Comedian Rita Rudner's show at the MGM Grand's Cabaret Theatre closed last weekend. The good news is she'll return to the MGM in March after the showroom is renovated. She'll fill an earlier 7 p.m. time slot with her show and the new topless "Crazy Horse" revue will follow.

Meanwhile, Rudner is on the road touring. When tthe comedienne returns to Las Vegas in March, she will also tape more installments of her "Ask Rita" advise show.

Former Desert Inn headliner, Don Rickles will continue his drawing power on the Strip at the Stardust this year. His opening gig will be a two-night engagement, Feb. 2-3. He's scheduled to return to the hotel's Wayne Newton Theater at least four more time throughout the year.

Park Place Entertainment is scheduling name stars in its vacant showroom at Paris. Headliners formerly at Caesars Palace, which is devoid of a showroom these days, and the Las Vegas Hilton, which is being sold, are possible future bookings. Vanessa Williams is booked Jan. 19-21, and treasured diverse vocal stylist Natalie Cole will headline at Le Theater des Arts at Paris Las Vegas, Feb. 2-4. Tickets are $65, call 877-374-7469 or 702-946-4567.

Her engagement follows the recent television movie on her life story. The start of her musical career focused on her own contemporary pop hits in the 1970s. Eventually, she chose to keep alive a musical tradition that began with such legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and her own father, Nat "King' Cole. Her eclectic resume now boasts eight Grammys, eight gold albums and three platinum albums.

The holidays are over and the next big anticipated event will be Super Bowl weekend. The Rivera will hold its party on Sunday, Jan. 28 in the resort's Royale Pavilion. The event will include a "Super Buffet" with open bars, wide screen televisions, a raffle, autographed memorabilia and surprise commemorative gifts.

The Riviera's party will have a mix and mingle with NFL greats Gale Sayers, former Chicago Bear Hall of Fame Running Back; Roman Gabriel, former L.A. Ram Legendary Quarterback; Wendell Tyler, former All-Pro Running Back; and Ben Davidson, former Oakland Raider Defensive Great. Rounding out the event will be the NFL cheerleaders and a marching band.

The Riviera's Super Bowl Party is $115 inclusive with the doors opening at 1:30 p.m. Private skyboxes go for $500, call 702-794-9280.

Comic actor D.L. Hughley, the star of UPN's hit television show, "The Hughleys," will return to the Riviera's Top Of The Riv ballroom for three performances over Super Bowl weekend, Jan. 26 and 27. He also currently can be seen as one of the squares on "The New Hollywood Squares." Tickets are $35 plus applicable taxes, call 702-794-9433 or click on www.theriviera.com.

Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Gerald LeVert will perform at Sam's Town Live on Jan. 12 and 13. Tickets for his 9 p.m. shows are $45, call 888-464-2468.

LeVert, 34, has sold more than nine million albums, written more than 15 No. 1 hits, and been nominated for a Grammy. His latest album, "G," was recently released by Elektra Entertainment. He's the son of legendary O'Jays singer Eddie LeVert.

The former Debbie Reynolds Hotel on Convention Center Drive has been sold to Chicago-based Mark IV Realty Group for $11.2 million by the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. The new owners plan to remodel the 192-room property, open the casino, add a restaurant and expand the swimming pool.

Sarah Brightman will return to Las Vegas on March 3 to perform her concert at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $50, $75 and $150.

Texas Station in northwest Las Vegas shut down its makeshift 3,000-seat outdoor venue known as the South Padre amphitheater. A $70 million construction project; however, includes a replacement venue, the new 1,800-seat Dallas Events Center with a permanent stage and proscenium. Some of the upcoming bookings for the new center include The Whispers, Jan. 20, Johnny Gill, March 17, and the return of Charlie Pride on Aug. 25.

Texas Station is also ready to unveil it new Bowling Center called Club Rev. It's suppose to be a cross between regular bowling and nightclubbing. Sounds intriguing!

Living legend Debbie Reynolds will appear at The Orleans Showroom, Jan. 18-21. For half a century, she has been one of America's most endearing entertainers and has more than 25 films to her credit. Albert Brooks film, "Mother" earned her an Academy Award nomination in 1996. Tickets for Reynolds shows are $34.95, $39.95 an $44.95 plus tax, call 702-365-7075.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

The year 2000 was a record-breaking year for film revenues in the state of Nevada topping $100 million for the first time. Two of the films shot last year will be released soon. Starring Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, "3,000 Miles to Graceland" will hit the screens in February. "The Mexican" with Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini will follow with a release date in March.

