Flamingo Las Vegas announces that it will extend the successful live show, Toni Braxton: Revealed, through February 16, 2008. Six-time Grammy Award-winning artist and international headlining performer Toni Braxton opened her spectacular production in August 2006 and has been dazzling audiences ever since.

Toni Braxton: Revealed is a sexy, entertaining and intimate evening with the woman who interprets the emotional essence of a song as no other artist can. Revealed is a full-scale musical production that draws upon Ms. Braxton's experience as an accomplished musician, singer and Broadway performer, complete with her incredible band, amazing costumes and talented dancers.

The dramatic show that has awed audiences has also received rave reviews:

"Her diverse set of ballads and seductive numbers puts Toni Braxton in a category of her own. Her performances at the Flamingo are one of the hottest in town." – Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas Travel Guide

"The deliciously deep-voiced R&B diva offers a modern-day version of a classic Vegas show: Lots of energetic ensemble dancing, several glitzy costumes that show off her terrifically toned body and plenty of interaction with the audience…" – Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The sultry songstress is back in a big way, lighting up Vegas with an exciting stage show." – Las Vegas Magazine

Braxton has recently appeared on popular television programs such as The View, Larry King Live and Montel Williams and headlined the April concert for Autism Speaks, an organization for which she has become a national spokesperson.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday.

Las Vegas, usually known for the real deal in big-name entertainment, also proved its dominance of the celebrity impersonator market by sweeping ABC's "The Next Best Thing."

Las Vegas performers claimed the top three spots Wednesday on ABC's talent show for tribute acts. First prize and $100,000 went to Trent Carlini, who stars as Elvis Presley in "The Musical History of the King" at the Sahara.

The runner-up was Sebastian Anzaldo, who plays Frank Sinatra in "Barbra and Frank — The Concert That Never Was" at the Riviera.

Third-place finisher Donny Edwards, as the young Elvis, does not perform in a ticketed Las Vegas show but tours nationally.

Network TV made 2007 the summer of the Vegas underdog, and stars out of people who were kind of stars already.

You're forgiven if you watched NBC's "America's Got Talent" and didn't connect magician Kevin James to his nightly duties in "World's Greatest Magic Show" in the Greek Isles hotel.

You're even off the hook if you're not aware the Greek Isles exists. The place is so low in the Las Vegas echelon that stars of the roommate production, "The Rat Pack Is Back — The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean," joke about how they live on borrowed time, until the day Steve Wynn should look out his window and decree that the joint be blown up.

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It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world discovered Leonid the Magnificent.

His life has changed dramatically since he became something of a fixture on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Everywhere he goes in New York City, he's recognized, and he's been flown to Greece as a guest star on "Greece Has Talent" and other international cities for appearances.

He's back for the second season of "Got Talent," but the most exciting news, he said, is an offer to do a reality show. He's staying quiet about that until he gets more details.

The tall Russian who honed his outrageous sword-balancing, hula hoop-shaking act in the drag clubs in Miami returns to the "Madhouse" at the Hard Rock Hotel for tonight's grand opening.

Jeff Beacher, who created the "Madhouse" five years ago in New York City, didn't see a showstopper the first time he saw Leonid at an audition for a pre-Grammys show at Madison Square Garden.

But his partner did. "He said, 'This is the guy who will change the history'" of the "Madhouse."

Beacher wasn't convinced. Then he heard some bizarre music, he heard a roar, and he turned around to see a naked Leonid on stage.

Leonid, who left the "Madhouse" a year ago to compete on "Got Talent," will be joining Mini Britney and Kombe, the acrobatic troupe made up of little people.
ReviewJournal.com - News - NORM: Leonid's life is just magnificent

Sunday morning came a few hours ahead of schedule, with the preacher in the trench coat sermonizing as if she were standing just outside hell's gates.

Truth be told, it was hot enough out to approximate at least the outer circles of Hades, with gusts of warm wind making it feel as if you were standing in front of a giant hair dryer.

Still, Lauryn Hill was all bundled up, sporting shades and a ballcap, looking as if she were trying to go incognito on this stuffy Saturday night.

Taking the stage an hour past the show's scheduled 9 p.m. start time because of technical difficulties, Hill set her purse down, wound herself up, and then rhymed and proselytized as if she were being chased by demons.

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From the brooms they move on to, well, just about anything you can imagine. Dust pans, boxes filled with what sounds like peanuts, empty water jugs, pipes, plastic garbage bags, metal rods, and of course the signature trash can lids all become just another thing to make music with and although there is a certain sameness to some of the numbers it never ceases to remain revelatory.

The stand-out numbers are the ones that veer off in even stranger, and strangely quieter, directions. When all 16 cast-members sit on the lip of the stage in a completely dark theater and do a musical composition worthy of Beethoven with Zippo lighters, you’ll be blown away. And when a subset of the group turns newspapers and coughing into a hilarious hip-hop battle of wills you’ll be laughing yourself sick. And of course when several of the cast members literally “play” kitchen sinks, well – that’s just genius.

There are a couple of quibbles with the show. As mentioned above some of the numbers blend together with their sameness and perhaps I’m just getting old, but even I started getting a bit of a headache from the loud banging by the time the show was over, but that’s really nit-picking. I walked out happier than I was when I walked in so that has to be worth something.

