Archives
June 2006
6/30/06
Beatlemania Is Back: The Beatles 'Love' by Cirque du Soleil Opens With Galaxy of Stars -- NEW PHOTOS
6/29/06
6/28/06
6/27/06
6/26/06
6/23/06
6/22/06
6/21/06
6/20/06
6/19/06
6/16/06
6/15/06
6/14/06
6/13/06
6/12/06
6/12/06
6/9/06
6/9/06
6/8/06
6/7/06
6/6/06
6/5/06
6/5/06
'LOVE' PREVAILS, DRAGONE GONE, BEATLES WAX AND FOLLOWING OSCAR'S TRACKS
6/2/06
6/1/06
Monday, June 5, 2006
On the very day that Cirque founder Guy
LaLiberte claimed Strip victory with his new amazing knockout Beatles 'LOVE'
musical, his former partner, Franco Dragone,
was simultaneously, literally “on the ropes” with his boss, hotel mogul
Steve Wynn. Dragone will now “step back” from their ‘Le
Reve’ production as Wynn plans to “take creative control” and run the
show himself!
In a bid to battle The Beatles onslaught, Wynn wants more than half of his theater-in-the-round water show changed over the next seven months in time for New Years in a massive overhaul that will add Hollywood special effects, lavish laser lighting and rock-group pyrotechnics! It’s an extraordinary double whammy of knockout news that has the entire town talking this morning!
We’ll return to more inside scoop on that subject further below, but I was blown away at the opening preview night of The Beatles ‘LOVE’ at the Mirage. Quincy Jones perhaps summed it up best for the entire emotionally-charged audience: ”It doesn’t get a 100% OK, it gets my 9000% stamp of approval and is the best show I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Two-decade-long Siegfried & Roy manager, Bernie Yuman declared, "It’s the best show ever produced anywhere anytime,"; after watching it on the second preview night.
The costumes and the staging are truly incredible,
but it’s the magical way you are right there alongside The Beatles from 40
years ago when they were recording their monumental hits that makes the most
emotional impact. You will stop breathing when you see the four skateboarders
and a suspended acrobat perform death-defying stunts on a roof-high hanging
plank to the music of ‘Help.’ You will laugh and cry as the cast takes a
grand-piano filled with soapy water to blow bubbles and balloons out to the
audience to the music of ‘Strawberry Fields.’ You will want to dance to the
marching, mechanical, yellow rubber-boots as they tap to ‘Lady Madonna.’ You’ll
thrill to the aerial ballet performed to ‘Something in the Way.’ You’ll think
you are underwater in an aquatic adventure in the ‘Octopus
Garden’.
Watch for the mammoth drape that covers the entire audience as a movie screen with images projected on and under it before it’s all sucked into the jigsaw octagonal cutaway stage in less than a five-second whoosh!! And the breakaway Beetle car is such a showstopper, Detroit execs better fly in immediately to find out how that’s produced so brilliantly. The show is in previews until opening night on June 30, so since it’s still being polished and tweaked, no official reviews until then, ;but suffice to say, this maybe theater’s finest moment and definitely “Genius At Work.”
The Beatles would be mighty proud and pleased that their creative work is still as extraordinary and captivating as it was in 1962 when I began chronicling their phenomenon as a newspaper reporter back in England.
Mirage President Scott Sibelia welcomed the first night audience: “You are actually becoming part of Beatles history tonight.” I talked with him at the cast-party celebration afterwards: “This was an awesome night. I couldn’t be more excited it was everything we’d expected, and more. Ticket sales are already stretched into October and going well. In fact, the hottest advance ticket sale in Vegas show history! Today we had our first waiting line and now after this buzz, it’s just going to take off through the roof. The Beatles are still alive in everybody’s heart. One thing Cirque wanted to create was that when you are in that theater and you close your eyes, you feel like The Beatles are in there actually performing. They accomplished that. This is very big for the Mirage, very big for Vegas. It was worth every penny of the bet (Luxe Life has reported a $165 million investment). I can’t tell you how much Siegfried & Roy did for the Mirage over the years and they are still very much a part of our family. But this show is going to be as big. We have several shows not working in Vergas (an obvious reference to ‘Le Reve’ and ‘Avenue Q’ that shut last weekend, both at Wynn), so Vegas needed this. It will attract thousands of people to our city who may have never been here before and that’s what this kind of theater is all about. The Beatles still sell more albums on a five-year average than anybody and we are looking forward to the release of this soundtrack album in the fall, which everybody believes will be their biggest #1 album ever. The way their songs were written back then are still so applicable and relevant today. That’s the phenomenon.”