The first quarter of 2001 will continue to host filming in the Silver State. Five upcoming features expected in Southern Nevada are: the remake of "Ocean's 11," the comedy "America's Sweethearts," the prison drama "Undisputed", the sequel "Rush Hour 2" and the thriller "Vegas C.O.D."

The 2001 Zagat Survey of America's Top Restaurants lists the following restaurants as the top five Las Vegas restaurants in terms of food rankings. In order, the restaurants are Andre's French Restaurant in the downtown area and also at Monte Carlo, Michael's at the Barbary Coast, the Steak House at Circus Circus, Emeril's New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand, and Drai's at the Barbary Coast.

The "Crazy Girls" show at the Riviera had a makeover with some new musical numbers before it reopened on Jan. 5 after a hiatus. Carole Montgomery, who has been with the show four years, is continuing as the emcee. The original show opened in Paris over 50 years ago. Tickets to the Riviera's show are $19.25 plus tax, call 800-634-3420 or 702-794-9433.

The Fashion Show mall is in the process of expanding over the next two years. The centerpiece of the 1 million-square-foot renovation will be a massive hall with a runway for fashion shows, media events and product introductions. In addition, there will be a 400-square-foot video wall capable of receiving broadcasts of significant fashion events from all over the world.

The highlight of the expansion will be the opening of Nevada's first Nordstrom department store. The Seattle-based retailer plans a 180,000-square-foot operation. Other new arrivals will be a 150,000-square-foot Bloomingdale's home store, a 128,000-square-foot Lord & Taylor store and a Dillard's.

Other anchors will expand or completely revamp their existing presence at the mall. Macy's will develop a 200,000 square-foot store, replacing the existing 136,000-square-foot one. Saks Fifth Avenue will double its store size to 150,000 square feet. Neiman-Marcus will remodel and have a 180,000-square-foot store, and Robinsons-May will have a 200,000-square-foot operation.

Parking will double to 3,700 spaces and there will be nine valet parking points - each of them accessible from any valet station in the mall.

The Four Seasons has introduced a new wireless Internet access system that allows guests to use a laptop computer to access the Internet from almost any public area within the hotel without any cabling or phone access.

To facilitate the high technology communication system, The Four Seasons installed an infrastructure throughout the property that includes wireless access points strategically placed to "bounce" Internet signals via a 2.4 giga hertz radio frequency. Guests may buy for $200 or rent for $20 a day a wireless Ethernet card from the hotel that plugs easily into a laptop computer. All a guest has to do from there is open their browser and proceed to the Internet in the normal fashion.

The Four Seasons already was the first to offer high speed Internet access in all the guestrooms.

Arizona Charlies on Decatur Blvd., four miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, is finishing up a $5 million expansion and renovation project. Upon completion, the property will have added casino space and parking, a new swimming pool, a revamped buffet, a 9,000-square-foot / 550-seat bingo parlor and a 9,000-square-foot conference center.

Riders In The Sky will perform at the new off-Strip Suncoast property, Jan. 19-21. This group features its own special brand of western entertainment with crazy yoldelin' cowboys. Audiences get to lose themselves in the romantic, comical and whimsical world of the singing cowboy.

In August 2000, "Woody's Roundup" was released on Walt Disney Records, featuring a collection of 13 favorite western tunes inspired by the "Woody's Roundup" TV show featured in "Toy Story 2." Riders In The Sky have been entertaining around the world for more than 20 years. Tickets are $19.95, $22.95 and $25.95 plus tax, call 702-365-7075.

The exhibit "Photography and the Old West" runs through March 26 at the Clark County Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway in Henderson. The display features images by 17 photographers giving a visual history of the American frontier and life in the early West. Antique photography equipment and a replica of a photographer's studio from the museum's Western history collection are also on display. General admission is $1.50 and $1 for seniors and children. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

Construction is continuing on the $120 million Fairfield Grand Desert Resort. It's a timeshare project located on Harmon Ave. between Koval Land and Paradise Road. It will have 416 units in two towers and open in July 2001.

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