Asking yourself the following questions will help to narrow the choice:

1. How Luxurious a room do I need, and more importantly, how much can I afford to spend ?
2. Will I be using the Pool?
3. What shows, restaurants, and shopping will I do.
4. How much gambling will I do.
5. Location, Location, Location

How Luxurious a room do I need in Vegas? (Vegas Room Cost)

In general rooms are a tremendous bargain in Las Vegas, as the gambling (gaming is the preferred term in Las Vegas) revenue still subsidizes  the room rates. Just look at some of the links at the end of this post, $149 for a room at Palazzo  or Venetian with $100 resorts credits. In any other city in America these rooms would cost many times that amount. These are some of the nicest hotel rooms available anywhere. If you are looking for a budget room, the Tropicana has recently undergone a major $180 million renovation, and is offering rooms for $59 a night (see below).

In Las Vegas even the moderate level hotels have fairly luxurious accommodations. However,  if only the best will do, the most luxurious hotel rooms can be found at Wynn/Encore; Venetian/Palazzo; Bellagio and Aria. Initially Bellagio set the standard for what a top-level Vegas hotel should be, eschewing the glitz that dominated Vegas hotels in the 70′s and 80′s. Bellagio has an understated elegance that is the opposite of the longstanding norm of Vegas Luxury Hotels.

Steve Wynn is the impresario behind Bellagio, hence it should be no surprise when he divested ownership of Bellagio and built the eponymous Wynn Hotel, in many ways he took the look and feel of Bellagio with him. Wynn also took many of the best people in Vegas with him, from cocktail servers to executives. Wynn/ Encore has the reputation of having the best customer service of any of the big hotel/casinos in Las Vegas. Probably the biggest potential drawback for Wynn/Encore is its location at the very North end of the civilized Strip. It’s a bit of a schlepp to get to the heart of the Strip, which is informally defined as the land occupied by Bellagio.

City Center is the new “Latest and Greatest” on the Strip. City Center, as the name suggests is not a single building but a series of Hotels Condominiums and of course, a large casino. Aria is the large hotel which contains the casino. If you could imagine a bit of electronic gadgetry that could exist in a hotel room, you can be sure your room at Aria will have it. City Center also has a hotels sans casino: Vdara; Mandarin Oriental and Harmon(closed and already scheduled for demolition in 2012). The Veer towers, which slant towards each other at a 4.6 degree angle are condominium only. The big draw at City Center is lots of art work scattered throughout the vast property plus art galleries, including glass artist Dale Chihuly, the artist that designed the glass sculpture that hangs in the Bellagio Lobby.

Venetian/Palazzo another high-end dual casino/hotel is located just south of Wynn/Encore across Spring Mountain Road, a pedestrian bridge allows for easy access between the two properties. The owner of Venetian/Palazzo had his roots in the convention business, and thus his properties are particularly Business Friendly. Of all the high-end properties in Las Vegas, the Venetian is the most highly themed, complete with a canal on which you can take a ride on a real gondola. The rooms are large, roughly 700 square feet, with the rooms in Palazzo  being newer and slightly more luxurious.

As mentioned previously, Bellagio has long set the standard for a Vegas Luxury Hotel. In addition to beautiful hotel rooms the property boasts several of the top “must-see” free attractions in Las Vegas, all of which are appropriately up-market:

• The Fountains of Bellagio
• Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
• Dale Chihuly Glass Sculpture (Located in the lobby adjacent to the Botanical Gardens)

After the top tier of luxury hotels in Las Vegas, there is a broad middle range of contenders. Some of the properties like Mandalay Bay are just below the top tier, some might argue the new tower at Manadalay bay, THE Hotel, belongs in the top tier. Caesars Palace and MGM Grand have a large range of room quality, the newer towers at Caesars Palace are designed to compete against the top tier.

The budget hotels include mostly the older properties, such as Riviera, Harrahs, and Flamingo. Even these older properties are constantly being upgraded, and should not be overlooked. The Flamingo has add a bunch of GO rooms which are trendily designed and filled with new electronics. The Tropicana has recently finished a major $180 million refurbishment including  renovated rooms featuring 42-inch plasma television sets, iPod docks and updated décor, and hence should be on every budget minded visitors list.

 Will I be using the Pool in Vegas?

The pool season in Las Vegas is long, running from March through October. Not only is the season long, but the choice of great pools is long too. Let’s divide Las Vegas Pools into four categories:

• Tropical Pools
• San Simeon-esque Pools
• Kiddie Pools
• It’s a Pool, Pool.

The tropical and kiddie pools tend to garner the most attention. The Mirage set the standard for tropical pool areas, until Mandalay Bay built their elaborate tropical pool area, and added a sand beach complete with a mechanical wave pool. The hard Rock also built  a tropical pool area, that is targeted for the kiddies. If you want a tropical pool but are on a budget, then the Flamingo is the place for you. The Flamingo also adds an adjacent Wildlife area, complete with flamingos.

The most notorious kiddie pool is the one at The Hard Hack which is known for their Sunday “Rehab” pool party. Others have joined the fray, including Wet Republic Ultra Pool at MGM Grand and Palms “Ditch Fridays”  The atmosphere is similar to a nightclub with swimsuit attire.

What is San Simeon-esque? The following picture is from the pool at Hearst Castle at San Simeon, does that remind you of any of the pools in Las Vegas. Caesars Palace is clearly the most San Sinmeon-esque  pool in Las Vegas. Bellagio and Venetian are also strong contenders for the title. If kiddie pools are loud and rockus, San Simeon-esque pools are more sedate and stately. You could actually have a conversation without yelling at your consort, or perhaps read a book, yes that has been known to occur in Vegas.

Hearst Castle Pool at San Simeon

Some hotel pools are nothing special by Vegas standards, but are still nice, like Ballys, except for the long walk through the mall, and Paris. Harrahs is one of the least desirable pools in that it is both small and mostly shaded by adjacent hotels.

What shows, restaurants, and shopping will I do.

In any of the Strip Hotels just getting from your room to the lobby is usually a long, long walk. Cab lines can be long. For convenience sake, you might want to choose your hotel based on a show you’re going to see or a group of restaurants you plan to eat at. If you’re planning on a foodie trip then staying at  Wynn/Encore or Venetain/Palazzo which are adjacent properties and have roughloy 50 top restaurants between the four properties, including four Michelin Star rated restaurants.

All the Vegas hotels are loaded with stores, but the ones with separate shopping malls are:

• Caesars Palace with two large interconnected malls
• Venetian/Palazzo Each have a mall which is also interconnected.
• Planet Hollywood
• Mandalay Bay has a smallish mall Mandalay Place which connects to Luxor.
• Chrystals at CityCenter very high-end shops.  If you have to ask, you can’t afford it!
• The Fashion Show Mall is across the street from both Wynn and TI
• Bellagio and Wynn don’t have separate shopping malls, but both have walkways loaded with high-end stores such as Brioni.

How much gambling will I do in Vegas

If you plan on doing a lot of gambling try to match your gambling style with a hotel that is most likely to reward your play with nice comps. If you book a your room directly with the hotel, and end up gambling a lot, a host can easily comp your room charges. The key here is to concentrate your play, don’t spread your gambling dollars all over the strip, as that is a sure fire way to minimize your comps. In addition to concentrating your play at the hotel where you’re staying, it is also comp smart to concentrate you play over  fewer days, as daily average play is how casinos determine your comps. For a more complete discussion on how to maximize your comps read the following posts:

• How To Maximize Casino Comps
• A Common Comp Mistake

 Location, Location, Location

The real estate  agents mantra location, location, location is also true in Vegas. The three main location choices are:

• Fremont Street
• Off-Strip and Locals
• The Strip

Fremont Street is located in the downtown area of Las Vegas, about three miles from the The Strip. Fremont Street offers some of the best gambling conditions in Las Vegas combined with lower table minimums than available on the Strip.

Popular Off-Strip properties include: The Palms; The Hard Rock; Rio; Orleans and Gold Coast. These properties are located near the Strip. Properties further away on Boulder Highway include Sams town and Arizona Charlie’s. Off-Strip properties tend to be popular with locals, and like Fremont Street casinos tend to offer lower table minimums and generally better odds.

The Strip is roughly four miles long and can be divided into quasi neighborhoods, so why not pick a Hotel in your preferred neighborhood.

Strip Neighborhoods:

• North Strip Wynn/Encore anchor the area with Venetian/Palazzo adding to this high rent neghborhood.
• Far North Strip includes Circus Circus; Riviera; Slots of Fun low rent and  run down and getting sparse with Sahara closing. The Stratosphere is even further North, but not many still consider that the Strip.
• South of Venetian is the Strips own Fremont Street Experience with Casino Royale;  O’Shea’s Harrahs; Imperial Palace and Flamingo providing Strip customers a close facsimile of a Fremont Street casino experience with low table minimums and a sort of run down party atmosphere.
• CityCenter claims for itself its own neighborhood, complete with lots of expensive artwork on public display.

I have an affiliate relationship with the following Las Vegas Hotels, if you book a room through the following links I get a small, very small commission, that is greatly appreciated.