I also loved how the cast was not the usual super-toned, manufactured pretty that you often see on Vegas stages. Their ages range from 20’s to 30s, men and women, there was at least one of virtually every race or ethnicity you could think of, and several of them were not exactly what you might call “fit” at least in comparison to the rock-hard-ab set that dominates most productions in this town. This melting pot of “types” adds to the overall tone of the show, that seems to say there is music and movement and joy in everything and everyone if you just take a few minutes to look for it. It is the very definition of the word inclusion.

Vegas4Visitors Grade: B+

Stomp Out Loud
Planet Hollywood
3663 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
877-333-9474
Tickets
Show Times:

Operators of a televised poker venue dealt downtown Las Vegas a bad hand this week when they revealed plans to pull their stake out of the near-empty Neonopolis mall.

The Poker Dome venue will fold by the end of the summer, meaning no more nationally televised high-stakes poker matches, which had been the most prominent aspect of the troubled Fremont Street mall.

The news only raises the odds against a quick revival for the city-subsidized Neonopolis mall, a shopping center that is down to two visible tenants despite its location at the intersection of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard.

After the defection, Neonopolis developer Rohit Joshi and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman characterized it as an opportunity for the mall to add more movie screens as Galaxy Theatres is one of the few tenants to survive in the property. But both were disappointed to see the Poker Dome depart.

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Discrete excess. Does such a thing exist?

It does when The Police are in town.

Performing in Las Vegas for the first time, the band's tunes were a mix of economy and extravagance, at once Spartan and sophisticated, defined largely by their symmetry. Their songs are laden with trapdoors that plunge a straightforward pop tune into a sweaty exercise in controlled chaos.

Playing to a sold-out MGM Grand Garden, the band was at its best when plumbing the crevices of their hit-filled catalog to uncover new shapes and forms hidden in the shadows.

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By : Jason Jimenez/Las Vegas Magazine

Before Bugsy, before the Strip, before the sparkle, there was an ex-vice detective from Los Angeles who helped start the rush to the Mojave desert. In 1931 when gambling was legalized in Nevada after a 22-year hiatus, Guy McAfee saw opportunity on highway 91. Known as “the Captain,” he came out in 1938 to buythe Pair-O-Dice Club. The only thing that grew faster than the profit was McAfee’s ambition and in 1946 he opened what would become the epicenter of all of Downtown, the Golden Nugget.

With an initial investment of $1 million, it was named the largest casino in the world. It passed through the hands of hotel developer Steve Wynn in 1972, and with him, the arrival of names like Frank Sinatra and Willie Nelson, along with the resort’s first AAA Four-Diamond Award in 1977.

When Landry’s Restaurants Inc. acquired the property in 2005, it set off a chain reaction of events that altered the entire landscape of downtown. Continuing to boom in its seventh decade, the Golden Nugget has again redefined the personality of Fremont, and with a $100 million renovation completed last November, it has positioned itself as one of the bellwethers of Las Vegas.

The accolades are only accoutrements at this point, as the marvelous new venues speak for themselves.

With the resort corridor evolving into a gastronomic playground, the Golden Nugget is setting the trend. Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse has immediately had an impact on the foodie community—the combination of prime steak and a stupefying wine cellar rivals any of the ritzy dining hangs in the city.

Grotto resonates of a trattoria on the Amalfi Coast in Italy; it is a fine-dining experience but without the need to put a tie on. Adding to the appeal is floor-to-ceiling views of the most ocular sensation of the property, The Tank, a $20 million pool complex that officially opened in March. Three levels of cabanas and sunbathing accent a massive live shark tank, with a waterslide piercing through the middle.

Rush is the property’s answer to the city’s bustling nightlife industry. Complete with live music and gaming tables, it has found habitués of local hipsters and tourists alike.

Perhaps the only design aspect of the casino that has stayed the same over the years is the “Hand of Faith,” the largest known gold nugget on display in the world.

However, the most remarkable thing about the Golden Nugget is its personality. It has all the new-school Vegas amenities but with old-school Vegas class.
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Earlier next year, the Luxor Steakhouse is scheduled for remodeling and the pool will also receive a makeover. In addition, the 2,500 hotel rooms in the Luxor pyramid will be remodeled.

Last week, comedy-magician Tim Gabrielson opened his afternoon show for an extended indefinite run at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Performances of "Keep It Funny starring Tim Gabrielson" run six days a week, Saturday through Thursday, with show times daily at 3 p.m. Shows are suitable for all ages. Tickets are $19.95, call 702-632-7600.

Gabrielson has performed at such Las Vegas venues as Harrah's, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus, Rio and others. He is currently performing more than 200 dates a year with corporate clients including Pepsi, 3M, IBM, General Mills and many others.

Steve Schirripa, who starred in the mob drama the "Sopranos," has returned to Las Vegas to work on Spike TV's "Casino Cinema." Based at the Hard Rock, the show will feature "an insider look" at Las Vegas with Schirripa interviewing industry workers. Before the "Sopranos," he was the Riviera's entertainment director. Ladies from the "Crazy Girls" show at the Riviera will be in vignettes that will be part of the episode to air on Monday, Sept. 10.
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