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| Sunday, September 21, 2003 | PRIOR ISSUE - ARCHIVES |
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| Caesars Palace Announces $376 Million Expansion, Treasure Island (TI) Auctions Pirate Memorabilia, Mob-Themed Musical Dinner Show A Hit, Chef Mina Plans Seablue, Retailers Named For Sky Bridge Mall, Trent Carlini Returns As Elvis, Robin Leach And Celebrity Chefs Highlight "Party Of The Year", London's Double-Deckers Roll, More... | |
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Once again, the 35-year old Caesars Palace will stay in the forefront as it begins building a new 949-room, 26-story hotel tower targeted for completion sometime in 2005. The new rooms will feature nine-foot ceilings and floor plans that begin at 650 square feet. Upon finishing the luxury tower, the resort will boast 3,370 rooms.
Design plans also call for a new swimming pool, VIP lounge, concierge and business-center facilities, a 140,000-square-foot meeting / convention space coupled with a 36,4000-square-foot ballroom, new dining and restaurant facilities, and wedding chapels.
The TI will auction more than 500 items of pirate memorabilia valued at more than $1.5 million as part of the property's evolution. Items to be auctioned include one-of-a-kind leather trunks, brass lamps, wooden and brass chests, swords, custom paintings, pirate costumes, hand-painted wooden pirate sculptures, a gilded settee, plates, baskets and two rare bone chandeliers valued at $500,000 each. This is an "absolute auction" meaning everything must go. The few reserves that require a minimum bid include the bone chandeliers and two 12' hand-painted, wood pirate statues.
A public preview will be held Friday, Sept. 26, from noon to 4 p.m. followed by the live auction on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 10 a.m. in the Treasure Island Ballroom on the second floor.
For a good week after seeing "Ba-Da-Bing" at The Orleans, you will find yourself saying the slang phrase to everything. It's catchy that way and so is the frivolous, fun-spirited, mob-themed dinner show presented in a small back room at Sazio's restaurant. From the moment you are waiting in line and being seated, goombas and gun-toting gangsters are interfacing with you.
This show started at Alexis Park and moved to The Orleans over a year ago bringing with it many positive changes. The evening isn't about the three course dinner with a choice of entree and champagne, it's about the group fun. Each table is given a mob "family" name such as Antipasto Family and Pepperoni Family - "if ya get my drift" - and a "Don" is chosen from each table to keep things under control.
There's music and comedy from beginning to end with the theme being "Mr. Big's" surprise birthday party being hosted by his former right-hand man Frankie Morone (sometimes pronounced Moron), who botched his BadAssio Brothers job. This is a perfect show for groups because someone from every table will surely end up on stage at one time or another. If it's not you, you'll be laughing real hard. If it is, so what, you'll still chuckle!
"Ba-Da-Bing" is presented Thursday through Monday at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices, which include taxes and gratuities, are $60 general admission, $80 for VIP, and $35 for children 12 years and under or $35 and $40 for the show only without dinner. For tickets or information, call 702-257-0297.
A couple more interactive dinner shows have met with success in Las Vegas. "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" that has been playing around the country since the mid-1980s made its way to the Calypso Room at the Rio in February of last year.
Since April of 2000, "Marriage Can Be Murder" has been playing at the local Egg & I restaurant.
Now "Joey & Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding" and "The Reunion" with overlapping cast members will begin playing in a ballroom at Alexia Park on Sept. 24. Both shows will be $55.95.
The newer show "The Reunion" was tested at the River Palms in Laughlin last April. This cross-generational show is a high-school reunion with a class from the '80s hosting alumni from the '50s through the '70s. This show will run at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Fridays.
The comedy "Joey & Maria" for short will pick up the Saturday and Sunday slots. This show has been successfully playing at the River Palms in Laughlin for two years.
According to one local entertainment reporter, a new audience-interactive game show that may be called "Vegas, Baby" is in the works and may open at O'Shea's, which is a small Strip casino next to the Flamingo.
James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Mina has announced his plans to open SEABLUE, his second restaurant in the MGM Grand and his third in Las Vegas. For his latest venture, set to open in October, Mina is creating an innovative menu built around "jet fresh" seafood dishes and fresh seasonal produce. To set the stage, SEABLUE will welcome guests with a dramatic cylindrical fish tank and mirrored hallway.
The restaurant's focal point will be a centrally located three-sided bar featuring two open preparation areas where guests can watch their menu selections being prepared. One side will showcase a display of shellfish from the raw bar "market" menu. The other will feature items from the second "market menu" that will allow guests to custom design their salads.
The eatery will seat 130 people in the main dining room and 24 in a private area. SEABLUE will be open daily at 5:30 p.m. for dinner. The full menu will also be available at the bar, call 702-891-3486 for reservations.