THEhotel “AARP Exclusive Member Offer” *THE HOTEL would like to invite AARP members to take advantage of an exclusive offer (type in promo code: ZAARP). Promotion Runs: Dec 14, 2011 – Jul 31, 2012. USE PROMO CODE: ZAARP (Exp 9/30/13)

VegasMavens.com and Alltop.com

VegasMavens.com has been notified by Alltop.com that it will be included in the Las Vegas, NV page of Alltop.

What is Alltop?

Alltop is a curated aggregator of the best websites and blogs on the Internet. The video on the about page of Alltop gives a nice introduction to the service, which by the way is free.

If you’ve gotten the impression that Alltop is not based on computer algorithms or popular voting, you’d be right. We are highly subjective and judgmental. Alltop About Page

Guy Kawasaki is one of the founders of Alltop. Guy is longtime member of the Silicon Valley Tech community, dating back to his days at Apple where he was a product evangelist for the original Macintosh.

“I remember pitching ‘Hot Spots’ to four [studio] guys in monkey suits,” he says. “And someone asked, ‘What’s the backstory?’ Well, there was no backstory. The main character robbed banks. He was a bank robber, that’s what he did. But they couldn’t understand it without a ‘backstory,’ an elaborate explanation of how he got to where he got and why he got there.

And more and more, that’s what American movies are about: endless backstory, endless justification. If I’d wanted to make the backstory the movie, I would have!”
Interview with Mike Figgis: Director of “Leaving Las Vegas”: Baltimore Sun 12-17-95

Shortly after learning his novel Leaving Las Vegas was going to be made into a movie, John O’Brien committed suicide by a gun shot to the head, he did not leave behind a suicide note.

The story Leaving Las Vegas is about a down on his luck writer, Ben Sanderson, in Los Angeles that is deep in the throes of alcoholism. Ben is enticed to move to Las Vegas by the city’s 24-hour easy access to alcohol. Ben will utilize this easy access to alcohol to its fullest, as he plans to literally drink himself to death. While in Las Vegas he meets a prostitute named Sera, and a very unconventional romance ensues. As if that story isn’t poignant enough, add to it John O’Brien’s real life battles with alcoholism and you’ll discover a new level of pathos.

Erin and John O'Brien

Letter From Erin O’Brien to Nicolas Cage

I spoke with Erin O’Brien, John’s sister, about John’s life in relation to the novel he wrote and the subsequent movie. As anyone who has lost someone close from a sudden death, particularly suicide, will attest, the search for connectedness to the loved one is intense and ongoing. Erin expressed this desire in a letter she wrote to Nicholas Cage, the actor that played Ben Sanderson in the movie.

We heard you would begin filming Leaving Las Vegas this fall. I realize the film may be quite different from John’s novel, but I Can’t help feeling a deep personal attachment. Ben is a thinly veiled self portrait of John. My family and I are anticipating Hollywood’s interpretation of John’s novel with a strange, melancholy pride.

I was delighted to learn you would be playing the part of Ben. The character seems consistent with your work, which I have enjoyed for many years. I feel compelled to make connections with the fragments  he left behind. You are an unexpected and welcome participant in John’s aftermath.

Excerpt of a Letter From Erin O’Brien to Actor Nicolas Cage

Erin and her father have been quoted repeatedly in the press as saying: “Leaving Las Vegas was John’s suicide note.” The backstory of John’s life in relation to both the novel and movie Leaving Las Vegas is the ultimate version of Art imitating Life with the added permutation of Life imitating Art.

Erin O'Brien and John O'Brien (Author:Leaving Las Vegas) Having a Beer

Leaving Las Vegas: From Book to Movie

The movie follows the novel rather closely, particularly on the point that John was most concerned about, No Feel Good Happy Ending. However, there are some differences.

In the book Sera is the more primary character, while Ben is clearly the primary character in the movie. In the book, Ben doesn’t really appear until page 59, in a 189 page book. I say “really appear” because when I mentioned this to Erin, who has read the book ten times versus my single close  reading, she pointed to a passage on page 4 in the book where Sera sees a staggering drunk collapse directly in front of her. The next time Ben and Sera meet is page 139, where Sera reminds Ben: “You Know I saw you last week,” she says taking another exploratory step, “I saw you fall down on the sidewalk” They have a mere 50 pages together in the novel.

In the novel, John O’Brien occasionally gives Sera rather extravagant language. I doubt doppelganger or lugubrious are in common usage among the prostitutes in Las Vagas, perhaps John was prescient and knew Harvard educated Elisabeth Shue would end up playing Sera. However, when you read a character’s incongruous word usage it is a bit of a hard stop, as if you see the writer’s hand. When I mentioned this to Erin, she said those are her favorite parts of Leaving Las Vegas, because in those slips, she can see  her brothers presence most fully.

As a side note what is it about having an Ivy-League education that seems to drive female actors to play prostitutes in movies:

In addition to Elisabeth Shue Harvard 89′; Mira Sorvino Harvard 89′ Mighty Aphrodite; Jody Foster Yale 84′ Taxi Driver; Brooke Shields Princeton 87′ Pretty Baby.

Leaving Las Vegas: The Guidebook

There are parts of Leaving Las Vegas that read like an alcoholics guide to drinking in Los Angeles.

So his life is punctuated by legislative break points and red flags of custom. At six a.m. the hardcore bars are open and the stores can sell, though they sometimes choose to withhold, imposing their morality on some poor, sweating, shaking mess looking for his fix. Nine a.m. is considered a safe opening time for bars that don’t like to admit that people drink that early but can’t let the business slip completely away;bartenders in these places tend to pause disapprovingly for an imperceptible moment before handing over a drink.

The Next milestone is eleven-thirty. At eleven-thirty everyone is willing to admit that the drinking day has begun and proudly open their doors and pour their drinks. It’s smooth sailing until midnight, when, if they haven’t already, the more reputable bars bail out. Any place that stays open past midnight is probably good until two– actually one-forty-five– the most important time of all. Never let two o’clock happen unless there is more liquor in the house than you could possibly drink in four hours–no small quantity.

“Leaving Las Vegas” pages 64-65

As the above passage describes just how focused Ben is on maintaining continuous access to alcohol. That four hour gap, 2am-6am, is just too long for Ben, he needs a place with 24-hour easy access to alcohol. Hence his move to Las Vegas, and a room at the Whole Year Inn, which Ben reads as the Hole You’re In. That pun seems to hearken back to the family vacations that John took, and would joke with Erin about the exit for Bluff City Illinois en route to their grandparents house.

Leaving Las Vegas: True To Life

John O’Brien’s  alcoholism was so severe that he suffered from delirium tremens or DTs as they’re often referred to, which often includes hallucinations and severe tremors.

Erin O’Brien describes how John recounted one of his delirium tremens (DTs) episodes:

During the last moments before he surfaced from the live-action nightmare, everything stopped at once. Then an angelic female voice pierced the blackness, crystalline and sweet. ”We’ve lost you,” she lilted, “but we’ll get you back.”  John startled to a shaking, sweating consciousness, more terrified by the surreal voice than the oily devil breaking through the wall that had filled the screen of his mind just before it gave way to the singing woman.

In the novel Ben repeatedly refers to Sera as an angel, combined with his severely intoxicated state throughout most of the novel, one wonders whether Sera is corporal or simply a figment of Ben’s imagination. The fact that John had  hallucinations of  an angelic female voice, only bolsters this possibility.

Leaving Las Vegas: The Final Draft

The hands of Mike Figgis are all over the film Leaving Las Vegas, not only did he direct the film, he wrote the screenplay adaptation, plus he was responsible for the film’s musical score, all of which were crucial to the film’s success. Mike’s background is more on the music side, rather than film. The haunting, jazz laden soundtrack that runs throughout Leaving Las Vegas acts as the third main character in the film.

‘The music [in Leaving Las Vegas] is more theatrical. It’s much more present. It has a much more personal voice than film music is expected to have. Film music is expected to be polite, it’s meant to hit buttons on cue, to let you know that you should cry, or be frightened, and when your heart should beat faster, and it has a very limited functional value. It’s very sentimental. It’s never meant to crossover into the narrative, but I think it should.’

Excerpt of Mike Figgis in discussion with Christopher Null

You can sample some of the music in the trailer to Leaving Las Vegas. It’s unfortunate that the trailer pitches the movie, almost as romantic comedy, the movie is much more serious, definitely darker, but in a good way. The movie is the final polished draft of John O’Brien’s harsh and informed study of alcoholic despair.

Leaving Las Vegas is the first novel by John O’Brien and as such it should be judged more on the promise of the writer rather than merely the quality of the the finished work. There are passages in Leaving Las Vegas where the writer clearly shows his hand a bit too obviously, a common mistake among new writers. However, there are also passages that show the future promise of a talented writer, hence, John O’Brien’s suicide is loss to not only his friends and family but to the literary community at large.

You can follow Erin O’Brien’s writings on her blog:

The Erin O’Brien Owner’s Manual for Human Beings.

