2022-05-12-Las-Vegas-Weekly by Greenspun Media Group

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CIRQUE. COMEDY. MUSIC. MAYHEM. NYC’s wildest night out comes to the Las Vegas stage! Mad Apple is a delicious Cirque du Soleil cocktail of high-flying acrobatics, music, dance, comedy, and magic celebrating the city that never sleeps.

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EDITORIAL

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SUPERGUIDE

Your daily events planner, starring Phoebe Bridgers, Mastodon, Machine Gun Kelly and new Cirque show Mad Apple.

16 22 30 32 40 COVER STORY

FEATURE

NEWS

NOISE

FOOD & DRINK

Doctor Strange has kicked off the summer movie season by opening up the multiverse. We’ll guide you through it.

Looking back on 50 years of Nevada Ballet Theatre— and ahead to the cultural institution’s anniversary bash.

The music industry has been taking a closer look at Las Vegas as a home for its events, and it makes a lot of sense.

Brushing up on ’90s R&B and hip-hop for Lovers & Friends, and exploring North Las Vegas outdoor venue the Amp.

Posole ramen and brisket tacos at Downtown’s Braeswood BBQ.

ON THE COVER

SUMMER MOVIES 20th Century Studios, A24, Disney/Marvel Studios, Illumination, Warner Bros. Pictures, Shutterstock & AP Photo/Photo Illustration

SPORTS How many running backs is too many? The Raiders just added four more, potentially including their future primary ball carrier.

IN THIS ISSUE

L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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SUPERGUIDE THURSDAY 12 MAY

MUSIC

(Courtesy/Denise Truscello))

PARTY

SPORTS

S U P E R G U I D E

ARTS

FOOD + DRINK

COMEDY

MISC

LAS VEGAS AVIATORS VS. SALT LAKE BEES Thru 5/14 7 p.m., (& 5/15, noon), Las Vegas Ballpark, ticketmaster. com.

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS 7:30 p.m., House of Blues, concerts. livenation. com.

ARCTIC MOON 10 p.m., Common wealth, elationlv.com.

POST NC With The Crimsons, Elephante King, 8 p.m., SoulBelly BBQ, eventbrite. com.

DILLON FRANCIS 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial. com.

CLOWN BAR 2 Thru 5/29, times vary, Majestic Repertory Theatre, majestic repertory. com.

CONDUCTA 10 p.m., We All Scream, weallscream. com.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S MAD APPLE (PREVIEW OPENING) Thru 5/26, times vary, New York-New York Theater, newyorknew york.mgm resorts.com.

THE LIFE OF STEPHEN SONDHEIM The beautiful musical tribute to Stephen Sondheim was one of many Academy Awards moments you might have missed or forgotten from the because of, you know, that thing. But now it’s Las Vegas’ turn to honor the composer and lyricist who reinvented the musical. The Space has long been one of the best places in the city to celebrate Broadway, and this night will feature some of Sondheim’s most impactful songs performed by local favorites like Anne Martinez, Michelle Johnson, Phillip Officer, Chris Lash, Frank Lawson and Annette Verdolino along with the venue’s operators, Mark Shunock and Cheryl Daro. Plus, all proceeds benefit the Actor’s Fund, which supports performing arts workers in Nevada and across the country. 8 p.m., $30-$50, thespacelv.com. –Brock Radke

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FRIDAY 13 MAY

SILK SONIC 9 p.m., & 5/14, 5/17, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com. STEVE AOKI 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. LAS VEGAS FILIPINOAMERICAN FESTIVAL 5/13-5/15, times vary, Craig Ranch Regional Park, lasvegasfilipinoamericanfestival. com.

ROD STEWART 7:30 p.m., & 5/14, 5/18, the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com. CARRIE UNDERWOOD 8 p.m., & 5/14, 5/18, Resorts World Theatre, axs.com. KYGO 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

NATE BARGATZE 8 p.m., & 5/14, Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

MAJID JORDAN 10:30 p.m., Light Nightclub, thelightvegas.com.

KEM & KENNY “BABYFACE” EDMONDS 8 p.m., the Theater at Virgin, axs.com.

JENNY DON’T & THE SPURS With Dog Party, The Devil’s Duo, 9 p.m., SoulBelly BBQ, eventbrite. com.

STEVE MILLER BAND 8 p.m., & 5/14, Venetian Theatre, ticketmaster.com. MIKE ATTACK 11 a.m., Wet Republic, events. taogroup.com. CHOP VEGAS With Timaya, Niniola, Kamo Mphela, TXC, 11 a.m., Daylight Beach Club, daylight vegas.com.

HIVE MIND TAKEOVER With Jasperse , Dante’s Inferno, Wilhelm, Skolits, midnight, Terrace Afterhours, terraceafter hoursvegas.com. D.I. With El Escapado 9 p.m., Evel Pie, evelpie.com.

MACHINE GUN KELLY With DJ Ruckus, 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com. (Courtesy/Mark Seliger)

PHOEBE BRIDGERS The wait is over! Indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers finally makes her Las Vegas solo debut, at the Amp at Craig Ranch. (She’s played here once before, as half of Better Oblivion Community Center alongside Conor Oberst.) Bridgers, whose songwriting chops have bagged her four Grammy nominations since the release of 2017 debut album Stranger in the Alps, displays all the signs of a runaway success. She leans wholly into the fabled sad girl summer, penning profound stories of melancholic dysfunction and anxiety on her sophomore album Punisher, subverted by a dry, signature wit. And she sings well beyond her 27 years, reaching into an abyss of feelings and twisting them into a shape all her own. It’s beautiful music, haunting at times, and well worth your attention. With Sloppy Jane, $43-$70, etix.com. –Amber Sampson

F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .

SUPERGUIDE

ERIC CHURCH 8 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS 8 p.m., & 5/14, 5/18, Zappos Theater, ticketmaster.com.

MASTODON Twenty-plus years, eight albums and one Grammy in, the era of Mastodon continues on unrelentingly. The Atlanta-based metal band has rocked hard through four presidencies, seven Star Wars movies and the entirety of dubstep without compromising its sound or doing anything too goofball. (And if the band did anything goofball, like the theme song to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie or the straight-up clowning video for “Show Yourself,” it has leaned into it as hard as it’s leaned into its concept albums and face-melting live shows.) Latest album Hushed and Grim both builds on and celebrates a legacy of sludgy, thought-provoking and outright badass stoner metal whose impact may not outlast the Pleistocene Epoch, but it’ll sure come close. Witness it with your own eyes and ears. With Khemmis. 7:30 p.m., $45-$80. House of Blues, livenation.com. –Geoff Carter

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SUPERGUIDE SATURDAY 14 MAY

LOVERS & FRIENDS Thru 5/15, 11 a.m.-midnight, Las Vegas Festival Grounds, loversand friendsfest.com. NEVADA BALLET THEATRE 50TH ANNIVERSARY GALA 7:30 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmith center.com.