Scott continues: “Everybody has their favorite show – ‘KA,’ ‘Zumanity,’ ‘Mystere’ and ‘O,’ but ‘LOVE’ can’t even be compared. Cirque didn’t out do the music, which is the most important part of the show. It’s Cirque’s flair that compliments The Beatles, who are the stars with their music of the show. It’s completely different than anything Cirque has done before -- more dancing, totally different costumes and characters.” Awesome, I couldn’t say it better myself!
Cirque founder, Guy LaLiberte, who first worked with the late George Harrison on the very early development of the show before his death, sat in front of me during the debut performance and he noted every thing from start to finish and then told me during the non-stop audience applause: “This reaction of the public tells everything. In this business, you live or die by the public and this overwhelming response is a very great and solid foundation as we build the show over the next two weeks. There’s a sense of exhilaration and relief. We always have that emotion of relief after lots and lots of work that everybody was committed to a success. The delivery of the baby has been accomplished. Now we wash him, now we teach him to walk. Now we dress him, The Beatles have been here for 40 years, so if we touch 50% of all the hearts that come to see this, we will be here for a century!! It even touched me tonight because there is a profound message in their lyrics, which is still accurate in today’s world and the time we are living in. The show will keep carrying the message of peace and love to this planet.”
Full credit has to go to The Beatles record producer, Sir George Martin, and his son Giles (pictured here with wife, Judy Martin, and the shows concept creator Gilles Ste-Croix). They miraculously bridged the gap between hearing The Beatles of yesteryear and experiencing the music through technological advances better than anything ever achieved. Quincy Jones, who used to stay with the Martins at their Oxford home in the English countryside, was awestruck: “It’s so up-to-date. It is so good musically and aesthetically. I’ve known George since 1961 he was the ‘fifth Beatle’ and I was there to see a legacy born. He framed it, arranged it -- he took the whole business of song and story and got the right sonic representation. Back in 1963, he was recording The Beatles and I was recording Lesley Gore. There were no overdubs. Two tracks with a solo, took four hours just to get each voice. Today you can do 300 and nobody breaks open champagne like we did when we achieved the miracle. I worked with Paul and Michael Jackson. I did ‘Love is a Many Splendid Thing’ with Ringo, and so tonight, I just had tears in my eyes all night long. It’s way more than I expected or thought possible. Cirque fools you because although the music is what I expected, the way they used it was impeccable. Very hard to do and provide such an amazing legacy to make history anew! But they’ve done it and more!”
The after-party ended in a true Beatle moment when the cast threw Giles Martin, Gilles Ste-Croix and other top Cirque executives fully clothed into the hotel’s swimming pool to celebrate the successful spectacular night! The first four quotes from The Beatles about their own new show are simple yet perfect: Paul McCartney: “The idea of the magic of Cirque du Soleil coming together with the magic of The Beatles music is a very exciting one.” Ringo Starr: “The Beatles, Cirque and Las Vegas. All you need is ‘LOV E’ -- peace and love.” Yoko Ono Lennon: “I think it is a great combination. The Beatles’ agile mind and Cirque’s agile body.” Olivia Harrison: “From a friendship and a wellspring of creativity emerged ‘LOVE.’” All four will reunite to attend the opening gala premiere on June 30.
DRAGONE GONE
Meantime, back to the Franco Dragone shocker. Across the Strip at the Wynn hotel, it was a totally opposite mood, as a quiet turmoil unraveled. Le Reve’s creator, Franco Dragone, who also created Celine Dion’s award-winning show at Caesars Palace, was summoned by private jet from Belgium, then Montreal, to meet the hotel tycoon upon his return from Macau. I’m reliably told there was a “showdown over the show’s future“ and Steve’s insistence that he would take creative control himself.
**FLASHBACK
The Dragone shakeup that has the city reeling this morning will come as no surprise to Luxe Life readers. Steve himself signaled to me change was coming when I talked with him over drinks earlier this year at his Corso restaurant.
