Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Swinging from Rose. Rabbit. Lie., Stratosphere, Rock in Rio, swanky new lounge at Omnia

Omnia Nightclub rendering Caesars Palace

A rendering of Omnia Nightclub, slated to open this spring at Caesars Palace.

Elann Saula

Three-year-old Elann Saula sits in the reception area awaiting connection treatment for lymphangiectasia, a rare disease centered in his intestines, at Children's Specialty Center of Nevada in Las Vegas Thursday, January 8, 2015.  Elann is the son of Launch slideshow »

The Kats Report Bureau was centered at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. in the Cosmopolitan on Thursday night, a birthday event hosted by Skye Dee Miles and featuring a roaring performance by the cast of BBR’s “Alice — A Steampunk Concert Fantasy.” We had a long string of songs sung in great voice by Joey Fatone and the cast of “Rock of Ages,” Maren Wade, Lisa Marie Smith, Michelle Johnson, Kenny Davidsen, Jassen Allen Croop, Philip Dreesen, Elisa Furr and a spiritually energized Jason Tenner of “Purple Reign.”

There was more … or less, if you’re referring to wardrobe. The cast of “Sexxy,” led by Jen Romas, turned up in full costume, which means in barely anything. The tap troupe Syncopated Ladies from “So You Think You Can Dance” took to platforms around the room and shook the place loose. Erica Vanlee and Kristi Toguchi performed a duo contortion act that is, for anyone else, singularly impossible.

It was a crazy night, as anticipated, and wonderful to spend time with so many of the city’s great performers and people. I have no idea how many people were actually in that room, probably 150 to 200. As was the case at the party, we ask for donations to St. Baldrick’s Day at StBaldricks.org.

The citywide events for the organization’s annual Shave-a-Thon kick off Saturday. I’ll be a shavee at Brooklyn Bridge at New York-New York at noon, with my 4-year-old friend Elann Saula performing the honors. The events at New York-New YorkY begin at 10 a.m., with a lineup of celeb shavers including Olivia Newton-John and members of the casts of Chippendales, “Million Dollar Quartet,” “Rock of Ages,” “Tournament of Kings” and “Absinthe.” Carrot Top is to be on hand, too, so expect yet more good-natured bedlam on the streets of VegasVille.

Elsewhere, we scope the scene:

• In the shuffle of shows leaving Riviera and seeking venues, the most significant challenge is finding a venue for Dirk Arthur and his exotic cats. No takers yet, as Arthur’s show is not close to being booked into a Las Vegas showroom. It’s a tough fit, logistically, for Arthur’s show, which spotlights seven exotic cats and such stage props as a Robinson helicopter. There has been speculation that he’ll wind up at Stratosphere, but I’m not seeing it. The room hunt is on for Arthur and his wild cats.

The Strat showroom has been the focus of ample interest from producers and performers ever since the hotel ended Frankie Moreno’s contract in December. The appeal is obvious: The room is beautiful, with great seating and sight lines and a sufficient sound system. The hotel invests in its own production, too, subsidizing “Pin Up” for two years. One individual who met with Strat entertainment officials came away surprised that the hotel resisted a four-wall, or fully leased, offer as it prefers to pay for and, consequently, hold some creative control over its shows.

The production that is all but signed for the tower’s showroom is “MJ Live,” which also was targeted for Versailles Theater at the Riv after being shooed from the Rio’s Crown Theater to make room for “Duck Commander Musical,” opening next month. No word yet, either, on the long-running “Rat Pack Is Back” production. This is the period when we find out how strong The Rat Pack affiliation remains in Las Vegas.

Rock in Rio USA Construction: 1/8/15

The Rock in Rio USA construction site at the north end of the Strip on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, as seen aboard a Maverick Helicopter. Launch slideshow »

• MGM Resorts officials have specified the parking plans for Rock in Rio USA, set for the weekends of May 8-9 and 15-16 at MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on the north tip of the Strip.

The crux of this strategy is expect to do some walking.