S U P E R G U I D E

LAS VEGAS DAYS PARADE 10 a.m., Downtown Las Vegas, lasvegasnevada. gov. LAS VEGAS DAYS FESTIVAL 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Historic Fifth Street School, lasvegasnevada. gov. KASKADE 11 a.m., Wet Republic, events. taogroup.com.

SNOOP DOGG & ICE CUBE With Warren G, Justin Champagne, 7 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs. com. WALLY’S TEQUILA & MEZCAL FESTIVAL 6 p.m., Resorts World, eventbrite.com. MARSHMELLO 11 a.m., Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com. LAS VEGAS LIGHTS VS. OAKLAND ROOTS 7 p.m., Cashman Field, lasvegaslights fc.com. ILLENIUM 11 a.m., Tao Beach Dayclub, events. taogroup.com.

TIËSTO 11 a.m., Ayu Dayclub, zouk grouplv.com. ROCK ’N’ RUN CONCERT CELEBRATION With Otherwise, Scott Russo, Unwritten Law & more, 6 p.m., Fremont Country Club, seetickets.us. THE CHAINSMOKERS 10 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com. ZEDD 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv. com. JAZZ IN THE PARK: DOWN TO THE BONE 6 p.m., Clark County Amphitheater, seetickets.us.

LUDACRIS 10:30 p.m., Light Nightclub, thelightvegas. com. UB40 FT. ALI CAMPBELL 9 p.m., Mandalay Bay Beach, ticketmaster. com. CARNAGE 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night, wynnsocial.com. ALESSO 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. TANTRIC With Lovesick Radio, Crashing Wayward, Raven Tree, 7 p.m., Rockstar Bar & Grill, eventbrite.com.

LIL JON 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events.taogroup.com. (Courtesy/SKAM Artists)

OPERA LAS VEGAS: THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS In the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Bremen Town Musicians, four animals—a cat, a dog, a donkey and a rooster—flee their family farms for the free town of Bremen before they can be put out to pasture. Before they get there, however, they happen upon a cottage belonging to a gang of robbers and take it for their own through cunning and trickery, making it their retirement home. It’s the kind of story that deserves to be sung, and thanks to arranger John Davies, it can be: He has fitted the story to music by Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Jacques Offenbach and others, creating a 50-minute, fully staged version for Opera Las Vegas to perform. This family-friendly production has two great lessons to teach young viewers: We can go farther working together, and opera is more than just a sound that 7-Eleven stores can play through outdoor speakers to scare loiterers away. It’s both a musical and storytelling form, and this is a great way to begin fostering an appreciation of it. 3 p.m., $15. Winchester Dondero Cultural Center, operalasvegas.com. –Geoff Carter

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SUNDAY 15 MAY

MUSIC

PARTY

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SPORTS

ARTS

Y E

O E

U K

FOOD + DRINK

COMEDY COMEDY

MISC

MONDAY 16

DIPLO 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

MAY

DAVID GUETTA 11 a.m., Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com.

(Courtesy)

NIC FANCIULLI 10 p.m., Moonbeam at Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

ROGER & ROCO 10 a.m., Azilo Ultra Pool, azilolasvegas. com. GOATWHORE With Sheer Cold, Foul Deformity, Hiding Outside, Volterrum, 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billards, seetickets.us.

SUPERGUIDE

BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS 5 p.m., MGM Grand Garden Arena, mgmgrand. mgmresorts.com.

SOULBELLY BBQ ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY 5 p.m., SoulBelly BBQ, eventbrite.com.

KARLA BONOFF What’s better than watching a songwriting legend perform, and feeling like they’re singing just to you? Karla Bonoff might make you feel that way. The folk-rock musician wrote hits for stars like “Home” (1977) recorded by Bonnie Raitt, the title track for Wynonna Judd’s 1993 album Tell Me Why and one of the top wedding songs of all time “All My Life” (1988), taken to No. 1 by the combination of Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville. More recently, Bonoff recently released full-length album Carry Me Home (2019) and 2021 single “Night Full of Rain.” Prepare for your heartstrings to be plucked. 3 p.m., Summerlin Library, free, lvccld.org. –Shannon Miller

COUNTRY IN THE PARK: CHRIS LANE With Priscilla Block, Dillon Carmichael, Ryan Griffin, 11 a.m., Water Street Plaza, cityofhenderson.com (Courtesy/John Shearer)

GALANTIS Noon, Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

DJ E-ROCK 10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. K.T. TATARA Thru 5/22, 8 p.m., L.A. Comedy Club, bestvegas comedy.com. P L A N Y O U R W E E K A H E A D

F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .

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SUPERGUIDE WEDNESDAY 18 TUESDAY 17 A

MAY

PARTY

ARTS

S U P E R G U I D E

FOOD + DRINK

COMEDY

LORD HURON 6 p.m., the Amp at Craig Ranch Park, etix.com. LAS VEGAS ACES VS. PHOENIX MERCURY 7 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

NGHTMRE 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com. EXODUS Midnight, On the Record, ontherecordlv. com. FOR KING & COUNTRY 7 p.m., Orleans Arena, ticket master.com.

SUPERGUIDE

SPORTS

LANE NISHIKAWA FILM FESTIVAL May is AAPI Heritage Month and to educate locals about Asian American and Pacific Islander history and culture, Clark County Library will host a twoday festival featuring the films of Japanese actor, filmmaker and producer Lane Nishikawa. Day 1 will screen Only the Brave (2006), which was produced and directed by Nishikawa and tells a fictionalized story of the real 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II—a unit created when 1,400 Japanese-American soldiers petitioned the U.S. government to allow them to serve in the war, rather than be detained in Japanese internment camps. Day 2 will screen Nishikawa’s 2019 documentary Our Lost Years, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the executive order to incarcerate Japanese Americans in internment camps during the war. After each film, Nishikawa will discuss his experience making them, what he learned, and cultural representation in today’s film industry. May 17-18, 6:30 p.m., Clark County Library, free, lvccld. org. –Shannon Miller

(Courtesy/Danny Jungslund)

MUSIC

BASTILLE With Alice Merton, 7:30 p.m., the Theater at Virgin, axs. com.

DOM DOLLA & JOHN SUMMIT 11 a.m., Marquee Dayclub, events. taogroup.com.

DEREK HOUGH 7:30 p.m., Venetian’s Summit Showroom, ticketmaster. com.

SANTANA 7 p.m., House of Blues, livenation. com.

MISC

F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .

CLINT HOLMES 7 p.m., Myron’s, thesmith center.com. PARTIBOI69 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussy dtlv.com.

STAND ATLANTIC With Confidence, Cemetery Sun, 7ru7h, 7 p.m., the Space, thespacelv. com.

