Las Vegas Weekly

October 30, 2009 · 2:06 PM

Strip Scribbles: Mayor visits The Lion King jungle in London

By Robin Leach

Mayor Oscar Goodman, center, with cast members of Disney's The Lion King in London.

Photo: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

The British cast of Disney’s The Lion King welcomed our Mayor Oscar Goodman on his visit last week to the English capital promoting our city and the inaugural British Airways nonstop flights between London and Las Vegas. While there, Oscar attended the spectacular production, now seen by more than 50 million people worldwide.

Afterward, he went backstage at the Lyceum Theatre and posed for photos with principal cast members Tanya Edwards (Nala), Sakhumzi Mbele (Mufasa), Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki) and Andile Gumbi (Simba), along with his two iconic Las Vegas showgirls. The Lion King also is playing here at Mandalay Bay.

*Halloween celebrations got off to an early start with the Vampoween party at Blush in the Wynn. UFC hero and Dancing With the Stars competitor Chuck Liddell, boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., actor Chazz Palminteri and poker pro Antonio Esfandiari were among those rooting for the sexiest vampire in the blood-thirsty costume contest!

*Click HERE for our ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN of Halloween events posted yesterday.

*NHRA drivers took part in a Fan Fest at Fremont Street Experience downtown last night. They greeted fans and signed autographs. Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Glenn Pinkerton was on duty with Ron Krisher, funny car driver, Doug Horne, pro fuel motorcycle driver, and Karen Stoffer, pro fuel motorcycle driver. Additionally, NHRA Top Fuel driver Urs Erbacher posed with the official Las Vegas Showgirls as fans of Professional Bull Riding joined in the excitement.

Star surveillance

Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson has been all over the Palms this week -- and not just hosting the screening of Michael Jackson’s This Is It. Joe was at The Playboy Club for the official after-party, where he posed with Playboy Bunny Lagracella Omran. He also went up to Moon with actor Todd Bridges. Joe used the Palms to reveal that the family’s memorial museum will be located on 10 acres of land in their hometown of Gary, Ind. Brenden Theatres owner Johnny Brenden kicked in the first $10,000 toward the building’s construction fund. Joe also ate at Iron Chef Kerry Simon’s restaurant in Palms Palace. … Comedy kings Wayne Brady and Drew Carey met at Wayne Newton’s first-night premiere of Once Before I Go at the Tropicana and decided to go for a late-night bite. The funnymen went to First Food & Bar in the Palazzo and enjoyed chef Sam DeMarco’s buffalo chicken wings. They posed for fan photos and also jumped into First’s photo booth!

*Former beauty queen and sexy model Bobbie Brown won the spokesmodel contest on our hit Star Search shows a record 13 times and went on to bigger notoriety as the sexually suggestive vixen in Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” video. It also won her an engagement ring from Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee. Tomorrow night, Bobbie signed on as the last-minute host of the Sinners Ball at Ovation in Green Valley Ranch. The party is free, and she’ll join the Sin City Sinners made up of Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat), Todd Kerns (Age of Electric), Mike Ellis and Rob Cournoyer (Raging Slab). Bobbie is currently hosting VH1’s Women of the Sunset Strip and Do It for the Band.

If you’re fed up to your back teeth with Halloween and don’t want to dole out free candy to the kids or dress up in an outrageous outfit, there are still some non-ghoulish entertainment attractions for the weekend, and we’ve wrapped them up without any help from the spooks and skeletons in a decidedly nonhorrific package we refer to affectionately around here as the ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN:

Friday, Oct. 30

*Comedienne Kathy Griffin rakes Hollywood over the coals from her loose lips vantage point on the D-List, and she sharpens the uncomfortably honest, funny vitriol in concert at Mandalay Bay. Wonder if her new BFF reality mom Kate Gosselin will be there because we know her biggest enemy Paula Abdul won’t!

*TV host-comedian Jay Leno will jump on his private jet right after taping tonight in Burbank, Calif., for Las Vegas and two nights at Terry Fator Theatre in The Mirage.

*For rock with a generous helping of Halloween horror, it’s the Rob Zombie concert at The Pearl in the Palms.

*Hit-making country songwriters join up-and-comers and cover artists for the free concert Nashville Unplugged at Green Valley Ranch.

*Hometown favorites the Scintas start a three-night run of music, comedy and impressions at Suncoast, while singer-comedienne Vicki Lawrence performs her two-woman show with Mama at South Point through Sunday.

*The Tragically Hip proves their cool on the We Are the Same Tour at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

Party patrol

Actress and dancer Briana Evigan, best known for her leading role in Step Up 2: The Streets, will celebrate her 23rd birthday at Lavo in the Palazzo. Briana received the 2009 ShoWest Award here in Vegas as Female Star of Tomorrow alongside her cast mates in Sorority Row.

Saturday, Oct. 31

*The legend of the Blues Brothers with Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi continues with a late-night show at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. They’re also doing all sorts of special events downtown at Binion’s with radio broadcasts and fan meet-and-greets. Earlier, Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser entertain at the House of Blues for the double-header concert showcase.

*There’s probably not a better band for a Halloween night concert than K.C. & the Sunshine band, and the veterans make the music at the Star of the Desert Arena at Buffalo Bills in Primm.

*Slipknot will not come undone when they play The Pearl in the Palms, despite the fact that the crowd will be in crazy costumes for Halloween.

*At Carey Hart’s Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Hotel, there’s a three-pack with Fear, Battle Born and the Mapes.

*Tickets go on sale today for the Feb. 3-21 Santana dates at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel. Carlos says the set list will be ever changing, and he has a new opening number. … Tickets also go on sale for the Dec. 5 Willie Nelson concert at Planet Hollywood’s Theatre for the Performing Arts. The living legend and music icon appears for one night only with his family and guests Asleep at the Wheel during the National Finals Rodeo kickoff weekend.

Sunday, Nov. 1

*Former Crazy Girls dancer Andrea Styles has launched her own career as Pride & the Vanities after creating the Deadly Seven punk princesses. Her new band plays its first gig at Wasted Space. Andrea says no blood or torn stockings this time around, but instead will play an original mix of progressive electronic pop rock while still providing some sexy visuals. Andrea, who is the frontwoman of the group, writes most of the material with keyboard player Dan Walker, who has been working with Zowie Bowie at the Monte Carlo. Andrea is working on her debut album Too Much Pride for a 2010 release.

*It’s the day of the dead in Mexico, so to battle the spirits and their after effects from a night of partying, La Quinta Estacion ease the pain at the House of Blues.

Monday’s teases

A preview of the next double elimination on Dancing With the Stars will set off predictions for Las Vegas favorites Kelly Osbourne, Donny Osmond and Derek Hough. … We’ll have amazing photo galleries of the daring dresses and outrageous outfits from all the hot Halloween happenings, plus The Mirage’s $100 million man Terry Fator launches a nationwide anti-drunken-driving campaign.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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