Steve Friess

From Long Island New York to Chicago to Beijing to Las Vegas

That has been Steve Friess’ route in life, more or less. Born and raised on Long Island New York, Steve moved to Chicago and matriculated at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. With a stopover in Rockford Illinois Steve came to Las Vegas in 1996, to cover county government for The Las Vegas Review-Journal. Then came Florida and Beijing, and finally back to Las Vegas in 2002. You can read more about Steve’s experience in China on his The China Chronicles . The following excerpt will explain why Steve prefers to eat the food at Ping Pang Pong rather than in Chinese Canteens in Beijing.

Next to my elbow fell a large, half-chewed bit of beef and bone ejected by the mouth of the Chinese dude sitting next to me. A moment later, the gal across from him would spit up some fishbones, dripping them right there onto the table surface next to some discarded bits of rice and chicken left behind by her seat’s previous occupant.

It is something of a Chinese custom to discard food refuse on the table, although in local restaurants it is done with a bit more discretion and is always removed before the next group inherits the table. This is, in fact, why the canteen food is repetitive to me despite the dozen or so dishes offered for any given lunch or dinner: I refuse to choose food with bones in it. As immersed as I want to be in the Chinese way of life, spitting all over the place is just one thing that goes too far. Steve Friess China Chronicles

Is Steve Friess the Model of the New Journalist?

Steve’s Journalism career has been shadowed by the rise of the internet, having graduated from Medill in 1994, when the internet was in its infancy. As already noted his career started out on a typical path, start at a small newspaper, and work your way up to a larger paper.

Then the the internet took off. The Internet has had a profound impact on society at large, and perhaps no part of society has been more affected than print media, and by extension, journalists. Newspapers and magazines, both large and small are shuting down or are on the verge of doing so. The question of how or under what circumstances jounalism will survive, is a hot topic at conferences around the world.

The following link is to video from a DLD conference in Munich Germany. A Panel Discusssion at Digital, Life, Design Munich Germany 2009 gives a great overview of new media models. Panelists include:Jeff Jarvis (Buzzmachine), Carolyn McCall (Guardian), Michael Arrington (TechCrunch), and Tyler Brule (Monocle) discuss the evolving world of online publication, debating whether or not print media can survive in this era of digital media.

Steve’s freelance career in Las Vegas points to a possible model for future journalists, or at least a transitional model. Steve writes for national publications, The New York Times and Newsweek. (click the links for the archives of Steve’s articles) he also has a column in “Las Vegas Weekly” a free alternative newspaper.  Then there are the internet components to his work, his  blog VegasHappensHere.com and his podcast The Strip.

When Old School Journalist Collides with Unschooled Blogger

In January 2007 Steve arranged for celebrity blogger Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira) to be on a Panel at the Palms Casino. An excerpt of Steve’s account from Las Vegas Weekly:

in January 2007 when I arranged the first public appearance in Las Vegas for uber-gossip blogger Perez Hilton, aka Mario Lavandeira. He appeared on a panel of celebrity journalists at the Palms that included the Review-Journal’s Norm Clarke, LuxeLife blogger Robin Leach andVegas magazine’s Kate Bennett. His overall demeanor was so condescending, so arrogant, so rude that it just made me sorry I was helping glorify him. Las Vegas Weekly May 29, 2008

Moving forward to April 2008, we have the impetus for the brouhaha between Steve and Perez:

In late April, I attended a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show featuring Cher and Tina Turner at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The news out of that event, which I would go on to write for USA Today, was that Turner would be going back on tour starting this October.

Journalists take sources and attribution seriously, it’s really the coin of the realm. As Steve forcefully explains in the above mentioned Las Vegas Weekly piece and again in his blog, he feels that  Perez Hilton used the following line, without proper attribution to Steve: “The 68-year-old legend (Tina Turner) says that Sophia Loren told her to stop ‘lolling about her Swiss home and get back to work.’” Evidently Perez only responds to emails from LA Times writers, because he ignored Steve’s emails, but did  respond to Richard Abowitz’, a writer at the LA Times and a friend of Steve’s. If all this sounds like Inside Baseball, it is to some extent, but these things really matter to real journalists. Steve describes why it matters, in the same Las Vegas Weekly piece, thusly:

Why does any of this matter? Because Lavandeira’s audience is frighteningly, influentially large. And when I attempted to get other gossip websites to pick up the story, I learned that they were afraid of being blacklisted by Lavandeira. The mainstream media couldn’t be bothered much, because, as one editor wrote me, “it’s not a surprise that Perez Hilton operates with substandard journalistic principles.”

So here we have a Journalist that writes for the New York Times, and just last month wrote the cover story in Newsweek, being frustrated and stymied by a blogger with a laptop and url. Of course, Steve also has a blog and a blogspot url, go figure. However,  Perez Hilton’s blog gets huge traffic, per perezhilton.com, Perez Hilton averages 200 Million Impressions and 10.5 Million unique readers per month. With numbers like that , comes a great deal of power. Internet power that is comparable to Big Media, too bad David Halberstam is not around to update his classic “The Powers That Be”

Of course, Perez Hilton covers a small but avidly consumed part of the media world, entertainment, and celebrity gossip in particular. And, while Gambling is the core activity in the Vegas economy, entertainment is taking an ever increasing role, so much so, that was really the thrust of Steve”s recent piece in Newsweek: Rich Vegas, Poor Vegas. The piece describes how much the city’s business elite are pinning their hopes for recovery on Celine Dion’s return to Caesars Palace.

The Podcast: “The Strip“

Miles Smith; Unidentified Person; Steve Friess; Meg Tilly

According to Steve, the origin of the show, “The Strip” was that he would do these long interviews with celebrities for his freelance work, and most of the material in the interview would not be used in the print stories. It seemed a shame, not to have an outlet for these recorded interviews. Thus, in 2006 “The Strip” was born, a two person affair with Steve and his co-host Miles Smith, who by day is an  executive producer for KVBC, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas.

Miles has a sonorous, perhaps even mellifluous voice which is contrasted by Steve’s almost puppy-dog like cadence on the show. Miles is the show’s announcer, with a secondary role of keeping Steve on a short leash if he tries to wander too far afield. The fact that Miles and Steve have a genuine affection for one another underscores that all the barbs exchanged in the show are meant in good fun.

The shows generally runs over an hour in length, with the format of roughly fifteen minutes of kibitzing about Las Vegas news, then the interview segment, and then closing with The Top Secret Tourist Tip of The Week and The Las Vegas Trivia Question of the Week, the winner of which gets to pick gift from Miles and Steve’s prize bag.

“Dance For Me Monkey”

As previously mentioned, through his freelance career with major National Publications, Steve has incredible access to both celebrities and the Las Vegas power elite. Having access is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition for having interesting and informative interviews, as witnessed by much of the drivel and pap that passes for celebrity coverage on television and in print. In fact, that many of the celebrities that Steve interviews are used to these fluff, sound bite driven short format interviews, he has to condition the interviewees that the road ahead is going to be different than what they are used to.

We do an audio program, and typically when a celebrity is doing any kind of electronic media, it is usually for a sound bite, and if it’s radio they figure it’s going to be some sort of morning drive time perky, happy thing, and so they feel they have to be “on”, so frequently I find I have to break-in my interview subjects for the show, I have to get them past the notion that they have to be “on” I’m not there to say “Dance for me Monkey” I’m there to ask them questions that I would like to know the answers to and might shed some light onto any number of things.

Steve does his homework for these interviews, including reading any biographies or memoirs written about or by the guests. Combining Steve’s interview skills, his research on his guests with the show’s longer format greatly increases the chance that an otherwise bland and uninteresting celebrity, might actually have an interesting interview. Steve is particularly heartened when program listeners write in that they enjoyed an interview with a guest that prior to the interview they had little interest in.

“You Have The Power”

In addition to the research Steve does, he brings his journalist’s sensibility to the interviews which includes the ability to ask  tough or awkward questions. If it is possible to see someone squirm in a non-visual medium like a podcast, then that was certainly the case when Steve asked one of the owners of  Tao Nightclub Rich Wolf the following:

I’m sure you’ve heard it, that the way that people look at those people that are willing to stand in those lines with their Ed Hardy shirts, the word “Douche Bags” is often thrown around. Do you get offended on behalf of your clientele?  April 4, 2011 Podcast

In talking about the above interview segment, and asking tough questions in general, Steve offered the following comment:

Sometimes you ask an uncomfortable question and you’re trying to find a way to make it less uncomfortable, when in fact as the interviewer, You Have The Power. You have to be Okay with the discomfort, the discomfort is part of the conversation.

Please don’t get the wrong impression about the style of interviews that Steve does, these are not Gotcha or Attack interviews, but the fact that Steve is not shy about asking a tough or uncomfortable question when required, is part of the reason the interviews are so interesting, and worth listening to. Alas, some interviews are mostly just light and perky, like the morning drive-time radio ones that Steve dislikes.

“I’m A Blonde Bombshell”

Steve Friess and Holly Madison

Behind closed doors, what was your relationship with Hugh Hefner, were you really intimate with him?

