02.29.12 · 8:02 PM

Burlesque legend Tempest Storm celebrates ‘21st’ birthday

Tempest Storm is turning 21, and this can only mean one thing: Party. But Storm is not exactly partying it up in the sense that she is shedding her gown sashaying across a stage while twirling a feathered boa. Rather, for the vaunted burlesque queen, dinner with a few friends will mark this occasion. One of my favorite figures in Vegas for a long time, Storm is actually 84 years in real years but has celebrated the actual natal date ... Read more...

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02.29.12 · 7:32 PM

Composers Showcase taking its merriment to Smith Center; Joshua Bell to ring in opening

We’re a long way from Suede, scenesters. As the lineup for the opening performance of the Smith Center for Performing Arts becomes public, one of the city’s richest regular showcases is moving into the Center’s Cabaret Jazz club. The Composers Showcase, one of the most popular, intimate performance nights in Vegas over the past six years, is holding its first performance at Cabaret Jazz on March 28. This very cool experience is a night of original tunes performed by some ... Read more...

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02.29.12 · 12 PM

Santana goes even more intimate with concert series at House of Blues

For Carlos Santana, his approach to the show he will usually bring to the stage at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay will be the same as it has been for performances throughout his five-decade career, which is to say each concert will be different. “We will be playing the songs people want to hear, but in the middle, we’ll provide a musical experience that is unique,” Santana said Tuesday at House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in L.A., ... Read more...

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02.25.12 · 11:21 AM

The great storyteller Ron Shock is in a ‘very difficult position,’ and that’s putting it mildly

Ron Shock is facing pure torture, and that’s if he’s lucky. If the best-case scenario, the very best outcome, does play out, he still faces hell. “I am in a very, very difficult position, very difficult,” Shock, a veteran stand-up comic and brilliant monologist who has been performing in Las Vegas and around the country for 30 years. “I’ve got a very aggressive and rare form of cancer. The cure, if it works, is going to be very hard, very ... Read more...

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02.24.12 · 5:30 PM

Las Vegas musicians unite to do a good thing for the Las Vegas Musicians Union

As someone far wiser than I once said, they’ll be groovin’ … on a Sunday afternoon. Led by Lee Richey, cellist in “Phantom — the Las Vegas Spectacular” who has also worked with musicians from the College of Southern Nevada, about 40 musicians are performing at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Community Lutheran Church at 3720 E. Tropicana Ave. The purpose, other than to enjoy some of the city’s finest musicians play a variety of music, is to raise money for ... Read more...

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02.24.12 · 5:10 PM

‘Thunder’ doesn’t impress Jake Pavelka, but the power of ‘Chippendales’ does

Sometime you feel you know too much about a certain topic to be deemed healthy. The dissimilar marketing and casting strategies of the two predominant male revues in Las Vegas, for instance. “Chippendales” at the Rio, celebrating 10 years at that hotel this weekend, is prone to “stunt casting.” That is, inviting a celebrity with no discernible experience in disrobing while dancing in public to help boost the production. Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees is the leading example, as he ... Read more...

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02.23.12 · 4:52 PM

‘Power of Love’ Ali celebration raises more than $11 million

Boosted by a $1,500-per-plate minimum price for a seat and a $1.1 million bid on a pair of famed boxing gloves, the Keep Memory Alive “Power of Love Gala” honoring Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday Saturday night raised more than $11 million. Proceeds from the star-studded, nearly-six-hour gala benefited the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in downtown Las Vegas and the Muhammad Ali Center in the boxer’s hometown of Louisville, Ky. A crowd of 2,000 stars of entertainment ... Read more...

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02.23.12 · 12:50 PM

Ellen DeGeneres’ take on the Skating Aratas: ‘Oh my God!’

It came off as a genuinely dizzying episode. Overcoming a forgotten costume and making an abrupt change in music, the Skating Aratas turned in an inspired performance for today’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (airing at 3 p.m. on KLAS Channel 8). The clip of that appearance is embedded in the column, on the off chance you had not noticed that. The appearance was to promote “V – The Ultimate Variety Show” at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, ... Read more...

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02.23.12 · 12:16 PM

Post it: House of Blues tuning up for a Santana residency

A job posting for an open sales manager position at House of Blues lists a heretofore-unannounced artist as a resident performer. But the name is pretty familiar: Carlos Santana. In a public listing issued by Live Nation for the position of sales manager at the music hall at Mandalay Bay, Santana’s name surfaces in a short list of acts for which a sales manager will need to sell tickets. To quote: “Job summary: Generate ticket sales and upgrade package sales ... Read more...

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02.22.12 · 10:08 PM

In pursuing a tribute to Frank Sinatra, Robert Davi is no bad actor

Robert Davi plays bad good. Really good. Davi has played such bad guys as the villainous Jake Fratelli in “The Goonies,” Al Torres in “Showgirls” and, most notoriously, drug merchant Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film “Licence to Kill.” Davi is so good at being bad that, upon meeting the gritty actor and soulful vocalist, you sort of think he might really be bad. But Davi is not so bad. Not really. His tempering of one of his ... Read more...

