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Liza Minnelli Back in Vegas; Amazing Johnathan Prepares for Halloween; Meet the Gladiator GoddessesThursday, October 12, 2006
In
This Issue:
Liza
Minnelli brings good old fashioned razzle dazzle to the
Luxor.
The
Amazing Johnathan gets ready for Halloween after revamping
his
popular Sahara show.
Rita
Rudner gives back to her fans prior to taking the stage for
her new
show at Harrah's.
Meet
the new Gladiator Goddesses in all their sexy
glory.
For
the
first time in 8-years, Liza
Minnelli returns to
Vegas tonight. And, her 3-night run at the Luxor
has been such a box office bonanza that
she’s coming back next month (Nov 23-25) for another 3-nights!! A
dynamic
stage, screen and television performer, Liza will perform her
well-known hits
“Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Cabaret,” “Losing My Mind,” “Some People” and her
signature song “Theme from New York, New York.” Over the years she’s
won every major entertainment accolade including an Oscar, two Tony
awards and
an Emmy. When Liza received the Grammy Legend Award she became part of
a small
and select group of performers who have won entertainment’s top four
awards.
She’s a long-time friend from my years in New York, where she now
lives, and we’ll
meet up backstage for a reunion tomorrow. Liza, who’s finished shooting
a new
fall episode of 'Law & Order' says she’s looking forward to
exploring the
new Vegas. “I haven’t been there in two years, so I’m looking forward
to seeing
all the new attractions and even taking a ride on the roller coaster at
New-York
New-York or the gondolas at The Venetian,” she said. "Hopefully I’ll
get
to see some of the new shows too.” Liza, who works out with a 2-hour
daily
dance routine, says she’s in great health and in great spirits despite
all the
recent scandalous headlines concerning her private life and bitter
divorce
battle with former manager-husband, David Guest. “I
don’t
pay that much attention because I know what’s true and what isn’t," she
said. "It's more important that I have been feeling fantastic for the
past
3 years with teaching at the Actors Studio, helping brain-injured
children and
doing that recurring role on 'Arrested Development.' I’m having a great
time
and I’m very happy so I wanted to come back to Vegas with a new show
that's got
material people really love and some numbers that I really love and
have wanted
to do for a long time. Call it a mix of my favorites and the audience’s
favorites. As Bono from U2 once said, 'just give me
the song
and the spotlight and I don’t need anything else.' Vegas has changed
since I
was there when I was five-years-old -- the very first time my mother
played the
New Frontier -- so I have to go see it for myself. I’m an entertainer
for life
and I still love giving it my best. Everybody has been wonderful to me
and I’m
looking forward to my Vegas visit.”
Liza on stage at the Luxor, preparing for her
3-day concert series.
Liza
got off to a fast start on playing catch up with Vegas
last night after she arrived from Minot, South Dakota where she
performed
on Tuesday. She hit not one but two Cirque shows: first stop was at
'KA'
in MGM
Grand and then the sexy erotic 'Zumanity'
show at New-York
New-York. I chatted with Liza as she blocked out some of her
moves onstage at Luxor yesterday afternoon:
"I've got some surprises up my sleeve even though my show is basically
90-minutes of just me with my 12 boys in the orchestra. I work so hard
in the
show nonstop I actually lose about 7lbs each night, so because I cant
eat
during the daytime before singing, I have to make up for it after the
show. So,
let's all go out for dinner tomorrow night and party." Liza told me
that
she'll make reservations this trip to see the Beatles 'LOVE'
musical from
Cirque du Soleil when she returns in November. "I'mactually here for
Thanksgiving and Rosie O'Donnell is coming out here
too then to catch the
show," she added. "And I'd like to recreate a little bit of Vegas
history when I get back. In the 70's Sammy Davis and
I used to sort of meet up
at 2am and then do impromptu gypsy-cabarets for all the other
entertainers on
the Strip who were working while we were doing our shows. I want to do
that
again next time I'm out and I'm sure we'll get every entertainer to
come
by." We'll have more of our candid conversation with Liza next week in
Luxe
Life when we wrap up our coverage of her first run of shows
here in almost
a decade.
Liza's Luxor concerts will be her first in Vegas in eight
years.
