Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Jonas Brothers make surprise appearance at Town Square

Jonas Brothers

Richard Brian

The Jonas Brothers: Kevin Jonas, center, Joe Jonas, second left, and Nick Jonas, right, leave the building after making a surprise visit to Rave Motion Pictures at Town Square before the Sunday afternoon showing of “Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience.”

Jonas Brothers

Fans react after the Jonas Brothers made surprise visit to Rave Motion Pictures at Town Square before the Sunday afternoon showing of Launch slideshow »

Jonas Brothers announce surprise visits to movie theaters

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  • The Jonas Brothers enter the theater.

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  • Hailey Jones, 11, Chiana Lee, 10, and Hailey's mom Nancy Jones, of Las Vegas.

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From the first row of Rave Motion Pictures theater five at Town Square, Heather Slaughter reached out and touched 19-year-old Joe Jonas.

"I touched Joe's hand!" she screamed after the teen rock-pop phenomenon left the theater, leaving behind twitterpated girls clutching crumpled papers they had thrust at the brothers, hoping for at least a mere scribble of a "J."

When the moment they had all been waiting for came (the celebrity visit to the 4:40 p.m. Sunday showing of "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience" was supposed to be a secret -- fat chance) it was just that -- a moment.

After the trio -- brothers Joe, Kevin and Nick Jonas -- entered the side door, they were surrounded by a media mob and fans, like Slaughter, who leaped from the front seats.

The brothers said a few muffled welcoming sentences into the microphone: "You guys are awesome. We thank you so much for being here! Sit back and enjoy the movie!" Their harmonic voices were muffled by the deafening screams and cries of 296 fans in the sold-out theater.

Fifty-five seconds later, they were gone. The audience breathed a collective sigh of grief.

After their departure, the buzz continued. From all sides of the theater, fans began to gush stories they will tell their friends for the next week, or more: Joe looked at me! Kevin touched my poster! I got a picture of Nick!

Slaughter, who was wearing a Jo-Bro T-shirt and pink tights, was first in line that afternoon and scored front row center seats with her husband -- yes, her husband. Slaughter is a 22-year-old U.S. history teacher in Las Vegas and her willing date is Ben Slaughter, 27. When his wife lunged for those brilliant boy stars, what did he do?

"I'm happy for my wife that she gets to experience this," he said, adding he hoped she wouldn't get Tasered by security.

How does Slaughter explain being such an all-consuming fan (she's been to concerts, has all their music and respects their Christian message of "purity before marriage") at her age?

"There are fans who are older than me!" she said. Her students even feed her addiction, giving her posters and stickers, she said.

And that's true -- parents are also fans. They empathize with their adoring children.

"I fainted at the Osmond brothers when I was 9," said Konni Stafford, a Summerlin mother, who was there with her family. "It's the same thing. A bunch of cute guys with catchy little songs and a good marketing plan."

Even other musicians enjoy and envy the Jonas success story.

Jimmy Stafford, who is working on his seventh album with the Grammy-award winning rock band Train, happily escorted his daughter, 8-year-old Mckenna, and step-daughter, 13-year-old Parker, to the movie.

"Every generation has a boy band that they dig, and unfortunately it wasn't Train," the Las Vegas rocker said, then laughed.

If the fans didn't hear about the special appearance through the Internet, then they found out in the line that wrapped around the front of the theater. And if they somehow missed it there, then the six strobe lights illuminating the theater and the crowd of about 25 reporters was the blinking neon sign that "something was up."

In the third row sat Hailey Jones, 11, Bibi Lee, 12, and Chiana Lee, 10 all students at Southern Highlands Preparatory School.

"Oh my God, I'm speechless ... it was just so cool, I can't believe they were right there!" Jones said before the movie started.

"I regret not jumping over the seats!" Chiana said.

"I'm crying for her," Hailey's mother Nancy Jones said. "You don't get many moments to see your kids get excited about something."

The movie, which runs about an hour and 15 minutes, probably means little after fleeting seconds with the real deal. Many fans had already seen the movie before Sunday.

"It's going to be even better!" Hailey screamed. Sunday marked her second time seeing it.

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