Comedy magician Mac King has extended his contract to three years with Harrah's Las Vegas in the resort's Comedy Cabaret room where he has been playing afternoon shows to rave reviews since January. King, who has been featured on numerous national television and comedy specials, has been playing twice each afternoon at 1 and 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets are $9.95 plus tax. For information, call 1-800-392-9002.

The world renowned "Folies Bergere" will debuted its latest edition on Saturday, April 22, at the Tropicana. The new 18th edition of "The Best of the Folies Bergere...Sexier Than Ever" encompasses many changes including new numbers with more showgirls, the return of award-winning numbers from past editions, and new scenery and costumes.

Another change for the only original French revue left in town, is having the 7:30 p.m. show entirely covered for the first time in the show's history. The 10 p.m. show continues to include partial nudity and be open to guests 16 and older.

The "Folies Bergere" is the longest-running production show in the country, and just celebrated its 40th Birthday this past December. The celebration included an Alumni Cast Reunion of more than 400 former cast members and was recently featured on E! Entertainment Television's "Vegas Showgirls" special.

Tickets for the "Folies Bergere" are $44.95 for table seating and $54.95 for booth seating at the early shows, and $39.95 and $49.95 for the late shows. Performances are nightly except Thursday.

The "Lon Bronson All-Star R&B, Rock & Soul Revue," will celebrate its 10th Anniversary at the Riviera with a special party on Saturday, June 17, beginning at midnight in the Le Bistro Lounge. Among the band members, the "all star" Vegas ensemble has backed up such stars as Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Celine Dion, The Four Tops, Elton John and The Temptations to name a few. The celebration includes free T-shirts for everyone in the audience while the supply lasts and birthday cake. The show will be a two drink minimum.

Lon Bronson is currently conducting the orchestra for David Cassidy and Sheena Easton's "Live At The Copa" show at the Rio. He has a second orchestra onstage with "The Rat Pack Is Back" at the Sahara in the new Congo Showroom with pianist Greg Bossler conducting.

Truly sad news, two famous restaurants at Caesars Palace are closed due to expansion plans. The Palace Court and the Bacchanal both closed over a week ago.

Boulder Station has been selected "Casino of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music and will receive the award on May 3, during the ACM's 35th annual awards show broadcast on CBS. For the past four years, Boulder Station has led the Las Vegas market in presenting cutting-edge, country mid-line artists as well as country music legends in its Railhead venue. The Railhead is a state-of-the-art facility that will be expanded to double its size by September.

The next country headliners at Boulder Stations are Trace Adkins and Yankee Grey, next Friday, May 5. Adkins earned his hat and country stripes by playing what he calls "combat country" in the honky tonks of Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee. His album, "Dreamin' Out Loud," is a collection of honky tonk numbers and traditional, sad country ballads. Yankee Grey, a Cincinnati, Ohio band, debuted in 1999 with a hit single, "All Things Considered" and followed with another hit, "Another Nine Minutes." Tickets are $20, $25 and $32.50 plus tax, call 702-432-7777.

"American Superstars" at the Stratosphere is a celebrity tribute production show that recently changed its star-studded tribute line-up and has been going strong since it opened in April 1996. The new Y2K musical cast lineup includes Darren Lee as Elvis, Sandy Taggart as Gloria Estefan, Johnny Potash as Charlie Daniels, Coty Alexander as Madonna and Damian Brantley as "The King of Pop" Michael Jackson.

"American Superstars" enlists the talents of 22 cast members including a live band and dancers. The show also features boxing announcer Michael Buffer setting the stage for the tribute performances and an Elvis-type opening from the "2001 - A Space Odyssey" theme. There is also live video coverage of the performances showing on huge video screens on either side of the stage creating a concert feeling.

Darren Lee who portrays Elvis won the "World Elvis Competition" in Memphis, beating out more than 400 professional contestants. Tickets for "American Superstars" are $26.95 for adults and $21.95 for children ages 5 to 12. Showtimes are nightly except Thursday at 7 p.m., plus 10 p.m. shows on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, call 1-800-99-TOWER (998-6937) or 702-380-7711.

International singing superstar Johnny Mathis will grace the Las Vegas Hilton Theater May 12 & 13. He has amassed more than 60 gold- and platinum-albums for his worldwide record sales. Mathis has released nearly 100 albums in America alone. Tickets are $55 and $65, call 1-800-222-5361 or 702-732-5755.