Summer Reading & Activities + Coloring Contest for Kids, Teens & Adults Saturday, May 21 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

East Las Vegas Library

Senior primary care centered on

Juanita

“My doctor is concerned about me and all aspects of my health. I know I can ask my doctor anything.” Juanita, CenterWell patient

2851 East Bonanza Rd. Ø LIVE Concert with Grammynominated Fyütch, Hip-Hop artist & visual storyteller Ø Built from Scratch Lab demos: DJ Lab, Green Screen Ø DJ Jazz Ø Balloon Artists

Ø Button Makers Ø 3D pens Ø Laser wood engraver Ø All attendees will receive a coupon for $10 off locals’ admission to the Illuminarium at Area 15 Ø Food for purchase from Pizza Hut

Ø Games Ø Family Storytime in Imaginarium

Ø Giveaways from Summer Challenge Partners

COMPLETE THE SUMMER CHALLENGE

Reading & Learning Program

FOR A CHANCE TO WIN AWESOME PRIZES

A doctor’s office focused on the needs of seniors:

Same-day appointments

On-site lab

24/7 access to the Care Team

Schedule a tour at any of our 11 locations to meet doctors who listen and take the time to meet your needs.

including: Ø

Apple iPad or Google Chromebook

Vegas Golden Knights or Las Vegas Lights FC Official Jersey

Become a patient or schedule a tour today Call 702-930-8727 or visit SeniorFocusedLasVegas.com

Vegas Golden Knights “Chance” Plush Toy

Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm

Las Vegas Lights FC Anytime Ticket Book & Souvenir Scarf

Tickets to Cowabunga Bay

Summer Challenge runs May 15-July 31 at all 25 Library District Branches. Pick up a Summer Challenge reading & learning log to track your progress, plus an Art & Coloring Contest entry form at your nearest branch OR learn more at LVCCLD.org/SummerChallenge.

CenterWell Senior Primary Care™ accepts select Medicare Advantage plans from Aetna (including HMO Prime), Alignment Healthcare, Humana and Wellcare. Follow us @CenterWellPrimaryCare to learn about activities and events CenterWell does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-877-320-2188 (TTY: 711). 注意：如果您使用繁體中文，您可以免費獲得語言援助服務。請致電 1-877-320-2188 (TTY: 711). GCHKU9REN

NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS DEADLINE MAY 18 Real estate plays an integral role in our economy and real estate professionals often serve as unofficial advocates for our city. This is your chance to recognize those working day in and day out to make Southern Nevada home—for our families and for our businesses.

NOMINATE AT: LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM/REALESTATE

L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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Doors to multiple storytelling universes open wide this summer-movie season BY GEOFF CARTER

e didn’t mean to do it. Stephen Strange was just doing his job, protecting our reality, when— boom!—he inadvertently opened the doors separating our universe from billions of alternate universes. Those barriers removed, all manner of villains, jerks and insurrectionists began pouring into our universe, bent on wrecking the place. We already know that bit, because Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been in theaters for a week. But what you don’t know is that Strange didn’t just dissolve the barriers inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also the walls dividing Marvel movies from all other movies. Consequently, every film debuting in theaters and on streaming services this summer is part of the MCU—yes, even the DC movie about superhero pets. Top Gun’s Maverick is now a Marvel hero, as are the characters of Downton Abbey. Who can say if the Mighty Thor is ready to face off with the Dowager Countess of Grantham, but he’d better come up with a plan before teatime. We’re kidding, we hope. All these summer movies occupy their own, individual storytelling universes, as far as we know. But all these films are united in one thing: They’re intended to entertain you through this long, hot summer, whether you experience them in theaters or from your couch at home. (Many of the movies in the comedy and drama categories are debuting on streaming services, which isn’t all that surprising for a universe where Apple TV+ won the most recent Best Picture Oscar.) The doors are open, and the stories are pouring in. It’s time to go to the movies.

A C T I O N

Doctor Strange might already be out there fighting for humanity, but he’s about to get lots of help. Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick come screaming out of the Reagan era on May 27, with Tron: Legacy and Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski in the co-pilot’s chair. Top Gun: Maverick was first cleared for takeoff in 2020, but the pandemic forced it into a holding pattern; that’s why Kosinski has a second action movie releasing this summer: Netflix’s

sci-fi thriller Spiderhead, starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, dropping onto the service June 17. Speaking of Hemsworth, his much-anticipated reunion with director and giant rock person Taika Waititi, Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder, arrives July 8, with Natalie Portman returning to bring the hammer down. They’ll have the arena all to themselves until August, when two more superhero movies will join the fray: Secret Headquarters (August 5), starring the MCU’s Owen Wilson and Mi-

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chael Peña, and Samaritan (August 26) with Sylvester Stallone. (“All to themselves” comes with an asterisk: The Disney+ Marvel series Ms. Marvel will be near the end of its six-episode run as Thor drops. The Marvel multiverse never sleeps.) If you prefer non-superpowered, but still somewhat implausible, action, the Brad Pitt vehicle Bullet Train (July 29), directed by John Wick mastermind David Leitch, looks like a winner, though you’ll need to go to a theater to see it. If that’s a nonstarter, Netflix has

four more actioners on deck, all very different in tone. The biggest of the batch is the Chris Evans/ Ryan Gosling thriller The Gray Man (July 22), which reunites Evans with his Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo; Netflix is plainly hoping that the $200 million film, the most expensive picture the streamer has ever produced, will launch a franchise. And hey, if that doesn’t work, they’ve also got Interceptor (June 3), starring Fast and the Furious franchise vet Elsa Pataky, the action comedy The Man From Toronto (August 12),

with Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson and Kaley Cuoco, and Day Shift (August 12), in which Jamie Foxx’s character, a pool cleaner by trade, faces legit vampires. Last but certainly not least is Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10), which pits the franchise’s own Avengers—Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum from the first trilogy, and Bryce Dallas Howard, Isabella Sermon and Chris Pratt from the second—against a world of dinosaurs runnin’ around all crazy. If Goldblum gets eaten before he can return to Vegas for more smoky jazz, Doctor Strange will have to answer to us.

L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

ss erse of Madne in the Multiv k e ic ng er ra av St M r Docto Top Gun: vel Studios), ures), (Disney/Mar n (Sony Pict ai Tr t lle Bu ), es ur n ct io Pi in nt om (Paramou ic World: D t) etflix), Jurass Day Shift (N Entertainmen in bl m A , es ur ct Pi al rs (Unive

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More than any other genre, big-screen comedy seems to have been transformed by the dawn of the streaming era. Half the movies on this list are streamers—and some of them, truthfully, appear to be more mirthful than bust-a-gut funny. But we’ll give them all a fair shot, because the constant chaos of the multiverse is wearying. We could all use a good chuckle, and if we don’t have to put on non-pajama pants to get it, bonus. Netflix leads the pack with three movies. Rebel Wilson and Alicia Silverstone star in Senior Year (May 13), whose director Alex Hardcastle makes the leap to movies after directing lots of episodes of Grace and Frankie, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and more. The

Perfect Pairing, a rom-com from the makers of 2019’s Falling Inn Love, bows May 19. And Me Time, an old-fashioned wild weekend comedy starring Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall, drops August 26. June 24 welcomes Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, an animated/live action mockumentary that looks like this summer’s stealth hit; it features Jenny Slate, Isabella Rosselini and Nathan Fielder. Broken Lizard’s Jay Chandrasekhar directs Jo Koy and Tiffany Haddish in Easter Sunday (August 5), with Koy playing a fictionalized version of himself. Mack & Rita (August 12) is a body-swap indie comedy starring Elizabeth Lail and Diane Keaton in the same role. And hold on to your zombie butts, because The Bob’s Burgers Movie finally arrives on May 27, fulfilling our nation’s awesome need for witty adult animation and menu-board puns.