And the answer: Well, I would never answer that…the audience can read into it whatever they want, and that’s why the show works. Holly doesn’t watch much television, she does read, she was reading “Harry Potter”, which seems about right, although she is reading it in French, something about wanting to raise her kids bilingual. Steve seemed impressed by this feat during the interview, I would have been impressed if she was reading Marcel Proust in French.

Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me About The Vdara Death Ray

The cast of the NPR show “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” a humorous, in a NPR sort of way, News Quiz show came to Las Vegas. Steve, a big fan of the show, enjoys the show even more when they use his news stories. A recent example was Steve’s story for AOL News: “Las Vegas ‘Death Ray’ Singes Tourists”

Despite what Vdara’s bartenders, pool attendants and visitors mockingly call it, the problem is technically known as “solar convergence.” The sun’s heat is amplified as it reflects off the curved building    Steve Friess AOL News 9-28-10

Steve gets the chance to tell Peter Sagal in person about their use of his story in the following: Interview with Wait Wait Host Peter Sagal.

Sometimes Steve’s older stories come back to bite him. When the Newsweek reporter that Steve was working with on the “Rich Vegas, Poor Vegas” story tried to get tickets to Criss Angel’s show from its publicist, the publicist asked that the Newsweek reporter not see the show with Steve. Poor Criss Angel, a man imbued with seemingly unlimited magical powers, and yet he seems powerless to make those dreadful show reviews disappear.

From Holly Madison to Wayne Newton to Pete Rose to Steve Wynn to …

Steve and Miles have been recording The Strip Podcast since 2006, on a  weekly basis, and each show has an interview segment. Steve seems to have interviewed every famous or interesting person that has stepped off a plane at McCarran. Just a sampling of past interview guests:

(Perhaps Tom Lehrer (Not a Guest, Yet) could sing the following, a la The Elements Song)

Andy Williams, Louie Anderson, Peter Sagal from the NPR show “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”, Brian Dewhurst, who was artistic coordinator for Mystere when it opened in 1993 and in 2000 began performing as a clown in the show, Choreographer Twyla Tharp, Rita Rudner, Don Rickles, child star Corey Feldman, Pete Rose, Tony Curtis, Stephen Hopcraft, executive chef at Seablue at MGM Grand, Tim Gunn, the mentor of TV’s Project Runway, Cloris Leachman, Jerry Lewis, Magician Rick Thomas, Poker Player Johnny Chan, George Wallace, Rick Moonen of RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Donny Osmond, Vinnie Favorito, Paul Rodriguez, Vince Neil, Tom Smothers, Gloria Estefan, Frank Gehry’, George Maloof, Franco Dragone, Wolfgang Puck, Jim Murren. The CEO of MGM Mirage, Doyle Brunson, Norm Clarke, Frank Caliendo, William S. Boyd, Lily Tomlin, Legendary Broadway producer-director Hal Prince, Joan Rivers, Poker Player Daniel Negreanu, Anthony Cools, Bob Saget, Charo, Kenny G, Andrew Dice Clay, Patti Lupone, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jon Voight, Carlos Santana, Dennis Miller, Jeff Foxworthy, Tom Colicchio, Shecky Greene, Dee Snider, Marie Osmond, Donald Trump, Terry Fator, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ruffin, Cheech Marin, Brian Wilson, Guy Laliberte, Tony Curtis, Jerry Springer, Bobby Slayton, Dominick Dunne, Mickey Hart, Carrot Top, Nathan Burton, David Spade, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Wanda Sykes, Jay Leno, James Caan…

And that list is incomplete.  The shows are all free and archived at stevefriess.com/podcast plus they are available at Zune and iTunes

I would like to thank Steve Friess for patiently allowing me to interview him not once, but twice for this profile.

Steve Friess with Mr. Las Vegas (Wayne Newton)

P.S. Steve announced on the May 4, 2011 Podcast that he had been awarded a Knight-Wallace Fellowship, which begins September 2011 at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. As part of the terms of the Fellowship, Steve is not allowed to work during its duration, and his blog and Podcast are considered work by the Fellowship. Hence, The Strip podcast will cease sometime in August 2011.

In Steve’s final column for Las Vegas Weekly he gives a nice recap of his life in Las Vegas and what he will miss about Las Vegas.

Caesars Palace through its seemingly endless series of renovations and additions manages to represent both “Old Vegas” and “New Vegas”, all in a single property, Empire? VegasMavens.com

Caesars Palace Not Caesar’s Palace

Caesars Palace has no apostrophe, which was Jay Sarno’s way of telling all visitors, you’re a Caesar when you say at my hotel. A line of similar reasoning applies to the Las Vegas Review web site “Mavens Vegas”, presumably all visitors of mavensvegas.com are Mavens as to what Las Vegas has to offer.

From Harrahs Entertainment to Caesars Entertainment

Harrahs has long considered Caesars Palace its top Vegas property, with the company name change, it makes the pecking order official.

Kathryn LaTour, an associate professor of hospitality marketing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the name “Caesars” has far more high-end connotations than Harrah’s, which made its mark attracting midlevel gamblers. Las Vegas Review Journal November 23, 2010

Caesars Palaces’s market segment could probably be more accurately defined as: Masculine, Sports Obsessed “Cigar Comping” Serious Gambler with Significant Disposable Income. If you want to rub elbows with sports celebrities or sports celebrity gawkers then Caesars Palace is the casino for you.

Gary Loveman left a Harvard Business School professorship to join Harrah’s Entertainment. By putting his theories about customer service into practice, he built the world’s biggest gaming company. “How To Survive In Vegas” BusinessWeek August 5, 2010

Knowing a little about how Loveman views his customers, can make your visit to Caesars Palace more profitable, or at least less costly. As the Businessweek artcle says: “He sees his customers as a set of probabilities wrapped in human flesh.”

Spend a few days at a Harrah’s property, and the information the company compiles about you will end up here, analyzed by proprietary software that assigns each and every Harrah’s guest a theoretical value. The higher the value given to you—not to be misconstrued as a source of pride—the more likely you are to lose your money to Loveman.

When they say theoretical value above, they really mean theoretical loss. Theoretical loss is how much the casino expects you to lose. Understanding how casinos calculate “Theoretical Loss” is the key to minimizing loses at casinos. I explain how casinos calculate theoretical loss, and more importantly, how to use this to your advantage, in two previous posts on Vegas Mavens.

1. It’s All about Theo – explains theoretical loss, and how to use it to your advantage.
2. A Costly Comp Faux Pas – explains the importance of daily average in awarding comps.

Greetings From Caesars Palace

Fountains at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Fronting Caesars Palace are the iconic fountains, the ones where Evel Knievel made his failed attempt to jump over them on a motorcycle in 1967. These are also the same fountains where Shecky Greene drove his car into and uttered the famous line “No spray wax” The same Shecky Greene that had as his opening act at the Last Frontier in 1956 some guy from Tupelo, Mississippi. Whatever became of that guy.

For instance, there was the time when, drunk, he drove his car into the Caesars Palace fountains and told the cop, “No spray wax.”Las Vegas Sun 12-26-96

Statue of Caesar

A life-sized statue of Caesar greets you at the entrance to Caesars Palace. There are also men and women dressed in Roman garb, that wander around the casino and pool area.

Caesars Palace Greeters

No Fig Leaf for “David”

There are other statues, besides Caesar, scattered around Caesars Palace, but one in particular is worth going out of your way to see. In the Appian Way Shops is a full sized replica of Michelangelo’s “David” Even though it is a replica, it is still impressive and big, roughly eighteen feet tall. Another replica of “David” was presented to Queen Victoria by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1857, Queen Victoria was so shocked by the nudity of the stature, a custom plaster Fig Leafwas designed to cover the offending part. Evidently sensibilities of Las Vegas are more open minded than Victorian England, as “David” is au naturel in The Appian Way.

Michelangelo's "David"

Sign for Michelangelo's "David"

Located adjacent to “David” are a handful of  life-like statues that put a smile on the face of everyone that notices them.  Note: Some of the statues are camera shy.

Caesars Palace Appian Way: Realistic Figures Butler and Police Officer

Caesars Palace Appian Way: Camera Shy Realistic Figure

Neil Leifer’s Iconic Sports Photographs

Neil Leifer is widely considered one of the top, if not the top, sports photographers, ever. Visitors to Caesars Palace can view many of these iconic photographs at his gallery in the entrance to the Augustus Tower.The Tower built to compete against the opulent rooms at Bellagio and Venetian.

Leifer began his career as a professional sports photographer at 19, when Sports Illustrated put one of his photographs on the cover, the first of 170 Sports Illustrated covers. In 1978 Leifer switched the focus of his camera to Presidents and Actors, when he joined Time Magazine.

Leifer’s favorite subject was Muhammad Ali, and his most famous picture is the one shown below, where : “Ali stopped Liston with a single punch in the first round of the fight.”

Liefer Photograph: Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston St. Dominick's Arena, Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965

Even non-sports enthusiasts will enjoy viewing Leifer’s collection of photographs, ands this being Vegas, they’re all for sale.