The Las Vegas Monorail is being held up as an option for those boarding at stations on the east side of the Strip, with the nearest drop-off points at SLS Las Vegas across Las Vegas Boulevard and Westgate Las Vegas on Paradise Road. But the hike from the Westgate station, in particular, is not so short. Officials are directing ticket-holders staying at hotels within a 15- or 20-minute walk of the venue to spend that 15 or 20 minutes walking to the event. There are no specific tent posts provided for what is a 20-minute walk to the festival grounds at Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard, but it’s likely the Stratosphere to the north and Wynn-Encore to the south. You might make it from Westgate, too, in 15 or 20 minutes on foot.

As previously announced, two-day shuttle passes are being offered for $25 at the Rock in Rio website. Pickup and drop-off sites are at MGM Resorts Village across from Luxor and Mandalay Bay on the Strip, Downtown Events Center and the World Market Center. Shuttles will drop guests off at the Gold Lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is close to the entrance. Less than 20 minutes, probably. Shuttles to the venue will run daily from 2:30 to 11 p.m., with return service running 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. But know this: No parking is available to ticket-holders on the 50-acre site. Plan ahead, folks.

'Million Dollar Quartet' Grand Opening at Harrah's

Robert Lyons, Carla Pellegrino, Martin Kaye, Marc Donovan, Felice Garcia, Tyler Hunter and Ben Hale at the grand opening of Launch slideshow »

• Sunday marks the final — and this time, for sure — appearance of Felice Garcia as Dyanne in “Million Dollar Quartet.” Garcia was to depart the show in February to pursue her solo recording career but was held over as Kristen Hertzenberg was sidelined for vocal rest. Hertzenberg, previously the understudy/swing in the Dyanne role, starts her run Monday night.

• The third anniversary of the Composers Showcase of Las Vegas was a wildly entertaining, and none-too-short, event at Cabaret Jazz. Most touching was the final number of the night, an instrumental written by bass great Tyler Williams, a member of the “Le Reve” band at Wynn Las Vegas. Similar to Composers Showcase co-founder Keith Thompson and many of the musicians in the room, Williams was good friends with the late Jim Belk. Belk was well-regarded and beloved in town for myriad reasons, and Thompson loves telling the story about how Belk kept the two factions in the short-lived Paris Las Vegas stage show “We Will Rock You” — the theater musicians and the rock musicians — working in harmony.

Williams debuted the song titled “Jimbo’s Hurpings,” an inside joke among Belk’s musician friends that was inspired by a story told at Belk’s memorial, from his days as a member of the band at “Avenue Q,” also at the Wynn. Williams worked with Belk on that show, and the term “hurpings” was a takeoff of the word “helpings” as mispronounced by a cast member. It became a term used for any reason, as Belk was often inventive with wordplay.

The song played Wednesday was purely instrumental and so powerful that you had to remind yourself to breathe as Williams and the backing band played it for the sold-out crowd. Among those in the audience was Jim’s widow, Megan, who said Jim would have loved the rendition. He touched a lot of people, including those he barely knew.

• I am curious about Omnia at Caesars Palace, largely because of the claim that the club at the former Pure nightlife fortress is to be even more grandiose than Hakkasan at MGM Grand. The size is comparable, at 75,000 square feet, but what sets Omnia apart, in part, is the VIP hangout Heart of Omnia. The super-VIP lounge space itself cost $18 million with 25 tables and is to target high-end guests with table prices starting at $3,000.

In a real departure from the proven formula at most ultra-clubs, the lounge-within-a-club won’t play electronic dance music. As H.wood Group co-owner John Terzian, whose company is partnering with Hakkasan Group in the club, told Forbes magazine: “It’ll be '80s, rock, everything non-EDM. Added Terzian’s partner in H.wood, Brian Toll, “They can go to the main room and hear Calvin Harris, and they can come to us and hear hip-hop.”

Maybe we are finally reaching a happy medium between traditional music — or what most musicians refer to as “music” — and the sound created by superstar DJs. But this experience is to be quite cloistered. The door will be “tight,” and no press or photogs are to be admitted. As club partner David Arquette told Forbes, “The Heart room is going to be a pretty tough room to get into. It is an environment where you try to limit any photos, you bring them in with their friends, you have a little section blocked off, you just try to provide an environment where they can be themselves, they don’t feel like they’re going to get splashed on some website just because they’re having a good time.”

That’s actually a sensible philosophy, and I wish I’d thought of it before Miss Romas asked me to dance Thursday night …

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

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