Me Time, Senior Year (Netflix), Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (A24), Easter Sunday (Universal Pictures)

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Downton Abbey: A New Era (Focus Feature)

DRAMA

This summer’s packed with dramas, which means we have to speed through them like Strange did when he scanned all those possible futures in Avengers: Infinity War. Some are obvious big-screen experiences, like Downton Abbey: A New Era (May 20), the second big-screen installment of Julian Fellowes’ wildly popular British television drama; Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic (June 24), featuring Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker and ascending star Austin Butler as the King; Where the Crawdads Sing (July 15), an adaptation of Delia Owens’ enormously bestselling 2018 novel of the same name, which Taylor Swift loved enough to pen its theme song; and Three Thousand Years of Longing (August 31), an epic romance from Mad Max creator George Miller, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.

Many of this summer’s other dramas are debuting on streaming services, with limited runs in cinemas. In fact, those runs might be so very limited that these films won’t appear on Valley screens at all. (That trend will almost certainly end when the Beverly Theater opens Downtown later this year.) As you’d expect, Netflix has most of them, starting with Shakespeare in Love director John Madden’s WWII drama Operation Mincemeat, starring Colin Firth (now playing); basketball drama Hustle (June 8), starring Adam Sandler, who co-produced the film with LeBron James; Love and Gelato (June 22), an adaptation of Jenna Evans Welch’s 2016 bestseller; teen romance Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between (July 6); a fresh take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion (July 15), with Dakota

Johnson and Henry Golding; and Purple Hearts (July 29), a wartime romance from Sneakerella director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. Apple TV+, its shiny red peel still aglow from its Best Picture win for Coda, debuts family drama Cha Cha Real Smooth, starring writer/ director Cooper Raiff and summer 2022 drama MVP Dakota Johnson, on June 17. John Cho stars in Don’t Make Me Go, a classic road movie, debuting on Amazon Prime June 13. And two more promising films, the Aubrey Plaza-starring credit card fraud yarn Emily the Criminal (August 12) and Beast (August 19), which pits Idris Elba against a rogue lion, will defy the current wisdom, and possibly multiverse warlord Kang the Conqueror, by actually coming out in theaters. Godspeed, you absolute legends.

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S T O R Y

F A M I L Y

The multiverse isn’t always the best place to bring your kids. But it does have its family-friendly spots, nearly all of them animated. (A reminder: Animation is not inherently a medium for children alone; it’s as pure a form of cinema as any other. In fact, animation literally could not exist without a motion picture camera.) And if you’ve missed seeing it on the big screen, Pixar/Disney and

Ilumination/Universal have two big, juicy franchise hits for you—respectively, Toy Story offshoot Lightyear (June 17) and Despicable Me prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 1). More animated films coming to the family space: Netflix’s The Sea Beast (July 8), a fantasy epic from Big Hero 6 director Chris Williams; Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (July 15), a very, very loose adaptation of Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles; DC League of Super Pets (July 29), featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Keanu Reeves and more; Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a big-screen animated installment of the rebooted 1980s franchise, delivered by Netflix on August 5 like so much hot pizza; and Luck (August 5), an original Apple TV+

animated film from director Peggy Holmes, who cut her teeth making direct-to-video stuff for Disney. There are even a couple of live-action musicals in the mix. Sneakerella, a musical Cinderella remix “set in the avant-garde street-sneaker subculture of New York City,” drops on Disney+ on May 13. And 13: The Musical, an adaptation of the all-teenager Broadway hit, appears on Netflix on August 12. Finally, we have the inexplicable case of Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers, streaming May 20 on Disney+. This Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style live action/animated reboot of Disney’s syndicated 1988 cartoon comes to us via The Lonely Island—yea, the same entity that gave us Palm Springs and “D*ck in a Box.” John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Seth Rogen, Keegan Michael-Key, J.K. Simmons and others provide voices.

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Men (A24)

HORROR Lightyear (Disney, Pixar), DC League of Super Pets (Warner Bros. Pictures), Sneakerella (Disney+)

Outside of franchise reboots, remakes and sequels, horror is the one thing that seems to get people out to theaters in numbers. Small wonder Marvel picked Evil Dead mastermind Sam Raimi to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (taking over for another horror director, Sinister’s Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Doctor Strange movie in 2016). Existent terror sells; it’s the reason we can’t seem to quit Twitter. And the film studios apparently know it, because there’s not one streaming movie in this bunch. Taste in horror might be subjective, but there are a few auteur-driven movies due this summer that everyone might want to see just for the craft surely to be on display. First and foremost is Nope (July 22) the hotly anticipated third film from director Jordan Peele, who has proven himself an absolute master of the genre in just six short years. Men, coming to theaters on May 20, is Ex Machina director Alex Garland’s first film since 2018’s supremely squirmy Annihilation. Derrickson returns to his dark, dreadful wheelhouse on June 24 with The Black Phone. And while we don’t know what to expect of Halina Reijn’s comedy slasher film Bodies Bodies Bodies (August 5), we can’t deny that the studio that made it, A24, has rarely led us down a dark alley that didn’t have some really interesting blood on its walls. Also lurking about in the gathering gloom is Bed Rest (July 15), in which an expectant mother faces a continuing nightmare. And Vengeance (July 29) marks the directorial debut of The Office’s B.J. Novak, who also stars in the movie opposite Insecure’s Issa Rae. Considering that we got the Quiet Place franchise the last time someone from Dunder Mifflin tried their hand at horror, Novak has an excellent shot at a hit. A Quiet Place’s John Krasinski is going to have to do something drastic, possibly MCU-related, to get a leg up on him.

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C U L T U R E

NEVADA BALLET THEATRE’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY GALA May 14, 7:30 p.m., $41-$150. Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter. com.

BEST FOOT

FORWARD

Nevada Ballet Theatre celebrates a half-century of bringing “beautiful movement” to Las Vegas

