Flamingo president Don Marrandino admits he took a gamble. But he remains confident that new headliner Toni Braxton is on track to silence her critics.

Responding to some harsh first-week buzz, Marrandino said, “We took a ballsy move, but I think we have a winner. A month from now, it’s going to be something special.”

One published report characterized the show as a “train wreck,” while others were of the mind that it needed a bit more re-engineering.

Marrandino said it’s a matter of giving the show time to gel and having the six-time Grammy winner get acclimated.

People bring up that Braxton “wasn’t out there for a while,” said Marrandino. “She shut it down to be a mother. She’s trying to learn how to be a Las Vegas entertainer, and it’s a hell of a lot different.

“We’re working on lighting, sound, song sequencing. Her fans love it,” he said. “Critics would say it’s not Vegasized enough. It’s going to get there.”
reviewjournal.com — News - NORM

Robert Earl, Planet Hollywood chief executive, said talks have been ongoing.

Planet Hollywood, the new owner of the Aladdin, hopes to have a $100-million-plus makeover completed by early next year.

Stallone has been a Planet Hollywood investor since the 1990s when Earl’s celebrity connections also brought Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the restaurant chain.

Earl, who lives in London and Orlando, Fla., has been in Las Vegas finalizing details on a deal that would bring the Miss America pageant back to the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood for another year.
reviewjournal.com — News - NORM: New ‘Rocky’ eyes Vegas premiere

Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular
Where: Venetian
When: 7 p.m. Sun. & Thurs. 7 & 10 p.m. Mon., Wed., Fri. & Sat.
Cost: $107, $132
Info: (702) 492-3960 or (866) 80-SHOWS

With a title like Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular, it’s easy for visitors to imagine Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical masterpiece being performed in a tank of water with French midgets dressed in period costumes bungee cording from the ceiling while a topless, feathered and bejeweled Christine breaks into a jazzed-up rendition of “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” Luck and good taste prevailed, however, and the above-mentioned production is only a dream.

But the slim-lined production in the custom-built, $40-million Phantom Theatre is spectacular. The wonderful special effects, lavish sets and costumes, daring stunts and masterful lighting provide ambience for the true jewel of the night — the two actresses who magnificently portray opera hopeful Christine Daaé.

Sierra Boggess (pictured right) and Elizabeth Loyacano alternate in the persona of the Parisian gal “who just wants to sing.” Even though both Boggess and Loyacano are perfect for the role, their interpretations are as different as the actresses. According to Loyacano, famed director Hal Prince “provided a skeleton (of the character), and we were allowed to embellish.

“We’re a different age, and we both have very different personalities, so I think those things augment the character,” Loyacano said. This helps to explain why the younger Boggess presents a Christine who is so believably innocent she unwittingly becomes open game for the sinister Angel of Music. It also makes sense why Loyacano’s leading lady glows a bit more outwardly when she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart. Both imbue the character with vivid emotions.

Boggess, a Denver native, first saw Phantom when she was 13. She joined the cast after playing Cosette in the Broadway national tour of Les Misérables. She said both she and Loyacano have an edge over other actresses who have played the heroine of the opera. “Since the show is cut down, you’re onstage (for) most of it. You basically are Christine for 95 minutes, which makes it easier to get where you need to be emotionally by the end.”

Loyacano, who appeared in The Woman in White on Broadway, said she loves the costumes. “They’re just incomparable to anything I’ve ever worn,” she said. “And with the exceptions of a few fabrics that were unfortunately discontinued, all of the costumes are the same design as the original Broadway production.”

Both actresses love the shorter version. None of the original songs were cut, and both Prince and Webber carefully edited, they said. The actresses are happy that their musical numbers, especially the enchanting “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” were retained.

“I really enjoy singing that song even though it wasn’t my favorite thing to sing at all when I started the show,” Boggess said.

“It has so many colors in it, and as a character, you have a chance to grow up and evolve. Plus, I love the melody,” Loyacano said.

Discussing the longevity of the Vegas production, Boggess said it will do very well. “It has a great story, beautiful music, and all these effects that make you feel like you’re at a party while you watch a show.”