You can also buy a copy of one of his many books, “The Best Of Neil Leifer” has the Ali v. Liston photograph on the cover.

LeRoy Neiman “Gallery” in Caesars Palace Poker Room

The Poker Room is the largest in Vegas, 8,500 square feet plus an adjacent tournament room with another 6,000 square feet of room.

Caesars Palace Poker Room

Lining the walls of the Caesars Palace Poker Room are numerous LeRory Neiman paintings. If Neil Leifer is the most famous Sports Photographer, then LeRoy Neiman is perhaps th most famous Sports Artist.

Neiman worked as an illustrator for the department store Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. in Chicago in the early 1950s, alongside a copywriter that later started a magazine. That copy writer was Hugh Hefner and that magazine was Playboy. Since Playboy’s earliest days, Neiman’s work has appeared frequently in Playboy, and still does.

Neiman’s paintings are characterized by their distinctive use of color.

Describing Neiman as “first and foremost a colorist,” Malcolm Lein wrote, “His tones are vivid, jarring, and at times, gaudily biting; they explode in an effusion of reds, blues, pinks, greens, and yellows; they shimmer and dance across the surface plane, electrified bits of pure energy.”

Caesars Palace Poker Room: LeRoy Neiman Painting

In American Artist, Neiman identified as the “prime objective” of his work the “phenomenon of change.” “The spectator looking at a painting of mine must deal with this condition of change. Areas are broken up at close range and fit together only at a distance…As one advances on my painting, it becomes more abstract, more fluid, and as one moves away, it falls into focus and is realistic…At no two distances will the painting appear the same.

Caesars Palace Poker Room: LeRoy Neiman Painting

LeRoy Neiman Painting: The Girls of Caesars Palace

LeRoy Neiman: Sign "Sic Bo Dealers"

While Neiman’s paintings in Caesars Palace’s Poker Room are not for sale, The Centaur Gallery in the Fashion Show Mall does sell his work.

Caesars Palace Forum Shops

Calling the shopping mall at Caesars Palace “The Forum Shops” is a rare example of understatement in Las Vegas. The Forum Shops is comprised of two large interconnected shopping Malls. The most recent addition added 175,000 square feet, including a three story spiral escalator.

The Forum Shops Spiral Escalator

The higher end stores tend to be concentrated in the new wing of the mall, along Las Vegas Boulevard, Harry Winston is in the new wing, The Gap is in the old wing. The kitsch shows are also in the old wing.

Caesars Palace Attractions: Atlantis Show and Aquarium Plus Festival Fountain show

Caesars Palace Forum Shops: Bacchus Statue

The Festival Fountain Show occurs on the hour, with the Bacchus Statue coming “alive” and serving as the central character, how Vegas appropriate, Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and intoxication.

Atlantis Show and Aquarium

The rise and fall of Atlantis, complete with fire, water and smoke plays out every hour, on the hour right in front of the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Beneath the Atlantis set is a large 50,000 gallon salt-water aquarium. A diver feeds the fish at 1:15pm and 5:15pm everyday.

Caesars Palace Aquarium: Feeding Time

A Little Bit of San Simeon in Vegas

Caesars Palace has not one pool, not two pools, but six pools, at last count. William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies would feel right at home here, with its San Simeonesque splendor.

Caesars Palace Pool

Caesars Palace offers you the opportunity to get soaked at the Blackjack Tables.

Caesars Palace Pool: Blackjack Table Built into Pool

Beijing Noodle No. 9 and Payard Patisserie & Bistro

There are many restaurants located throughout the vast Caesars Palace complex, but there are two that are worth checking-out for more than just a meal. Beijing Noodle No. 9 has the most amazing design, the aquarium walls are absolutely hypnotic.

As customers walk into the space, they will undergo the visually and physically “unblocked” entry experience, and are comfortably led past the sparkling aquarium tanks to the deep part of the restaurant. The gorgeous double-wall design features the elegant arabesque patterned layers, consisting of one woodland-patterned steel decorative surface above a painted similarly patterned solid back, with glossy finish. This design creates the arabesque shadow effect, and the wall continuously extends to be the ceiling, which generates a soft cocoon-like interior experience.Dezeen “Design Magazine” December 3, 2009

Beijing Noodle No.9 Aquariums

Payard Patisserie & Bistro is run by award winning pastry chef  Francois Payard. As a side note, this is the Bistro that Brett Ottolenghi chose for us to eat lunch, because “The quality of the ingredients used in relation to the price is probably the best in deal in Vegas” high praise indeed, from person that knows something about quality ingredients.

Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro at Caesars Palace: Clock

Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro at Caesars Palace: Clock Sign

As noted in the sign above, a chocolate truffle is dropped from the Grandfather Clock every fifteen minutes.

The next time you’re in Las Vegas, why not take your own walk around the Palace, Caesar.

Visit MavensVegas.com Review Page of Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace Restaurant Reviews

Ellis Island Casino and Brewery

Joe Pickett’s official title at Ellis Island is Executive Director of Brewery Operations. Joe actually set-up the Brewery at Ellis Island thirteen years ago, prior to that he traveled the world setting up Breweries, from Australia to China.

Joe Pickett Brewmaster at Ellis Island Brewery

A Chicago native Joe was educated at the Illinois Institute of Technology and then went to the  Siebel Institute of Technology for advance training in Brewing. Joe has been able to make use of his training from both institutions, in that he has recently received a patent on a device to clean the long delivery lines used in most pubs.

Herman Berghoff , owner of the famous Berhoff restaurant in Chicago, was the person that was instrumental in bringing Joe to Ellis Island.

Joe’s philosophy in designing the beers he brews is simple: “Brew beers that people want to drink”, which may seem rather obvious, but in the Microbrew world that is not necessarily the case. Many Microbreweries focus on making the most exotic and unusual beers, which turn out to be unpalatable to most patrons. Patrons at Ellis Island obviously like the beer Joe brews, as this one small location serves about one million glasses a year.

“When I’m in Vegas, I always make sure to stop in at the #1 Brewery for the best micro brewed beer in town.  Hand crafted by Master Brewmaster, Joe Pickett at Ellis Island Casino & Brewery!” – Doug Jones, Brewmaster, Anheuser Busch

Ellis Island Brewery Brews Six Styles of Beer Plus Rootbeer

1. Amber- with nice balanced Hops.
2. Light- brewed directly, not watered down.
3. Weiss Bavarian
4. Stout
5. India Pale Ale- British style
6. Octoberfest- think Carmel Malt
7. Root beer 12 secret herbs and spices, make that 11 secret ones plus pure vanilla extract.

Ellis Island Brewery Root Beer is a must try for Root Beer Lovers

If you like Root beer, then a visit to Ellis island is a must. The root beer you get at the supermarket is at best a vague reminder of what root beer should taste like. Joe models his root beer after the original A&W root beer, and has twelve secret herbs and spices, just like the Colonel’s I guess. Joe did reveal that  pure vanilla extract was one of the twelve secret ingredients. Brett Ottolenghi was planning on joining me for my meeting with Joe, perhaps we could have sold some of Manuata’s Tahitian Vanilla to Joe.

View of Ellis Island Brewery from Casino

While many a Microbrewery might turn up their noses at light beer, in keeping with Joe’s philosophy of  brewing what customers prefer to drink, Joe’s produces a distinguished light beer. Unlike many American breweries that brew a regular brew and then water it down, Joe brews the light beer directly, which makes for a much more flavorful light beer.

In case you were wondering where they store all the grain used in the brewery, you walked right past the storage area when you entered the building. The grain is stored in the sign for Ellis Island. Take a closer look at the first photo in this article, notice the tubing under the horizontal sign, that supplies  the grain to the Brewery from the grain bin.

Ellis Island Brewery and Casino serves some Great Beer Food

The restaurant serves their famous, off-menu, steak special $7.99 for a 10 oz center-cut sirloin steak, with a beer. Metro Pizza, which is adjacent to the Brewery, inside the casino serves some of the best thin crust pizza in Vegas, the locals have voted it best pizza. The toppings are generous, good and fresh, no canned mushrooms here.

Metro Pizza inside Ellis Island

Note the sign in the picture: two for one slices and pizzas on Thursdays

Ellis Island serves a BBQ daily from 4pm-10pm, in the Brewery area with outdoor seating. The BBQ is very popular with the locals, lines start forming about one half hour before opening, hour waits are not unusual. For a nice review of the food served at the restaurant inside Ellis Island check out this Food Channel post. The Ellis Island eggnog available only during the Christmas season, also generates a fair amount of favorable internet buzz.

Ellis Island BBQ Grill

Ellis Island BBQ Menu

Note the $3 discount for club member, just go to the club booth and sign-up for a card, no gambling required.

Ellis Island Brewery is located behind Ballys

Viva Elvis Opening

“Viva Elvis” is the new Cirque du Soleil show at the new Aria Hotel in the new CityCenter. In spite of that newness, “Viva Elvis” is really a throwback to the Pre-Cirque shows in Vegas. The emphasis in “Viva Elvis” is on large scale song and dance numbers, with Cirque du Soleil acrobatics playing a relatively smaller supporting role. “Viva Elvis” reenacts the life of Elvis through song and dance, with some gymnastics here and there.

