Think you've seen some dramatic changes in the controversial "Le Reve" since it opened to mixed reviews two years ago? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Franco Dragone's water-based show closed for a month to make $10 million in changes, including wider seats, new carpets, a better sound system and a layout that removes almost a quarter of the 2,100 seats to add a VIP section with TV monitors showing underwater action in the million-gallon tank. They also added the hardware for an advanced lighting system, which will be completed during another break in July.

But the biggest change may be a new script due sometime in 2008.

But you can always say, "Well, I didn't have all the information."

Back in March 2003, I stood outside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace with John Meglen, co-CEO and president of AEG Live/Concerts West, and played devil's advocate to grill him about Celine Dion.

They expected to sell 4,100 seats 200 times a year for a singer who had been out of the limelight five years? Charging an average $141 per ticket? With a top ticket of $200? A singer whose Top 40 currency had expired, and who was becoming a punch line with the comedians and magazines that set the pace of pop culture?

Dick's Last Resort is a new outrageous bar and restaurant opening in June at the Excalibur.

ASIA will be a new dining and nightclub destination opening next month at the Miracle Mile Shops with the sensory elements of the Far East and Japanese cuisine.

Men and their wild bachelor parties have long been a point of contention for many women—especially their significant others. But luckily for you, ladies, you’re in Vegas, and America’s Playground is ready and waiting to show you the time of your life and how a final fling should go down.

With its plethora of titillating entertainment, tasty gourmet eats and libations, world-class shopping and rejuvenating day-after spa treatments, bachelorettes aren’t left wanting for anything here in Sin City.

Party Prep

If the evening’s festivities involve making your way around town, you’ll want to reserve your own wheels so not a moment is wasted flagging down taxis. With plenty of limousine and party bus services available here, hooking up a really cool, classy, decked-out ride for the evening can easily be arranged. Check out our Resources on page 198 for a list of companies.

The Wild Bunch

With the ride out of the way, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Stripper 101, a new striptease dance studio located in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort above the V Theater, teaches ladies more than 25 exotic floor moves actually performed in gentlemen’s clubs. During the hourlong class, which is instructed by an experienced, skilled exotic dancer, lap dancing and pole moves also are taught—all of it in an intimate setting of dark woods, red velvet curtains, strobe lights, sultry music and cocktails. While this equates to tons of fun for the girls, it’s sure to prove even more fun later for their significant others.

Once the group is warmed up, it’s time to kick it up a few notches with one of the hot and steamy male revues. Thunder From Down Under (Excalibur), the internationally acclaimed male dance troupe from Australia boasting some of the hottest bods in Sin City, tantalizes with its alluring costumes and high-energy choreography. And, you’ve got to love the no-tipping policy that ensures every lady in the house has the opportunity to get up close to the chiseled beefcakes. If the guys know there’s a bachelorette party in the house, they’ll go out of their way to make the night a very memorable one. Thunder also offers a very affordable bachelorette package that includes VIP seating at one of the front tables for the show, limousine party bus transportation to a fine dining experience at your choice of five restaurants, and afterward, to the nightclub of choice, and a crowning of the bride-to-be with a Thunder tiara.

Touted as The Ultimate Girls’ Night Out, Chippendales, The Show (Rio) offers up 12 hard-bodied, seductive studs in sensual scenarios straight from women’s fantasies, as well as a healthy dose of erotic choreography. And what good is a striptease without the tease? For groups of eight or more, special rates are available that include a complimentary Polaroid photograph with the Chippendales guys and a complimentary Chippendales calendar. Also part of the new Chippendales Theater are an exclusive VIP Sky Lounge that nicely accommodates larger groups, and Flirt Lounge, which opens an hour before showtime and continues to keep the party going long after the curtain closes. As part of the bachelorette package, the party entourage receives complimentary access to the I-Bar Ultra Lounge and VooDoo Lounge, which is located on the 50th and 51st floors of the resort and features an outside patio with an amazing view of the Strip.