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BY EVELYN MATEOS

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(Left) NBT dancers perform. (Courtesy/Nevada Ballet Theatre) (Below) Artistic Director Roy Kaiser teaches a class. (Courtesy/Alicia Lee, NBT)

his week, the curtain will open on Nevada Ballet Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Gala, a one-night-only performance at the Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall that will celebrate five decades of dance in Las Vegas, and the artistic company that provided it. NBT’s origins are as humble as they come. In 1972, Vassili Sulich, then the male lead dancer with the Tropicana’s Folies Bergere, gathered a group of ballet dancers from the local entertainment industry and presented a series of dance concerts at UNLV’s Judy Bayley Theatre. Nancy Houssels, a former Tropicana dancer herself, attended one of the shows, and was so impressed, she approached Sulich and insisted that they do something to keep the momentum going. The two gathered in her living room with 15 community leaders who chipped in $1,000 apiece. That $15,000 would become NBT’s first budget. For Houssels, who still serves as a co-chair of NBT’s Board of Trustees, that moment of co-founding the company is a treasured memory. “That was pretty extraordinary, to come from nothing and see it grow just like a child, and to have seen Las Vegas grow right along with it,” Houssels says. Today, NBT includes a company of nearly 20 performers and a ballet and dance academy with 400 students. In 1993, the organization established the Future Dance Program, which offers initiatives such as free in-school dance instruction and the opportunity to earn scholarships. NBT’s 50th anniversary marks an important occasion—particularly for a local community still discovering and learning about this creative form through the organization’s productions. “I think there are a lot of people, not just in Las Vegas but everywhere in the United States, that think there’s something mysterious about classical ballet,” NBT Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “There’s nothing mysterious about it at all. It’s beautiful movement to beautiful music.” According to Kaiser, NBT has been

planning this anniversary celebration for about a year. Early on, the group realized an important goal for the evening would be to represent the entire organization. So both the artists of NBT and students from the academy will perform at the gala. The company will present a reprise of Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain (Pas de Deux)”—originally performed by the company in 2019—along with excerpts from Jungle, a ballet written by James Canfield, who served as NBT’s artistic director from 2008 to 2017. Students from the academy will perform New York City Ballet’s famed “Circus Polka,” set to the music of Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. It will showcase 48 of the youngest students, ranging in age from 5 to 14, dancing playfully with a charming ringmaster. NBT’s Future Dance Scholars will perform “Send in the Clowns,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and choreography by Future Dance Scholar alumnus Jemoni Powe. Powe, who is currently studying at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, will also take the stage with a self-choreographed solo. Additionally, Kaiser invited several guest artists to join in the celebration. San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancers Sasha De Sola and Tiit Helimets will perform “White Swan Pas de Deux” from the beloved Swan

Lake, along with the lively ballet, “Drum Roll, Please!,” choreographed by San Francisco Ballet soloist Myles Thatcher. “There’s been a lot of interest [in the event],” Kaiser says, “and people that have been following the company for a long time that are looking forward to it.” A production of Carmina Burana, which opens May 20 at Reynolds Hall, will officially cap NBT’s 50th season. Kaiser says it will be one of the largest productions NBT has taken on, featuring the full company of dancers, plus nearly 80 choristers from the Las Vegas Master Singers, including three vocal soloists, along with an orchestra comprising members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic under the conducting of the Phil’s music director Donato Cabrera. NBT will soon announce details about its 51st season. Kaiser sounds excited about it, and about the NBT’s long-term prospects in the ever-expanding Las Vegas Valley. “So many things [are] coming to the city that are enhancing the quality of life, and [they] really have nothing to do with the Strip,” he says. “I think that Nevada Ballet Theatre can play an important role in that growth. And you do that by programming interesting, entertaining and fun programs to introduce the audience to this art form.” Adds Houssels, “We’ve converted people into learning about the ballet and enjoying it. We’ve found our place, and we’re here to stay.”

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(Courtesy/ Alxmatt Photography)

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DESERT PRIDE Miss Nevada Kataluna Enriquez on her rise to the crown and her year as reigning pageant queen BY EVELYN MATEOS

Kataluna Enriquez says she dreamed of seeing a transgender Miss USA contestant. She just never thought it would be her. ¶ Enriquez made history last June when she was crowned Miss Nevada USA, becoming the first openly transgender woman to win the Nevada pageant. She made history again when she became the first to compete in the Miss USA pageant in November. Though she was eliminated early in that event, she says her time as Miss Nevada was “life changing” for her and meaningful for her followers. ¶ The Weekly caught up with Enriquez for a chat before she crowns a new Miss Nevada May 15 at the South Point.

Can you describe the moment you knew you’d won Miss Nevada? I was hesitant if I was going to win, because it had never been done before. A trans person had never won in the Miss USA system. So I was thinking that maybe it’s not possible; maybe it could just be one of those things that they allow to be in but … won’t really allow you to go further. … [Runner-up] Brittany Butler

was amazing; she had every chance of winning the crown. I guess my stars just aligned that day, and I stood brighter. So I was very happy. I was shocked, but it was something I was really hoping for, and I was praying that it was going to happen. How does it feel to have made history? There is no actual word to explain making history, but I am very thankful, especially when people message me saying that their children feel inspired, or they know someone who is trans and they felt visible just from what I was doing and that I was able to inspire not just the LGBTQ+ community but other people and other young women. They can aspire to be what they want to be and do what they want to do and feel secure with who they are and not feel like they have to change themselves to fit a certain standard. Your year as Miss Nevada is drawing to

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a close. What has the experience been like for you? Life-changing. I did so many things. I wanted to be more than just a person who is trans, who’s just advocating for trans communities. I spread out my wings and spread my platform so many people can feel represented and many people can feel connected with my stories and my actions. I’m very happy with what I’ve done—I was able to connect with our senator and governor [and] work with different organizations and fulfill what I wanted to. I just recently did a few series on the Vegas Instagram account, [one] called “How to Be Rainbow in Vegas.” That was very fulfilling for me, because I was able to share content and my experience being a member of the LGBTQ+ community but also bring in other people in different outlets and different platforms for them to share their opinions and voices. Did you ever think you would have a platform like this? Oh no, because I was always scared, and I was always shy about speaking up. With pageantry, one of the things that I needed to relearn was to talk, because I was very scared growing up with talking. It was a way for people to kind of out me and to bully me. So, for a long time, I learned to just be quiet and be in the back of the room and be invisible, just so I could survive. But then I learned, through pageantry, I can’t do that. I had to stand up and I had to use my voice. I can’t be shy about what I want to speak up [about]. What does beauty mean to you? I think beauty means confidence within yourself. It’s knowing that nobody’s perfect, but everyone has flaws and also everyone has their own blessings. It’s being confident enough that you get to celebrate your own— that you don’t need to stomp on other people. There’s enough room for everyone to be celebrated including yourself. What are your thoughts about the way pageants are viewed today? I think there’s a huge stigma and a lot of people hesitating between the idea that a woman can be beautiful and can still be empowered and be active and have control and be independent with their own lives. I think people are still stuck with the idea that they can’t do that, but pageantry allows that to happen. We have so many people who have different backgrounds, who advocate for empowerment for younger girls and for younger people in general. For me, that’s minorities and people of color as an Asian American but also [as part of] the LGBTQ+ community.

WEEKLY Q&A

Do you remember when you decided you were going to compete in pageants? I was 21. I was working in the modeling industry [and] fashion industry. I was just tired of constantly being customized to be a certain size and being limited for the industry. I wanted to expand myself from that, and I thought pageantry was something similar but in a way that you can be more empowered, [where] you were able to use your voice and your wisdom and your knowledge to advocate for certain causes.

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ORDER ONLINE: THRIVENEVADA.COM FOR EXCLUSIVE GIVEAWAYS, NEW DROP INFO, AND MORE DOWNLOAD OUR REWARDS APP Management reserves all rights. Keep out of reach of children. For use only by adults 21 years of age or older.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NEWS 2

$195 MILLION PAINTING Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, a silkscreen created in 1964, sold for $195 million May 9, making the iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe the most expensive work by a U.S. artist ever sold at auction.