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02.22.12 · 10:26 AM

Skating Aratas to take a spin on ‘Ellen’

Ellen DeGeneres has never claimed her show to be a no-spin zone. That’s wise, given Thursday afternoon’s guests. The Skating Aratas, the wheeled darlings of “V — Ultimate Variety Show” at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, are to be featured on Thursday’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The talk show is broadcast locally at 3 p.m. weekdays on KLAS Channel 8. On Tuesday, the duo prepped to perform an abbreviated, 2 1/2-minute version of their act for DeGeneres ... Read more...

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02.20.12 · 6:25 PM

A wild weekend capped by wicked comedians, winning Wranglers and aerial acrobatics

Sunday was to be a day of rest following a night of weighty opulence at the Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala at MGM Grand Garden Arena. But Sammy Shore had other ideas, and he is 85 years old. If a man who has been performing for 60 years can tee it up on a Sunday afternoon for a variety show that’s nearly three hours long, then so can the rest of us. A crowd of probably more than ... Read more...

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02.20.12 · 2:01 AM

Business is a family affair for Golden Gaming’s Blake Sartini

Consider the ram, and its significance in the life of Blake Sartini. It is the official animal of his home state — Nevada. When he hunts big game, Sartini often tracks the powerful and elusive desert bighorn sheep. The head of a ram that unwittingly entered Sartini’s crosshairs hangs from a wall near the entrance of his Golden Gaming office on Interstate 215 and Jones Boulevard. Golden Gaming’s two-story headquarters shares a parking lot with a Sierra Gold tavern bedecked ... Read more...

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02.19.12 · 12:34 AM

Stars line up to honor Muhammad Ali, help Ruvo Center fight brain diseases

Sometimes, you don’t need words to convey the message. Fifteen minutes before midnight on a Saturday in Las Vegas was one such time. Stevie Wonder had summoned Muhammad Ali to the MGM Grand Garden Arena stage. Wonder led the crowd in a chant, calling out, “You are the greatest! You are the greatest!” The crowd shouted back as Wonder rocked on his piano bench. Then Wonder, a legend of contemporary music, uncorked a bounding, rendition of his “Happy Birthday” release, ... Read more...

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02.18.12 · 9:10 PM

Las Vegas throws a party worthy of ‘The Greatest’

The tribute to Muhammad Ali was an endless barrage of knockout blows at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night as the stars streamed into the Keep Memory Alive Power Of Love gala. The event was expected to be the city’s greatest party, and it was shaping up to be a truly heavyweight affair. Early in the program, attended by about 1,800 people seated for dinner on the floor of the Grand Garden Arena, President Barack Obama sent a ... Read more...

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02.18.12 · 1:46 PM

Sammy Shore shining, Stirling Club shutting down and Strat entertainment sizzling

Sammy Shore turned 85 this month and the man is still in high gear, pushing himself at high RPM and handling like a Model A powered by a Ferrari engine. “I feel like I’m 40 years old,” Shore said during a phone conversation this week. “I can’t slow down — I don’t know how! I’m busier than I’ve ever been. I’m having a resurgence, even though I was never a really big name.” The co-founder (with his ex-wife, Mitzi) of ... Read more...

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02.17.12 · 4:45 PM

Oscar Goodman goes Shecky as Mob Museum opening prompts a mob scene

It was at Wednesday’s VIP opening of the Mob Museum that Oscar Goodman said, “I’ve got a great line!” So you listen, because Goodman is a treasure trove of noteworthy quotes. He talked of touring the museum that day with a reporter from USA Today and being approached by a group of tourists from Europe. A woman from Finland asked Goodman, “Are you the mayor?” “I said, ‘No! But I’m sleeping with her!’ ” Goodman said, beaming. This was during a ... Read more...

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02.16.12 · 2 AM

Sig Rogich ‘enthralled’ by interactions with Muhammad Ali

He called himself The Greatest. But to Sig Rogich, Muhammad Ali was The Catalyst. “He was a catalyst for the sport of boxing in Nevada,” Rogich says in remembering Ali, whom he saw in each of his Las Vegas bouts. A highly successful and respected political operative who worked closely with President George H.W. Bush during his 1988 election campaign and during his term in office, Rogich was immersed in the fight game during Ali’s boxing days. He grew to ... Read more...

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02.16.12 · 2 AM

‘Power of Love Gala’ to feature A-listers aplenty

Ask Anna Robins about the size of the team that has been assembled to stage this year’s “Power of Love” gala, and she pauses. Then she chuckles. Then the number “380” is tossed out. And that’s just the total number of wait staff employees brought on board by MGM Grand to serve dinner and dessert. “If you count all the waiters and waitresses and bartenders,” Robins said, “you have 380 servers.” The total number of those on staff to stage ... Read more...