Still another lusty male revue in town is American Storm (Riviera), winners of the hit VH1 reality show Strip Search, whose producers scoured the nation for the perfect Adonises with moves to match. Taking audiences on a unique and sexual journey through American history, the sculpted six-man dance troupe evokes wild, frenzied responses from the ladies that turns the whole she-bang into one big screamfest. And if you’d like to chat with these hunks after the show, stop by Syn City night club, where you’ll not only get some up close and personal time, you’ll also be entertained by the club’s flair bartenders and DJs.

Gone Clubbin'

Now that the blood is pumping, you’ll probably need a place to burn off some of that … ahem … energy. A couple clubs you’ll want to check out are the elegant but edgy three-tiered Body English (Hard Rock Hotel) and the plush and invigorating Light nightclub (Bellagio).

The Hard Rock also can accommodate bachelorette party requests for special suites and bashes on the beach.

The Light Group, which operates Light nightclub, Caramel Bar and Lounge and Fix restaurant at the Bellagio, offers up a VIP bachelorette package that includes a three-course dinner at Fix, designed to gear you up for a big night out with its contemporary American cuisine; a visit to the lavish and cozy Caramel Bar and Lounge; and complimentary VIP access into the hip, upscale Light.

Inside the Palms is N9NE Steakhouse, which features a bachelorette package that includes a four-course dinner at its Champagne Caviar Bar and free entry with no waiting in line into Rain, Ghostbar, Moon and Playboy Club.

They say "Ice: Direct From Russia" isn't a Cirque du Soliel show, but they should wink when they say it.

It has all the earmarks of the production company that dominates the Las Vegas entertainment market.

Acrobats.

Clowns.

Fabulous costumes.

Exciting choreography.

Breath taking stunts.

And more acrobats.

But the dominating element of this 80-minute show at the Riviera is skating. A cast of 42 skaters direct from Russia squeezes onto a 3,000-square-foot stage covered with 4 inches of ice, although rarely all at the same time.

More Here:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/do/2007/may/15/566617880.html

Four days after the 24-year-old died in a bomb blast at the Luxor parking garage, Las Vegas police pinned the slaying on two men, including the former boyfriend of Antonio's girlfriend. Detectives believe Antonio was targeted because of his relationship.

"This was a very cold, calculated, planned attack," homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said at a news conference Friday announcing the arrests of Omar Rueda-Denvers and Porfirro Duarte Herrera.

Easy to miss, at the bottom of the message that isn't what everyone thinks, is the word "trip."

Instead of a statement of support for jail-bound Paris Hilton, it's a promotion for the Palms new Bistro Buffet. Try the buffet and you qualify for a drawing for a free trip to see Paris, as in France.

"We've had a lot of response, a lot of calls," said Palms owner George Maloof, who purchased a full-page ad that's running in today's Review-Journal.

A hopelessly confused male who attended the Palms' Ditch Fridays pool party asked, "Does that mean I get a free trip to see Paris in jail?" said Maloof, a pal of Hilton's.

"We thought it would be fun to play off it," he said, referring to Hilton's run-in with the law that will send her to a Los Angeles jail for up to 45 days June 5 for violating terms of her 2006 drunken-driving arrest.

The spirit of Bobby Darin filled his former showroom at the Flamingo Monday.

Five'll get ya ten old Macky was back in town.

About 200 invitees gathered to celebrate Darin's Las Vegas Walk of Stars enshrinement Monday and revel in his music and memories. Attendees got a bonus: two little-known Darin recordings discovered in the archives about two years ago were part of a video.

The former Las Vegas headliner, who topped the charts with "Mack the Knife" for nine weeks in 1959, sang the two songs, "Weeping Willow" and "Manhattan in my Heart."