RL: So Steve, you are the maestro who doesn’t rest until perfection is attained. You’re not scared of changes, shutdowns and even re-openings to get things 100% right. So are you going to make changes to ‘Le Reve,’ all for the good?
SW: Franco and I, when we made our deal, there was just; ‘O’ and ‘Mystere.’; There was no ‘KA,’ no ‘Zumanity,’ and of course, Siegfried and Roy were alive and well and doing their show. Since that time, MGM has made sort of a global deal with Guy LaLiberte, which was a very smart thing for them to do, because Guy is so gifted. But now there are four Cirque shows and soon five including the new Beatles one at Mirage.
Franco created the genre. The Cirque as we know it is a creation of Franco Dragone, and Franco and I talked about it and I said our ‘Reve’ show is very much like the things we have done in the past, I would like to introduce some new things, and I would like to spend some more money on the show, and I would like to take it to a more sensual, artistic area. He said ‘I feel that way myself.’ I said OK, let’s sit down with Tim Hatley, who does the costumes and the sets for Mike Nichols. Let’s sit down with Moses Pendleton (choreographer). Let’s also sit down with Michael Curry (prop designer) and let’s talk about making some alterations in the dream sequence and bring something new to Las Vegas. We came up with some really incredible ideas that really add and augment our show and take it to another level. We are going to do this over a period of six months and we build the show in an area that brings to the stage in Las Vegas something they haven’t seen in ‘Mystere’ and in ‘O.’
When we did ‘Mystere,’ it was Cirque’s first chance, Franco’s first chance, to go indoor and in more than a tent. He didn’t want to do a second show in Las Vegas, and I appealed to Franco, who was an independent contractor at the time, about my idea of water, and if we could conquer water, in of itself, that would be a great idea. I wanted to use water as a primedial source of life, the ooze from which multi-cellular life emerged 680 million years ago during the pre-Cambrian explosion. Franco was taken with that notion of water as a source of life and we had figured out a way to enter and exit the stage under water which would be provocative and Franco went in and jumped at the idea, and said you’ve got a deal Steve so that’s how Cirque got to do ‘O.’ Now, the same thing that made me feel that water was a wonderful medium of fantasy, makes me feel as though I would like to add element of sensual choreography, almost ballet. To take the context and framework that Franco created of a dream and explore some of the edges of it, he fell in love with that suggestion, thank God, and has taken it up. So we are going to play with it, and give our audiences some new things, as time goes by which I think is a good thing to do in Las Vegas. None of the shows should stay static. I think the Guy LaLiberte feels the same way. He has been hedging and pulling with ‘Zumanity’ and ‘KA.’ The show that ‘KA’ is today is very different from what it was when it began. It is very important in Las Vegas that we stay dynamic with our theaters and that we are always pushing the envelope and trying new things.” **
Dragone took his top execs, some of the cast and crew to the secret boutique Artisan Hotel hideaway off the Strip on West Sahara to break the news to them. “They were stunned and seemed not to believe what washappening,” one inside source told me. Ironically a week earlier, that’s where Wynn’s cancelled ‘Avenue Q’ cast and crew held their teary farewell party too!
Vegas insiders remember that both Steve and his wife Elaine had been unhappy with “the darkness” of the dreams-show when it was unveiled a year ago at the hotel’s glittering opening. Elaine was said to be in tears over her disappointment with the production she first saw the night before the opening. Dragone and his creative team made many changes, but Steve wants much more. I’m told that Dragone resisted some of those changes and in wanting to spend time on a Broadway production, has agreed to “step back” as one hotel executive sensitively put it! Steve is alleged to have told Dragone’s staff: “I only want the #1 best show on the Strip and we’ll do it whatever it takes.”
Another hotel’s top executive told me: “Steve is genuinely concerned that everything in Vegas for a while will be The Beatles and nothing but The Beatles, and in order to compete and deal with his own summer-sales lull in tickets, he’s going to overhaul it himself. Dragone and Wynn had originally planned to attend the opening night of ‘LOVE’ together, but because of the same-day split, neither showed up!! There’s a whole lot of concern about how The Beatles show will impact the entire Vegas theater experience.”
Stay tuned for more details as both stories of the Beatles success and the ‘Le Reve’ makeover unfold. Luxe Life will always have it all first, fast and furious!