THIS JUST IN
Our two mega nightclubs -- TAO and PURE -- will engage in
another celebrity slugfest this weekend. On Saturday night, 'Desperate
Housewives'
star Eva Longoria, who just reconciled last weekend
in Paris
with her San Antonio Spurs basketball boyfriend Tony
Parker flies
in from Hollywood to host a " welcome to fall party" at PURE. Two
weekends ago, Eva had been in Vegas at the MGM playing 4am piggyback
rides in
the lobby and casino with her boyfriend; just 24 hours before he flew
to New
York and was caught with "another woman" before flying onto Paris.
Reports immediately surfaced that the two lovebirds had called off
their romance,
but he phoned from Paris
where he was playing on the NBA Europe Live tour and begged Eva to join
him in
the romantic French capitol. It apparently worked, and they're now back
together again. Meantime, TAO throws two celebrity studded nights:
tomorrow, Ashanti
has her surprise birthday party with rappers Nelly
and Gipp,
comedian Mike Epps, actress Tamala
Jones
and The St. Lunatics. Next night, Michelle will play
host to
my friend, heiress Lydia Hearst Shaw, rock band
Incubus,
singer/actor Jaron Lowenstein and actor
Shawn
Ashmore at her 21st birthday bash. Luxe
Life, you
know, will have total coverage of the ongoing celebrity battleground
disco-wars
on Monday morning.
HAUNTED
HALLOWEEN
The Amazing Johnathan runs you down with his macabre brand
of magic and humor.
If there’s
one entertainer in town who embraces the upcoming Halloween festivities
more
than any other, it's definitely macabre magician The
Amazing Johnathan.
The crazy comic appears nightly at the Sahara
and has just returned from New
York, filming a brand new TV special at NY’s Hudson Theater for
broadcast Nov
14, on the Comedy Central. In between getting his haunted house ready
for his
annual Halloween party, we took timeout for this exclusive
Luxe Life interview:
Robin
Leach: What are you currently doing to prepare for Halloween?
Amazing
Johnathan: Now that we have done the special, we are just
building
the haunted house for our annual Halloween party. I am going to do it
at my
warehouse. There are two warehouses back to back and one of them is
going to be
the party and the other is going to be the haunted house. We have
redone
everything. I just built an elevator that looks pretty real. You get on
it and
drops what seems like 5 stories. People have ridden on it and they
thought it
was real so far and they screamed. There are a lot of people coming. A
lot of
rock bands like Twisted Sister,
Nickelback
and Pantera will be there.
RL:
What did you add to the TV special that is different than the Sahara
show and
have you put anything new from the TV show into the Sahara show?
AJ:
Comedy Central didn’t want anything repeated, which made it tough for
me, because
I had completed everything. I did three specials for them, but none of
them
were our specials, they were all 10-15minutes some even a half an hour,
so
what I had to do was pull stuff from way, way back to see if it worked.
A lot
of it didn’t, because it was stupid and dated. So we had to write
probably a
half hour of new material that we have never done on TV and that was
stressful,
but we did it. That alone took about three-and-a-half months. Oh man it
was
hard, and thank God we have a place to rehearse every night. It would
be rough
if we didn’t have the Sahara. I pulled things
out and put things in and really brushed it up. They were impressed
with it. They
could see how hard I worked on it and they said it was one of the best
ones
they had ever shot. The New York
audience was real good to me. We shot two versions -- one clean and one
a
little X-rated -- so you’ll see the clean version on TV and get the
raunchy one
on DVD later!
RL:
Talk to me about the new additions. And how long have you been at the
Sahara now?
AJ:
About 18-months and we just got an extension for another year. I had
put new
stuff in between really strong stuff that I knew worked so it
re-energized us. Being
in Las Vegas, you are not in Hollywood anymore, and it is a black hole,
things pass you by fast here. I was happily married to the fact that I
was
riding on my own coattails now, but Comedy Central made me get out
there and
come up with a whole new show. It's completely re-energized us and
we’re back
in the game again. My character in 5 years has changed and evolved so
much.