Darin's half-brother Gary Walden accepted a replica of the star that's been encased in the sidewalk in front of the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Tony Sacca and Darin stylist Robert Ensler each sang a song, and a number of guests, including Darin's buddy Wayne Newton, shared stories. Darin, who had been given the exclusive rights to "Danke Schoen," gave the song to Newton, who turned it into a hit that launched his career.

In the audience, carrying a scrapbook from yesteryear, was restaurateur George LaForge, who was the maitre 'd at the Desert Inn's toney Monte Carlo room when he befriended Darin. LaForge opened the Pamplemousse restaurant on East Sahara in Darin's honor in 1976, three years after Darin's death at age 37.

2008
Sometime in early 2008, Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific Group will close on their
$17.1 billion purchase of HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT.
Sometime in early 2008, the LAS VEGAS MONORAIL is planning to start construction of an
extension from the MGM GRAND to McCarran Airport. The extension will run north from the MGM Grand to Harmon, east to Swenson Street, south to Russell Road and east to the site of McCarran's future Terminal 3.Monorail stations along the extended route are planned at the site of the planned "W" Resort Hotel on Harmon, at the Hard Rock Hotel and on Swenson near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to serve events at the Thomas & Mack Center. Two stations would be built at McCarran, one near the planned Terminal 3 and another at Terminal 1 on the north side of the airport's baggage claim area. Projected completion date is three years later
Sometime in mid-2008, a new Cirque du Soleil show opens at the LUXOR. Cirque du Soleil will
present 'Mindfreak' illusionist Criss Angel in a $100-million+ magic spectacular.
Jul.??,2008 = Opening of Building 3 of the WORLD MARKET CENTER. Costing $550 million, it will
be a 16-story showroom with over 2.1 million square feet of space, Sky bridges at all levels will connect this Building with Buildings 1 and 2. When fully built at 12 million square feet, in 8 buildings, the WORLD MARKET CENTER will be the largest trade show complex in the world. Telephone: (702) 599-9621
www.lasvegasmarket.com
Sometime in late summer 2008, the EASTSIDE CANNERY will open located on the old Nevada Palacesite on Boulder Highway. The $250 million project will have a 307-room Tower, a casino with 2,000
slot machines and 26 table games, restaurants, spa and pool.
Sometime in 2008,FONTAINEBLEAU Las Vegas hotel-casino will open. It's a development of a 4,000-room hotel-casino, that will be built on the Strip just north of the Riviera on 25 acres that once held the El Rancho and Algiers casinos.The land fronts the existing Turnberry Place high-rise condominium project
Sometime in 2008, The International Halloween Costume & Party Show, has announced that after 23 years in Chicago, the show will move to Las Vegas. Also making the move, is the annual National Haunt & Attractions show.
Sometime in 2008, the LADY LUCK in Downtown Las Vegas, which closed February 12, 2006, will reopen after major renovations have been completed. Financing problems have delayed completion.
Sometime in 2008, ground breaking will take place for the MAXIM magazine mixed-used project planned for the 7.7-acre site near Circus Circus which would include a three-tower resort hotel with 300 rooms and 1,860 condominiums. It will also have a large casino, shops and restaurants. Completion of the project will be in 2010. The project is planned for a site on the northwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Circus Circus Drive.
Sometime in 2008 construction will start on The world-class SMITH CENTERFOR THE PERFORMING ARTS on a vacant 61-acre former railroad yard west of downtown. The Center is expected to cost up to $250 million, with an endowment of $50 million or more for expenses. Completion is for 2011.
State, county and city governments have approved a car-rental tax to pay almost half the estimated cost. Completion is for 2011.The Center's main hall will have more than 2,000 seats for large touring productions
and concerts. The Center will also have an elegant theater with more than 600 seats for intimate performances and a Studio Theater with more than 300 seats for children's performances, jazz, cabaret, rehearsals and community events:
http://www.lvpacfoundation.org/
Sometime in the fourth quarter of 2008 The VILLAGE AT QUEENSRIDGE opens and will have over 700,000 square feet of boutique shops, cinemas, restaurants and office space. This project is located on the southwest corner of Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive, across the street from the Suncoast Hotel & Casino,on the south side.
Sometime in late 2008 the COSMOPOLITAN Resort & Casino will open. A $1.8 billion
development, it will consist of two glass towers on an 8.5-acre site on Harmon Avenue and the Las Vegas Strip, just south of the Bellagio. It will encompass over 4 million square feet and approximately 3,000 rooms comprised of condo hotel units and hotel rooms, over 150,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a 75,000 square foot casino, Over 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, entertainment space, a 50,000 square foot fitness center/spa, 400 feet of Strip frontage, multiple nightclubs, an 1,800 seat theater,500 seat cabaret and a four-level, 3,800-car underground parking garage.One of the attractions will be The Cosmo Beach Club, a five-acre pool deck overlooking The Strip featuring al fresco dining and a nightclub.The hotel is intended to have a four-star rating and will be called: The Grand Hyatt Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino. Hyatt will operate the property's 3,000 hotel rooms, suites and condo-hotel units. Info.::
http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/about/press/pr-show.jsp?id=1200622
Sometime in late 2008, opening of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute on the corner of Bonneville Avenue
and Grand Central Parkway at Union Park in downtown Las Vegas, which will be a medical-scientific think tank, diagnostic and research facility dedicated to seeking the cures for memory disorders and dementia
associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's and other brain dysfunctions.
Sometime in late 2008, the first homes will be occupied in Olympia Group's massive new 6,000 residential unit project in North Las Vegas. The homes in the master-planned community, called Park Highlands, will have a price range from $250,000 to $1 million+. The project will take 10 years to completely build out and is located close to Station Casino's future Aliante Station. The builders also hope to add a casino to their project.

