12.30.11 · 1:37 AM

Rob Kardashian’s foray into ‘Dancing’ inspired him to do more, such as go to law school

Rob Kardashian is the most-oft choreographed of the Kardashians, having nearly won the Season 13 championship of “Dancing With the Stars.” His pro dancing partner and good friend, the ever-radiant Cheryl Burke, and he finished as the runners-up to J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff. The appearance helped set Kardashian apart from his family, which has gained international fame (if not acclaim) as a result of the highly rated and frequently referenced “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” The 24-year-old Kardashian is ... Read more...

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12.29.11 · 9:42 AM

Onstage mishap has the Skating Aratas at the center of a dizzying episode at V Theater

An incident Wednesday night at V Theater involving the hair-raising roller-skating tandem the Skating Aratas landed the female member of the duo in the lap of an audience member. That startled person was soon carted out of the theater on a stretcher. Hours after that unscripted event, a second audience member informed theater staff that she, too, was hurt during the incident. Both of those affected were Asian women who did not speak English and were reportedly taken to Desert ... Read more...

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12.29.11 · 2 AM

Trombone solo leads a parade of happenings as 2011 sashays out the door

This was the year of the trombone solo. That’s how I’ll best remember this topsy-turvy turning of the calendar, as 2011 is ushered out of the showroom as if part of a trombone-led parade at Frankie Moreno’s show at the Stratosphere. Moreno’s trombonist is Caleb McKee, a person I’d not known even a year ago, but who has performed dozens of trombone solos in shows I attended in 2011. Nathan Tanouye of the Celine Dion, “Vegas! The Show” and Santa ... Read more...

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12.24.11 · 2 AM

Writing from a childhood haunt: ‘It is still a good place to be’

Over the years, I’ve found I work better from odd locations. I joke about it all the time. I write from such places as the Palms sports book, the bar at Cue Club in Commercial Center, the Green Room at Fox 5 and a table at the Beat Coffeehouse on Fremont East. I once wrote a 2,000-word story from Krispy Kreme at Fitzgeralds. Another time I posted a column from the roof of the parking garage at Riviera. Something about ... Read more...

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12.23.11 · 10:20 AM

Stories of stars in the Studio at the Palms

It was 3:30 a.m., and Zoe Thrall got the call. An assistant working for the multiplatinum country band Alabama had a need: Time. As in, several hours. And as always, Thrall held the keys. “This was when the (Academy of) Country Music Awards were in town, and Alabama had called me a few days in advance to work in the studio, so we did that,” says Thrall, director of Studio at the Palms. “But at about 3:30 in the morning, ... Read more...

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12.16.11 · 12:39 PM

Pull up a stool for Michael Grimm’s next Las Vegas gig

Michael Grimm hit a home run when he won “America’s Got Talent” in September 2010. Saturday night, he’s arriving at home plate. For real, I mean: Home Plate Grill and Bar on Blue Diamond Road, just east of Decatur Boulevard. The man whose victory over tiny singing sensation Jackie Evancho was witnessed by 16 million NBC-TV viewers, and who just Sunday ended a limited engagement at the Flamingo Showroom, will be performing a gig he booked himself at a Dallas ... Read more...

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12.16.11 · 12:26 PM

Charity holiday song was a mad dash for Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton-Holmes

Not long ago two members of the Vegas vocal ensemble Fifth Avenue wrote a lovely holiday song. It was to be a duet, warm and cozy. But who would sing this song? Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton-Holmes fit nicely. The song, “One More Christmas With You,” is co-written by fine vocalist and Vegas scene-hopper Jerry Jones and his writing partner and Fifth Avenue co-founder, Rob Hyatt. “I envisioned it as a duet and thought it would be perfect for Clint ... Read more...

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12.15.11 · 5 PM

Events clash in Jerry Lewis’ universe as MDA chief retires, laudatory documentary premieres

It is an outcome befitting one of the nuttiest years of Jerry Lewis’ life. As a documentary celebrating his peerless entertainment career is set to debut this weekend, the person largely responsible for Lewis’ inelegant ouster from the Muscular Dystrophy Association has stepped down. The organization has announced that Gerald C. Weinberg has retired as president and CEO of the MDA. That news release was posted on the MDA’s official Web site on Monday. Weinberg, 82, is expected to continue ... Read more...

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12.14.11 · 6:38 PM

Brad Garrett closes out at the Trop, focuses his ample energy on MGM Grand

Brad Garrett had fallen relatively silent since October, when he announced he was pulling his comedy club out of Tropicana and relocating it to MGM Grand. Relatively silent until this week, anyway. Blasting through town in his own inimitable, bombastic manner, Garrett has been busily promoting his new venture at MGM Grand. The club is set to open to the public on March 30. Garrett will perform the opening week, along with club vets Ralph Harris, Michael Somerville and Geechy ... Read more...