THE WAX FOUR
The Beatles takeover of Vegas grows nonstop. Members of the Fab Four tribute show unveiled the circa 1964 wax attraction of the original Fab Four on loan from Madame Tussauds museum in London.It will remain at the Madame Tussauds in the Venetian directly opposite the Mirage until July 4.The wax figures have their famous collarless jackets, which we all wore in 1963. Adrian Jones, general manager of Tussauds Vegas told us: “They are a staple of our London attraction but they have never been here in Vegas. They actually used the wax figures on the 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' album cover back in 1967!
MAYORIAL MAGIC
We’ve been playing host for the first time the past few days to 300+ mayors from across America at their 74th annual conference. Saturday, our Merry Mayor of Mirth, Oscar Goodman invited me to make the welcome toast at his Oscar night at the Bellagio as he arrived in a gold limousine (actually in the ballroom!!) accompanied by six gold-sequined showgirls, and his wife! The previous night at Paris, he had our friend, Larry Edwards, impersonating Tina Turner and Jesse Garon, impersonating Elvis, escort him for the first Mayors welcome dinner!
Last night, all the mayors got a preview peek at the Beatles ‘LOVE’ musical. Mirage and Cirque picked up that dinner and ticket check for $225,000 to send the Mayors back to their cities with a great promotional message about Vegas mega-entertainment. Gotta love Oscar- he chipped in $10,000 of his own money to pay for 4 new bobblehead dolls of him to go with the 7 already existing in his series!! Each night of their four-day visit each mayor got a new doll!!!
$100-MILLION WORTH OF BLING BLING!
Simultaneously this weekend, Vegas hosted the15th
annual JCK high-end jewelry convention and armed guards patrolled every inch of
the Venetian, round the clock, to ensure there were no heists! Over $100
million worth of new rings, bracelets, necklaces and accessories were on show
to 40,000 delegates from 2,700 manufacturers and designers in advance of the
Christmas holiday selling season.
My friend, Nicky Hilton, launched her new line of trinkets and treasures for Claire’s stores worldwide with two private introductory cocktail parties at Tao. She then had a celebration at Pure, where she proudly showed me some of her new designs before throwing out gift bags of baubles and bangles to the crowd.
Carmen Elektra who ordered an asparagus
goat cheese quesadilla and chicken tacos from the adjoining Bobby
Flay's Mesa
Grill was among the guests. When hosted a celebrity charity party at
the Hard
Rock the next night ex-husband Dennis Rodman took
her spot at Pure! Earlier Saturday, Nicky and Dennis had separate cabanas at
the new Pure
topless pool Venus in Caesars!
(He’s always half-naked anyway but Nicky kept her top on for her poolside
massage). At the rival Light
nightclub in the Bellagio simultaneously Shannon Elizabeth
and Maggie Q were at the Rosalina Jewelry party.
STRIP SCRIBBLES
Comedian David Spade’s alleged lovematch with Heather Locklear must be over because he spent two consecutive nights in the VIP lounge at Jet nightclub in the Mirage with 26-year-old leggy blonde beauty, Rosemary Sloane, a former Vancouver model. Wayne Brady was also there celebrating his birthday heYes, that was Barry Manilow himself unveiling his new line of M fragrances, perfumes, unisex cologne and house candles along with M Wines, glassware, chocolates and accessories and the M jewelry line at his new expanded retail store at the Hilton. No sooner did NBC’s ‘Today’ star Katie Couric call it quits with the Peacock network, than she hopped a private CBS jet to Vegas to talk to execs from Eye network and affiliates around the country about her slot as new anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News ‘starting September.
TONIGHTS TIP
Yellowcard -- show info | videos -- at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay; Bayside is downtown at Jillians. Model Monday at Jet nightclub with top models from the hottest agencies in town and ‘Too Close for Comfort’ star Lydia Cornell joins Destiny for hilarious insight into love, motherhood and lack of sex in marriage in their new tour ‘Deprived Wives’ at the Riviera.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE TOMORROW
Join us right here in just 24 hours as we reveal a world exclusive scoop about Bono and the world’s largest rock ‘n’ roll emporium coming to the Strip.
CONTACT US
You can give us your insights on life, love and the
pursuit of happiness with an email to robinsvegas@aol.com. To ensure you don’t
miss one drumbeat of the new edition,; click
here or at the 'Alert Me' up top if you’d like;to know;the moment the
new exciting Luxe Life is up, up and away! ;
Go to AOL Vegas for much more on hotels, casinos, restaurants, nightlife, and everything Las Vegas! Check our travel section for great deals on hotels, airfare and much more!; And when visiting Vegas, be sure to see Las Vegas Magazine in your hotel suite featuring a print edition of AOL Vegas Luxe Life, and an incredible directory of attractions, shows and restaurants.
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'LOVE' PREVAILS, DRAGONE GONE, BEATLES WAX AND FOLLOWING OSCAR'S TRACKS
On the very day that Cirque founder Guy
LaLiberte claimed Strip victory with his new amazing knockout Beatles 'LOVE'
musical, his former partner, Franco Dragone,
was simultaneously, literally “on the ropes” with his boss, hotel mogul
Steve Wynn. Dragone will now “step back” from their ‘Le
Reve’ production as Wynn plans to “take creative control” and run the
show himself! In a bid to battle The Beatles onslaught, Wynn wants more than half of his theater-in-the-round water show changed over the next seven months in time for New Years in a massive overhaul that will add Hollywood special effects, lavish laser lighting and rock-group pyrotechnics! It’s an extraordinary double whammy of knockout news that has the entire town talking this morning!
We’ll return to more inside scoop on that subject further below, but I was blown away at the opening preview night of The Beatles ‘LOVE’ at the Mirage. Quincy Jones perhaps summed it up best for the entire emotionally-charged audience: ”It doesn’t get a 100% OK, it gets my 9000% stamp of approval and is the best show I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Two-decade-long Siegfried & Roy manager, Bernie Yuman declared, "It’s the best show ever produced anywhere anytime,"; after watching it on the second preview night.
The costumes and the staging are truly incredible,
but it’s the magical way you are right there alongside The Beatles from 40
years ago when they were recording their monumental hits that makes the most
emotional impact. You will stop breathing when you see the four skateboarders
and a suspended acrobat perform death-defying stunts on a roof-high hanging
plank to the music of ‘Help.’ You will laugh and cry as the cast takes a
grand-piano filled with soapy water to blow bubbles and balloons out to the
audience to the music of ‘Strawberry Fields.’ You will want to dance to the
marching, mechanical, yellow rubber-boots as they tap to ‘Lady Madonna.’ You’ll
thrill to the aerial ballet performed to ‘Something in the Way.’ You’ll think
you are underwater in an aquatic adventure in the ‘Octopus
Garden’. Watch for the mammoth drape that covers the entire audience as a movie screen with images projected on and under it before it’s all sucked into the jigsaw octagonal cutaway stage in less than a five-second whoosh!! And the breakaway Beetle car is such a showstopper, Detroit execs better fly in immediately to find out how that’s produced so brilliantly. The show is in previews until opening night on June 30, so since it’s still being polished and tweaked, no official reviews until then, ;but suffice to say, this maybe theater’s finest moment and definitely “Genius At Work.”
The Beatles would be mighty proud and pleased that their creative work is still as extraordinary and captivating as it was in 1962 when I began chronicling their phenomenon as a newspaper reporter back in England.
Mirage President Scott Sibelia welcomed the first night audience: “You are actually becoming part of Beatles history tonight.” I talked with him at the cast-party celebration afterwards: “This was an awesome night. I couldn’t be more excited it was everything we’d expected, and more. Ticket sales are already stretched into October and going well. In fact, the hottest advance ticket sale in Vegas show history! Today we had our first waiting line and now after this buzz, it’s just going to take off through the roof. The Beatles are still alive in everybody’s heart. One thing Cirque wanted to create was that when you are in that theater and you close your eyes, you feel like The Beatles are in there actually performing. They accomplished that. This is very big for the Mirage, very big for Vegas. It was worth every penny of the bet (Luxe Life has reported a $165 million investment). I can’t tell you how much Siegfried & Roy did for the Mirage over the years and they are still very much a part of our family. But this show is going to be as big. We have several shows not working in Vergas (an obvious reference to ‘Le Reve’ and ‘Avenue Q’ that shut last weekend, both at Wynn), so Vegas needed this. It will attract thousands of people to our city who may have never been here before and that’s what this kind of theater is all about. The Beatles still sell more albums on a five-year average than anybody and we are looking forward to the release of this soundtrack album in the fall, which everybody believes will be their biggest #1 album ever. The way their songs were written back then are still so applicable and relevant today. That’s the phenomenon.”