2009

Sometime in early 2009, the second tower of 2,054 suites, costing over $2.1 billion and named ENCORE AT WYNN LAS VEGAS will open. Fully integrated with Wynn Las Vegas but
with additional casino, additional food & beverage and more retail.Demolition of the remaining towers of the
old Desert Inn have been completed to make way for this second tower. Information on the second tower at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/May-28-Fri-2004/business/23980705.html
Sometime in early 2009, Station Casinos will open ALIANTE STATION CASINO in the master planned community of the same name, in North Las Vegas at I-215 and Aliante Parkway. The property will have 2,000 slot machines, 200 hotel rooms and cost up to $600 million.
Sometime in early 2009, opening of ONE QUEENSRIDGE PLACE, the first suburban high-rise condo
to go up in Las Vegas. Project consists of two 18-story towers with 219 condo units in each that are
each priced from $1.2 million to $5 million. Both Tower One and Tower Two are going to open at the same time.One Queensridge Place is located on the southwest corner of Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive in the master-planned community of Queensridge, which is part of Peccole Ranch adjacent to Summerlin. This project is located across the street from the Suncoast Hotel & Casino, on the south side. Tel.: (702) 646-6377.
Sometime in mid 2009, the Hard Rock Hotel will complete their $750 million expansion which
includes the addition of approximately 950 guest rooms, including an all-suite 15-story tower with upgraded amenities, approximately 60,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and approximately 35,000 square feet of casino space. In addition, the project includes the expansion of the Hard Rock's
award-winning pool, several prominent new food and beverage outlets, a new and larger "JOINT", live entertainment venue, 30,000 square feet of new retail space, as well as a new spa and health club.
Sometime in the fall of 2009, Fontainebleau will open.The 3,889-room, 63-story Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel/condo-hotel/casino is a $2.8 billion development that is being built on the Strip just north of the Riviera on the 25 acres where the El Rancho and Algiers casinos once stood.This project will have a condo-hotel element, due to an alliance between Fontainebleau and Turnberry. Construction is under way.
Sometime in mid-2009,opening of the new M Resort's $700 million, first phase of an 80-acre mixed-use development including hotel-spa-casino that will be located on the far south side of the Strip (near St. Rose Pkwy.).
Sometime in the fall of 2009, NORDSTROM DEPARTMENT STORE (my favorite store in Las Vegas) will open their second Las Vegas store in the Summerlin Centre, located at Sahara and the 215.
Sometime in 2009, WET LAS VEGAS will open, near the 215. Slated to be the largest indoorwaterpark in North America, costing over $1 billion. Exact location and construction schedule is to be released in a few weeks.
Sometime in 2009, MONTREUX, the resort that will rise to replace the NEW FRONTIER
will open.Montreux, given a Swiss mountain theme, will cost $1.9 billion, with 2,750 rooms
and include a big shopping mall and dining and entertainment amenities.
Sometime in 2009, Planet Hollywood will open PLANET HOLLYWOOD TOWERS BY WESTGATE.
50 stories high with 1,200 fully furnished vacation villas located on the southeast corner of the property.
