|
 By
Judy Thorburn
Entertainment Reporter/Film Critic
Las Vegas Tribune
Owner/Editor in Chief/writer
www.theflickchicks.com
X
Burlesque Celebrates One Year Anniversary at Flamingo Las Vegas
Last week, X Burlesque, the steamy, ultra sexy, topless revue
co-produced by husband and wife team Angela and Matt Stabile, celebrated
its one year anniversary at Flamingo Las Vegas with a special early show
for the media followed by an exclusive after party at the property’s
stylish new bistro VOGA where invited guests could indulge in drinks and
delicious hors d’ oeuvres while mingling with the cast.
The X-Burlesque Dancers at the VOGA after party
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
I saw the provocative adult revue when it first
opened, and now a year later, a few changes have been made that, from my
point of view, has only improved and tightened the 75 minute production.
It certainly hasn’t lost any of the elements that appeal to men’s erotic
fantasies. The central focus, of course, is on the physical attributes
of the female dancers, a gorgeous package neatly wrapped within a high
energy show that includes video projections on both sides of the stage,
tantalizing, well choreographed numbers and accompanying music by some
of the hottest artists in rock, pop and hip-hop to suit the mood. Useful
props consist of a futon, guitar, chairs, bungees, feathered boas, and a
bathtub. Use your imagination!
Housed within the intimate 180 seat Flamingo Second City Theatre, each
act, more tantalizing than the next ranging from slow and sensual to
funky, energetic and acrobatic, showcases the distinctive talents of
each of the female dancers. And yes, there is a stripper pole dead
center in the audience for the more up close and personal routines that
caused some cheers from the testosterone filled crowd, which can be
expected since boys will be boys, not matter what their age.
The comedy relief, while the ladies take a break, is funny and likeable
African American comedian James Bean, who joined the show following the
death of beloved comedian Pudgy. His act revolves around humorous
observations on tourists, and a very funny take on visiting a gay bar on
straight night, politics and other subjects that are relatable. Tall and
good looking, Bean also offers the ladies in the audience a special
treat at the close of his act that serves to balance out the female eye
candy targeted to men.
For adults looking for the most alluring, sexiest show on the strip X
Burlesque is a must see.
Showtimes for X Burlesque are 10 p.m. Monday - Wednesday and Friday; 12
a.m. Thursday, Saturday – Sunday. Tickets are priced at $44.95 and
$55.95 (plus tax and fees). For more information call 702-733-3333 or
800-221-7299.
The
Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden Debuts New Spring Exhibit
The Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens has been transformed
into a new spring exhibit that captures the imaginative excitement of
budding springtime activity. On display is an enchanting floral
landscape sprinkled with 16-foot-tall poppies in lively hues of red,
yellow and orange and more than 35 species of butterflies that
gracefully flutter within a classic English greenhouse. Just steps away,
giant floral umbrellas form a whimsical canopy over a kaleidoscopic
garden of tulips and hyacinths, offering an array of fragrant blooms.
The picturesque garden also features a centerpiece of oversized watering
cans inspired by the French gardens of Chaumont.
.jpg)
.jpg)
The spring exhibit which is on display through May 11
is free to the public.
Additional
“happenings” in and around Las Vegas include:
On March 19, real estate developers the ELAD Group received final
approval from the Las Vegas County Commission to begin moving forward
with their plans on expanding The Plaza brand to the Las Vegas Strip.
The company develops, owns and operates real estate primarily in the
United States, Canada and in Asia and has become one of the largest
active developers of luxury properties in North America with offices in
New York, Florida, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal. The ELAD Group
gained worldwide attention for its $675 million acquisition and historic
renovation of the world famous landmark, The Plaza, in New York City in
2004.
Once complete, the Plaza project, a multi-billion dollar mixed-use
property, is set to have seven towers which will feature an ultra-luxury
hotel, private residences, retail outlets, a state-of-the-art casino,
destination restaurants, an entertainment venue and a convention
complex. The start of the excavation is set to begin no earlier than the
end of 2008.