TYSON WON’T BE CHARGED Authorities won’t file criminal charges against former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson after he was recorded punching a fellow passenger aboard a plane at San Francisco International Airport, prosecutors announced May 10.

IF ROE GOES, CLINICS COULD BE STRAINED BY OUT-OF-STATE PATIENTS

N E W S

Nevada will likely see an influx of outof-state patients seeking abortion care, provided that a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion gutting the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy comes to fruition, according to abortion-rights advocates here. Overturning Roe would immediately trigger laws that would restrict or outright ban access to abortion in 26 states. Access in Nevada would remain unchanged because of a 1990 statewide ballot measure that codified the right to an abortion within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Neighboring states like Idaho, Utah and Arizona are among states poised to either restrict or outright ban abortion, leaving Nevada as possibly the closest alternative to legally obtain one. In the past three months of 2021, after Texas instituted its ban on all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, abortions in neighboring states provided to Texas women surged 800%, according to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Abortions in Nevada must be performed by a physician. That’s problematic, said Caroline Mello Roberson, director of NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada—a Renobased nonprofit and advocacy group— because the state is already facing a doctor shortage. “A lot of folks in Phoenix, people coming from Utah, people from Idaho, definitely will probably be coming to Nevada in order to seek care,” Roberson said. “And we know that in our state, we just have very limited access as it is.” Lindsey Harmon, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada—the clinic’s political and activism arm—said another Planned Parenthood health center is planned in Reno by the end of this year. –Casey Harrison

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JOEY VS. JOE The Nevada Republican Party broke with former President Donald Trump by endorsing Reno attorney Joey Gilbert in the governor’s race. Trump endorsed Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Raiders announced on May 6 that Dan Ventrelle, who was team president for less than a year, was no longer with the team. Ventrelle said he was fired after raising concerns about a hostile work environment.

SOUTHERN NEVADA’S ECONOMY ‘PLAYING CATCH-UP,’ REPORT SAYS Miles from the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip, a project is under construction that some economists believe represents the future of the region. Haas Automation, which is building a massive industrial tool manufacturing plant in Henderson, is emblematic of a long-discussed shift toward economic diversity. While gaming and tourism have come back strongly since tanking early in the coronavirus pandemic, Nevada—especially the Las Vegas area—remains “highly vulnerable to macroeconomic shocks,” according to a just-released report by Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute, a public policy think tank, at UNLV. The report notes that the Las Vegas economy crashed during the pandemic and the 20072009 recession “due to the region’s over-reliance on tourism, gaming and entertainment.” The 121-page report is a call to action and a blue-

HOT SHOT

print for how public policy can fuel economic development in Nevada for the next five years and beyond. “I hope people take away the idea that we’re still very vulnerable,” said David Damore, interim executive director of the Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West, who helped author the report. “We’re always just playing catch-up.” Henderson Mayor Debra March said city leaders in recent years had developed a strategy that focused on the expansion of industries like health care, technology, manufacturing and finance. “We recognized that we could not be dependent on one or two industries,” March said. “Our vision is to build a brighter and more diverse economy.” Haas Automation is just one example of that strategy. The California-based company is building its 2.5 million-square-foot plant just south of the Henderson Executive Airport on the city’s booming west side. –Bryan Horwath

PSYCHO FILLS OUT FESTIVAL LINEUP Texas psych-rockers The Black Angels, English industrial outfit Nitzer Ebb, veteran American punk-rockers Dwarves and New York-based experimental composer William Basinski are among the latest batch of adds for the increasingly eclectic Psycho Las Vegas music festival, scheduled for August 19-21 at Resorts World. Other new additions include Liars, The Gaslamp Killer, Elder, Allah-Las, Show Me the Body, Twin Tribes, Sugar Candy Mountain, Night Beats, Holy Wave, Soft Kill, Health (DJ set) and Death Valley Girls. They join dozens of other previously announced acts, including headliners Emperor, Mercyful Fate and Suicidal Tendencies. Three-day passes ($349 plus fees) and tickets for an August 18 Psycho Swim pre-party at Ayu Dayclub ($99 plus fees) are available through vivapsycho. com. -Staff

Pyrotechnics explode during player introductions before the Las Vegas Aces’ 2022 home opener against the Seattle Storm at Michelob Ultra Arena on May 8. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

ELON MUSK SAID MAY 10 THAT IF HIS PURCHASE OF TWITTER GOES THROUGH, HE WILL REINSTATE THE ACCOUNT OF FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP.

TOM BRADY WILL BE PAID $37.5 MILLION A YEAR TO BE FOX SPORTS’ LEAD ANALYST, WHENEVER HE RETIRES FROM PLAYING IN THE NFL.

NEWS

HE SAID IT

RAIDERS FIRE PRESIDENT

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WHERE MUSIC LIVES

Big events like the Grammys and Billboard’s new MusicCon reflect the industry’s changing perception of Las Vegas

B U S I N E S S

BY BROCK RADKE The Billboard Music Awards show is set to return to Las Vegas on May 15 with a full, live audience for the first time since 2019. Its comeback will be bolstered by the inaugural Billboard MusicCon, a two-day event featuring additional performances from music’s biggest current stars, along with panel-style conversations with artists and industry figures and other consumer-facing experiences. The new event will take over Area15 May 13-14, and officials from Billboard, the media outlet and chart-and-rankings standard bearer for the music industry, say the timing is right to expand the impact of the annual awards show. “We’re so happy to be able to

do it again in real life, and now to have the chance to expand and make sure there is access to these really special experiences with top artists and creators and executives in the industry, it’s just great to celebrate music again,” says Dana Droppo, senior vice president of marketing. “[MusicCon] is something we’ve thought about for a long time, but we wanted to make sure that if we do it, we do it the way we really wanted to, live and in person, and with different groups of attendees.” Among its scheduled panels are “Women on the Rise: Management 101” with music managers Dina Sahim (Swedish House Mafia), Alex DePersia (Pharrell Williams) and Nelly Ortiz (DJ

Khaled); “The Explosion of Afro-Fusion” with rising Nigerian artist Burna Boy; and “The Future of Reggaeton” with Puerto Rican rapper/singer Rauw Alejandro, who just co-headlined the first Vibra Urbana reggaeton festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on April 30-May 1. “This is a hybrid event, so if you are an executive at a label or managing an artist, you can come sit and listen to conversations that can enrich your career,” Droppo says, “but if you’re a fan of [Brazilian singer] Anitta or Rauw Alejandro, you can come and listen to your favorite artist drop gems and perform some songs. It’s really meant to be an experience that balances what’s best for the industry and

best for fans.” The Billboard Music Awards, hosted this year by Sean “Diddy” Combs at MGM Grand Garden Arena, were first held in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel in 1996. The event took place at the Grand Garden Arena 11 times before moving to T-Mobile Arena in 2016 and 2017. It has been held in LA during the pandemic the past two years. Because of the number of large venues on the Strip, Las Vegas has long been a popular destination for music awards shows. But after landing the Grammy Awards for the first time this year, the city’s standing as a music industry stronghold akin to LA or Nashville appears to be rising.