The show is a partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises, hence the shows producers had full access to the Elvis recording and video library, which are utilized to full effect. A large screen, center stage is used to play the video clips. The only male voice that is heard in songs is that of Elvis himself, four female singers add live vocals to various numbers plus there is a live on stage band.

Erich van Tourneau the Musical Director and Arranger of the show was charged with making use of the Elvis recordings. He summarized his approach as follows:

I am a big fan of sampling. I use the mixing of styles, periods and cultures to create music that is organic and personal…The leitmotif that guided me throughout the entire creative process was to ask myself, ‘what would the songs of Elvis be like if he were doing them for the first time today?’ “I set out to evoke the soul and the spirit of Elvis Presley, while building a bridge between his music and future generations of fans.

Hardcore Elvis fans may have preferred that the production used old Elvis recordings, but this is Cirque du Soleil after all, and that would have been too simple and ordinary. If you want to hear Elvis songs, sung in their original style “Big Elvis “ at Bill’s Gambling Hall does three laudatory  performances Monday-Friday, for free. That’s not to say that you should pass on “Viva Elvis”. The show is fun, in a loud messy way.

Viva Elvis: "Blue Suede Shoes"

The opening number , BLUE SUEDE SHOES  includes 30 dancers, 24 acrobats, a  eight-piece band, four female singers  and  a 29 foot 7,000 pound Blue Suede Shoe. The number is fun and energetic, but doesn’t have the typical Cirque du Soleil feel, more like a dance routine turned up a few notches.

Two numbers standout for being complete non sequiturs, GOT A LOT OF LIVIN’ TO DO and WESTERN SCENE.

The GOT A LOT OF LIVIN’ TO DO number is a trampoline scene, with gymnasts dressed as Superheroes  bouncing off of a series of  trampolines to amazing effect.  The combination of how the trampolines are set and the skill of the performers creates some thrilling  gravity defying feats. Even

Viva Elvis: "Superhero"

though the gymnastics are relatively simple, the effect is mesmerizing. However, you might be asking yourself, “What do comic book superheros have to do with Elvis Presley? ” Evidently Elvis like comic books, so that’s the connection, really. Its a fun number to watch, so does it really matter that the connection to Elvis is paper thin.

The Western Scene is just that, complete with cowboys doing rope tricks. The rope tricks, complete with flaming lassos was thrilling to watch, particularly from  front orchestra seats. I tied to gather some information on these talented rope handlers, but neither the show program nor the press kit provided any information.

The most creative and interesting scene is JAILHOUSE ROCK, which combines an elaborate set with upside down gymnastics, literally. Actually, it is a circus art called “marche inversée.” The lighting was the most interesting of all the scenes, with harsh white light reinforcing the Jailhouse theme. The total effect is surprising, which makes the scene seem like the most Cirque-ish number in the show.

Viva Elvis: "Jailhouse Rock"

I half expected there to be a Bob Fosse type number, highlighting the Elvis hip-gyrations that ran afoul on Ed Sullivan, but alas it was not meant to be.

During the closing number Red Elvis Scarves are dropped from the ceiling, which look like they would make a great souvenir, but I wouldn’t know for sure, some of  these Soccer Moms have some very sharp elbows.

Hi, I’m Ziggy

Andrea "Ziggy" Ziegler Dance Master Viva Elvis

Ziggy, isn’t that just the perfect nickname for someone that works at Cirque du Soleil. Ziggy is Andrea Ziegler, the Dance Master at “Viva Elvis”. I met with Andrea and Cirque du Soleil Publicist Ann Paladie the day after I saw “Viva Elvis”. Andrea was a performer in Mystere before becoming Dance Master.

You might be wondering what exactly a Dance Master does, and Andrea rattled-off a long list of responsibilities when I inquired, one of which was “Keep all the dancers happy”, talk about unrealistic job requirements!

I was curious to hear  Andrea and Ann’s reaction to the Internet Buzz about “Viva Elvis”, which has been less positive than most Cirque shows. Neither showed much interest in that inquiry. The main focus of Internet Buzz criticism of “Viva Elvis” is that it is not a typical Cirque du Soleil show, with song and dance routines taking a larger role than acrobatics. I suspect the Internet Buzz would be much more favorable if you removed Cirque du Soleil from the title, in that with the Cirque name attached to the show, the audience has come to expect extravagant acrobatics and gymnastics.

Andrea did mention that all Cirque shows undergo continual assessment by the creative team, with tweaks being made to even veteran shows like Mystere. The show has already had one major overhaul since opening. One aspect of the show that could clearly use a re-work is the Colonel Parker character which appears between scenes, much to the annoyance of many in the audience.

In discussing some of the numbers with Andrea, it became clear where you sit in the audience has a major impact on your perception of the show. I had great seats, front and center, however, I clearly missed some of the details Andrea mentioned.  I think because I was sitting too close to the stage to take in everything. The details involved the synchronization of the dancers with the video screen. If you are sitting close to the stage you tend to focus solely on the dancers, or at least I did. Andrea said she preferred to watch “Viva Elvis” further back in the the audience, and I think I agree with her. Its great sitting close enough so that you can see the expressions on the performers faces, but your span of vision is too narrow to take in all the action.

Put “Viva Elvis” on Your List of Vegas Shows

“Viva Elvis” deserves a spot on your list of Vegas shows to see. Keep in mind the show is more dance focused than acrobatic focused and remember to be quick to your feet if your want a Red Elvis Scarf.

Viva Elvis Finale

I would like thank Jamie Helmick from Cirque du Soleil for providing tickets to “Viva Elvis”, and Andrea Ziegler and Ann Paladie for meeting with me to discuss the show. All photos courtesy of Cirque du Soleil.

An Essay on Franco Dragone and Cirque du Soleil

A Review of  ”The Lion King” at Mandalay Bay

Songs in Viva Elvis

1. Thus Spake Zarathustra
2. Blue Suede Shoes
3. Don’t Be Cruel
4. One Night With You
5. All Shook Up
6. Saved
7. Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do
8. Heartbreak Hotel
9. Love Me Tender
10. Return To Sender
11. Are You Lonesome Tonight
12. Western Montage: (Mystery Train / Blue Moon Of Kentucky / I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine /Trying To Get To You / Baby What You Want Me To Do / Tiger Man)
13. Burning Love
14. Bossa Nova
15. King Creole
16. Jailhouse Rock
17. It’s Now Or Never
18. Can’t Help Falling In Love
19. Love Me / Don’t
20. Viva Las Vegas
21. Suspicious Minds
22. Hound Dog

The version of The Lion King at Mandalay Bay is the full unabridged version of the show and runs almost exactly two and one half hours, complete with an intermission, a rarity for Vegas entertainment.

The Costumes Alone Are Worth The Price Of Admission

The show starts off playing to its strengths, as all the animals in the show parade down the aisles and up to the stage. The costumes that the actors wear in the show are both dazzling in appearance and stunning in their creativity. Calling them “costumes” hardly does  justice to the ensembles.

Marija Juliette Abney, Jeremiah Tatum, and Derrick Spear in the opening number “The Circle of Life” from THE LION KING Las Vegas. ©2009, Disney. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.

The picture above gives you a taste of how the costumes transform the actors into various  African Savannah animals. The transforming effect is particularly striking in the Giraffes, at first glance the outline of the actors blends completely into the silhouette of the Giraffes. Add to the effect persuasive locomotion, and you begin to comprehend the complexity of the individual performances in “The Lion King.”

Lia Chang has an article complete with pictures and video of the transformation of an actor into “Scar” the Claudius character in “The Lion King”.  The complete “Scar” costume weighs in at over 50 pounds, including a remotely controlled mask. Even more detail on the “Scar” costume can be found on the blog “La Bricoleuse”

Hats Off To Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor the director of Costume Design as well as Mask and Puppet Design describes her high-level objectives on the Lion King costumes.

I wanted audiences to take a leap of faith and imagination right from the start. Stage mechanics would be visible, the audience, given the hint or suggestion of an idea, would be ready to fill in the lines, to take it the rest of the way.

The fact that there is some transparency in the costume design strengthens the audience involvement, in that it requires extra intellectual engagement, rather than a completely passive experience, that is so common in mass market entertainment. After watching “The Lion King” you might wonder how long it took to design all the costumes and masks, the answer is: Over 34,000 hours.

As in any Musical, choreography plays a vital supporting role. Garth Fagan the Choreographer of  ”The Lion King” describes his high level objectives:

I wanted the dance to look like an integral part of this community, which of course includes strong elements from Africa – the kind of movement used by cultures that are close to the Earth and to Nature…most importantly, the dance numbers should seem to come out of nowhere and surprise the audience, and then dissipate like ephemeral dreams

While choreography is an obvious element of Musicals, Lighting Design while often overlooked, can play an equally important role as it does in “The Lion King”.  Donald Holder the Lighting Designer describes the lighting on a particularly challenging scene:

The lighting for Mufasa’s ghost was difficult to conceptualize, yet relatively easy to achieve technically. We eliminated all ambient light onstage, projected overlapping images of crispy focused dots of light and sculpted the mask with sidelights. The effect we wanted was that of entering the silence and vastness of the cosmos – or of the internal world of Simba’s subconscious.