Comedy Central was so impressed with the advancement of the show and
the
character. It hasn’t changed that much to me, but for someone who
hasn’t seen
it in 5 years I guess it is a big change. It is really tight. Comedy
Central
was so cool about everything. They never gave me a no answer to
anything that I
came up with. They were so receptive to anything. They built me this
incredible
set that cost $100,000 just for the stage. I have this gigantic card
castle
that rises up out of the stage and then builds itself. It is three
stories
high, all out of playing cards, 6’ by 4’. It all comes up out of smoke
on the
stage and then one of the cards falls and I come walking out. To build
that on
a small scale and then send it to New York and then to see it built, I
was like wow. And
then they gave it to me when they were finished. It is a coming out
like a rock
star. I got it for whenever I play larger rooms than the Sahara.
All of the TV show is now incorporated into the new Sahara
show. I have a hard time going back to the other stuff because I worked
so hard
on this new hour that I may add a new 20 minutes for Halloween that is
coming
up now. Halloween week we are going to put in new tricks that
incorporate blood
into them.
RL:
Forgetting Halloween for a second, is the new show a softer, gentler,
kinder
side of Amazing Johnathan?
AJ:
Yeah it is softer, more manic; there is very little blood, little
violence. I
took all of that out. It is more reliant on improv with volunteers from
the
audience. Over the years I wanted to focus more on the comedy itself.
This is
my fifth year in Vegas. It all started while I did two weeks for David
Brenner at the Golden
Nugget. They asked if I could do two weeks while
he was on summer vacation and I’ve been here ever since. The numbers
are real
steady now. I like living and working in Vegas. My show at the Sahara
each
night is 10pm, so I leave my house with just 10-minutes to spare and
I’m back
home before midnight! If I run out of gas en route, the crowd sits
there for a
half-an-hour. The audience thinks I am backstage getting prepared while
I am
still rushing around trying to find my wallet. I have things they can
show the
audience to kill time if I’m late. I have comedy videos. I should have
a video
apologizing is what I should have. It should say I am probably out of
gas right
now if you are watching this.
RL:
Why did Vegas become the capital of the world for magic? Why is magic
so
accepted here, and in a sense rejected elsewhere?
AJ:
It is variety that is accepted here. I think variety is accepted but is
getting
killed off slowly but surely. None of the TV shows are doing it
anymore. Leno
doesn’t use it hardly ever and so that is magic; people love to see
variety
acts and there is nowhere left to see them except for here. That is why
it is a
shame that all the theatersare coming here. They are closing down shows
to put
in plays, even though they have never worked. Their thinking is just so
skewed.
They are not original and I just don’t get it. With plays everyone does
it and
it never works. They are trying to make it like New York and no one
wants that. They want
showgirls and they wantsex, and Cirque Du
Soleil is going to do Criss Angel’s
new show. Imagine what they would do with a juggler or a mime? That is
why
magic works here is because it keeps up with technology and you can do
anything
with your imagination and magic, but what can you do with a juggler?
How far
can you take that? You can never make a pop rock star out of ajuggler
but you
can a magician. Criss Angel for example, has got it going on right now.
I mean
he is unbelievable popular right now. He is not afraid of what other
magicians
think about him. Magicians are stuffy but magic has always been about,
being a
con man and fooling people. If it fools them, it fools them. It is
entertainment. They think that he is magic and they think that he is in
the
league with whomever. He is in the league with maybe the devil, but he
is
taking it all the way to the bank. He just bought a half a
million-dollar car
the other day. And I just saw him out with a girl and I didn’t realize
how
pretty she was. She is pretty and tall. He is not playing around and I
don’t
blame him. If I were him there wouldn’t be a girl in town that wasn’t
walking
with a limp.
RL:
So are you still at work on new illusions and new tricks?
AJ:
I am at work to build scary stuff right now. I am trying to figure out
what
terrifies people and I have a pretty good idea about that, and it is
all going
into this warehouse. It is not a kid’s haunted house. I have people
crawling on
the floor and the floor drops from underneath them. It doesn’t look
safe, but
it is and it is very scary.
ROCK
THE RAINBOW
LEFT: Gerina DeMarco with Sean Kinny. CENTER: DeMarco with
Clint Holmes. RIGHT: Drummer Vinnie
Paul.