Sometime in November, 2009, the Grand Opening of CITYCENTER which will feature a 60-story,
4,000-room gaming resort with an Elvis Presley Show by Cirque du Soleil.; two 400-room,non-gaming
boutique hotels including Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas; a 500,000-square-foot retail, dining and entertainment district; and four distinct residential products within five towers – approximately 2,700 residential units. CityCenter is located on 76 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts - approximately 18-million square feet of space . Total cost is $7.4 billion - it is the largest privately financed development in the history of the United States. 12,000 new, permanent positions will be created by this project!
Sometime in late 2009, the new HOOVER DAM bypass and bridge opens. With security vehicle check points, there are some lengthy delays. Originally set to open in 2007, The completion of the Hoover Dam Bypass has been delayed by two years because of the collapse of construction equipment. Internet site is at:http://www.hooverdambypass.org/
Sometime in late 2009, SILVERTON completes a $500 million expansion consisting of a 25-story toer with 360 rooms, a spa, restaurants and additional casino space.

2010

When Roseanne Barr asked how many people believe Armageddon is here, few people in her opening night audience at New York-New York were willing to respond.

It's not like you're going to slow down a famous comedian's act by asking her to clarify the question: "Do you mean, in the general sense that if we attack Iran, all bets are off? Or are you asking if we're one of those fundamentalist 'Left Behind' readers?"

Criss Angel is a master magician, but the expectations surrounding his coming Luxor production are no illusion. One of the principal figures behind his partnership with Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Senior Vice President of Creative Content Gilles Ste-Croix, has helped make sure of that.

"I think that if you want to do a magic show, you need a character who carries the magic, who can carry the power and who has charisma and credibility," Ste-Croix said after a news conference announcing that the $75 million Criss du Soleil (my working title) show at the old "Hairspray" theater would open in summer 2008. "To me, Criss Angel is the new Siegfried & Roy of Las Vegas."

So much for lowering the bar.

Actually, Siegfried & Roy's production at the Mirage inspired Ste-Croix and Cirque co-founder Guy Laliberte to think big. They visited Las Vegas in 1989 to see the opening of Siegfried & Roy's show at the Mirage and saw opportunity for Cirque to blossom on the Strip.

NOTE:This article is 5 pages long. Pages 2-5 are at the bottom of the page.

Brahms, Beethoven, Eminem. To put Wynn Las Vegas' construction, completion and opening in the highest echelons of artistic achievement is certainly no faux pas. For when does a building, let alone one whose main goals are operating games of chance, folies du theatre, goods exchange and expeditions in cuisine, elevate its panes and columns to a level of artistic achievement? Seldomly, if ever. But Wynn Las Vegas is no mere mortar. In the annals of resortitecture, Wynn Las Vegas rocks down to Electric Avenue, passing the dutchie in a red hot Ferrari while still taking the time to share the Grey Poupon with Grandma and Grandpa Venetian N. Bellagio in the Rolls next door.

