The Palms’ ‘M’ moment, and a star rolls out of ‘Vegas!’
The Kats! Bureau at this moment is the counter at Lucky Penny at the Palms. I ordered a midday Denver omelet, delivered with what might be record-setting speed: Two minutes.
Lucky Penny is a popular bureau outpost. The lighting is ideal, you can plug in anywhere along the marble-top bar, and the service team works with the efficiency of a NASCAR pit crew. The hotel remains under continual upgrades; today I found that the valet has been relocated to the sports book side of the hotel (temporarily) and the front desk has been newly designed with the pink-neon message: “Wish You Were Here!”
And who is here, today? I spy the Waits boys — twin brothers Cy and Jesse — at a nearby table, certainly talking of something fabulous coming up in the hotel’s nightlife lineup.
General Manager Jon Gray, too, popped over, impressively coiffed and looking like a paid model for Stitched. We talked of former owner George Maloof’s days as the head of this joint, and how I’d recently joked with Maloof that he should be given the 14-foot “M” from the original marquee on Flamingo Road.
Gray actually likes the idea. “We would give him the ‘M’ sure,” he said. Maloof has said he has no idea where he’d put the colossal character, but so what? Haul it away and figure the rest out later. Just make sure an unveiling party is involved.
Reva rolls out
The great Reva Rice, one of the city’s longest-running (or, rolling) stars of the Strip has left her production of the past 7 ½ years, “Vegas! The Show.” Rice closed her run with little fanfare after Saturday’s performance.
She arrived in Las Vegas in 1993, to perform as Pearl in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Starlight Express,” at the then-Las Vegas Hilton (now Westgate Las Vegas) The skating production famous for initiating the theater’s overhaul from the era when Elvis headlined the showroom. Fittingly, Rice’s next gig is the German version of that very production, in which she co-starred for four years.
Rice was also a member of the original cast of “Vegas!” when it opened at Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood in August 2010.
The show’s original cast set a high standard, with Eric Jordan Young as lead character Ernie, Tara Palsha as principal dancer, Jerry Lopez and Pat Caddick as co-music directors and Trina Johnson Finn among the half-dozen vocalists. Producer David Saxe says “Vegas!” is due for an overhaul. Expect several changes, including an upgrade to the Neon Boneyard set that opens and closes the show, by the production’s eighth anniversary.
As for Rice, she’ll be remembered for more than just her great voice and dancing in multiple roles “Vegas! The Show.” She always kept in shape on skates, telling me once, “I skate whenever I can. I have my quads, my in-lines. I have a pair of prototypes that skiers use that allow me to skate over desert terrain.”
Ruby’s departure
Rice is not the only top-level performer saying sayonara to a starring role on the Strip. Ruby Lewis, who has portrayed Daisy in “Baz: A Musical Mashup” at Palazzo Theater, announced on social media that she’s “stepping into the yellow dress for the last time in three weeks time.”
Lewis originated the role of Daisy Buchanan in “Baz” in Las Vegas when the show opened at Light at Mandalay Bay in the spring of 2015. She also starred in Cirque du Soleil’s production of “Paramour” on Broadway before returning to the role of Daisy last July.
Lewis’s next move is a source of intrigue. She is Broadway-caliber singer and performer with an iconic-blonde look. There is probably a show coming to Strip this year that can use such a performer.
‘Dangerous’ time at Vinyl
Column fave Rockie Brown is debuting the video to her song, “Dangerous,” as well as singing every song on her new album on Friday night at Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel.
Brown, a popular live act in VegasVille for the past seven years or so, will play her entire “Rockie Brown: Vol. 1” release as part of a no-cover night of original music.
The new video was directed by Las Vegas photographer and videographer Robert John Kley, who also directed the video for Brown’s song “Sexting” (disclosure: I played the role of “Reporter” in that video, a performance that shook the medium to its very knees).
The band headed up by Brown and Vegas producer and musician Jason Tanzer will be joined by Las Vegas artists Rabid Young and Mike Xavier in Friday’s show. To those who bemoan the dearth of inspired, original music in our city, opportunity knocks at Hard Rock.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter.