Ethan Miller
Lady Liberty at New York-New York has a new gig.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 | 2 a.m.
The biggest star on the Las Vegas Strip has a new look. The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces have announced the team has signed a new free agent center to an honorary contract for the rest of its inaugural season. The 18-year-old post player should dominate in the paint, considering she’s approximately 150 feet tall. Vegas’ own Lady Liberty in front of the New York-New York hotel-casino is now adorned in a 75-foot-tall Aces jersey that took more than 250 hours to create.
I attended my second Aces home game at Mandalay Bay Events Center Friday night and if you haven’t experienced the city’s newest home team yet, you’re missing out. The Aces topped the New York Liberty (coach Bill Laimbeer’s former team) behind 27 points from guard Kayla McBride and performers from Cirque du Soleil’s “KA” took over for the halftime show. Locals looking for summer family fun should look no further. The next home games are June 27 against Dallas and June 29 against L.A.
William Karlsson and Diplo at Intrigue.
Speaking of local sports stars: Hockey’s best celebrated the NHL Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel on June 20 and did their afterpartying at Intrigue Nightclub at Wynn. Spotted during Diplo’s dynamic set at the intimate hot spot were Vegas Golden Knights William Karlsson, Deryk Engelland and Alex Tuch, the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid, the Winnipeg Jets’ Blake Wheeler, the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal, hockey legend Mark Messier and the Nashville Predators’ P.K. Subban with Olympian girlfriend Lindsey Vonn.
If you don’t know, now you know: The second season of “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” is happening, and it’s happening in Las Vegas, although the ever-entertaining cast of the resurrected reality show favorite is traveling a lot for this TV shoot. So you might not bump into Snooki when you’re hitting the clubs or see The Situation when you’re eating at your favorite restaurant. On the other hand, you may have pedaled into DJ Pauly D and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro last week during a cycling class at XCYCLE Las Vegas in Boca Park. Both “Jersey” boys are local residents and Pauly, who does a different kind of spinning at Drai’s Beachclub, is an XCYCLE regular.
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and DJ Pauly D at XCYCLE.
Spiegelworld is running hot. The entertainment company that recently expanded Caesars Palace show “Absinthe” to a seven-night schedule and launched the hysterical new “Opium” at the Cosmopolitan is readying its third production for Las Vegas at an undisclosed venue for 2019. “We Are Here” has scheduled showcase performances at the Glitterloft in New York City later this summer, prepping the original disco-themed show for Vegas. The primary creative forces here are director Steven Hoggett (Broadway’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and the West End’s “What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined”) and legendary musician and producer Nile Rodgers of Chic. “‘We Are Here’ highlights the music bedrock of disco's iconic tracks to explore the rise of a popular movement, and the stunning backlash against it,” reads the show announcement. “Forget white suits and mirror balls, this is a celebration of the beat that set the world on fire and continues to unify generations and cultures at a time when we need it more than ever.”
The holiday season promises to be extra merry at Wynn Las Vegas, which just announced it will present its first-ever seasonal production “The Holiday Show” at Encore Theater Nov. 30 through Dec. 30. Created and directed by Philip William McKinley, who just wrapped up a renovation of “Le Réve”, the original production will feature music, dance and comedy as well as songs like “Santa Baby” and “This Christmas.” Group packages and dinner and show packages will be available.