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12.13.11 · 5:05 PM

No wrapping (or rapping) on Matt Goss’s holiday gift

The message is a cool mix of modern technology and classic holiday sentiment. It starts as a text. It ends as a black-and-white, Hallmark-esque holiday card showing a dapper dude leaning wistfully on a light pole as snow dusts the street and sidewalk behind. Playing in the background, fittingly, is “White Christmas.” This Gossian morsel of wintry cheer was passed along Monday afternoon by that Santa of Swagger, Matt Goss. It is more than just a text message. The link ... Read more...

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12.12.11 · 1:35 PM

NFR wraps with an injury that could’ve been worse and exciting plans for the future (maybe even legal wagering)

When Shane Proctor boarded the bucking bull Black Attack near the end of the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the event was already an unqualified success. Even before the 10th and final night wrapped at the customarily sold-out Thomas & Mack Center, fans were jubilantly telling Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association chief Karl Stressman that this year’s NFR was the best ever. Proctor’s ride in the seventh and last event of the evening and of the rodeo would help put an ... Read more...

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12.10.11 · 1:38 PM

Stratosphere’s investment in Frankie Moreno is a tall order, but well worth it

It was something of a Strip epiphany. The other day I was pulling into Bellagio, heading southbound on the Strip with the magical water show playing out to my right. I gazed hypnotically at the dancing aquatic showcase until I felt a giant presence to my left. It was one of those ponderous, rolling billboards. Leering down was Frankie Moreno. Well, hello up there. The Stratosphere’s new headliner seems everywhere these days: on billboards, giant vehicles and even signs hovering ... Read more...

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12.10.11 · 2 AM

Domenick Allen and Leigh Zimmerman have it covered, A to Z

Domenick Allen toured with Liberace as a teenager, starred as the nefarious Simon Prescott on “Days of out Lives,” fronted the rock band Foreigner for a time, has mastered just about any instrument you’d care to hear (he unleashes a blistering sax solo on “Urgent”) and is known to pop awake in the dead of night to write music playing in his head. Leigh Zimmerman has performed in some of the greatest Broadway and London West End productions, including “Will ... Read more...

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12.8.11 · 12:35 PM

From Tokyo to the world (that’s the plan) and finally to Vegas (maybe), brace for the Jackson 3

Now is the time for the Jackson 3. Tito, Marlon and Jackie Jackson are heading up “The Michael Jackson Tribute Live Concert” set for Yoyogi National Stadium in central Tokyo on Dec. 13-14. Joining the Jacksons-cubed, who are going forth in this venture without brothers Randy and Jermaine, is Japanese R&B singer Al. The show is to feature several Japanese recording stars along with U.S. performers Macy Gray and Judith Hill. A similar tribute to Jackson was held in Cardiff, ... Read more...

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12.8.11 · 11:46 AM

A first: All acts at Las Vegas Hilton represented in a single show, this one for charity

There are few “firsts” remaining in the long and storied history of the Las Vegas Hilton, but one is being staged Friday night. In what organizers are saying is the first show to feature every act currently performing at the Hilton (and we’re not to argue, as I can’t recall this ever happening), a benefit concert for Project 143 is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Las Vegas Hilton Theater. Cost is $20 per ticket, and all proceeds go ... Read more...

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12.5.11 · 3:06 PM

In ‘Immortal,’ ‘The Giving Tree’ has been taken away, but expect Jamie King to stay

At the onset of Saturday’s Las Vegas premiere of “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour,” the audience listened to a poignant recording of Michael Jackson asking, “Have you seen my childhood?” Not long after, I was asking, ‘Have you seen my tree?” You might recall my reference on Saturday to “The Giving Tree,” a concept so metaphorically appealing that Director Jamie King ordered a Yosemite National Park-worthy oak to be constructed as part of the “Immortal” set and planted it ... Read more...

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12.3.11 · 2 AM

Cirque du Soleil’s big shows exert big influence on the Strip

The piece of scenery looms largely over “Immortal.” It is a tree, specifically an enormous oak with muscular branches spanning wide enough to hug the stage. What of this tree, you ask, as performers in “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” play music and dance and bound about. “Immortal” arena tour Director Jamie King knows the tree, and its history. He’s seen the real thing, and he tells its story. “When I went to Neverland Ranch, Michael’s sanctuary, I was ... Read more...

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Featured Cocktail

Cocktail of the Week May 23, 2012
by Sabrina Chapman

Rhumbar’s Scorpion Bowl stings so good

Ready to celebrate the official start of summer? Prepare for takeoff. Memorial Day Weekend picks up speed with the addition of Rhumbar’s Scorpion Bowl ($49) to the weekend’s party lineup. ...
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