| |
| |
|
|
|
Criss
Angel and Elvis Still Getting Cirque Treatment | Clint
Holmes' New Vegas Musical | First Look at the Sexy X-Girls
Launch plans for the official announcement of 'Mindfreak'
magician
Criss Angel's new
Cirque du Soleil spectacular at the
Luxor later this year have begun. Cirque's marketing
officials with new team members assigned specifically to
the magic project met with the pyramid's top-executives
next week to lay out the initial promotional campaign.
I've learned that there's a staggering record-breaking
$200 million earmarked for the production and launch of
the magic show.
| |
|
 |
I'm reliably told that sometime in the next 4-6
weeks that Cirque's top creative team
from Montreal will join conjuring king Criss and
Luxor President Felix Rappaport
for the official announcement here in Vegas and
simultaneously unveil the premiere date for
later this year, or early next year! It's a full
green-light, high-speed ramp-up to take
advantage of the extraordinary success of his 'Mindfreak'
series on A&E, which is getting the highest
ratings in the network's history. Cirque's
marketing folks have been running market
research and monitoring the stunning sales of
his merchandise in the new Criss Angel store at
the Luxor. "He's the hottest biggest star in
show-business at the moment. He appeals to all
ages but with the key demographic of 18-39 Criss
comes out number one," one Cirque executive told
me. "Some of his loyal fans call him the new
Houdini and believe he's much more than just a
magician; they think he can actually perform
miracles. We want full speed ahead to propel his
momentum even further forward." |
Criss, who creates all his own illusions, has
admitted to me that the magic he performs is both risky
and dangerous. Among the stunts he's pulled off: lived
through 3-million volts of electricity, vanished from a
speeding car, walked down a building sideways, been
buried alive, suspended by a helicopter with 4
fish-hooks and, for the new season of 'Mindfreak,'
actually "walked unsuspended" in the roof of the Luxor
pyramid and dodged death while handcuffed to a car as
another one sped towards him in a 90 mph collision.
Although he claims to only need three hours sleep a
night, he spends two hours daily, six-days-a-week in the
gym to stay physically and mentally fit for the
illusions. He's a good buddy and even invited me to
turn-up on two of this season's new 'Mindfreak' shows! |
|
|
|
 |
|
Click here or above for links to all our recent Luxe
Life coverage of Criss, including his "roast" and his
arrival and first interview at the Luxor, plus the breakdown
of the production costs of the new show. Production costs
for the most recent Cirque show, the
Beatles 'LOVE' at the
Mirage soared somewhere between $135 and $165 million!
Even Cirque's
'KA' extravaganza at
MGM Grand hit $125 million to stage! "Cirque simply
wants the best magic show in the world," I have been told.
"They are committed to delivering the most incredible
illusion show ever created, and they're backing it up with a
$200-million initial budget." Criss and his magic team have
already begun the initial design phases of the illusions to
be built. "Since money is no object here, Cirque simply
wants it to be real magic," |
|
|
Cirque which has also begun planning a new spectacular to
replace
'Mamma Mia!' at Mandalay bay after summer '08 apparently
sells over $1 million in box-office tickets every day for
its five current Vegas shows. One little known fact it was
Criss who created the visual effects for Cirque one time
partner and now rival Franco Dragone for
his show
'Le Reve' at the
Wynn!
ELVIS AND CIRQUE STILL ON
Luxe Life is always happy to clear up
misinformation when it comes to rampant rumors. We finally
got word from Cirque officials about
our story on Monday about the rumored breakup of the
Elvis/Cirque du Soleil deal for their
proposed joint 2009 show at City Center and we're happy to
now tell you Elvis and Cirque are still together! Our
friends at Cirque advised: "Regarding the Cirque du Soleil
Elvis production at City Center, just to let you know all
systems are go with that project, so the rumors you heard
were incorrect."
LEGENDS
|
I hopped over on a quick round trip to see longtime
friends, Joan Collins and
Linda Evans opening in their new comedy
"Legends" written by James Kirkwood
at the
Wilshire Theatre in LA and when the two
delicious divas appear for the finale in their
familiar red, low-cut Nolan Miller
gowns audiences go wild. It's adelightful romp with
some wicked one-liners. Everybody howls when Joan
asks Linda if Dallas stars, Victoria
Principal and Linda Gray
were actually the same person! Backstage and at
dinner in the Peninsular Hotel afterwards
celebrating our mutual pal
Max Bryer's 85th birthday
|
 |
|
|
Joan told me that she's hoping to visit Vegas for
some much needed r 'n' r when the tour concludes,
and drum up interest to perform her own one-woman
show here!
The girls look gorgeous, the jewels sparkle and
shine and the fight-scene where they smack each
other with pillows and pull off each other's wigs is
hysterical. Not quite the famous mud-scene from the
last episodes of Dynasty, but just as riotous. Both
actresses began their acting careers as school kids
and they are still going strong after a long
lifetime of movies, TV and stage shows. Joan, who
was awarded an OBE by the Queen for her charity work
is patron of the International Foundation for
Children with Learning Disabilities and has her own
wing at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and the
Shooting Star Hospice for terminally ill children.
