Barry Manilow’s Valentine’s Day present: 900 CDs

There’s more than one way to give away a bunch of CDs in a Las Vegas residency show. On Valentine’s Day, Barry Manilow went for the bulk method, delivering 900 CDs, all at once.

Fans who attended Manilow’s return to International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas were given copies of “Night Songs II,” Manilow’s follow-up to “Night Songs” and his first album release in more than three years. The groundswell of love among Barry Manilow’s “Fanilows” stretched to the entrance of the theater’s gift shop. It was a one-night-only event.

Barry was feeling the love in Vegas tonight. All of today’s attendees went home with a copy of NIGHT SONGS II. Happy Valentine’s Day!!❤️ pic.twitter.com/mIktxj20NV

— Barry Manilow (@barrymanilow) February 15, 2020

This strategy differs from that of, say, Donny Osmond, who handed out a single CD during every Donny & Marie performance at Flamingo Las Vegas. That nightly tradition covered a span of 1,700 shows over 11 years.

Manilow is back at International Theater on Thursday, Friday and next Saturday. He continues his Thursdays-through-Saturdays schedule through November.

There is already talk around the property that he will be back for more in 2021. The deal is informal: As General Manager Cami Christensen says, “Barry is part of our family, and the Westgate is his home.”

Cirque du so long

Amid intensifying but unconfirmed reports that “R.U.N” at Luxor will not return after it goes dark April 30, one of Cirque du Soleil’s top-ranking execs has unhitched the harness.

Cirque du Soleil President and Chief Executive Officer of Business Jonathan Tétrault resigned from the company on Wednesday. He had been employed by Cirque for four years, originally brought on by ownership company TPG Capital to oversee the company’s bottom line and its many productions.

Thus, Tétrault authorized every Cirque production worldwide, including “R.U.N,” which has struggled at the box office and been hammered on customer review sites since opening in October.

Also, Cirque has shelved any immediate plans to take the company public. We reported in July that Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre confirmed the company was exploring the option of being traded on the open market. The original timeline for the company to go public would have been this January.

Instead, as reported by French news agency La Presse, Lamarre said the idea of publicly offering shares is “on ice.”

In May, Lamarre addressed the option, saying, “We’re exploring various possibilities that can help us get more money, to continue to grow at the pace that we are growing right now. This will be a business decision to have additional money to fund our growth, but I insist, I am not sure this will happen … People say, ‘You should do this, you should do that,’ but I should keep my focus on creating shows and selling tickets, because that is what I know.”

Locked up

Add sporting legends Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal to the list of luminaries who have paid $5,000 for liquor-locker rental at Wolfgang Puck Players Locker in Downtown Summerlin. The restaurant is a partnership involving Puck and Vegas Golden Knights teammates Alex Tuch, William Karlsson, Deryk Engelland, Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith.

The VGK players have their own lockers. So does team owner Bill Foley, UFC President Dana White and poker pro Daniel Negreanu.

That $5,000 yearly fee includes a $3,000 food credit, a personalized gift box, a personalized card identifying each dignitary as a VIP, access to rare and discounted bottles of members’ reserve lists, and the requisite prestige of being an original club member.

An early menu suggestion: Try the Tuch Reuben Sandwich. Equal measures sloppy and delicious. I had one with the sandwich’s namesake last week, and I am a fan. Of both.

A read of the Palm

On the topic of famous people being commemorated in VegasVille …

Music legend and Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace headliner Dionne Warwick is being honored with a caricature on the walls of Palm Restaurant at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

Warwick joins Frank Sinatra, Carlos Santana, Rod Stewart, Brandon Flowers of The Killers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Leach (a sentimental favorite) and yours truly (in the interest of disclosure) on the famous walls. Lady Gaga’s bandleader and Nomad Restaurant headliner Brian Newman is also set to be honored, joining Warwick by the end of this month. Most recently the Vanderpump family of Lisa, Ken, Pandora, Jason — and the Vanderpump dogs — were drawn.

Radioactive development

Valentine’s Day romance spread to “Atomic Saloon Show” on Friday night. Colin Cahill, who plays dopey/dreamy singing cowboy Blue Jackson; and his wife, MaKenzie Fly were both in the show. Cahill is a full-time cast member. Fly is a swing who performed as “The Tall Nun” in the Valentine’s performance. It was the fifth time they had appeared together in the show.

Also in the mix: UFC icon Randy Couture and his girlfriend, Mindy Robinson, a birthday celebrant. The couple were beaming and loved the show, with Couture saying he is back at “100 percent” after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles in October.

Couture famously walked to the emergency room after feeling persistent pain in his chest. He had a stent inserted in a clogged artery and has resumed his usual workout regimen.

Couture’s son, Ryan Couture, was also in the “Atomic” zone. I heard he fired a bread roll at the stage, but no confirmation …

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.