Scott continues: “Everybody has their favorite show – ‘KA,’ ‘Zumanity,’ ‘Mystere’ and ‘O,’ but ‘LOVE’ can’t even be compared. Cirque didn’t out do the music, which is the most important part of the show. It’s Cirque’s flair that compliments The Beatles, who are the stars with their music of the show. It’s completely different than anything Cirque has done before -- more dancing, totally different costumes and characters.” Awesome, I couldn’t say it better myself!
Cirque founder, Guy LaLiberte, who first worked with the late George Harrison on the very early development of the show before his death, sat in front of me during the debut performance and he noted every thing from start to finish and then told me during the non-stop audience applause: “This reaction of the public tells everything. In this business, you live or die by the public and this overwhelming response is a very great and solid foundation as we build the show over the next two weeks. There’s a sense of exhilaration and relief. We always have that emotion of relief after lots and lots of work that everybody was committed to a success. The delivery of the baby has been accomplished. Now we wash him, now we teach him to walk. Now we dress him, The Beatles have been here for 40 years, so if we touch 50% of all the hearts that come to see this, we will be here for a century!! It even touched me tonight because there is a profound message in their lyrics, which is still accurate in today’s world and the time we are living in. The show will keep carrying the message of peace and love to this planet.”
Full credit has to go to The Beatles record producer, Sir George Martin, and his son Giles (pictured here with wife, Judy Martin, and the shows concept creator Gilles Ste-Croix). They miraculously bridged the gap between hearing The Beatles of yesteryear and experiencing the music through technological advances better than anything ever achieved. Quincy Jones, who used to stay with the Martins at their Oxford home in the English countryside, was awestruck: “It’s so up-to-date. It is so good musically and aesthetically. I’ve known George since 1961 he was the ‘fifth Beatle’ and I was there to see a legacy born. He framed it, arranged it -- he took the whole business of song and story and got the right sonic representation. Back in 1963, he was recording The Beatles and I was recording Lesley Gore. There were no overdubs. Two tracks with a solo, took four hours just to get each voice. Today you can do 300 and nobody breaks open champagne like we did when we achieved the miracle. I worked with Paul and Michael Jackson. I did ‘Love is a Many Splendid Thing’ with Ringo, and so tonight, I just had tears in my eyes all night long. It’s way more than I expected or thought possible. Cirque fools you because although the music is what I expected, the way they used it was impeccable. Very hard to do and provide such an amazing legacy to make history anew! But they’ve done it and more!”
The after-party ended in a true Beatle moment when the cast threw Giles Martin, Gilles Ste-Croix and other top Cirque executives fully clothed into the hotel’s swimming pool to celebrate the successful spectacular night! The first four quotes from The Beatles about their own new show are simple yet perfect: Paul McCartney: “The idea of the magic of Cirque du Soleil coming together with the magic of The Beatles music is a very exciting one.” Ringo Starr: “The Beatles, Cirque and Las Vegas. All you need is ‘LOV E’ -- peace and love.” Yoko Ono Lennon: “I think it is a great combination. The Beatles’ agile mind and Cirque’s agile body.” Olivia Harrison: “From a friendship and a wellspring of creativity emerged ‘LOVE.’” All four will reunite to attend the opening gala premiere on June 30.
DRAGONE GONE
Meantime, back to the Franco Dragone shocker. Across the Strip at the Wynn hotel, it was a totally opposite mood, as a quiet turmoil unraveled. Le Reve’s creator, Franco Dragone, who also created Celine Dion’s award-winning show at Caesars Palace, was summoned by private jet from Belgium, then Montreal, to meet the hotel tycoon upon his return from Macau. I’m reliably told there was a “showdown over the show’s future“ and Steve’s insistence that he would take creative control himself.
**FLASHBACK
The Dragone shakeup that has the city reeling this morning will come as no surprise to Luxe Life readers. Steve himself signaled to me change was coming when I talked with him over drinks earlier this year at his Corso restaurant.