“Phantom has a devoted following,” Loyacano said. “I met a young man who had seen the show 14 different times and made the trek from San Francisco to Vegas just to see it here. I think it will last a long time.”
http://www.lvshowbiz.com/

Coming soon: Gospel Brunch with John Tesh at Wynn Las Vegas.

Far-fetched? The pairing of gospel music and soul food with the person once known as the Whitest Man in America might seem as such. But Tesh provides a persuasive account as to how this could, in fact, happen.

“I have talked to Steve Wynn about doing a deal once a month,” Tesh said Monday during a phone interview from his office in Sherman Oaks, Calif. “I know it sounds weird - I’m 6-6 and white and I’m kind of a sleepy piano guy. ¦ But I could get people like (gospel artists) Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin and Shirley Caesar involved and it would be great.”

To further enhance this proposition, Tesh has been brought in by Wynn to perform at private VIP parties at Wynn Las Vegas, and Tesh’s wife, Connie Selleca, is a friend of Elaine Wynn.

“Who knows?” he said. “But we have been in contact, yes.”

Tesh has remained prominent in Las Vegas with “The John Tesh Radio Show” (aka “Intelligence for Your Life”), which last week landed at KJUL 104.7-FM after moving from KSTJ 102.7-FM (which has moved Kelly Hawkins into the nighttime spot formerly occupied by Tesh). The standard format at KJUL should be more friendly to Tesh’s rapid-fire, random advice-driven program than the ’80s format, where listeners tune in primarily to wax nostalgic over the Romantics and Soft Cell. “Some formats just don’t work,” Tesh said. “Listeners tell me that the music is just a palate cleanser to get to the next news item.”

Tesh is astonishingly popular across the country, being carried by about 240 affiliates nationwide. We’ll close with a couple of classic tidbits assembled by his crack 10-person research team: Always wear blue to important meetings (it is a subversively powerful color), throw dishwashing sponges (a haven for germ breeding) into the dishwasher or microwave oven for sanitizing every other day, and the amount of time one should spend brushing his (own) teeth is the same duration of the song, “Yellow Submarine.”

Source: Las Vegas Sun
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/do/2006/aug/15/566645006.html

The Aladdin’s total makeover to become Planet Hollywood can be compared to a complete home remodeling project. Except in this case the home covers more than a hundred thousand square feet and all of the time- and cost-consuming renovations must be done while guests are still happily enjoying the digs.

“We want to have better ‘interconnectivity’ between all areas of the hotel and casino,” co-chairman of Planet Hollywood Resort Casino Robert Earl said Saturday at the hotel he plucked from bankruptcy in 2003. During a quick trip to town to check on the property (and review final details for the 2007 Miss America Pageant, which this week is expected announce a return to the Theatre for the Performing Arts), Earl led during a brisk walking tour of the heavily compartmentalized Aladdin casino and mezzanine levels.

We have known for weeks that work on the turnover from Aladdin to the more celebrity-fueled Planet Hollywood brand was behind schedule - it might not be completed until the spring of 2007. But now we have a better idea as to why.

“What has made this so time-consuming is all of the work has been done while the hotel is still operating. We could have shut it down, but with our high occupancy rates it would not have made any sense,” Earl said, explaining why construction has seemed to inch along over the past few months. He also said the permit process for many of the construction projects has been snagged, as Clark County has been buried with such permits recently.

Earl led us into a few of the resort’s more expansive projects. A temporary registration desk has been moved into the mezzanine level while the lobby downstairs is totally refurbished (a project that will be finished by October, likely). A massive expanse on that level - about 40,000 square feet - has been re-targeted and will serve temporarily as a casino, with plans to bring an ultra lounge (among other amenities) to the site.

Several new restaurants are planned for the mezzanine . Also impressive was the progress on the $20 million, 1,500-seat showroom (expected to be in full operation by the end of the year) that Earl says will rival any in the city and serve as an ideal complement to the Theatre for the Performing Arts, which itself is being renovated (once finished, the seating capacity will be variable - 4,000 or the current 7,000).