The Lion King, Hamlet Redux

The Lion King story should be familiar to anyone that has been a child, a parent, or a grandparent in the last fifteen years, as the show is based on the hugely successful 1994 Disney movie of the same name. The Musical opened three years later on Broadway, and has since expanded to seemingly every corner of the globe.

The plot line of  ”The Lion King” is vaguely similar to Shakespeare’s Hamlet with Disney modifications, hence there is much less bloodshed and you have the lighthearted “Hakunna Matata” song substituting for Hamlet’s Soliloquy.

Like most Musicals, the plot line is of secondary importance, unlike most Musicals the music also takes a secondary role to the costumes and staging. The music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice with African Choral music supplied by Lebo M, is serviceable with few numbers you’ll be humming after the show. Particularly effective are the two percussionists positioned in the audience balcony both stage left and right, with congas, shakers and koto drums, creating a wonderful stereo effect.

The Lion King is performed in two acts, the first act has a young Simba, the future King and a young Nala, Simba’s friend and future wife. In the first act I found myself saying:

Gee aren’t those little pishers cute, they’ve remembered their lines, have hit their marks, they even sing and dance!

Needless to say, that suggests I wasn’t fully engaged in the first act of the show. The Internet Buzz  supports my impression that the second act of the show is the stronger of the two acts. The first act ends strong with one of the best scenes in the show, with the singing of “Hakuan Matata” and introducing the most Disneyesque characters in the show Timon (A Meekat) and Pumbaa (A Warthog). The Wildebeest Stampede is another show-stopper, Taymor pulled out all her tricks to create an amazingly real stampede effect, right before you eyes.

The internet Buzz for “The Lion King” is as favorable as I have seen for any Vegas show. For a curated sampling of the Buzz  check-out MavensVegas.com

Vegas Trumps Broadway

My neighbors in the audience have all seen other productions of “The Lion King” and unanimously agreed that the production at Mandalay Bay was the cream of the lot. If you want to see a great show in Vegas put “The Lion King” on your list. If you want to see “The Lion King” but are not sure which production to see, the one at Mandalay Bay should be at the top of your list.

The Lion King is Leaving Vegas, To Spend More Time With The Family

If you want to see “The Lion king” at Mandalay Bay, act with haste, as the production will be ending its run on December 30 1011. There are conflicting rumors as to why such a popular show is stopping after a mere two and one half year run. Rita Rudner believes it is because “The Lion wants to spend more time with his family” Others believe it is to make room for the up-coming Michael Jackson themed Cirque du Soleil show.

As a side note, Las Vegas showrooms are ill-equipped to handle shows with intermissions, in that you can expect to find very long lines in the restrooms, for both men and women, so plan accordingly, a casino restroom is probably your best bet.

Related essays on Vegas Mavens: Franco Drgaone and Cirque du Soleil

In the interest of full disclosure and pursuant to Federal Trade Commission guidelines: I hereby disclose that I received a free ticket, a VIP ticket no less, to The Lion King from the lovely and talented people at The Lion King

The name Brett Ottolenghi should be familiar to Vegas Mavens readers from the essay “White Truffles, Beluga Caviar , Bellota Pigs” . Brett is the proprietor of Artisanal Foods in Las Vegas and the subject of the New Yorker article: “The Truffle Kid: Supplying fine food in a town where money is no object”

I recently had the opportunity to spend a day with Brett, as he whisked around the Vegas Strip. The day started with a seemingly full itinerary of visits, to which Brett tried to squeeze in, “Just One More Restaurant”, throughout the day.  Part of the impetus for over-stuffing the itinerary was that Manuata Martin, Brett’s Tahitian Vanilla supplier, was in town and joining us on the restaurant rounds. The whole itinerary has to fit into a relatively short time frame, since Chefs work late into the evening, not many arrive at their kitchens before noon and by late afternoon they’re too busy preparing for diners to meet with Brett.

One of our first visits was with Chef Gary FX LaMorte the Chef de Cuisine at Andre’s at the Monte Carlo, and since Gary lives on Vegas Chef  Time, an afternoon visit coincides with his morning coffee time. Gary used Manuata’s Tahitian Vanilla to prepared hands down the best latte I’ve ever tasted. The Vanilla, besides adding great flavor to the latte, also serves to amplify the sweetness of the sugar. I don’t usually wax poetic about beverages, but this is one of those times you could pull out all the cliches and still fall short of the mark. If you dine at Andres be sure to ask for a Vanilla Latte, make that a Tahitian Vanilla Latte.

Brett Ottolenghi, Manuata Martin and Chef Gary FX LaMorte of Andre's Restaurant at Monte Carlo

Brett views these visits more as educational opportunities for the Chefs rather than mere sales calls. The Chefs are so busy, they really don’t have time for sales pitches, they need to learn something about the ingredient to make it worth their time.

Manuata describes to Gary the two species of Vanilla Beans that he sells, Planifolia and the highly sought Tahitensis, which as the name suggests is native to Tahiti and has a more floral and fruity flavor profile. Manuata sells the familiar alcohol based Vanilla extracts, but the form that garnered the most attention was his Vanilla Bean Paste.

Jar of Vanilla Bean Paste

Manuata has developed a  12-day proprietary method to capture and retain fresh whole bean flavor, which are not only has a more concentrated flavor than non-prepared Vanilla beans, the paste can be stored for a longer period of time without a reduction in quality.

Manuata's Vanilla Samples

The Chefs that we met with were all at the pinnacle of the Vegas restaurant scene, and were accustomed to starting with the most basic ingredients, and doing all preparations in-house, such as grinding Vanilla Beans on-site to create their own Vanilla paste. So, while Manuata sells his own Tahitian Vanilla Sugar and Vanilla Fleur de Sel, which combines the highly prized sea salt from Guerande France with Tahitian Vanilla, the Paste was the focus for all the Chefs we met. One surprising use of the Vanilla, which both Gary at Andre’s and Chef Drew Terp at Shaboo and Bar Masa discussed was in high-end cocktails. Andre’s makes a Foie Gras Martini that has become famous among internet foodies. Now you have two beverages to sample at your next meal at Andre’s, The Foie Gras Martini and the Vanilla Latte.

Manuata describes his Vanilla Bean Paste as Gary examines a sample.

Brett Ottolenghi and Bill Clinton

Brett Ottolenghi and Bill Clinton may seem like an unusual juxtaposition, but in Las Vegas the unusual is usual. Brett met Bill Clinton in a very Vegas way. Bill Clinton was in town to help Harry Reid, the Nevada Senator that was in a very tight reelection campaign. Brett has a friend that is a VIP host at Tao Nightclub, a high-end Nightclub at the Venetian. VIP Hosts in Vegas seem to have  access everywhere and when you’re hosting a team of Professional athletes, nothing is out of bounds, even the former President of the United States.

As Brett was retelling his meeting President Bill Clinton, he said how he regretted not mentioning to the President his concern that children are not taught about food and proper nutrition in school. Obviously, Brett takes his role as Food Educator seriously, whether you’re a top Vegas Chef, The President of the United States, or a person that writes essays about Las Vegas, Brett wants you to be more interested and informed about the food you consume.

Brett enters a Vegas Kitchen the way a masterful politician enters a room, perhaps even Clintonian’esque, he greets everyone, as if he were asking for their vote. He’s careful to include the Chef’s key assistants on his product discussions, todays Sous-Chef could be tomorrows Celebrity Chef.   That is not to say that Brett comes off as Slick or Disingenuous, Earnest would be more accurate.

The New Yorker Profile of Brett

I asked Brett for his reaction to the New Yorker profile of him, and he mentioned two aspects of the article that he thought were misleading. First, he thought the article made light of his relationships with Las Vegas Chefs. I think the part of the article that best demonstrates this is the following:

He often says that he is on a first-name basis with three hundred and seventy  chefs in Vegas-the executive chefs and sous-chefs and chefs de cuisine at Jean Georges Steakhouse, Daniel Boulud,  BarMasa and dozens more- by which he means he has forgotten their last names, or is not sure of the pronunciation. (Many are French)

I think Brett feels this passage belittles the true relationship even friendship he has with many of the Chefs in Las Vegas. The other aspect of the article that Brett was less than pleased with was the whole discussion of the clothes he wears when making restaurant calls: The unfashionable brown suits and brown shoes with fake eyeglasses, of which he is quoted in the article as having twenty pairs. As a side note: The New Yorker which  is notorious for their fastidious fact checking, actually fact checked this with Brett, and wrongly quoted him, he’s never had twenty pair of fake glasses. The whole point of his outfit, was to appear a few years older, and perhaps more mature, a rarity these days. Brett is only twenty five years old, and is often dealing with customers decades older.

Brett Ottolenghi Television Star

The readership of the New Yorker may be small in Las Vegas, but some important people there have taken note. The executives at CityCenter have sent a copy of the article to every restaurant in the complex, inviting them to source products through Brett.