Gorgeous
Vegas songwriter and recordproducer Gerina DeMarco
decided
she should be a singing star too. Her hits for such stars as
Thalia
went to #1 in the Latin charts and now she’s won such fans as 'Alice in
Chains'
drummer Sean Kinny and Vegas veteran Clint
Holmes. She debuted her fiery brand of music at the Rainbow
Bar
& Grill, the rockers' hangout where Pantera’s drummer
Vinnie Paul,
on the same night, hung up his autographed snare drum on the club’s
greenroom
wall.
RITA’S
FANS
Comedian Rita Rudner has special gifts for fans of her new
show at
Harrah's.
Now that comedian Rita
Rudner has settled into her new home
at Harrah’s, she has a special treat in store for fans. Even before her
show
starts each night she has a special backstage “meet and greet” session
by her
dressing room where she poses for fotos and gives them an autographed
magnetized “TO BUY LIST” memo-pad and a VIP DVD. She told me that she
does the
fan-fest before her show so that she can dash right home afterwards to
ensure
her 5-year-old daughter Molly is OK!
GORGEOUS
GLADIATORS
(Left to right) Raegen,
Ashley (kneeling) Jayde, Brena (sitting) and Choreographer Jamey Dilley
(center).
Four
beauties have been selected as captains for the 5th Anniversary Las
Vegas Gladiator
Goddesses’ new AFL season. Meet Brena Kautz,
Ashley
Vail, Jayde Mohammadi and Raegen
Pruitt.
Mary Vail, the Goddesses manager, also selected
acclaimed
choreographer, Jamey Dilley, who used to be in
'Mamma Mia!'
to master plan all the new moves! Goddess Ashley is from Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba
and has lived here for more than 11 years and also performs in the Rio
Masquerade
Show in the Sky, Goddess Brena, a UNLV graduate, is also a
showgirl
in Masquerade. Goddess Jayde, a communications major at UNLV, comes
from Salt Lake City, as does
Goddess Raegen, a senior at UNLV Vegas, majoring in Dance with a minor
in
Business Management.
STRIP
SCRIBBLES
Legendary
actor Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne with former
Motion
Picture Association chairman, Jack Valenti caught
the
Beatles 'LOVE'
musical. An observant attendant spotted Mrs. Douglas’ sunglasses
left at The
Mirage box office and returned them at their seats before the
show
started and won a hug and a kiss from the thankful couple. … TAO
nightclub at
The
Venetian will be hosting actress Michelle
Trachtenberg’s
21st birthday on Saturday evening after Chefs Sam
Hazen
and Josh Thomsen serves up a
decadent dinner for her celeb-guests at TAO.
TAO Chef Sam Hazen with Janet Jackson and
Jermaine Dupree.
TONIGHT'S
TIPS
My
pal rap-mogul Russell Simmons throws a party for his
new
book ‘The New American Dream’ at the OPM
nightclub in the Forum Shops at
Caesars Palace and he promises gift bags with his Phat Farm clothing
line and
his decorated rap cell phones.
Congratulations
to another good friend, star chef Michael Mina, who
opens
his first-ever steak restaurant -- in addition to the others he already
has at
MGM
Grand and the Bellagio
-- appropriately named Stripsteak, and is located at
Mandalay
Bay.
As
detailed above Liza Minelli opens at the
Luxor but
don’t lets forget my other friend Dionne
Warwick, who has
found her way from San Jose to the Orleans for 3 nights of
concerts.
The
2006 ScienceFiction
Festival opens at downtown’s Plaza Hotel while
uptown
DJ Mix Master
Mike of the Beastie Boys
spins the discs at Worship Thursday in TAO.
TOMORROW'S
TEASE
Has Sly
Stallone picked Vegas as the perfect place for the world
premiere of
his new Rocky 6 movie in December? We’ll answer that in 24-hours time!!
Meantime, Wayne Newton is still Mr. Las Vegas -- and
always
will be -- and he’s getting ready for his annual Holiday Show, running
until
New Years Eve. Hard to believe the calendar is at that time of the year
yet
again. Where does the time fly? Luxe Life also takes
an
advance peek at Barbra
Streisand's upcoming visit to the MGM
Grand plus the entire weekend wrap-up in Robin’s Royal Rundown as my
favorite
basketball team, the Sacramento Kings come to town with the LA
Lakers and the
Phoenix Suns for pre-season basketball!
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.
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