Drai’s After Hours toasts 25; eyes Dallas expansion

The unofficial theme of Drai’s After Hours on Saturday night was Take Your Dad To Work Night.

Dustin Drai appeared alongside his pop and the club’s founding father, Victor, Saturday at the club’s 25th anniversary at the Cromwell. Dustin runs the show these days (and nights) at the ground-breaking, below-ground club.

The Drais gents toasted it up with dozens of VIPs, including County Commissioners Tick Segerblom and William McCurdy II. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman sent a video message congratulating the family on the milestone. This was the rare event in which county and city officials joined the celebration. It takes some kind of achievement to make that happen.

Drai’s is no ordinary club, of course. It’s an institution, bubbling from beneath the Strip. There was no late-night hang like Drai’s when it opened in 1997. The fine-dining space twisted to fully realized, fully debaucherous nightclub as midnight approached.

Drai’s was the original nightclub set inside a casino, beneath then-Barbary Coast. It was common for guests to tumble out to Flamingo Road and the Strip at sunrise. The term “God’s Flashlight” took hold in those days. So did the Las Vegas ultra-club scene, with Victor Drai as industry trailblazer.

“You can see how blessed I am,” Drai said, just a few minutes after his speech to VIP well-wishers at the club. Drai’s voice wavered when talking of working with his son.

“It was not planned at all, that’s what’s so funny about it,” the elder Drais said. “Dustin had finished college and it just happened very naturally that he worked in the family company.”

That was in 2019, and Southern Methodist University the college. Dustin graduated with a degree in economics and marketing. He applies those skills as he helms Drai’s After Hours and the top-floor clubs that followed, Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub.

The Drais’ SMU affiliation has inspired a new venture. The family is expanding to that school’s city.

“We’re doing something in Dallas, next year,” said Victor, who still has ultimate authority over companywide decisions. “We’ll take it slowly. It’s just Dustin and me. But again, it will be a natural situation. But it will be more like a restaurant than a club.” The project should take shape next year.

Victor Drai has become a multi-generational icon on the Vegas club scene. The 75-year-old entrepreneur had built a successful film career prior to taking on nightclub ventures. He produced “The Woman in Red” and “Weekend at Bernie’s” before leaving the film industry. Drai’s impact is still felt at Encore’s XS Nightclub, which he developed in 2008.

But the company’s launching pad is the cellar at Cromwell. Dustin said the core of the company will be the After Hours space. “We’re constantly trying to find new ideas, looking at the space and how we can use it differently,” he said. “Hopefully in 25 years, we will maintain some level of what After Hours has become.”

Goodman and ‘Dames’

Oscar Goodman’s next Dinner Series talk at his eponymous steakhouse at Plaza is titled, “There’s Nothing Like a Dame.”

He explains, via news release: “With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, creators of South Pacific, for using their song title, this dinner will give guests the inside scoop of Tony Spilotro’s and Frank Rosenthal’s wives as portrayed in the movie Casino as well as my female clients including: Sante Kimes – an accused multiple killer and ‘slave owner;’ Rosalie Maxwell – a beautiful Caesars Palace cocktail goddess accused of conspiring to murder a casino executive’s wife; Sally Conforte – wife of the owner of the Mustang Ranch and madam of the brothel (who also gave me a cold); and Liz Chagra – Jimmy Chagra’s wife who was accused of conspiring with Woody Harrelson’s father to assassinate a federal judge.

“And I will reminisce about prosecutors I encountered, like an assistant U.S. Attorney who urged that I be placed in jail and an assistant district attorney who wanted to end the ‘mafia’ in a Philadelphia mob murder trial. Just to name a few …”

That part about the madame and the cold alone might make the trip worthwhile. See you there.

Fantasy at 23

“Fantasy” at Luxor marked its 23th anniversary and latest calendar release last Tuesday. Producer Anita Mann mentioned from the stage the show has agreed to an extension. How long? Well, how long do you want it? “Fantasy” has been in a one-year “rollover” contract since it moved from “Midnight Fantasy” to its current 10:30 p.m. slot in 2000.

Mann did mention the show’s upcoming 25th anniversary, so she obviously expects the show to be grooving at Luxor for the next two years. New MGM Resorts International Entertainment Director Laura Ishum has worked with Mann on the updated deal. We’ll it, “open-ended,” a term everyone seems comfortable with.

The new version of the show features an act we’ve not yet seen: Dancers singing live onstage. Skyla Johnson, Stevie Heptig and Ashton Bray sang “But I Am a Good Girl” near the end of the show. Rivers Schwenn, Soolin Deitchman and Mariah Rivera — also now the show’s co-producer — swing in the number.

“I heard them singing in the dressing room,” Mann explains. “I said, ‘I want you to expand! Sing in the show!’ At first they were like, ‘No, no, no!’ But they are good. I’m so happy we’re doing it.”

Standing “O”

“O” marked its 24th anniversary at Bellagio on Saturday night. The cast and crew celebrated, but this was another instance where the company didn’t make much fuss out of an impressive anniversary. “Love” celebrated 7,000 shows at the Mirage last week, also in ho-hum fashion.

The beautiful show was conceived by the late Franco Dragone. Many of the show’s newer might not even recognize the name, but his legacy will live on with that show, and also “Mystere” at Treasure Island. We’ll bet good money on “O” making it to No. 25, too.

Mars in ‘23

We are confidently that Bruno Mars is using his New Year’s Eve shows at Dolby Live as a springboard to return to a residency run next year. Not Silk Sonic, just a new Mars show.

Future of ‘27’ in limbo

Erik Himel, the music director of “27” has moved back to Los Angeles. That leaves the rock-tribute show in a holding pattern. Himel, a wondrous guitarist, says he and producer Ramy El-Batrawi are ready to return the show if the right partner and venue show interest. The rock retrospective paid tribute to artists who died at age 27, a lineup of Robert Johnson, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

Cool Hang Alert

DnD Project plays 7 p.m.-10 p.m. midnight Friday at Round Bar at Rampart Casino. The act returns Oct. 28-29. This is the well-known entertainment duo of Donte and Don. The former is a great R&B singer. The latter is an accomplished jazz sax player. Both have toured extensively and served as top session musicians. No cover, even for us squares at the Round.

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.