Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Groovy hang with Chippendales; Wayne Newton makes date; AFAN ready for colorful Black & White shindig

Tyson Beckford in Chippendales

Denise Truscello / WireImage / DeniseTruscello.net

Tyson Beckford, onstage with Sheryl Underwood, guest hosts and performs in Chippendales on Friday, May 1, 2015, in the Rio.

Updated Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015 | 1:24 p.m.

Jeff Timmons in Chippendales at the Rio

Musical guest star and MC Jeff Timmons in Chippendales at the Rio on May 12, 2011. Launch slideshow »

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is the Rio’s BK Whopper Bar, which sits just across from another, um, whopper bar, the Chippendale’s theater (hashtag-SheckyKats).

In a conversation I’ll always remember, a former guest host of Chippendales at the Rio once told me that the BK Whopper Bar was the most advantageous place to meet women in all of VegasVille. The theory being the ladies who spill out of the Chipps’ show are all fired up — and inevitably file into the Burger King enclave.

Not sure how this interaction would begin — “You wanna shake?” — but that is how this opportunity has been presented.

And the person who told me that was Jeff Timmons, who observed this cultural phenomenon when he guest starred in the show in 2011. Timmons would go on to co-produce his own adult revue, Men of the Strip, which has been the focus of rumors of a residency on the Strip (ideally), but nothing has yet … lined up.

Meantime, today’s Chipps guest star is Tyson Beckford, back for his second spin through the production. A visage of Tyson leers toward the Whopper Bar, as if expecting to witness some intense hookup action. No such luck, T.B., merely making paragraphs.

Let’s scour the scene elsewhere …

• A date has been set for Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah museum and tour: Sept. 17. The family months ago returned to management of the famous parcel at Pecos and Sunset roads, and a wide array of Newton’s personal belongings, memorabilia, stage costumes (including some groovy jumpsuits), vehicles and his private plane are to be onstage. Also in development is a documentary video of Newton’s life and career in Las Vegas. I’ll be there, a lot, sometimes just hanging out and chatting up the commoners …

Click to enlarge photo

The entrance gate to Wayne Newton's former home, once known as Casa de Shenandoah, during an open house on Monday, September 22, 2014.

• Saturday is an uncommonly percolating night around town. The AFAN Black & White Party is upon us, once more, as Aid for AIDS of Nevada celebrates its 31st year serving Southern Nevada. The event begins at 9 p.m. at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel; tickets are still available and start at $50 (go to AFANLV.org for info; tickets onsite are available at Artist Ballroom beginning Saturday at 3 p.m.). Ross Mathews hosts the entertainment component of the event, with restaurants from across the city hosting food stations. The entertainment is more DJ-driven (but not from MC Johnny-Johnny), though Pia Zadora and our Las Vega Weekly’s own Confessions of a Showgirl columnist Maren Wade are taking the stage.

Some quick numbers action for AFAN: This is the 29th Black & White Party; last year’s event raised $130,000; more than 3,000 supporters turned out; 5,900 visitors have visited the AFAN offices in Las Vegas; and 841 individuals received housing, utility and emergency financial assistance services in the past year.

Click to enlarge photo

Partygoers donning black & white outlandish attire enjoy the evening of festivities .during the 27th Annual Aid for AIDS of Nevada Black & White Party at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas Saturday night, August 24, 2013.

• David Perrico’s Pop Strings are playing their final night at Rocks Lounge, with Perrico and the band declining to play behind the new partition built at the entrance of the club. The glassy send-off begins at 10:30 p.m., no cover, but please hit the bar to help pay for the club’s recent modifications.

Perrico is already building a new schedule, and the Pop Strings lineup will be heard from again, at Cabaret Jazz in the Smith Center on Sept. 25. The guests are to be “Alice — A Steampunk Concert Fantasy” singers Anne Martinez and Ashley Fuller and Chris Phillips of Zowie Bowie. Oddly enough, Phillips also is a Rocks Lounge headliner, a spot he’s held for the past nine years, and his act is remaining in its Friday night slot.

We’re feeling a new room for the strings, in a weeks-long shuffle of acts and venues around town.

• Martin Kaye’s “Odd Socks” show is set for 8 p.m. Saturday at Art Square Theater. The Jerry Lee Lewis of “Million Dollar Quartet” at Harrah’s, Kaye has updated his original solo show from a couple of years ago (tickets are $25, click here to do just that).

Kaye is not from around here, as we say, an import from Manchester, England, who has grown very fond of our city. His musicianship, songwriting, showmanship and passion for performing are evident every time out. And, as always, check out the footwear.

• On the topic of moving your feet at high velocity, Franky Perez and the Dirty are at Sunset Station’s Club Madrid at 10 p.m. Perez told me one of the all-time great VegasVille stories last Monday, and also happens to be one of the city’s most powerful live performers. Catch him whenever you can … he communicates his art very effectively.

• Column favorite and a good bud, Shayma Tash is recording live (which beats the alternative) from Inspire Theater on Monday and Tuesday nights for an upcoming special to be shopped to Netflix. I met Tash at the home of Carrot Top, strangely enough, when she was the opening act in Topper’s show at Luxor. Since, I’ve caught her at Laugh Factory, Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club and the last performance at Riviera Comedy Club. She’s one of the more talented standups around; her QVC-host character is particularly inspired. You’ll see her, fittingly, at Inspire.

• Lest we forget, the final performance of “For the Record: Baz” is 8 p.m. Sunday at Light in Mandalay Bay. The cast contracts are up Monday, so we were to expect some changes in the lineup anyway. There has been some informal interest in the show from at least one downtown property, but the producers want this show to return to a significant venue on the Strip. The most reasonable timeline I can determine for that return is in early 2016. It’s the best outcome of what has turned into a bad scene at Light for a show that deserves a better fate.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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