Entertainers Meatloaf and Cyndi Lauper will share the stage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, July 26. Tickets are $35, $45 and $55, call 702-632-7580.

Meatloaf is embarking on his last world tour in support of his soon-to-be-released album, "Couldn't Have Said It Better." He achieved tremendous success with his last two albums. In 1993, "Bat Out of Hell 2" sold 10 million albums and earned him a Grammy Award. "Welcome to the Neighborhood," released in 1995, achieved platinum status.

Grammy Award-winning Lauper has had a career spanning the last two decades. She is best known for her funky energetic sounds most reflected in her 1983 album, "She's So Unusual." In 1986, Lauper launched her double-platinum album, "True Colors," and three years later, she had her third hit album, "A Night To Remember."

The Imperial Palace, home of the award-winning celebrity tribute spectacular, "Legends in Concert," has introduced Las Vegas' first "Legends Pit" with celebrity impersonator dealers or "Dealertainers." The "Legends Pit" is open every Thursday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.

"Dealertainers are a new kind of entertainment with a gaming twist to it," according the hotel's Casino Manager Craig Garland.

The project's time consuming challenge was finding impersonators who could deal or dealers who could do impersonations. The Imperial Palace personally trained each impersonator for a month before qualifying them as dealers at their on-site gaming school.

The first "Legends Pit" costumed dealers look like the following celebrities: The Blues Brothers, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Liberace, Flip Wilson, Zorro, Barbra Streisand, Frankie Avalon, Crocodile Dundee, Rod Stewart and Buddy Holly.

The MGM Mirage has agreed to sell downtown's Golden Nugget and the Golden Nugget Laughlin for approximately $215 million to the two 34-year-old founders of the Internet site Travelscope.

It's now confirmed, Steve Wynn is scrapping the French name Le Reve, meaning "The Dream," for his new megaresort on the Strip. The property currently being built on the site of the former Desert Inn, has been re-christened Wynn Las Vegas.

"VEGAS Magazine" is a brand new slick national monthly publication that will go on sale this month. The initial press run is 80,000 copies, with 30,000 intended for distribution in Las Vegas. A subscription is $32.95 and the over-the-counter price is $4.99.

The magazine's co-publisher is Michael T. Carr, a former president of "Playboy Magazine," who explains that his new publication is about the city's emotion with a 'Vegas-centric" focus now that it has become a celebrity playground.

The improv show "Boo!" at New York-New York will close on Aug. 10. The show's producer is comedian Rita Rudner's husband Martin Bergman, who says the show was only intended as a stop-gap production during the year that Cirque du Soleil was remodeling the resort's larger theater to make room for its show "Zumanity" that will debut on Aug. 14.

ICE Las Vegas, which was formerly the Drink nightclub on Harmon, has announced an opening set for the last weekend in August. The cover charge will be $20 with "fashionable" club attire required. For information, call 702-699-5528.

ICE is not to be confused with a different nightclub called the Icehouse located downtown at 650 So. Main Street just south of the Plaza. The Icehouse will be celebrating its official grand opening on July 17. It will be open 24 hours a day with a restaurant, lounge, bar, and video poker. For information, call 702-315-2570.

On Aug. 28, New York restaurateur Stephen Hanson will be opening his 7,000-square-foot Fiamma Trattoria restaurant inside the MGM Grand at Studio Walk. Fiamma, which is Italian for "Flame," will be a stylish outpost of its highly successful Manhattan restaurant. The eatery's contemporary design will encompass four distinct areas - a cafe, bar and lounge, split-level dining room and private screening room, which together will accommodate over 300 guests.

The Tabu Ultra Lounge, located inside the MGM Grand, will begin presenting "Boutique" Wednesday Nights on July 9. Tabu will be showcasing the designs of local boutiques and other fashion houses. For information, call 702-891-7183.

On Sunday, Aug. 10, The Crusaders featuring Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Ray Parker Jr., Freddie Washington, Stephen Baxter and Kendrick Scott and the David Sanborn Band will perform live in concert at the Palms' Skin Pool Lounge. The concert will also feature special guest vocalist Randy Crawford. Tickets are $35 plus service charge, call Ticketmaster at 702-474-4000.

Earlier this year, The Crusaders released, "Rural Renewal," their first new album in over 20 years. Nearly a half-century after the group's birth, they are revisiting their beginnings and the tradition that gave them their purpose and identity.

David Sanborn recently released "timeagain" on Verve Records. The album finds Sanborn bringing his instantly recognizable alto sound to a variety of time-tested classics that include Earl Hagen's "Harlem Nocturne," Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar," and Champs' 1958 hit "Tequila." Also, "timeagain" provides three original pieces and an interpretation of Joni Mitchell's "Man from Mars."

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

The Orleans Arena will highlight the "Thunder & Fire Monster Truck Extravaganza" on July 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on July 20. Tickets are $15 and $10 for kids 12 and under, call 702-284-7777.

