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Sunday, September 29, 2002 PRIOR ISSUE   -   ARCHIVES
Mafalda Inducted, VH1 Stars In The Desert Arena, Mystic Falls Lights Up, Four Seasons Gets AAA, Godfather Wedding Closes, Castaways Into Holiday, Video Poker Teacher Holds class, Spade & Short Play The Palace, Sunken City Rises As Lake Mead Lowers, Riveria Offers Self-Serve Check-In, Try Dinner & The Ballet, More...

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Jackie Brett
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The Casino Legends Hall of Fame next induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Oct. 11 at 1:30 p.m. for an invited guest audience. The honorees this time will be Malfalda, Jack Jones, Norm Crosby, Mamie Van Doren, Nelson Sardelli and Frankie Randall.

Pianist / singer / composer Mafalda, who looks like Liz Taylor, has spent the past 30 years performing on Las Vegas stages including eight years at the original MGM Grand and opening for major stars. She has released four albums.

The Casino Legends Hall of Fame museum at the Tropicana houses the largest collection of Nevada gaming and entertainment memorabilia. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. General admission is $6.95 for adults and $5.95 for seniors.

Staying with the history theme, the Sahara will mark its 50th anniversary on Monday, Oct. 7 by serving free cake and beverages to the public from 1 to 4 p.m.

The posh non-gaming Four Seasons Hotel is the first and only AAA Five Diamond hotel in Las Vegas and the first to receive the honor in its first year of operation. Its list of nearly 20 "service firsts" in Las Vegas ranges from wireless internet access in all public areas for the business traveler, to complimentary use of cabanas at the pool for the leisure visitor, to automatic childproofing of rooms with arrival amenities for the youth group.

The Four Season Hotel introduced five new Executive Boardroom meeting suites in January 2002. They are located on the 35 through 39 floors and each has a 180-degree view. These suites are approximately 1,705 square feet and can accommodate up to 16 people in a conference setting with special menus available. The rooms sell for $500-$600 per day and can utilize limited audiovisual equipment. In the first month of usage, over 35 meetings were held in the new suites.

The Castaways is looking at a deal that would put a Holiday Inn brand on the 48-year-old property and trigger a $57 million renovation and expansion. The renamed Castaways Las Vegas Holiday Inn & Suites would add 356 rooms and 80 suites to the resort's current 344-room inventory and the existing rooms would get a thorough renovation.

Siegfried & Roy have launched a completely redesigned and restructured Web site: www.siegfriedandroy.com. Fans can explore biographical information, view some of their grand illusions and research the duo's conservation work that has saved the Royal White Tigers and Magical White Lions from extinction. The new site offers detailed copy about exotic animals.

"Splash" at the Riviera has launched a new Web site: (formerly splashlv.com) to coincide with its all-new stage version of the production show. The show has been headlining in the main showroom for 17 years and continually updates itself with new dance routine and costumes. This time there is an all-new "Tribute to America" patriotic finale.

"Splash" has announced its December schedule. The show will be dark from Wednesday, Dec. 11 through Tuesday, Dec. 24.

It will be a weekend of laughter when the two-night "Comedy Under The Stars at Caesars Palace" features David Spade on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Martin Short on Sunday, Oct. 13. Tickets are $37.50 and $45 plus a $3 ticket-handling fee, call 1-800-634-6698 or 702-731-7333.

Spade gained fame from his five-year stint as a cast member of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and furthered it with his Emmy nominated role as Dennis Finch in the hit-series "Just Shot Me." His next motion picture is Paramount's "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," which he co-wrote with Fred Wolf.

Short began his career with his Emmy Award-winning role on Canada's "SCTV Comedy Network." He's appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and in a host of films including "Three Amigos," "Mars Attack" and "Father of the Bride."

The 2,100-room Riviera Hotel earlier this year installed three self-service "LMS Kiosks" that allow guests to check in and out, encode a room key, print a folio and obtain a receipt, all without having to wait in line at the front desk. The Riviera is the first Las Vegas hotel to utilize the LMS Kiosk technology, which is undergoing regular modifications based on customer surveys and comments.

The Koji Japanese Sushibar and Chinese Restaurant is brand new at The Orleans. Sushi lovers have never-ending choices available. The menu offers both family-style Chinese dinners or a large variety of a la carte selections. The atmosphere is comfortable and casual with prices ranging from $3.95 to $18.95 and more for some house specialites. The eatery is open daily from 11 a.m. until 5 a.m. For information, call 702-365-7111 or visit www.orleanscasino.com.

The 2,900-square-foot suite on the 28th floor of the Palms that housed cast members of MTV's "Real World" show from January to June of this year is for rent. It cost over $1 million to convert six standard hotel rooms into the famous suite complete with the confessional room for the young cast. The price tag for renting the suite goes from $5,000 a night, Mondays through Thursdays, up to $7 to $10,000 a night on the weekends.