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(Shutterstock/Photo Illustration)

the academy was able to continue several of its annual adjacent events at different Vegas venues, including the MusiCares fundraising gala at the MGM Grand Conference Center. “The good news was that we have produced the annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas for a number of years, so we were very comfortable with the Grand Garden Arena and the crew and teams the help support our productions there,” Chapman says. “It was a bit of a challenge after we had already started down the path in LA, but … we found some great partners in venues there we haven’t used before, and the [Vegas] teams are used to producing events at a top-notch level.” The iHeartRadio Music Fes-

tival, which will return to Las Vegas in September at T-Mobile Arena and Area15, isn’t an awards show like the Grammys or the Billboards, but it’s similar in that there’s a major concert-style, public-facing presentation bolstered by a massive, behind-the-scenes industry presence. And new events like the Emerge Impact & Music Conference in 2017 and 2018 have found a well-resourced launching pad in Las Vegas. The growth of these types of events demonstrates that Vegas has elevated its reputation of the entertainment capital of the world while diversifying its capabilities. “It’s a stop on everybody’s tour, and the residency has become very commonplace for A-list art-

ists,” Chapman says. “The world’s superstars are planting roots in Las Vegas.” Droppo adds that the city’s rich entertainment history and international drawing power are big reasons why the industry wants to be here. “It is such a perfect backdrop for musical experiences and performances, and we are really proud to be in that long line of amazing things that happen there,” she says. “It’s such a quintessential American city, and a place that attracts people from all over the world who are ready to really dig into everything there is to offer at an event like MusicCon. We think Billboard will have a presence there for a long time.”

NEWS

“It was a great success for us, and we’ve received a ton of positive feedback surrounding not only an incredible array of performances this year, but the way we were able to spotlight some of the less-commercial genres through rooftop performances from the MGM parking structure,” says Branden Chapman, chief operating officer of the Recording Academy. “It was a wonderful experience, and we wouldn’t rule out any possibility for the future. We were thrilled to take the show to Las Vegas.” This year’s Grammys event was originally scheduled for January 31 in LA before rising COVID cases caused the shift to Las Vegas. The show was broadcast live on April 3 from the Grand Garden Arena, and

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THROWIN’ IT

BACK

LOVERS & FRIENDS May 14-15, 11 a.m.-midnight, $195 plus fees (per day). Las Vegas Festival Grounds, loversandfriends fest.com

Rounding up the legacy acts at the Lovers & Friends festival

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BY AMBER SAMPSON

We live in an age of false hype, but the buzz around new Las Vegas festival Lovers & Friends has been rightfully earned by the 40plus participating acts. Those artists, mostly best known for their 1990s and early-2000s hits, will amass at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on May 14—and then again the next day—to perform throwback hip-hop and R&B. Before it begins, reacquaint yourself with the game-changers on the lineup.

HEADLINER’S BALL

Ms. Lauryn Hill fittingly tops the bill, the same way she brought melodic rap and neo-soul into the mainstream back in the day. The visionary found early success with Fugees, but her 1998 solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, solidified her as one of the most influential vocalists of all time. The best-selling album has become a cultural touchstone, and to many modern-day artists, a manual for musical greatness. Joining Hill among leading ladies are Brandy and Monica, two artists that—along with Lovers & Friends headliner TLC—dominated the mid to late ’90s. If you weren’t tuning into Brandy’s sitcom Moesha, odds are you were bopping to her 1998 duet with Monica, “The Boy Is Mine.” They paved the way for women like Ciara and Ashanti. Insta-hit collaborations with Ludacris, Missy Elliot and Timbaland catapulted Ciara to multi-platinum success, while her “Like a Boy”— an empowering standout that addressed the societal double standards of men and women—foreshadowed Taylor Swift’s “The Man.” Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris should require no introduction around here—they’re practically Las Vegans. Usher’s second Strip residency kicks off this summer, while Ludacris can often be found rapping at Drai’s or Light when he isn’t starring in Fast and Furious films. Meanwhile, the rambunctious Lil Jon has kept it crunk as a resident DJ at major clubs along the Boulevard for years. Nelly, who also takes regular turns at Drai’s, introduced a new vernacular on 2000 album Country Grammar, assuming a tongue-twisting twang that made later singles like “Hot in Herre” so iconic.

CAN’T MISS CREWS

Everyone loved the wholesome and sweet Boyz II Men, but when you wanted something edgy, you popped in a Jodeci tape. R&B’s OG bad boys brought sex to the forefront on songs like “Freek’n You.” Jodeci laid a path for late-’90s group Next to take up the helm with multi-part harmonies and addictive hooks. Atlanta’s 112 also emerged as an R&B powerhouse, cranking out sex-charged earworms like the Grammy-nominated “Peaches & Cream.” Racy Miami quartet Pretty Ricky also launched during the ’90, but true success arrived with 2005’s “Grind With Me,” a hybrid of hip-hop and sensual R&B. As for TLC, the trio bumped to the beat of its own drum, bringing bona-fide attitude, fashion and funk to the masses, as playful as they were empowering. Who could forget the sass of “No Scrubs,” or the introspective lessons on “Waterfalls”? Xscape and SWV share a similar place in many R&B fans’ hearts. The former’s “Just Kickin’ It” put the power quartet on listeners’ radar, and collaborations with artists like Keith Sweat kept them there. SWV (or Sisters With Voices), meanwhile, lived up to its name, unleashing a new wave of soul that would make it one of the best-selling female groups of all time.

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COLLABS WE MIGHT CATCH

Usher, Lil Jon & Ludacris. Lovers & Friends shares its festival name with this 2004 slow jam. That same year, the same trio released “Yeah!,” a club classic Usher still performs at his residency shows. Ashanti & Ja Rule. Ashanti has also linked up with fellow F&L’ers Akon, Nelly, Fabolous and Fat Joe, but her most famous duet partner has been the “murda” king himself, Ja Rule. The wistful “Mesmerize” and “Always on Time” will take you back. Frankie J & Baby Bash. Latino rapper Baby Bash has worked with many artists, but nothing tops 2003’s “Suga Suga (So Fly)” with Frankie J. The duo formed the smooth, fit-for-summer jam around a sample of Barry White’s “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby,” which might explain why we adore it so much. Brandy & Monica. The R&B singers combined for a No. 1 hit with “The Boy Is Mine,” a masterstroke that showcased both in top form. The 1998 song won the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and even went toe-totoe with Celine Dion and Lauryn Hill for Record of the Year and Best R&B song.

RAP QUEENS

THE WEEKLY PLAYLIST:

LOVERS & FRIENDS EDITION Fat Joe, “Lean Back” (2004) A gangsta anthem about not wanting to dance? Only the leader of Terror Squad could make it work. The-Dream, “Rockin’ That Thang” (2009) The ATL singer’s famed falsetto comes out in full force on this late-aughts hit. Juvenile, “Back That Azz Up” (1998) It’s been more than a decade since it dropped, but this certified twerk anthem from the New Orleans Hot Boy still gets the party hoppin’. Cassie, “Me & U” (2006) A slickly produced and hypnotic club gem born for the dance floor.