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Comedy-hypnotist Justin Tranz has regular gigs at two showrooms on The Strip at the same time. He performs 9 p.m. shows Tuesday through Saturday at the Comedy Theater at O'Shea's. He is also doing his "HIP-NOSIS: Playin' With Your Head" show at midnight on Friday and Saturday in Bugsy's Celebrity Theater in the Flamingo Hilton. Both shows are $24.95 plus tax but there are different numbers to call for information. O'Sheas's is 702-737-1343 and the Flalmingo Hilton is 702-733-3333.

Tranz puts his subjects into a trance-like state on stage. He has 13 chairs onstage and looks for the people (volunteers) who have the best imaginations, the most animation and exaggeration.

Tranz has an unusual background. He went to a two-year college and played basketball on a scholarship. He got a degree in psychology but after college moved home and opened an extremely successful janitorial business grossing $1.5 million a year with 20 to 30 employees. His heart wasn't in the business so he went into hypnotherapy where anyone who sees his show knows he's a natural. His shows are very entertaining and obviously no two shows are alike because different subjects are on stage each time.

The Classical Mystery Tour, a tribute to the most successful recording act of the 20th Century - The Beatles, will play a special three night engagement at the Mandalay Bay Theater, May 12-14. Complementing the musical talents of the foursome will be a complete 32-piece symphony featuring members of the Nevada Philharmonic Orchestra.

Classical Mystery Tour features former members of the successful production "Beatlemania" which ran on Broadway for six years. Tickets are $35 and $45, call 1-877-632-7400 or 702-632-7580.

The Liberace Museum will celebrate the late pianist's 81st birthday with a series of special events that includes the eighth annual Liberace Play-Alike Piano Competition. The competition will take place at Carluccio's, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave., which was Liberace's former restaurant next door to part of the museum.

The competition, scheduled May 13, will include two divisions. The amateur division will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the professional division at 1:30 p.m. The pianist with the highest score in each of the two divisions will be awarded the Liberace Crystal Piano trophy. For further details, call 702-798-5595, ext. 20, or email: info@liberace.org.

The legendary rock group Kansas will appear at The Orleans Showroom, May 5-7. They released their first album entitled, "Kansas" in 1974, featuring their own original music. The group has since produced eight gold albums, two multi-platinum albums, one platinum live album entitled, "Two For The Show" and a million-selling gold single, "Dust In The Wind."

The airwaves allowed Kansas to appear on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the 70's and 80's. Tickets at The Orleans are $39.95, $44.95 and $49.95 plus taxes, call 702-365-7075. Neil Sedaka will follow May 9-14, with his incredible string of hit tunes.

The Railhead at Boulder Station will continue its free Boulder Blues shows every Monday night in May. Leading off tomorrow, May 1, will be Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women show. With a "sassy, funny attitude," this group has gone in just six years from obscurity to being one of the most popular acoustic blues groups in the world.

Michael Hill's Blues Mob will dish out blues on May 8, followed by Chris Hiatt & Cold Shot on May 15. Hiatt with a black hat and guitar will perform a tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughn. Jimmy Carslake & The Motormen will offer hard-driving blues/rock on May 22. The month will end on May 29 with blues legend, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. His 50-plus-year career has given him a secure status in music history and his early instrumental classic, "Okie Dokie Stomp" continues to be a "must" for other blues guitarists. For information, contact the Boulder Station entertainment hotline 702-432-7575.

After presenting the Dali's Millennium exhibition for two months, the Las Vegas Art Museum (LVLAML) will host Asian Art Now: 2000, an impressive cross-section of contemporary art mostly from Japan and also Korea and Taiwan.

Asian Art Now: 2000 will consist of 300 works occurring in two phases: Phase I from May 3-June 4 and Phase II from June 7-July 9. Seventy-five artists will exhibit two works each in one of the successive installations. The 150 artists are members of the Asian Cultural Exchange Association a Tokyo-based professional and arts organization.

A variety of mediums on display will include paintings, lithographs, drawings and sculptures. A full-color catalogue of the exhibition with the artists' works and biographies will be for sale in the museum store. Admission to the exhibit is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, $1 for students, and free for museum members. The LVAM is located at 9600 W. Sahara Ave. about ten miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and closed on Monday. For information, call 702-360-8000.

X-Treme Radio X 107.5 will present its "Our Big Concert 3.5," an all-day outdoor music, food and entertainment festival, at Sam Boyd Stadium on May 20. Some of the groups lined up to perform include: Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Cypress Hill, Staind, System of a Down, Static K, Kittie, Papa Roach, SRC, Dope, the Flys, Phatter than Albert, Left Standing, Inside Scarlet, and God Among Men. Tickets with parking included in advance are $24, and $27 the day -of-show, call 1-888-464-2468 or visit www.tickets.com.

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