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Mandalay Bay has announced a partial list of tenants for its fully leased 100,000-square-foot mall located on a 310-foot-long sky bridge that spans a street dividing Mandalay Bay from the Luxor. Among the new retailers are the world's first Nike Golf store and the domestic debut of Samantha Chang, an upscale women's clothier. Italy's Fornarina plans to open its second U.S. flagship store. Other tenants will include Urban Outfitters, GF Ferre, Oilily, and Sauvage. In all, 41 different shops and restaurants are set to open at the high-end shopping mall when it debuts sometime in October. Elvis impersonator Trent Carlini will return from Oct. 7-26 to the Hilton in "The Dream King" on the stage where Presley once performed 837 consecutive sold out shows. Carlini will perform nightly except Monday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and $40 plus tax and handling fee, call 800-222-5361 or 702-732-5755. Carlini's vocal range, charisma and striking resemblance to the King has earned him appearances on "Entertainment Tonight," "NBC Nightline," "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Born in Chicago and raised in Italy, Carlini began playing guitar and singing at the age of ten. After the death of Elvis in 1977, he devoted himself to recreating the style of the man that influenced his musical career. It's not too early to secure tickets to the "Party of the Year," being held by The Epicurean Club of Las Vegas, a non-profit hospitality executives association, on Friday, Dec. 5, at the Paris Las Vegas hotel. The second annual scholarship fundraiser will provide an evening of extraordinary cuisine, fine wines, and entertainment by Las Vegas headliners. Television celebrity Robin Leach (of "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" fame) will act as the star auctioneer. The celebrity chefs will include: Richard Sandoval - Maya of New York City and the upcoming Maya restaurant at TI; Kerry Simon - Simon Kitchen & Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel; Jeremy Lieb - Medici Cafe & Terrace, The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas; Osamu "Fuji" Fujita - Japengo at Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort; Kevin Dundon - Nine Fine Irishmen at New York-New York Hotel; Julian Serrano - Picasso at Bellagio; Michael Mina - Aqua at Bellagio; Alessandro Stratta - Renoir at The Mirage; William Becker - Rio Suite Hotel Culinary Operations Director; Olivier Dubreuil - Paris Las Vegas Executive Chef; Patrice Caillot - The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas Executive Pastry Chef; Jean-Phillippe Maury - Bellagio Executive Pastry Chef; and Jean Claude Canestrier - Paris Las Vegas Executive Pastry Chef. An elaborate reception will be followed by a four-course dinner, prepared by the celebrity chefs. Tickets are available at $300 per person or $3,000 for a table of 10, contact Sabrina Martinez at 702-248-3312 or by e-mail at smartinez@southernwine.com. The Palms, which opened in December 2001 with just under 500 rooms, is planning to begin construction within a year on a new tower with more than 300 rooms. Eventually, the privately held resort expects to expand to 2,000 rooms. Art de Vignettes, an eclectic, contemporary fine art showcase, has joined the upscale retailers at the Fashion Show mall. The outstanding two-level, 4,000-square-foot gallery is located on the second level next to the Bloomingdale's Home store. Over 25 international artists are featured and offer a variety of art pieces including original paintings, limited edition prints, sculpture, art glass, fashion art, estate and one-of-a-kind jewelry and a line of Lalique crystal architectural pieces. The Imperial Palace has started Karaoke on Wednesday nights from 7 to 11 p.m. in its Strip-front Tequila Joe's. A redevelopment plan approved for the Tropicana includes a partial demolition in conjunction with a 2,550-room addition. Designs call for the Trop to eventually consist of 820 rooms on its southern side and 3,370 rooms on the northern portion fronting East Tropicana Road. Dan O'Brien is the new lead singer for the "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana. His resume includes a variety of production shows as well as starring in the Los Angeles revival of "Hair" with Steven Weber formerly of the sitcom "Wings" and Marisa Jaret-Winoker, who is currently receiving notoriety playing Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway production of "Hairspray." Another 24-story, 304-room resort tentatively called Tycoon is being planned for Convention Center Drive. The new hotel-casino would feature a nightclub, gourmet restaurant, pool area, and 33,000-square-foot casino floor. London's icon double-decker buses will soon be making trips along the Strip and downtown. The Regional Transportation Commission plans to spend $12.5 million to buy 25 of the fun buses. There will be special double-deck service from the Sahara Station to downtown when the monorail is completed early next year. Wendy's is opening its first two stores on the Las Vegas Strip in the Showcase and Fashion Show malls. They will each be in new food courts expected to open by Oct. 1. It's anticipated that the Showcase Mall food court - with a glass-walled view of the Strip from the second floor - will become one of the nation's highest-grossing food courts. Two California companies, Adventure Studios and Global Casino Marketing, have formed a partnership that will market events at the defunct All-American Sport Park Road now called Sports Center Las Vegas at Las Vegas Blvd. South and Sunset. The new company, Elite Entertainment will host a vast variety of events and activities at the two-level, 90,000-square-foot complex that has a 3,000-seat arena.
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