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Las Vegas News of the Week |
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June 22, 2009
Vegas4Visitors Weekly
by Rick Garman
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Rental Car Gambling
No, not gambling in the actual rental car, but who knows? Maybe that’s next.
Instead, this is about the McCarran International Airport rental car center where you’ll be able to drop some dough in the slots while you’re waiting for that white Ford Taurus because apparently the time between the slots in the airport and the slots at your hotel is just too long. About three dozen slot and video poker machines will be added to the consolidated rental car center by this fall in a bid to generate more revenue for the facility (because apparently the laundry list of extra fees and taxes they tack on that turns a $20 a day car into a $40 a day car just aren’t doing it).
Sometime in 2010 they plan on strapping a slot machine to your chest the moment you step off the airplane.
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License, Major Credit Card, and a $20 For the Slots Please
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Holy Cow! New Casino Planned
Developers are planning a unique casino/retail complex for the corner of Sahara and The Strip, where the former Holy Cow bar once moooved people to visit.
The two-story development will include a restaurant, a bar, a Walgreens, and a small casino – about 9,000 square-feet, which should be enough to hold a couple hundred slots and/or video poker machines. The entire front of the building will be covered in giant LED screens, giving it a Times Square style appearance. There will be no hotel, showroom, shopping mall, fancy nightclub, or pirate battle.
The plot of land, on the northeast corner of the intersection across the street from the Sahara hotel has been the subject of a number of grand plans since the Holy Cow closed back in 2002. At one point it was going to be the location for an Ivana Trump branded condo complex and a residential tower that would have been the tallest in Las Vegas.
If all goes according to plan, construction should start this fall with a late 2010 opening.
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Vegas4Visitors Weekly Awards: Oscar Goodman Edition
The Coolest Guy Ever Award of the Week goes to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, not because he’s a “cool” guy (although he kind of is in a former mob lawyer kind of way), but because of the giant “ice portrait” of him being unveiled this week at the Minus 5 Ice Lounge at Mandalay Bay. Made from over 500 pounds of ice, the portrait will be on display throughout the summer.
The Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In Award of the Week also goes to Oscar Goodman whose plans for a Mob Museum in Las Vegas hit yet another snag this week when a pair of contractors bidding on the project started threatening lawsuits over who is going to get to build the thing. One city official suggested the brouhaha could delay the Museum for “years.”
The I Need a Better Place for My Throne Award of the Week goes to, you guessed it, Oscar Goodman who apparently won’t be getting a new City Hall anytime soon. The Mayor has been working for years to get a new one built and as of a few weeks ago it looked like it would be a go. But now, rising interest rates have put the kibosh on getting that done anytime soon.
And by the way, yes, he has a throne in office. The six-foot tall replica of a Bavarian king’s throne was a gift. He doesn’t sit in it… often.
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Feature of the Week |
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Show Review: Terry Fator |
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Fator won a season of the NBC competition show “America’s Got Talent,” and he is proving he has plenty of it with his unique show at The Mirage that blends ventriloquism with celebrity impersonations. Sound odd? Yes, it is, but also traditionally old-fashioned in a lot of ways.
Fator’s “Cast of Thousands” include Winston, a laid-back turtle; Walter the horn-dog cowboy; the Elvis impersonating Maynard; stoner Dougie, middle aged cougar Vicky, and more all of whom join their master for a song or three in the style of whomever did the song originally. You’ll see Winston doing a decent Roy Orbison and a so-good-it’s-spooky Maroon 5 while Walter tears through Brooks and Dunn and Dougie brings down the house with some Guns-n-Roses.
The impressions themselves range from pretty good to perfect, but all of them are pretty amazing considering the guy doing them isn’t opening his mouth most of the time.
While enjoyable in a mostly inoffensive way, there’s something not quite there about the show. Fator seems to be more comfortable with a puppet on his arm than as himself and his pacing in between numbers and by himself was laconic to the point of sleepiness. The few bits where Fator goes it alone are, at best, diverting and at worst, downright unentertaining. Note to Fator: cut the entire Michael Jackson bit. It probably wasn’t all that great 10 years ago when it was more relevant.
The layout of the theater doesn’t help with large chunks of the audience facing giant television screens instead of the stage (try to get a seat in the center if you want to see him instead of a broadcast image of him).
Fator is, without a doubt, a journeyman entertainer, having done this act for decades. He knows his audience and his audience knows him so for fans this full scale Las Vegas production is probably a dream come true. While not challenging from an artistic or entertainment point of view, the show is a solid throwback to the variety days of Vegas yore when all it took to get a few laughs out of folks was a good piece of felt on your arm.
Vegas4Visitors Grade: B
Terry Fator
The Mirage
3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
800-963-9634
website
Show Times:
Tue-Sat 7:30pm
Tickets:
$59-129
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Feature of the Week |
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Show Review: Peepshow |
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Most topless shows in Las Vegas come in two varieties. There’s the old-fashioned (and nearly extinct) showgirl/variety show style with women in big headdresses parading across the stage in between trained dog acts and then there is the modern, some will say trashier, versions which is usually just women stripping down to their g-strings, often in a variety of fantasy style set pieces (naughty nurses anyone?).
“Peepshow,” the production playing at Planet Hollywood, falls into its own category. It’s a re-imagining of classic fairy tales told as an excuse for women to take their clothes off. It’s strange, definitely, but also compelling since at least it’s something different – at least they are trying to be creative before they show you the flesh. Some may not think that’s a good thing, but those people are probably in a cab to a strip club instead of coming here anyway.
The Peep Diva (originally played by Mel B from The Spice Girls but no longer), leading a young innocent (originally Kelly Monaco, but also no longer) through a journey of sexual awakening through the aforementioned fairy tales. There’s the big bad wolf blowing a dress of straw and sticks off of some comely pigs, er, lasses until faced down by the Diva and her “Brick House” (Commodores) strutting self. There’s Peter (of Pumpkin Eater fame) with the wife that he could not keep gyrating on a stripper pole. Goldie Locks, Red Riding Hood, and more are set up and taken down (or rather off) with a stylish panache rarely seen in topless shows.
The bulk of the credit for turning this admittedly silly premise into something worth knowing about goes to the musicians. In addition to the leads, a trio of female vocalists strut their way expertly through the original and cover tunes but the real standout here is Josh Strickland, former “American Idol” contestant and originator of “Tarzan” on Broadway who not only sings the roof off the dump but looks pretty good doing it in the process. His version of “Feeling Good” during the Peter the Pumpkin Eater scene had the audience cheering.
A crack band and a lot of talented dancers (doing much more than just showing their wares) completes the ensemble.
I’m still not sure what the audience for a show like this is. If it’s cheap thrills you’re seeking you can find more of them at a strip club or on Cinemax. If it’s artistry and/or a compelling story, go see Cirque. But if you’re looking for some good singing, good dancing, an amusing premise, and the bonus of some nearly naked women (and a couple of men) then Peepshow is for you.
Vegas4Visitors Grade: B
Peepshow
Planet Hollywood
3667 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
877-333-9474
website
Show Times:
Sun, Mon, Tue, Thu 9pm
Fri-Sat 8 & 10:30pm
Tickets:
$65-165
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