Downstairs, the walls that seem to serve no purpose other than to impede progress are actually concealing considerable work on a new main casino level - just ducking into a doorway reveals a gothic construction scene of dusty concrete and new escalators where Sinbad’s Lounge once stood. When that project is finished (again, probably by October) the crews shift to the area of the casino currently in use and go to work there. And the escalators that visitors met at the casino entrance from the Desert Passage mall will have been removed, with a more wide-open and accessible entrance to the casino.

“Interconnectivity,” in lay terms.

The entire Planet Hollywood resort (including the under-construction Planet Hollywood Towers by Westgate condo project) will offer 5,200 rooms, making it one of the largest resorts on the Strip. Earl plans to compete with MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay - once this pesky remodel thing is finally finished.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/do/2006/aug/14/566636965.html

The blackjack contest has been organized by The Prescription.com – also known as The Rx – as part of their fourth annual Rx bash. The players, who have signed up for free Rx membership, were selected because they won various sports contests on The Rx Web site.

The Rx will put up the $50,000 in bets, divided as 10 at $500 each, five at $1,000 each and one each at $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. If a player wins the hand, he keeps the payoff and The Rx gets its stake back. If a player loses, the Imperial Palace keeps the bet. Players will have to have their own money at the table for any additional wagers such as double-downs or splits, which, if won, will be honored by the IP.

Elvis, from the Imperial Palace’s signature “Dealertainer” Pit, will deal each hand separately from a six-deck shoe. The competition begins at 6 p.m. with the smallest bets dealt first.

The blackjack competition follows a poker tournament from noon to 4 p.m. with 150 players competing for $5,000 in prize money. First place will receive $2,500, second place $1,000 and the third- and fourth-place finishers will each win $750.

Joining Lewis from 6 p.m. Sept. 3 to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at the South Coast will be resident headliners Louie Anderson, Lance Burton, Celine Dion, Clint Holmes and Rita Rudner. Barry Manilow, whose double hip surgery will keep him home, will send a tape.

Also invited: cast members of “Phantom: The Vegas Spectacular,” ventriloquist Ronn Lucas, comedian Max Alexander and members of The Coasters, Platters and Drifters.

Co-anchoring with Lewis will be Ed McMahon. Co-hosts include Jann Carl, Tom Bergeron, Norm Crosby, Billy Gilman, Larry King, Tony Orlando and Bob Zany.

The on-air talent includes Paul Anka, Goo Goo Dolls, Lee Greenwood, Dave Matthews Band, Neil Patrick Harris, Ray Romano, William Shatner, Patti LaBelle, BeBe Winans, Brian McKnight, Branford Marsalis, George Clinton and members of the casts of Phantom of the Opera, Shout, The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee, The Color Purple and the Wedding Singer. There will be segments from New York, Chicago and the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur.

For more information, go to www.mda.org.

Unsure about what can and can’t be taken on board a domestic flight? The rules are still in flux, but the current guidelines and exceptions are listed below. For future updates, visit the TSA’s Web site, and keep in mind that international flights are likely to have tougher requirements: check with your individual carrier in that case.

The trickiest questions involve medicine, be they prescription or not. For both, it’s a good idea to carry documentation that will help prove that the objects are what you say they are. Prescription medicines should be brought in the containers they were dispensed in, and it’s a good idea to also bring along the prescription in case you are questioned. For non-prescription medicines, bringing a note from your doctor will increase your chances of being able to bring the item as part of your carry-on.
http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/002044.cfm
Thanks to Rose for sending this to me.

Bill and Barb Alft ask: I recently read your article about long hauling. We have been flying to Vegas (from Green Bay, Wis.) for many years and have been taking taxis to the Golden Nugget. This past spring we were long hauled to the airport. The driver was a real idiot and I was very weary of complaining to him or trying to get his name. Is it appropriate to tell drivers what route you want to take? Interstate 15 is a very dangerous way to take to and from downtown, but the drivers often go this way.