Dinner. Show. Magic! Coming from Jarrett & Raja at Hooters
It’s a dinner show starring a couple of magicians, but the new “Jarrett & Raja” show isn’t quite interactive theater in the spirit of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.” No illusionist will stop by your table dressed as a waiter and announce, “And now, this order of hot wings will disappear.”
But on March 24, the plucky duo are indeed opening a dinner show — that’s dinner, then a show — at Hooters hotel-casino. They will perform in the Jarrett & Raja Showroom on the hotel’s second floor, in a space most recently used for storage.
The concept is antiquated and admirable: To pair dinner and a show in the same experience. Ticket prices for the show, which runs at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays, start at $79 (including dinner). Hooters provides the food, so expect a menu of burgers, salads, curly fries and chicken wings.
Will Champlin of “The Voice” will provide musical accompaniment on synthesizer. He previously appeared in the music-and-magic show “One Epic Night,” which made a noble run at the Plaza Showroom for five weeks before closing last September.
That “Epic” result did nothing to deter Jarrett & Raja, two experienced and accomplished showmen who have been featured on “America’s Got Talent’ and “Shark Tank.” Their indefatigable spirit led them on a citywide hunt for an appropriate venue to showcase their acts (including a scene where Jarrett levitates Raja at the grand piano while Raja plays a rendition of the “The Blue Danube” with his feet).
The Hooters room will seat 175-200, and — in real corporate rarity — Hooters is allowing its female servers to wear something other than the famed tight tanks and booty shorts.
“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Jarrett said. “We know the demo for our show is families. Hooters has had a different demo. But they have agreed to let the women wear orange cocktail dresses, and it’s something we have pushed for.”
Some Hooters devotees might say, not so fast with that call. But in the interest of artistic integrity, it’s a small adjustment.
WORD FROM SHENANDOAH …
Billy Johnson, the former president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Wranglers who was hired as an executive at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah last February, is no longer with the project. He left his post in November, with no formal announcement or comment from the Newtons or Johnson.
PARTNERING UP
Suzanne Somers’ hunt for a venue in VegasVille has led her to talks with SPI Entertainment founder Adam Steck, whose company produces Human Nature at Venetian, Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas at the Quad, Boyz II Men at Mirage and “Thunder from Down Under” at Excalibur. Somers most recently performed at Westgate Cabaret, closing in August 2015 after a two-month run. Steck has also had success with Mike Tyson’s one-man show at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM Grand.
SOCIETY OF … ONE!
A booking that has raised some eyebrows on the scene is Martin Nievera’s March 25 performance at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.
This is a case of a lounge act hitting the big room — a really big room, considering the Joint’s 3,500 capacity.
Nievera performed in Las Vegas with lounge favorites Society of Seven, which debuted here in 2001. Nievera’s father, Bert, was a founding member of the bouncy pop band, which formed in the 1960s and became popular in resort haunts such as Hawaii’s Outrigger Waikiki .
Nievera appeared with the act at the Flamingo Las Vegas and Gold Coast in the mid-to-late 2000s, and in the lineup of “Vocal Soup” with Susan Anton, Clint Holmes and Domenick Allen. A decade ago, his attempt at a solo residency at the old Wyrick Theater (now Saxe Theater) at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood faltered.
But Nievera has drawn crowds of about 1,500-1,800 for a quartet of performances at M Resort over the past couple of years, most recently last July. The Hard Rock is eyeing those numbers, and Nievera’s international appeal (including three platinum albums) in this intriguing, and ambitious, engagement.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. He also hosts “Kats! On The Radio” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and appears Wednesdays at 11 a.m. with Dayna Roselli on KTNV Channel 13. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
Note: This version of the column corrects the estimated crowd counts for Martin Nievera at M Resort.