Reality Television producers have also taken note, over thirty production companies have contacted Brett about doing a Reality Television Show. Brett has chosen to work with the producers of  the Travel Channel show “Man versus Food”  It sounds like the show may be similar to Gordon Elliot’s show “Follow That Food” on the Food Network. Brett is insistent that he doesn’t want a hyped-up phony reality show.

While the title of the New Yorker article is “The Truffle Kid”, Brett has shifted his focus away from truffles, its a difficult item to sell profitably without undue risk. When he takes a basket of truffles around the Strip, he finds that the chefs want to hand select each individual truffle they buy, hence by the end of his rounds he is left with the least desirable ones, which may not be salable at a profitable price.

Brett is always looking for new Artisanal Food products to add to his inventory. He told me about a small farm in Pennsylvania that raises free-range chickens akin to the way the Japanese raise their Kobe Beef  Cattle. He is known in Vegas as the go to person for exotic hard to find unique food items. When Phil Ruffin’s wife wanted special honey to serve with tea in her high-end spa at TI she reached out to Brett. Bellagio restaurants and bars often contact Brett with special requests, such as recently a high-end Bellagio bar, aren’t they all high-end at Bellagio, asked him to source gourmet large green pitted olives with which they could hand stuff with blue cheese. While most of the items Brett sells are pricey compared to their lower grade alternatives, the profit margins are small in relation to the effort involved. Bellagio compensates Brett for all his hard work in sourcing small order specialty items by giving him the contract to supply Duck Breasts to their buffet. Even on the Duck Breasts, Brett is able to offer the Bellagio Buffet a good price, since as he notes, these are Foie Gras Ducks, and hence to the supplier “the real money” has already been made on the foie gras, the Duck Breasts are just extra cash.

If you’ve eaten at one of the Michelin Star restaurants in Vegas, or the Bellagio Buffet you have a had a chance to sample some of Brett’s products. However, if you wish to purchase items directly from Brett you have tow options.

One: You purchase items from his website: Artisanal Foods

Two: You can visit his store, which is located adjacent to McCarran Airport at 2275 E. Sunset Rd.

I’ll close by posting the message I sent to Brett after spending a day with him:

Brett thanks again for letting me tag along on your visits on Wednesday, it was interesting, educational, enjoyable, and exhausting!

Related Posts:

White Truffles, Beluga Caviar, Bellota Pigs…

The Michelin Stars of Las Vegas

How To Buy Vanilla and Vanilla FAQs

Vegas Wildlife versus The Wild Life

Many people come to Las Vegas with the hopes of experiencing  ” The Wild Life”, if just for a few days. Not too many people come to Las Vegas with “Wildlife” filling their thoughts, perhaps because they believe there is no Wildlife to be found on the Vegas Strip. However, there is indeed Wildlife on the Vegas Strip, and that’s what we’re going to explore.

The Wildlife Habitat at The Flamingo Las Vegas

Flamingo Wildlife Habitat

Flamingo Wildlife Brochure

The Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo is adjacent to the tropically themed pool area, the combined area takes up 15 acres of prime real estate . Calling it a “Wildlife Habitat” may be overstating the case, but nonetheless there are an abundant number of critters to investigate. The brochure supplied by the Flamingo claims “…over 100 exotic birds, turtles, and fish…” and then challenges you to find all of them and mark-off the appropriate white box in the brochure.

Helmeted Guineafowl

Helmeted Guineafowl

The pond in the Habitat is filled with Japanese Koi, which look like Goldfish on steroids.

Japanese Koi

Using the Brochure you can readily distinguish Japanese Koi and Albino Channel Catfish, which look like yellow Koi with whiskers. The brochure also includes some interesting facts, such as the listing for Koi which states: Japanese Koi are prized for their colorful and striking patterns— over $1 million was paid for one Koi in Japan by an avid collector. With good care they can reach over 30 pounds and live into their 60s. The longest-living Koi documented, a female named Hanako, lived to be 232 years old, dying in 1987 at a Buddhist monastery in Japan.

Albino Channel Catfish

The Flamingo also has a small flock of Parrots, which sometimes hang out on the Strip in front of the Flamingo, beckoning tourists to enter the casino.

The Flamingo's Macaws - On The Strip

And of course, there are Flamingos, Chilean Flamingos to be precise.

There were Penquins too, but sadly they are no longer at The Flamingo. Rumors have it that the Penguins developed a taste for the Vegas Wild Life and ran up a large debt, which they were unable to pay off with their meager salaries from the Flamingo, and were forced to flee Vegas in the middle of the night. Another rumor is that they moved to a zoo in Texas where they are happily living-out their retirement years.

The Flamingo's Flamingos

The next stop on the Wildlife Tour is across the street from the Flamingo at the Mirage.
The Mirage welcomes you with a tropical oasis atrium lobby. The Mirage website describes the care involved in this lavish over-sized garden:  (note  the atrium is devoid of wildlife, except for the tipsy tourists traisping through)

Four full-time gardeners spend over 160 hours each week to maintain the more than 100 different types of plants in the atrium. Over 300 fresh orchids and 1000 bromeliads grace the walkways. Woven into this waterscape is an artist’s palette of beautifully colored, delicately arranged tropical flowers basking in natural sunlight. Water mists the area lightly throughout the day to enhance the atmosphere and keep the plants cool.

Mirage Atrium

Mirage Aquarium and Dolphin Habitat

At the check-in desk at the Mirage you are greeted by a 20,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. An excerpt from the Mirage’s website describes the aquarium:

Managed by The Mirage’s own in-house aquarists, the aquarium accommodates more than 1,000 coral reef animals representing 60 species from Australia, Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, the Red Sea, the Marshall Islands, the Sea of Cortez and the Caribbean. These sea animals were all selected for their adaptability to the environment and compatibility with other species.

One of the most elaborate and technically advanced aquariums in the world, the tank is 53 feet long, eight feet from top to bottom, and six feet from front to back. The acrylic used in the aquarium is 4 inches thick.

Mirage Aquarium

Mirage Aquarium Fish

In the back of the Mirage is Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. (Note there is a fee to see this attraction $15 adults and $10 Children) The habitat houses the famous, perhaps infamous, white tigers, plus panthers, leopards, lions, alpacas, in separate areas, of course. The Dolphin Habitat has 2.5 million gallons of salt water. There is  an below ground level viewing deck, where you can watch the dolphins swim underwater.

White Tiger

Dolphins

Dolphins Underwater

The next stop on our Wildlife Tour is next door to the Mirage at Caesars Palace.

Caesars Palace Aquariums

In the Forum Shops, in front of The Cheesecake Factory, where the Fall of Atlantis animatronic show takes place on the hour, there is a 50,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. The aquarium is filled with sharks, stingrays, puffer fish, and a whole slew of other tropical fish, over 500 at last count. You can watch divers feed the fish everyday at 1:15 pm and 5:15 pm a well informed staff person is present during the feeding to answer any questions you may have.

Atlantis Show and Aquarium

Caesars Palace Aquarium Feeding

Caesars Palace Aquarium

Caesars Palace Aquarium: Diver Wave

There are two other places. that I know of, with interesting aquariums at Caesars Palace. The first is the Seahorse Lounge, which as might expect, has an 1,700 gallon aquarium filled with Seahorses. You have to really search for the seahorses, because they tend to blend into the background, plus they tend to remain rather stationary.

Seahorses at Seahorse Lounge

The second place is Beijing Noodle No. 9, the whole entrance way is flanked by large aquariums filled with goldfish.

Beijing Noodle No. 9 Sign

Beijing Noodle No.9 Aquariums

Beijing Noodle No.9 Aquariums

Our next Stop on our Wildlife Tour is Mandalay Bay, however, en route the Botanical Gardens at Bellagio are worth a look. Plus, they sometimes include critters and such in their displays, such as these butterflies in this Spring display.

Butterflies at Bellagio Botanical Gardens

The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay

The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is North America’s only predator-based aquarium and exhibit. The aquarium has 1.6 million gallons of seawater and contains over 2,000 animals. Admission: Adults $16.95, Children 12 years old and younger $10.95

Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Sign

The most dramatic aspect of the Shark Reef display is the tunnel that lets you walk through the display, Sharks literally swim around you.

Tunnel at Shark Reef

Shark Reef's Golden Crocodiles

Shark Reef

Moon Jellies

Shark Reef Hands-On Exhibit

MGM Grand Lion Exhibit

Our final stop on our Wildlife Tour is at the MGM Grand. The MGM Grand has a Lion Exhibit. The lions on display are actual descendants of the the MGM Studio lion that roars at the beginning of MGM movies. The lions are present from 11am-7pm daily. The pride of Lions actually live on a ranch 12 miles from the Strip.

MGM Lion Taking a Nap

MGM Lion with Handlers and Casino Reflection in the Glass

This concludes our tour of Wildlife on the Las Vegas Strip, however if you head down to Fremont Street, you should include the pool at the Golden Nugget on your Tour.

Goldedn Nugget Shark Pool