Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Curtain Up: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Live,’ Barry Manilow, Aerosmith, ‘Cherry Boom Boom’ and more

RuPaul's Drag Race Live

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RuPaul’s Drag Race Live” is coming to the Flamingo in 2020.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! Las Vegas” is primed to be the show that takes over for Donny and Marie Osmond when the singing siblings wrap their decade-long residency at the Flamingo’s showroom this fall. Announced over the weekend, the new drag revue based on the wildly popular TV competition show of the same name will be produced by the same Emmy Award-winning creative team, World of Wonder, directed by RuPaul and choreographer/filmmaker Jamal Sims and co-produced by Live Nation. It’s scheduled to open January 30 at the Donny & Marie Showroom (a name that will definitely change in November) and will be presented at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday; tickets go on sale September 13.

Seven drag queens will be featured in each show from a rotating cast including Aquaria, Asia O’Hara, Coco Montrese, Derrick Barry, Eureka O’Hara, India Ferrah, Khanna Montrese, Kameron Michaels, Kim Chi, Naomi Smalls, Shannel and Yvie Oddly. No word on whether RuPaul will make any special appearances, but it’s not likely he’ll be a regular cast member.

“As the entertainment landscape in Las Vegas continues to evolve, we know that the next natural step is bringing a live version of one of the most popular shows on television to the Strip,” said Kurt Melien, president of Live Nation Las Vegas, in the announcement. “An entertainer as iconic to pop culture as RuPaul combined with a property as legendary as Flamingo Las Vegas is the recipe for the perfect Vegas experience.”

V – The Ultimate Variety Show,” which plays twice nightly at 7 and 8:30 p.m. at the V Theater inside Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile Shops, is celebrating its 18-year anniversary on the Strip today, September 12. The 75-minute show was created by producer and theater owner David Saxe in an effort to bring the specialty acts he loved from headliner shows of the past to the forefront of a show all their own. “V” continues to get new, wider exposure when its acts appear on “America’s Got Talent” and similar TV productions.

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Anne Martinez, Terry Bradshaw and Lorena Peril perform at Luxor.

Cherry Boom Boom” launched Saturday night at Hooters Casino Hotel, soon to become OYO Hotel, with a huge grand opening party at performance at the Night Owl Showroom. There to catch the rock-and-roll burlesque extravaganza were legendary Las Vegas headliner Frank Marino, magician Xavier Mortimer and actor, comedian and musician Kyle Gass, better known as half of comedy rockers Tenacious D (with Jack Black). “Cherry Boom Boom” performs at 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Two of the city’s most successful current residency shows added 2020 dates this week. Barry Manilow’s “Manilow Las Vegas: The Hits Come Home!” has been extended into the new year with new shows planned at the Westgate International Theater February 13-15 and 20-22, and March 5-7 and 26-28. Tickets go on sale September 16. And “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild” keeps on rocking at Park Theater with 15 new dates in January, February, May and June, with tickets on sale September 13.

A new night of music, dinner and dance launches at the Rio this weekend. “Sax Under the Stars” will feature a nine-piece jazz band helmed by Sid The Kid and fronted by beloved local vocalist Michelle Johnson at the new-ish Club 172, located on the second floor near the Chippendales theater, premiering at 6 p.m. September 14. The ticket price of $120 includes a three-course dinner by executive chef Joe Richardson and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Fourth Grade Cotillion, a local etiquette program for fourth-grade students. The event is planned to continue every second Saturday until December and formal attire is encouraged. For tickets or information, call 702-514-0488.

As expected, “The Terry Bradshaw Show” will be returning to Luxor during the football season after opening in the Atrium Showroom recently during some Carrot Top vacation time. The quarterback-turned-singer and storyteller will be back on the Strip on October 1, 22 and 29 with shows starting at 8 p.m. Bradshaw will once again be musically supported by powerhouse singers Lorena Peril and Anne Martinez.

The jury is still out on whether the planned “Nitro Circus” motorcycle stunt show will ever take up at Bally’s Jubilee Theater as announced last year, but the unrelated Nitro Comedy Tour will be there October 11 and 12. Comedians Catfish Cooley and Andrew Conn and DJ Slim McGraw will bring their Southern humor to Bally’s for 9 p.m. shows both nights.