After a successful run at Luxor, comedian-ventriloquist Ronn Lucas is
moving his show to the Excalibur on April 1. “The Ronn Lucas Show”
featuring Lucas and his puppet sidekicks Scorch (the loveable green
teenage dragon), Buffalo Billy (the hilarious cowboy who thinks he’s a
ladies’ man) and Chuck (the punk rock rebel), mixes stand-up comedy,
improvisation, audience participation, puppetry and vocal gymnastics for
an afternoon of good clean fun. Lucas and his puppet troupe will perform
inside the Thunder From Down Under Showroom Tuesday – Sunday at 1 p.m.;
dark Monday. General admission is $29.95 (plus tax and fees). VIP
admission is $39.95 (plus tax and fees) and includes preferred seating,
choice of a DVD or T-Shirt and a signed photograph. Tickets are
available at the Excalibur box office at (702) 597-7600 or (800)
933-1334.
Ronn Lucas
Registration is now taking place for those who want
to participate in the 2008 Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon. Runners are
encouraged to visit
www.lvmarathon.com before March 31 to register. Currently,
registration is $85 for the full marathon and $75 for the half marathon.
On April 1, fees for the 2008 Marathon will increase to $95 for the full
marathon and $85 for the half marathon. Unlike previous years, the 2008
www.Zappos.com Las Vegas
Marathon is limiting the number of participants. Once 20,000 runners are
signed up for the full and half marathon combined, registration will be
closed.
The Las Vegas Hilton has extended their contract with “America’s Got
Talent” winner Terry Fator, who gained national popularity as a
ventriloquist, impressionist and singer. Fator’s contact with the Hilton
was to end in May but has now been extended through the end of 2008. The
entertainer’s performance schedule throughout the rest of the year is:
March 28-30 at 6 p.m.; April 23-25; May 16-18; June 8-10; July 4-6;
August 15-17; September 15-17; October 13-15; November 15-18; and
December 21-22.Tickets are $49-$149 (plus tax and service charge). The
$149 ticket price includes Golden Circle VIP seating and a special meet,
greet, and photo with Fator prior to the show. Tickets can be purchased
at the Las Vegas Hilton box office or by logging onto
www.lvhilton.com or phone at
702-732-5755 or 1-800-222-5361.
On Saturday, March 29, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Southern Hills Hospital
will host their fourth-annual Baby Fair sponsored by Babies ‘R’ Us and
Red Rock Community Bank. The event is free and open to the public.
Featured will be educational seminars from medical experts, raffle
prizes, car seat inspections, vendor booths and games. In addition,
soon-to-be-moms will be pampered with hair makeovers, relaxing massages
and several maternity fashion shows. Attendees may also enter to win the
grand prize of 3,000 diapers and a complete baby gear set. Guests are
also welcome to tour labor and delivery suites, interact with the
on-hand team of Southern Hills physicians, and purchase immunizations
starting at $16 per child with the presentation of records. In addition,
Medicaid and Nevada check-up enrollment will be available as well as
hospital pre-registration for expecting mothers. Southern Hills Hospital
is located at 9300 W. Sunset Rd (at I-215) on Fort Apache. For more
information visit
www.SouthernHillsHospital.com
The CineVegas Art House Screening Series that brings different
independent, underground, foreign and documentary films to Las Vegas
each week has added two additional films to its April lineup, with all
screenings taking place at the Galaxy Neonopolis Theatres.
From Friday April 4 – Thursday, April 10 CineVegas will screen THE
WITNESSES, an official selection from the 2007 Berlin International Film
Festival. Set in Paris in 1984, the film follows a young handsome man
who meets a wealthy doctor and a young couple who have just had their
first child. An unplanned love affair at the onset of a new, unnamed
epidemic upsets the tranquility of their lives, and the four friends are
confronted with the end of the sexual revolution, each facing new
possibilities.
A WALK INTO THE SEA, screening from Friday, April 11 – Thursday, April
17, is director Esther Robinson's personal inquiry into the truth behind
her Uncle Danny Williams' mysterious 1966 disappearance. Virtually
unknown today, Danny was Andy Warhol's lover, and a promising young
filmmaker. The discovery of 20 never-before-seen films Williams made
during his time at the Factory-- and whose many subjects include Andy
Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Paul Morrissey, Brigid Berlin, Billy Name and
what may be the earliest known footage of the Velvet Underground—
reveals a luminous talent and a stark gap in the historical record.