The Las Vegas Strip is a sub-city where post-modernist architecture is taken to the Disneyest extreme - a cyclical temporary pastiche of theme wonderland mirages attached by people movers and double decker buses. From the cauldron of double bubble one can peer out from King Arthur's castle to see ancient Egypt, numerous Italian ruins, the New York City skyline, Asian paradise or two, a handful of North African oasi, multiple views of fraudulent France and a Disney movie - sampled, stitched together and recombined into a money making mashup that is more mache than Cartier.

Foreplay: that magical prelude to the main event. Teasing, tantalizing, and at times torturing the erogenous zones. Yet we love it, crave it and demand it. “X Burlesque" at Flamingo supplies the demand.

The dancers are hot, as in sexy, as in you won’t be disappointed. The 180-seat Flamingo Cabaret clarifies the concept of intimate theater; with unobstructed sight lines, nothing is left to the imagination. Bungees are used to strike a tantalizing chord, and the scene with the two gals in the tub finds a way to get dirty while taking a bath.

The choreography is sultry but with talent; one of the dancers even doubles as a performer in Toni Braxton’s show. The pole in the center of the room erects a focal point away from the stage, and the dancers always seem to find their way out into the audience.

The topless revue braids contemporary music to traditional burlesque, sculpting sentient erotic imagery that entices as well as inspires. What does it inspire? Well, this is a family magazine and there is a reason the show is 18 and up, so fill in the blank.

"X Burlesque"
Where: Flamingo
Hours: 10 p.m. Mon. - Tues.,
8 & 10 p.m. Wed., 10 p.m. &
midnight Fri., midnight Sat.
Info: (702) 492-3960 or
(866) 80-SHOWS
http://www.lvshowbiz.com/feature1.html

Just as "Seinfeld" focused more on comedian Jerry Seinfeld's (make-believe) life offstage than it did on his stand-up career, "Nathan!" will be "more about the life" of a Las Vegas magician than the magic itself, Burton explains.

Las Vegas-based Maxxam Entertainment is producing the pilot; chief executive officer Don Barnhart (whose credits include such hits as "Mork & Mindy" and "Full House") will call the shots.

The V Theatre will play itself during the onstage portions of the scripted show, Burton notes. But "the dressing rooms are a little small," so sets will be constructed for the backstage scenes.

Several examples of this can be found around The Strip today including the new “Gold Class” rooms at Mandalay Bay and the “Go” rooms at the Flamingo.

Several floors of rooms at Mandalay Bay were given the “Gold” treatment, turning what are pleasant if relatively staid rooms into sleekly modern beauties. Rooms range from 550 to 1,500 square feet and feature elegantly hip furnishings, pillow-top mattresses, 42” plasma televisions, iPod ready alarm clocks, wireless and high-speed Internet access, a mini-bar, and cordless phones in the room with stone and marble accents, a 15” LCD TV, a separate bath and shower, and twin vanities in the bathroom.

The Flamingo is going retro-chic with their “Go” rooms, which put a 2007 spin on the Bugsy Seigel era. Flaming pink and bold earth tones are found in the décor but the rooms are dominated by shiny whites including the oversized vinyl headboard and wall draping. Each room features a pillow-top mattress, 42” flat panel televisions (plus another LCD in the bathroom), CD/DVD players, electronic window controls, Delta jetted shower fixtures, and amenities by Gilchrist and Soames.

Meanwhile in Downtown Las Vegas golden oldies such as the Four Queens and El Cortez have recently completed top to bottom renovations of their rooms and much of the public spaces of the hotels. While they are in no way mean to try to compete with the Wynn Las Vegas’ of the world, they are certainly a much nicer product than what you used to find at these properties and among the best in the Downtown area.
http://www.vegas4visitors.com/column/index.htm