Congratulations to the stage spectacular "Splash" at the Riviera. On June 21, the show celebrated its 18 year anniversary at the Strip resort where it opened in 1985.

On Tuesday, July 8, "Bottoms Up" will celebrate its 44th anniversary. "Bottoms Up" was founded in 1959 by the show's producer, creator and star Breck Wall, who relocated the burlesque revue to Las Vegas in 1964 and found its most recent home at the Flamingo in August 2000. The hotel's management has again exercised the option to extend Las Vegas' longest running afternoon show and the only daytime one on the Strip that is topless.

"Bottoms Up" has been awarded "Best Show of the Year" 34 times by the "Las Vegas Review- Journal" and "Longest Running Review in Nevada" by "Nevada Magazine."

The constantly evolving daytime show performed at 2 and 4 p.m., Monday-Saturday, features a combination of music, comedy, fast-paced choreography and Vaudevillian era performances by a troupe of 10. Tickets for the adult only show are $12.95 plus tax, call 800-221-7299 or 702- 733-3333.

The Fremont Street Experience features free nightly entertainment, Tuesdays through Saturdays, that includes five city blocks rockin' all night long with entertainment on two stages from 8 to 10 p.m. and the hourly canopy light and sound shows. For more information, call 800-249-3559 or 702-678-5777.

The July lineup includes: Real Surreal & Party Central July 8-10; Loveshack & Real Surreal July 11-12; Freeride & Party Central July 15 -17; Real Surreal & Freeride on July 18; Herb Rawlings & Freeride on July 19; Cornell Gunther's Coasters & The Fortunes July 22-24; Cornell Gunther's Coasters & Loveshack July 25-26; and Herb Rawlings & Loveshack July 29-31.

Kevin James, the star of the hit CBS television comedy "King of Queens," will return to the Danny Gans Theatre, Aug. 30 and 31. His opening act will be former comedy club owner and "People's Choice Awards" winner, Richie Minervini, who has performed with Jay Leno and David Brenner and appeared on "King of Queens," now entering its sixth season. Tickets for the 10:30 p.m. shows are $60 plus tax, call 800-456-4564 or 702-792-7777.

James recently starred in a one-hour comedy special for Comedy Central called "Sweat the Small Stuff." He has also served as host for the "People's Choice Awards" and "Entertainment Weekly" recently chose him for its "It" List as one of "The 100 Most Creative People in Entertainment."

George Carlin will return to the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre with his off-the wall antics and jokes, July 24 - Aug. 6. Tickets are

Awarded "Comedian of the Year" at the 2002 Las Vegas Comedy Festival, Carlin is known as one of America's keenest social critics, using razor sharp humor to point out hypocrisy in people's actions and words. For more than four decades, he has been on the cutting edge and regularly integrates taboo subjects into his performances.

Carlin is the author of two New York Times best selling books "Brain Dropping" and "Napalm & Silly Putty" and has released multiple Grammy Award-winning albums including "Jammin' in New York," "FM and AM," "Class Clown" and "Occupation: Full." He also starred in 12 critically acclaimed one-hour HBO specials.

Stand up comedian Stanley Ullman will return to the Riviera Comedy Club on July 14 for seven nights along with three other comedians Jon Manfrellotti, Tony Camin and Max Nelson. Every one of these laugh makers has appeared on television and Manfrellotti most recently had a featured recurring role on "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Slice-of-life comedian Ullman, who is a native of Queens, N.Y., has had many acting roles including playing "the doctor" on the long-running "The Guiding Light." He appeared in the motion picture "The Rabbi In Matzo Balls" and in the rock video "Midnight Lady" with Julio Iglesias. He can also be spotted in television commercials for Federal Express, Wagner Power Roller, Campbell's Soup, Meister Brau and Wendy's.

In addition, Ullman has a comedy record album out on Promise Records called "If This Is It... I Want My Money Back."

The Riviera Comedy Club has shows at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $17.95 plus tax and fee, call 702-794-9433. The Riviera also offers special dinner/show combos.

The Royal Hotel on Convention Center Drive has shut down its casino as part of the hotel's ongoing conversion into a time-share complex. No word about a reopening.

The MGM Grand Spa has a new exclusive two-hour signature spa treatment, "The Dreaming Ritual," that incorporates Australian Aboriginal massage techniques. Massage, hair mask and hand and foot treatments are woven into this experience.

The journey begins in one of MGM Grand's private spa suites with Aboriginal music playing softly and an incense-smudging ceremony. A warm foot soak, pressure-point foot massage and aromatic foot mask follows. The indulgence continues with an exhilarating body exfoliation, body mask with pure Australian mud, and a penetrating mud scalp treatment. Next is a full-body massage. At the end, guests sip on a hot cup of lemon myrtle tea. For more information, call the MGM Grand Spa at 800-929-1111 or 702-891-3077.

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