Combined with Robinson's intimate interviews of surviving Factory
members, the film gets beyond the icons and quietly dismantles the
Warhol myth-making machine, allowing a deeper examination of the human
fragility on which Andy Warhol's empire was built.
Tickets to all screenings are $9 for adults Sunday through Thursday,
$9.25 for adults Friday and Saturday, $6.25 for bargain matinee daily
(until 6 pm), $6.25 for children, students, senior and military, and
$5.75 for casino employees. For more information, please call (702)
992-7979 or visit the CineVegas website at
www.cinevegas.com/arthouse
.
Rehearsals for the smash hit JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and
The Four Seasons, has started and preview performances begin April 4 at
The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino. The stunning, custom-built JERSEY BOYS
theatre at The Palazzo will be the only place on the West Coast to see
this runaway hit. The show’s Opening Night Gala is scheduled for May 3.
JERSEY BOYS will perform at The Palazzo on Monday, Thursday, Friday and
Sunday at 7p.m.; Tuesday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. and dark on
Wednesday. Ticket prices, exclusive of handling fees, range from $65 to
$135, with VIP Packages available. Tickets for JERSEY BOYS at The
Palazzo can be purchased by calling The Venetian Box Office at
1-866-641-SHOW or 702-414-9000, or online at
www.VenetianTickets.com.
For more information call 702-785-5394.
The fourth annual Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour is making a stop at The
Pearl Concert Theater on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, at 7 p.m. Headlining
bands include Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine and Blessthefall in
addition to Japanese rock bands (JROCK) Mucc, D’espairsRay and The
Underneath and Seattle group Idiot Pilot. tickets for Taste of Chaos are
$32.50, plus any additional service fees, and go on-sale The Pearl Box
Office is open from noon – 7 p.m. daily. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and
show time is 7 p.m. The For more information on upcoming concerts,
please call 702-942-6888.
Saturday April 12 at 9 p.m. Fear and Laughing in Las Vegas, a new comedy
endeavor created by and for locals to remedy the shocking lack of hip,
young and edgy comedy options in the entertainment capitol of the world
will debut at The Canyon Club inside Four Queens Casino, 202 Fremont
Street. The show is hosted by Bryan Bruner. Headliner is Nick Thune and
features comic Brandon Muller. Bimonthly shows will feature national
headliners. Tickets are $15 for general admission (restricted to 18
years and older).For reservations call 702.474.4000 or go online at
www.myspace.com/smashmagazine .
Friday, April 11, 2008 The College of Southern Nevada Student Government
will present the first annual “Artapalooza” at the Henderson Campus from
5:00pm to 9:00pm in Building B parking lot. The outdoor evening festival
will feature over 40 student and community artists exhibiting their
artwork, local bands performing throughout the evening and food vendors
offering delicious treats for the entire family. Admission to the
“Artapalooza” is free, and open to the public. To get to the Henderson
campus of CSN, travel south on US 95 to College Drive and turn north
(left) for two blocks. For more information about this or other events
at CSN's Henderson campus, please call 651-3000.
On Saturday, April 12 at 8 p.m., Creedence Clearwater Revisited will
bring their invigorating energy and spirit to The Club at the Cannery
Casino & Hotel.
Tickets are $44.95, $34.95 or $19.95 plus tax and fees can be purchased
at the Cannery Casino & Hotel’s ticket sales counter located at the
front desk or by calling (702) 617-5585 or (866) 287-4643 (toll free),
or by visiting
www.cannnerycasinos.com
The off-Broadway musical, I Love A Piano, which honors America’s most
prolific songwriter, Irving Berlin, makes its southern Nevada debut at
the Henderson Pavilion, located at 200 S. Green Valley Parkway, on
Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. The show is a nostalgic musical voyage
spanning across seven decades of American history as seen through the
eyes of Irving Berlin. Using 64 of Berlin’s ever-lasting favorites, this
quirky musical centers on the life of a piano with one sour key and the
generations of singers and dancers who performed with it. Ticket prices
ranging from $20 to $40 can be purchased online at
www.HendersonLive.com
or by calling the Henderson Pavilion Box Office at (702) 267-4TIX
(4849). For additional information, call (702) 267-2171.