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02.13.12 · 6 PM

Sneak peek: Mob Museum set to open, with plenty of larger-than-life figures to greet you

When you walk into the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, you are first met by a beyond-life-size portrait of J. Edgar Hoover holding a semiautomatic weapon trained at the entrance. This sort of visage of old J. Edgar — for decades the overlord of the FBI — cutting down the bad guys, is to be expected from the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement, housed inside the old Las Vegas federal courthouse and post office. What is ... Read more...

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02.13.12 · 10:48 AM

What a Whitney Houston residency in Las Vegas might have looked like

Some of the most inspired Las Vegas concepts never leave the port. Remember late casino pioneer Bob Stupak’s plans for a Titanic-themed resort across the Strip from the Sahara? In 2009, there was a lot of talk that Whitney Houston would embark on a residency in Las Vegas, an extended engagement similar to that of Celine Dion’s production at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Planet Hollywood and Paris Las Vegas have been specified in such reports for a project to ... Read more...

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02.11.12 · 12:30 PM

Color from the scene at Thomas & Mack Center: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!

Updated at 3:05 pm.: The final sequence has Chase Stanback missing the front end of a one-and-one, but teammate Justin Hawkins pulling in the rebound and drawing a foul. He makes the first but misses the second, and the Aztecs rebound with 10 seconds left and a chance to tie it at 65 or win it. But Hawkins makes an open-court steal from Aztec guard Xavier Thames, the buzzer blares and the Rebels escape with a 65-63 victory. The crowd, ... Read more...

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02.10.12 · 6 PM

South Point owner Michael Gaughan’s take on ‘Vegas Stripped’: ‘I’ll give it an 8’

Often, life is a numbers game for Michael Gaughan. And his review of the first two episodes of “Vegas Stripped” is numerical in nature: “I give it an eight,” said the owner of South Point hotel-casino. “It came out well, all things considered.” Gaughan’s rating could be called a hard eight, as he is not the most lenient audience for the Travel Channel series focused on his hotel. Up to Wednesday’s premiere episodes, Gaughan has been either indifferent or skeptical ... Read more...

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02.10.12 · 9:47 AM

Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman

Among the compelling subjects with whom David Fisher has collaborated are William Shatner and the late Johnnie Cochran. “Oscar Goodman,” Fisher said, “is a combination of Cochran and Shatner. He loves the showmanship, and he loves the drama.” Fisher is tapping into the ever-fertile brain of Goodman for the former Las Vegas mayor’s upcoming autobiography, which at the moment is being referred to as, “The Untitled Oscar Goodman Memoir.” An apt title to match the salacious nature of the book ... Read more...

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02.8.12 · 11:06 AM

‘Power of Love’ Ali celebration to be broadcast on ABC, ESPN2

Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday party set for Feb. 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena is turning into a celebration for the masses. “Ali 70th From Las Vegas” will be broadcast on ABC at 2 p.m. on Feb. 25 and again on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. The event honoring Ali is the 16th Annual Keep Memory Alive “Power of Love” gala, expected to draw 1,800 guests to the arena. The night is a benefit for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center ... Read more...

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02.7.12 · 11:44 AM

A sophisticated look at line-moving and dog-show handicapping from Wynn’s Johnny Avello

I’m what is known as an “unsophisticated” sports bettor. I say this because many years ago, Johnny Avello said this of me. It was at a CineVegas wrap party at Green Valley Ranch, and I told Avello that I often made sports wagers while hastily scanning a betting sheet as I’m walking to the counter. “You,” he said, “are an unsophisticated bettor.” I mentioned that I also happen to be an unsophisticated dancer, an unsophisticated conversationalist and even an unsophisticated ... Read more...

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02.6.12 · 4:04 PM

A party replete with Carrot Top, ‘AGT’ contestants, a couple of Blue Men, deep-fried Oreos … oh, and the Super Bowl

You know when you happen upon Carrot Top over by the mac-and-cheese warmer that you are not attending a typical Super Bowl party. So it was Sunday at the Henderson home of the esteemed Jeff Molitz. That Carrot Top was there was not wholly surprising, as Molitz is the personal assistant of Scott Thompson (who is, in fact, Carrot Top). Nor was it unexpected that a high volume of guests would turn out. Molitz has been hosting this party for ... Read more...

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02.1.12 · 6:04 PM

Ex-Checkmate Sonny Charles took an early ride on Don Cornelius’ ‘Soul Train’

Sonny Charles’ first ride on the Soul Train was in 1969, before the hit TV show even started. “I first met Don in 1969, the summer of that year, in Chicago,” Charles recalled in a phone conversation this afternoon. “We came in and played our new record, and he interviewed us then before he ever hit it big.” The Don in this instance is Don Cornelius, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound today at his home in L.A. ... 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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