The Palms is also converting on-site "Real World" production rooms into bachelor-and bachelorette-party suites with features such as wooden dance floors and stripper poles.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

Three of the '80s power rockers, Eddie Money, Loverboy and Survivor will be joining together for "VH1's Triple Shot of Rock" at Buffalo Bill's Star of the Desert Arena in Primm, NV on Friday, Oct. 4. Tickets are $32 and $42, call 1-800-FUN-STOP or Ticketmaster at 702-474-4000. Primm is located 35 minutes south of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 at the Nevada / California border.

Money is celebrating 20 years as a recording artist with a new album and home video. The album, entitled "Shakin' With The Money Man," features new live versions of ten of his previous hits as well as four new studio tracks.

Loverboy released their greatest hits CD titled, "Live, Loud & Loose" in the summer of 2001. It contains 14 mega hits.

Survivor was formed in Chicago in 1977 and jumped from club band to super stardom with the success of the "Eye Of The Tiger" theme to "Rocky 3."

Sam's Town's Mystic Falls has an all-new free 15-minute laser light and water show with showings at 2, 6, 8 and 10 p.m., call 702-456-7777.

Gianni Russo's show at the WB Studio 16 at the Venetian, "The Godfather Wedding," has closed because the actor has signed to co-star in the big-screen version of the Laura Hillenbrand's best seller "Seabiscuit." He'll play Albert Gianninni, one of he famous racehorse's financial backers. Tobey "Spider-Man" Maguire will star as a jockey in the $100 million Universal film.

Key Largo on East Flamingo Road near Paradise offers their bar special 24 hours a day. Draft beer is 50-cents, well drinks are 75-cents, margaritas are 99-cents, domestic bottled beers are $1 and all appetizers are half price. In addition, you can have a half-pound burger and fries platter for $1.99 in the Coral Cafe 24 hours everyday.

Bob Dancer will be holding free video poker classes in the Blue Marlin at the Castaways (formerly the Showboat) at 2800 Fremont Street.

The new $1 Million Fantasy Shopping Spree slot machine at Caesars Palace is an interesting promotion for shoppers. Anyone making a Forum Shop purchase, at any store, is entitled to one free pull per receipt with a maximum of five pulls per day. While it may be nearly impossible to win the spree, all participants receive a 20 percent discount coupon that is good at several Forum Shops with a $100 minimum purchase. The machine is located a distance from the shops, it's next to Cafe Lago.

"Tournament of Kings" at the Excalibur has recently been voted "Best Dinner Show in Southern Nevada" by the readers of "Nevada Magazine" in the 2002 Best of Nevada edition. The $1 million musical production adapted from the legend of King Arthur highlights jousting knights, invading armies, fire wielding wizards and a three course meal served medieval style, translation no silverware. The action takes place in a 900-seat theater-in-the-round arena.

Chin Chin Chinese restaurant at New York-New York is now offering a breakfast buffet from 8 to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The popular Dim Sum is also available during the breakfast buffet hours.

Cafe Caribe and The Noodle Kitchen restaurants at The Mirage each have a new look and new menus. Also, the Lagoon Saloon will be getting a redesign that will include its own entertainment venue.

The Four Queens downtown may not have a poker room, but that hasn't prevented the property from producing a major poker tournament, the Four Queens Poker Classic, that is running through Sunday, Oct. 6.

A little known fact about the nation's seventh largest state and one that probably isn't on your mind when you visit the "Neon City" is that Nevada is the most mountainous state with 314 mountain ranges. Next time you're in Las Vegas look around. You'll discover a visible mountain range in every direction.

The water level at Lake Mead has dropped 66 feet and begun to uncover the historic 19th-century Mormon settlement of St. Thomas. The Moapa Valley town was settled in the final year of the Civil War and was flooded in 1938 in the creation of Lake Mead after the Hoover Dam was built. Within the next two years the drought-shrunken lake is excepted to fully expose the town. Overton Beach is near the old town site.

Chef Gustav Mauler is offering pre-opening dinners in conjunction with Nevada Ballet Theatre performances at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Each dinner begins at 5 p.m. and features a menu designed for the occasion.

The schedule is Oct. 4 at Oxo for "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Feb. 21 at Spiedini for "Vivaldi to Pink Floyd," April 5 at BullShrimp for "A Salute to Richard Rogers," and May 16 at Sazio for "Peter Pan." Oxo and Spiedini are at the JW Marriott, BullShrimp is at Green Valley Ranch and Sazio is at The Orleans.

Tickets are $75 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the organization. For information, call 702 243-2623, ext. 222.

The MGM Mirage has announced that it plans to open a new art and antiques exhibit at the MGM Grand. The company believes that cultural experiences are a vial part of the travel experience regardless of the destination. Further details will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.

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