Linda, an avid environmentalist, at the request of
Presidents Reagan and Bush served as spokesperson
for the "Take Pride in America" campaign. It's a
great, fun night of frothy theater, so catch the
dynamite Dynasty dolls when they show up on tour in
your town! |
| |
|
NEW SHOW PREMIERE |
|
|
 |
|
Former
Harrah's headliner Clint Holmes
(above) has now revealed plans for his new
musical that he's taking from Vegas to
London and then New York. "It's making
history in that nobody ever develops a
musical in Vegas and takes it to Broadway;
its always the other way around," he
commented. In an exclusive Luxe Life
interview Clint revealed his "Breathe"
musical will open for a 2 or 3 week run on
May 21 at the Judy Bailey Theater on the
UNLV campus. "Rehearsals resume again
February 15 and then the plan is to take it
directly to London for the summer after the
Vegas debut," he told me exclusively.
|
|
"We're thrilled about the way its all going.
It's based on the true story of my parents
and begins in 1944 and covers six decades.
I'm realistic that it will be a tough
challenge taking a show from Vegas all the
way to Broadway via London but am very
optimistic. It'll be fantastic to hear Vegas
views on it when we debut here." |
| |
SET IN CEMENT RECORD
An unidentified World of Concrete
conventioneer hit a $682,310.93 Wheel of
Fortune jackpot at the
Riviera Hotel and Casino yesterday
afternoon.
WHERE'S PAULA AND RANDY? |
| |
|
|
|
A new interactive
'American Idol' attraction
featuring wax models of
Simon Cowell and
Ryan Seacrest has been
unveiled at
Madame Tussauds in The Venetian.
It allows tourists and residents
alike to perform in the on-stage
area just like contestants on the
live Fox TV show. They sing and
perform using a special headset
/microphone on the new Karaoke video
game and the interactive display
provides the judge's verdict. But
missing in action are Paula
Abdul and Randy
Jackson.
Turns out that Madame Tussauds
carried out a popularity poll and to
save money on the design and
manufacture of all four stars they
picked just the top two vote
getters! |
 |
|
|
Meantime, the two of them have
similar business interests in Vegas,
as do Simon and Ryan. Cowell is into
real estate investments out at Lake
Las Vegas and Seacrest has financial
investments in nightclub and
restaurant operations here. Now
Paula is the ambassador of
entertainment for the
Silverton Hotel & Casino and
looks like Randy will carry out
similar duties at the Hilton. The
former bass guitarist for
Journey won't be performing
however. Instead he'll be producing
a series of concerts there when
Barry Manilow takes
his vacation breaks! Incidentally
we'll chat to Paula about her summer
plans for the Silverton when we
catch-up with her this Saturday
night when she's named 'Woman of the
Year" at the Nevada Ballet's annual
Black and White fundraiser gala in
the Wynn. |
| |
| |
|
 |
|
XCITING XOTIC X-GIRLS
There's nothing like a
perfect picture of a pretty
lady to brighten the
Luxe Life day! And
here's Yulia
in her first photo for the
new X-Girls Burlesque show
re-opening at the
Flamingo on February 12.
Photographer Matt
Stabile just shot
the launch photo layout and
we didn't want to waste
anytime getting the first
photo to you. Next week
we'll be back with the
entire shoot and gorgeous
girls lineup as they get
ready for opening night! |
| |
|
|
|
ANOTHER CHUCK KNOCKOUT
Ultimate Fighting's reigning
light heavyweight champion
Chuck Liddell
(right)
is partying
all over town, still on the
high of beating rival
Tito Ortiz
in the recent showdown. Now
"The Iceman" is celebrating
a unique Warner Bros. movie
promotion. Come March 9 the
new action adventure flick
'300' will be released
depicting the Spartans as
the original ultimate
fighters of ancient Greece.
Our rugged Vegas hometown
hero will lend his name and
likeness to several
promotions for the R-rated
movie, which has graphic
battle sequences, plus some
sexuality and nudity of
course! It's the epic novel
of the ancient Battle of
Thermopylae in which
King Leonidas and
300 Spartans fought to the
death against a massive
Persian army. They faced
insurmountable odds but drew
the line in the sand for
democracy- sounds like the
earlier version of some of
Chuck's conquests inside the
Octagon! Chuck will make a
series of personal
appearances across the
country for the movie in the
first of its kind
sponsorship.
STRIP SCRIBBLES
Congratulations to our pal
Penn Jillette
who appears nightly with his
silent partner
Teller in
their Rio magic show on
the news from NBC that his
intriguing
'Identity' game show has
been renewed and will resume
in March...just how
outrageous is the
bling-bling on rappers
becoming? Security at the
OPM nightspot in the
Forum Shops at Caesars
we're told that
Brandy's brother,
singer Ray J,
wore $500,000 in diamond
jewelry underneath his white
fur coat when he showed up
to party but Pittsburgh
Steeler Joey Porter
may just have
outshone with the 10 bottles
of $900 Cristal champagne he
sent to the ladies dancing
around him! .
TONIGHT'S TIP
It's a nightclub kind of
evening when
Supersonic returns
to
Moon with The
Funkler (Michael
Fuller), who leads
Chris Garcia, and
Tomcraft in
the hi-energy all-night
party. Over at
Tabu in MGM
Scooter joins IT
industry night resident DJ
Jose 2 Hype.
TOMORROW'S TEASE
Pick the Pussycats! Luxe
Life joins
Pussycat Dolls founder
Robin Antin
as she auditions the eight,
smoking-hot dancers who will
be the star attraction at
the new sexy pleasure pit
casino at
Caesars Palace. We've
also got a unique
face-to-face with Monty
Python's Eric Idle
and his
'Spamalot' star
John O'Hurley who
will play King Arthur. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read previous columns from Robin Leach at:
journals.aol.com/robinsvegas/LuxeLifeVegas.
Articles and photos from Robin Leach's Luxe Life: Vegas column on AOL cityguide are copyright and reprinted with permission.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