RL: So Steve, you are the maestro who doesn’t rest until perfection is attained. You’re not scared of changes, shutdowns and even re-openings to get things 100% right. So are you going to make changes to ‘Le Reve,’ all for the good?
SW: Franco and I, when we made our deal, there was just; ‘O’ and ‘Mystere.’; There was no ‘KA,’ no ‘Zumanity,’ and of course, Siegfried and Roy were alive and well and doing their show. Since that time, MGM has made sort of a global deal with Guy LaLiberte, which was a very smart thing for them to do, because Guy is so gifted. But now there are four Cirque shows and soon five including the new Beatles one at Mirage.
Franco created the genre. The Cirque as we know it is a creation of Franco Dragone, and Franco and I talked about it and I said our ‘Reve’ show is very much like the things we have done in the past, I would like to introduce some new things, and I would like to spend some more money on the show, and I would like to take it to a more sensual, artistic area. He said ‘I feel that way myself.’ I said OK, let’s sit down with Tim Hatley, who does the costumes and the sets for Mike Nichols. Let’s sit down with Moses Pendleton (choreographer). Let’s also sit down with Michael Curry (prop designer) and let’s talk about making some alterations in the dream sequence and bring something new to Las Vegas. We came up with some really incredible ideas that really add and augment our show and take it to another level. We are going to do this over a period of six months and we build the show in an area that brings to the stage in Las Vegas something they haven’t seen in ‘Mystere’ and in ‘O.’
When we did ‘Mystere,’ it was Cirque’s first chance, Franco’s first chance, to go indoor and in more than a tent. He didn’t want to do a second show in Las Vegas, and I appealed to Franco, who was an independent contractor at the time, about my idea of water, and if we could conquer water, in of itself, that would be a great idea. I wanted to use water as a primedial source of life, the ooze from which multi-cellular life emerged 680 million years ago during the pre-Cambrian explosion. Franco was taken with that notion of water as a source of life and we had figured out a way to enter and exit the stage under water which would be provocative and Franco went in and jumped at the idea, and said you’ve got a deal Steve so that’s how Cirque got to do ‘O.’ Now, the same thing that made me feel that water was a wonderful medium of fantasy, makes me feel as though I would like to add element of sensual choreography, almost ballet. To take the context and framework that Franco created of a dream and explore some of the edges of it, he fell in love with that suggestion, thank God, and has taken it up. So we are going to play with it, and give our audiences some new things, as time goes by which I think is a good thing to do in Las Vegas. None of the shows should stay static. I think the Guy LaLiberte feels the same way. He has been hedging and pulling with ‘Zumanity’ and ‘KA.’ The show that ‘KA’ is today is very different from what it was when it began. It is very important in Las Vegas that we stay dynamic with our theaters and that we are always pushing the envelope and trying new things.” **
Dragone took his top execs, some of the cast and crew to the secret boutique Artisan Hotel hideaway off the Strip on West Sahara to break the news to them. “They were stunned and seemed not to believe what washappening,” one inside source told me. Ironically a week earlier, that’s where Wynn’s cancelled ‘Avenue Q’ cast and crew held their teary farewell party too!
Vegas insiders remember that both Steve and his wife Elaine had been unhappy with “the darkness” of the dreams-show when it was unveiled a year ago at the hotel’s glittering opening. Elaine was said to be in tears over her disappointment with the production she first saw the night before the opening. Dragone and his creative team made many changes, but Steve wants much more. I’m told that Dragone resisted some of those changes and in wanting to spend time on a Broadway production, has agreed to “step back” as one hotel executive sensitively put it! Steve is alleged to have told Dragone’s staff: “I only want the #1 best show on the Strip and we’ll do it whatever it takes.”
Another hotel’s top executive told me: “Steve is genuinely concerned that everything in Vegas for a while will be The Beatles and nothing but The Beatles, and in order to compete and deal with his own summer-sales lull in tickets, he’s going to overhaul it himself. Dragone and Wynn had originally planned to attend the opening night of ‘LOVE’ together, but because of the same-day split, neither showed up!! There’s a whole lot of concern about how The Beatles show will impact the entire Vegas theater experience.”
