Not so cheap for Trick’s tribute
Cheap Trick’s Beatles salute is following Barry Manilow to Paris.
The orchestral “Sgt. Pepper Live” show seemed to be the Las Vegas Hilton’s logical replacement for Manilow after the singer went to Paris Las Vegas, leaving the Hilton’s big room without an anchor act.
Instead, the Beatles tribute will play several clusters of summer dates at Paris between June 11 and July 31.
“It’s an expensive show,” noted Hilton marketing executive Rick White, attributing the defection to “a numbers situation.”
Probable translation: a higher guarantee to producer Bill Edwards, passed along to ticket buyers. This second chance to see the Sergeant will cost you on the high end.
Tickets for the summer dates range from $75 to $250, with a VIP ticket of $275. Tickets at the Hilton last September were $76 to $110.
The Hilton has been hosting concert headliners in its big theater. White says his staff is pursuing “lots of fun stuff,” but not necessarily an anchor tenant of the Manilow model. He would neither confirm nor deny rumors of a Siegfried & Roy-inspired magic act called LaRaf. …
The Rio’s Crown Theater has announced the first few ticketed acts booked for the former Club Rio and showroom. The first three bookings are eclectic, even if they don’t live up to the challenge of finding things you couldn’t see in the House of Blues or another casino venue.
First up is Devo, with its eternally quirky nerd-pop on June 19. That’s followed by Jerry Lee Lewis on June 30 and Queensryche on July 24, in a “cabaret” format promising “go-go dancers, aerial acts, drag queens, ballet dancers, jugglers and more.” …
If a tree falls on the Strip: Shows you probably didn’t know were open have closed.
At O’Sheas, mentalist Luke Jermay closed both his “Mental” showcase of several months duration and the two-week-old naughty variation, “Dirty Mind.”
The closing was “100 percent financial,” says producer Anthony Cools, who still has high praise for Jermay’s skills.
At the Riviera, it was “Masters of Rock,” joining the fate of a quickly vanquished rival, “Rockstar: The Tribute.” “Masters” spun off from that one after some bad blood among investors.
Both proved there are good people out there to do these rock impressions. The bigger question now is whether tourists really want to see these acts packaged in a “Legends in Concert” format. In the locals casinos, rock fans seem to prefer full sets by one act at a time.
The former “La Cage” room at the Riviera will next host “Dao — The Asian Celebration” starting May 12. …
Lance Burton will be on Craig Ferguson’s “The Late, Late Show” today. Ferguson is back on the Strip May 21-22 and June 4-5 for stand-up at The Venetian. …
“Vegas! The Show,” a theatrical revue devoted to the entertainment history of our humble burg, opens the Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile Mall in mid-June.
It will be the first new title in the theater since magician Steve Wyrick surrendered the venue in December. Producer David Saxe says he may first move his V Theater shows over for two weeks while he remodels the V to add riser seating.
The new show’s title didn’t go down well with local TV host and restaurateur Tony Sacca, who performed a similarly themed “Vegas the Show” a few times, including once at Summerlin’s Starbright Theatre in 2007.
Sacca protested in a press release, but Saxe says he explained to Sacca that he didn’t trademark his title or perform it continuously enough to brand it in the marketplace (a legal standard for whether it creates confusion). …
Harrah’s Las Vegas employees will kick back Friday afternoon when The Improv comedy club founder Budd Friedman and some famous alumni entertain them in a private show celebrating the club’s 15th anniversary at Harrah’s. …
Finally, Friday’s Neon section covers the Las Vegas debut of Conan O’Brien and the tradition of talk show hosts playing the Strip.
But does anyone remember “The Las Vegas Show” (not to be confused with “Vegas! The Show” or “Vegas the Show”), a 1967 attempt to launch both a fourth TV network — the United Network — and a Vegas-based talk show?
Jazz saxophonist Jimmy Mulidore and veteran comedian Pete Barbutti were part of the effort that ended after just five weeks of broadcasts from the Hacienda.
Mulidore blamed host Bill Dana, a comedian better at creating characters with funny accents than interviewing real celebrities such as John Wayne.
Barbutti recalls some good sketch comedy with an ensemble that included Joanne Worley of “Laugh-In,” including a classy food fight in tuxes.
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.