For one day only, Tuesday, April 15, from noon to 10 p.m., taxpayers can
skip the long lines at the post office and drop off their tax returns at
Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. The United States Postal Service
will set up a special mobile postal station with postage available for
purchase. Convenient drive-through lanes for tax return drop-offs will
be located near the Shark Reef Aquarium entrance. Taxpayers who mail
their returns from Shark Reef Aquarium will receive a commemorative
T-shirt and two complimentary admission vouchers good through June 30.
All taxpayers 21 years of age or older who drop off their tax returns at
Shark Reef Aquarium will be eligible to win the Tax Relief Package – a
one-night stay at The Hotel, spa treatments for two and a $200 dining
credit to use at any of Mandalay Bay’s acclaimed restaurants. Official
contest rules now are available for viewing at Shark Reef Aquarium.
On April 23 The UNLV Department of Theatre presents the 10-Minute Play
Festival in the Paul Harris Theatre. The evening of six original short
plays features new playwrights, directors and actors. Jason Palmer
directs Elizabeth Leavitt’s Texas Kidnapping. Neil Haven’s Odd Ducks is
directed by Aaron Tuttle,
Mid-December by Oscar F. Limón is directed by Stephen Crandall. Jeremiah
Mansey’s Duelin’ Elvis is directed by Mandy Peters. Wet Desert by Laura
Neubauermis is directed by Scott McGee. Hit and Run by Laura V. Turner
is directed by Sarah Norris. Performances are April 23, 24, 25, 26 at 8
p.m. with matinees at 2 p.m. on April 26 and 27. Tickets are $7.50 and
on sale at the UNLV Performing Arts Center Box Office. The Box Office
may be reached by calling 895-ARTS (2787).
British contemporary rock band, The Verve, best known for their hit
“Bittersweet Symphony” brings their unique sound to The Pearl at the
Palms on Saturday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $53.00 and
$78.00 (plus service fees), and are on sale at The Pearl Box Office,
open from noon – 7 p.m. daily. For more information on upcoming
concerts, please call 702-942-6888.
Celebrity
sightings:
On Saturday night 3/22 cast members of "Full House," one of the longest
running and most watched TV series of our time partied at Body English's
Smashtime at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Spotted at a VIP table with
"Daily 10" host Sal Masakela were Full House's Danny Tanner, Bob Saget,
John Stamos, who played Uncle Jessie and David Lee Coulier. Also joining
them were music impresario Tommy Lipnick and "Weekend at Bernie's" actor
Jonathan Silverman.
Photo credit: J. Ludwig.
On Friday night, Bob Saget performed in front of a
sold-out crowd inside The Joint. The crowd went crazy when John Stamos
made a surprise appearance on stage during one of Saget's comedic
performances on the guitar. That same evening, Saget enjoyed an intimate
dinner with friends at Nobu. Stamos, Saget and Coulier were also seen
catching some sun at a cabana outside at the Hard Rock pool both Friday
and Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday night, I spotted actors Jonathan Silverman, John Stamos,
comedians Bob Saget and Dave Coulier plus Jon Lovitz at Don Rickles’
hilarious show at The Orleans.
Dianne R. Davis, John Stamos and Judy Thorburn
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn
The same evening, Playboy Playmate cover model Tamara
Witmer celebrated her 24 birthday alongside the bikini clad Hawaiian
Tropic Zone girls at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Miracle Mile Shops.
Tara Reid at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand
Over at the Vegas' premier nightclub - Studio 54 in
the MGM Grand, sexy starlet and notorious party girl Tara Reid hosted a
night of drinking and dancing. Looking completely refreshed and
rejuvenated after her recent Mexican vacation with sun kissed skin and
beautiful blonde locks in soft cascading curls Reid arrived at the
illustrious nightclub in a flashy black sequined mini dress, accented
with black satin trim. She was quickly moved to the center VIP area of
Studio 54 where she sipped on libations with a group of friends. The
crowd, ecstatic to see her, constantly cheered for her as she leaned
over the balcony to wave to the dance floor. As the night continued,
Reid moved on to Tabu Ultra Lounge where she personally requested house
music from the DJ in order to dance into the early hours of the morning.
I’ll be back next week with more of what’s “happening” in and around Las
Vegas.
  |
