by Jackie Brett Send Me E-mail

Beginning in July, the London Transport Corporation will introduce the United Kingdom's principal form of mass transportation, red double-decker buses, to Las Vegas. The scenic Strip tours will run from downtown to the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. Full-day tickets will be $25 and allow entry and exit anywhere along the tour route. Various live-guided tours have been scheduled from one-hour to two-and-a-half hours in duration. The five 80-seat double-decker buses cost $100,000 apiece.

Ten years ago Paul Devitt co-founded the Beauty Bar in downtown New York City and went on to open one in San Francisco and then in Los Angeles. All of them feature a Manicures and Martinis Happy Hour, the one promotion that because of the law doesn't exist in the new Beauty Bar that opened downtown at 517 Fremont Street.

The free-standing 2,100-square-foot Las Vegas Beauty Bar does include the other features including the retro interior of a 1950s beauty salon, oversized hair dryers and cutting chairs and flavored martinis such as the Miss Clairol, Blue Rinse and French Flip. The bar is open from 6 p.m. until 4 a.m. nightly and features DJs every night.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art plans to partner again with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) to present an exhibition of 34 paintings by 16 masters of 19th-century French painting. The exhibition, The Impressionist Landscape from Corot to Van Gogh, will showcase some of the MFA's renowned European paintings beginning with Barbizon School painters Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau and continuing through to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists with Eugéne Boudin, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

The exhibition will open June 10 and continue through Jan. 8, 2006. Tickets are on sale, call 702-693-7871 or 877-957-9777. Admissions are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors 65 and over. Audio-guides are included in the price of admission and available in four languages.

The newly created Fontainebleau Resorts has announced plans to build a $1.5 billion 4,000-room hotel on the 25-acre north Strip land parcel where the El Rancho used to be. The land is owned by Turnberry Associates that also owns the luxury condominium towers across the street from the Las Vegas Hilton.

Glenn Schaefer, the departing chief financial officer of Mandalay Resort Group, will become the CEO of Fontainebleau Resorts. In addition, the company has completed its purchase of the original Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, with the intention of renovating and reopening the aging property in 2007.

The Las Vegas Fontainebleau expected to open in 2008 will incorporate elements of "Miami swank" from the original south Florida hotel.

James Brown and Michael McDonald, both of whom have left distinctive marks on the soul music scene, will headline at the 7,000-seat Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts on Friday, Aug. 26. Tickets are $85, $75, and $65 plus tax and service charges, call 702-474-4000.

Known as the "Godfather of Soul," Brown has been making legendary music since 1953. He has amassed 800 songs in his repertoire and thrilled crowds with his furious regimen of spins, drops, and shtick. Brown scored his first Top 10 pop single with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," released in the summer of 1965.

Brown has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received a Life Time Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards, and received another Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards.

McDonald's long and varied career ranges from playing with his early bands like Mike and the Majestics in the Midwest, to working on the road and in the studio with Steely Dan, to famously revitalizing the sound of the Doobie Brothers. Most recently he has followed his own muse as a soul artist with his latest smash "Motown" album.

"Barbra and Frank, The Concert That Never Was," has moved from the Tuscany and opened in the Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre. Show times are 8:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Tickets are $39.95 plus tax and fees, call 702- 794-9433.

Sharon Owens' career as a Barbra Streisand impersonator / tribute artist began in 1992 in Los Angeles. Her uncanny resemblance and vocal ability to sing Streisand started her career as a "Legends in Concert" performer. Most recently, Owens was crowned the winner of the Fox TV show called "Performing As..."

Sebastian Anzaldo known as Sebastian impersonates Frank Sinatra. In 1993, he formed the show band "Wild Life" and moved to Las Vegas and started incorporating Sintara into his shows. He starred in 'The Tribute To The Rat Pack' currently running at The Greek Isle before teaming with Owens.

It will be Miller Time at the MGM Grand, June 9-13, when comedian Dennis Miller headlines at the Hollywood Theatre.

Miller most recently hosted the CNBC talk show "Dennis Miller," a topical interview talk show. Prior to that, Miller won five Emmy awards for his critically acclaimed half-hour, live HBO talk show "Dennis Miller Live," which ended its nine year run after 215 episodes. And for two seasons, Miller called the plays alongside Al Michaels and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts on ABC's "Monday Night Football."

The 18th Annual Nevada Film Office Screenplay Competition is accepting script submissions for this year's competition through June 30. This competition is for unsold and un-optioned writers only and requires that at least 75 percent of the locations in the script can be filmed in Nevada. For details, call 877-638-3456.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN