "American Superstars" are 7 p.m. nightly except Thursday with 10 p.m. shows on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Tickets re $29.95 for adults and $22.95 for children ages 5 to 12 plus tax, call 1-800-99-TOWER or 702-380-7711.

Marty Allen and his wife Karon Kate Blackwell have cancelled their Gold Coast appearances for June, July and August to accept a 12-week booking on Princess Cruise Lines. Allen, 79, was recently voted the all-time most popular entertainer on Princess Cruise Lines.

Hospitality industry leaders from around the world will gather in Las Vegas for three days of hotel and restaurant related exhibits, seminars, events and competitions. More than 350 exhibitors will showcase thousands of new products and services at the 22nd Annual Las Vegas International Hotel & Restaurant Show (LVIHRS).

The show is open to anyone in the hospitality industry. Advance tickets are $25, call 1-800-272-7469 or visit www.LVIHRS.com. After June 1, tickets will be $35.

Opening the show will be the renowned event The Epicurean Affair on June 20 at The Mirage. This food taster's delight is open to the public. Tickets are $100 or $850 for a bundle of 10. Tickets will be $125 at the door, call 702-474-4000.

Caesars Palace will host the U.S. and Canadian finals of the Second Annual World Swimsuit Model Search in the resort's outdoor Garden of the Gods at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 1. The competition was open to young ladies from all over North America. General admission tickets are $25 plus a $3 ticket-handling fee, call 1-800-634-6698 or 702-731-7865.

Top finalists of the U.S. and Canadian competition advance to the Second Annual World Swimsuit Model Search Finals at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 2. The competition, sponsored by Swimsuit International magazine, will feature approximately 60 beautiful swimsuit models who won national contests around the world. Tickets are $35 plus the $3 fee.

Christopher Titus, the star, executive producer and co-creator of the FOX sitcom, "Titus," the dark comedy based on his one-man show, "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding," will bring his insightful stand-up act to the Top Of The Riv ballroom at the Riviera on June 29 and 30. Tickets are $25 plus tax and fee, call 702-794-9433.

Titus' show has evolved from the days when he was touring the country as Kenny Loggins' opening act doing what he refers to as his "old happy boy" act.

Titus jokes about things most comics find impossible to make funny like custody battles, family suicides, insanity, etc. Titus grew up in a modest Northern California town, fist-fought with his beer guzzling salesman dad, and endured a flurry of stepmoms. At 12, he ran away from home and lived in a garage with his biological mother, a pianist who was in and out of mental institution before committing suicide.

Beginning July 7 for the summer, "Splash" at the Riviera will feature special 7:30 p.m. covered performances on Saturdays. Children as young as five years of age will be welcome all summer long at the early Saturday shows. The rest of the performances will remain topless and no one under 18 years of age is admitted.

"Splash" is currently revamping and replacing some of the show's older production dance numbers with new sequences. Just a little over a year ago, "Splash" completed a $1.2 million renovation that included everything from new opening and closing numbers to the replacement of the show's signature 20,000 tank with a 35' x 15' ice rink. The show debuted at the Riviera in 1985.

The Orleans has booked Doc Severinson and His Big Band and Ed McMahon for June 1-3.

The 1.3 million-square-foot South Hall expansion to the Las Vegas Convention Center is expected to be substantially complete by Nov. 12. It will bring the convention center's total space to about 3.2 million square feet, including 2 million square feet of leasable exhibit space, putting it on a par with the nation's largest center, McCormick Place in Chicago.

Last month, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority closed a deal on a $14.1 million purchase of the nearby World Trade Center sitting on a 10-acre parcel of land just east of the South Hall. The 310-room hotel will be demolished to make room for 1,100 parking spaces. A 20,000-square-foot warehouse and small office complex will be used for trade show purposes.

The six Nevada casinos of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. are the first in the nation to offer customers the opportunity to play the new "The Price Is Right" video slot machines manufactured by International Game Technology. A total of 125 of the nine-line nickel-denomination video slots have been installed.

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Editorial Content Copyright(c) 2000-2001 Jackie Brett; Internet Presentation Copyright(c) Las Vegas Leisure Guide