Stay tuned for more details as both stories of the Beatles success and the ‘Le Reve’ makeover unfold. Luxe Life will always have it all first, fast and furious!
THE WAX FOUR
The Beatles takeover of Vegas grows nonstop. Members of the Fab Four tribute show unveiled the circa 1964 wax attraction of the original Fab Four on loan from Madame Tussauds museum in London.It will remain at the Madame Tussauds in the Venetian directly opposite the Mirage until July 4.The wax figures have their famous collarless jackets, which we all wore in 1963. Adrian Jones, general manager of Tussauds Vegas told us: “They are a staple of our London attraction but they have never been here in Vegas. They actually used the wax figures on the 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' album cover back in 1967!
MAYORIAL MAGIC
We’ve been playing host for the first time the past few days to 300+ mayors from across America at their 74th annual conference. Saturday, our Merry Mayor of Mirth, Oscar Goodman invited me to make the welcome toast at his Oscar night at the Bellagio as he arrived in a gold limousine (actually in the ballroom!!) accompanied by six gold-sequined showgirls, and his wife! The previous night at Paris, he had our friend, Larry Edwards, impersonating Tina Turner and Jesse Garon, impersonating Elvis, escort him for the first Mayors welcome dinner!
Last night, all the mayors got a preview peek at the Beatles ‘LOVE’ musical. Mirage and Cirque picked up that dinner and ticket check for $225,000 to send the Mayors back to their cities with a great promotional message about Vegas mega-entertainment. Gotta love Oscar- he chipped in $10,000 of his own money to pay for 4 new bobblehead dolls of him to go with the 7 already existing in his series!! Each night of their four-day visit each mayor got a new doll!!!
$100-MILLION WORTH OF BLING BLING!
Simultaneously this weekend, Vegas hosted the15th
annual JCK high-end jewelry convention and armed guards patrolled every inch of
the Venetian, round the clock, to ensure there were no heists! Over $100
million worth of new rings, bracelets, necklaces and accessories were on show
to 40,000 delegates from 2,700 manufacturers and designers in advance of the
Christmas holiday selling season. My friend, Nicky Hilton, launched her new line of trinkets and treasures for Claire’s stores worldwide with two private introductory cocktail parties at Tao. She then had a celebration at Pure, where she proudly showed me some of her new designs before throwing out gift bags of baubles and bangles to the crowd.
Carmen Elektra who ordered an asparagus
goat cheese quesadilla and chicken tacos from the adjoining Bobby
Flay's Mesa
Grill was among the guests. When hosted a celebrity charity party at
the Hard
Rock the next night ex-husband Dennis Rodman took
her spot at Pure! Earlier Saturday, Nicky and Dennis had separate cabanas at
the new Pure
topless pool Venus in Caesars!
(He’s always half-naked anyway but Nicky kept her top on for her poolside
massage). At the rival Light
nightclub in the Bellagio simultaneously Shannon Elizabeth
and Maggie Q were at the Rosalina Jewelry party.
STRIP SCRIBBLES
Comedian David Spade’s alleged lovematch with Heather Locklear must be over because he spent two consecutive nights in the VIP lounge at Jet nightclub in the Mirage with 26-year-old leggy blonde beauty, Rosemary Sloane, a former Vancouver model. Wayne Brady was also there celebrating his birthday heYes, that was Barry Manilow himself unveiling his new line of M fragrances, perfumes, unisex cologne and house candles along with M Wines, glassware, chocolates and accessories and the M jewelry line at his new expanded retail store at the Hilton. No sooner did NBC’s ‘Today’ star Katie Couric call it quits with the Peacock network, than she hopped a private CBS jet to Vegas to talk to execs from Eye network and affiliates around the country about her slot as new anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News ‘starting September.
TONIGHTS TIP
Yellowcard -- show info | videos -- at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay; Bayside is downtown at Jillians. Model Monday at Jet nightclub with top models from the hottest agencies in town and ‘Too Close for Comfort’ star Lydia Cornell joins Destiny for hilarious insight into love, motherhood and lack of sex in marriage in their new tour ‘Deprived Wives’ at the Riviera.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE TOMORROW
Join us right here in just 24 hours as we reveal a world exclusive scoop about Bono and the world’s largest rock ‘n’ roll emporium coming to the Strip.
CONTACT US
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