Twista, “Slow Jamz” (2004) This one has it all—Jamie Foxx singing, a College Dropout Kanye West, Twista’s whip-fast flows and more than 20 references to musical artists from multiple eras. Ginuwine, “Pony” (1996) A sexy favorite that has stood the test of time. This is R&B at its absolute peak. Fabolous, “Into You” (2003) This is what summertime loving sounds like when a Brooklyn rapper goes soft, and we love it.

Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jodeci, Usher, Ludacris, Eve (AP Photo), Lil John (S.K.A.M. Artist/Photo Illustration)

NOISE

Before Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B ruffled conservative feathers with “WAP” or Doja Cat debuted the sexy Planet Her, Lil Kim, Eve, Foxy Brown and Trina were busy busting down the doors. Lil Kim and Foxy Brown both grew up in Brooklyn, their paths forking when Kim met The Notorious B.I.G. and Brown was discovered by a local production team. Both women headed their own hip-hop crews, boldly rapping about their sexuality—and flipping the script on how women in music were perceived. Eve and Trina stepped out in the late ’90s to bolster that mission. Trina’s provocative debut with Trick Daddy, “Nann,” placed her at the top of the game, while Eve’s 1999 debut, Let There Be Eve … Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, made her the third female hip-hop artist to notch a No.1 album on the Billboard 200, behind Lauryn Hill and Foxy Brown.

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All

C U L T U R E

AMPED UP

COMING TO THE AMP

Phoebe Bridgers May 13 Lord Huron May 17 I Love the ’90s Tour May 20 Tumua Tuinei May 21

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals May 26 George Clinton & ParliamentFunkadelic August 13

Ashanti & Ja Rule August 25 Lost ’80s Live! August 26 Gipsy Kings ft. Nicolas Reyes September 2

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The Amp at Craig Ranch vies to become a premier outdoor concert destination BY AMBER SAMPSON

pen since 2015, the Amp at Craig Ranch Regional Park has been serving the neighboring North Las Vegas community for some time. In recent months, however, its open-air concerts have become destination events for folks in all parts of the Valley. The action has really picked up at the seven-acre outdoor amphitheater, with acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Lord Huron, Ben Harper and George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic on the upcoming calendar. JABM Enterprises, a Black-owned live entertainment company based in North Las Vegas, handles some of the biggest bookings for the 6,800-capacity venue, working closely with the City of North Las Vegas to keep the multicultural concerts coming.

“I’m working with top agents, the best of the best, and they’re selling me the best of the best,” says Megan Jacobs Araujo, talent buyer for JABM. “We’re aggressively going after it, so that we have a little taste of everything,” That includes the red-hot Bridgers, who recently played both weekends at Coachella. “Phoebe is incredible,” Araujo says. “She sold out two nights at the Greek Theater in LA, so [we thought], what can we do in Vegas with this show? Let’s go for the gold and make it happen.” The Amp’s programming has grown more impressive over time. This year, it started strong with performances by famed hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Strip-level DJ Said the Sky. Last year, it hosted Cypress Hill, Atmosphere and even Erykah Badu—who made quite an impression on Araujo, who has spent 20 years in the booking business. “I don’t get starstruck often, but I was completely humbled to work with her,” Araujo says. “She looked me straight in the eyes after the show and said, ‘Can I please come back and play here again with you?’ I was like, ‘100%.’ That was a moment that’ll go down in my rock ’n’ roll history.” And of course, songs like “Appletree” and “Tyrone” hit differently when you’re out under the stars, surrounded by acres of lush park land. “Whoever put it together did a great job. They really thought of the concertgoers,” says Steve Manley, the Amp’s general manager. “There’s really not a bad seat anywhere. You could go sit at the top of the hill on the grass, and you’re still sitting right in front of the stage. That’s a big difference.” For some locals, the drive to North Las Vegas might seem far, but Araujo, a Los Angeleno, puts it into perspective. “It’s a 30-minute jaunt to a venue that’s going to give you a whole experience,” she says. “You can come down for the whole day and the whole night. It’s not just dropping in for a set.”

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Manley, who has helped the city secure a stop on the I Love the ’90s Tour featuring Vanilla Ice, Color Me Badd and Coolio (May 20 and a co-headlining date with Ashanti and Ja Rule (August 25), describes the Amp as “truly for the community” and says the city is focused on creating Valleywide buzz by bringing in recognizable names. The right act should draw folks from Henderson, he adds. JABM’s already-diverse programming will soon incorporate more rock, reggae and comedy, Araujo says. “We’re going after the A-list, and we’re gonna keep fighting for it. We want to bring all walks of life under that big, open sky.”

NOISE

(Left) Erykah Badu at the Amp (Courtesy/ Gabe Ginsburg); (right) Ben Harper (Courtesy/Jacob Boll)

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ith its record store theme, intimate spaces and hidden Vinyl Parlor bar, On the Record is the closest thing to an underground nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip (not including actually underground stalwart Drai’s After Hours). The Park MGM speakeasy-ish spot waited a bit longer to reopen than other casino clubs, finally coming back to life in July 2021. Since then it has been bringing back all the right vibes, boosted by hip-hop DJs and the energetic return of its Industry Wednesdays party, which hosted R&B faves 112 on May 11. In recent months, On the Record has been delivering extra sizzle by hosting afterparties for the Silk Sonic residency show at Dolby Live across the casino floor. “Those afterparties really brought it to the next level, at least in getting attention and people noticing what’s going on there,” says DJ Peter Shalvoy, who regularly spins from the double decker bus on the OTR patio, where he’ll next be on May 17. “There couldn’t be a better

On the Record (Courtesy/Denise Truscello/Getty Images)

Reopened since last summer, On the Record adds sizzle with Silk Sonic parties BY BROCK RADKE

fit. It’s like the planets aligned; it’s just perfect.” A New Yorker based in Vegas for 10 years after first hitting the Strip to spin at the original, clubby Blue Ribbon restaurant at the Cosmopolitan, Shalvoy has been on the roster at On the Record since it opened toward the end of 2018. Although the venue is the brainchild of LA hospitality siblings Mark and Jonnie Houston, OTR’s musical direction—currently booked by MAC Agency founder and DJ Eddie McDonald— has always had an East Coast influence, including a bit of Golden Age hip-hop sensibility. On the Record has hosted afterparties for other headlining shows—from Lady Gaga to Janet Jackson to Aerosmith—but the throwback soul joyfully performed by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak during their An Evening With Silk Sonic engagement is a natural culture fit. And there’s a chance to catch the stars at the afterparty; Paak has previously DJ’d in the Vinyl Parlor after Dolby Live shows. “It’s just a great vibe; everyone is having fun, and then Anderson comes in and brings the energy and that big smile to the room,” Shalvoy

says. “There’s no pretension at all. I cherish those nights and look forward to them.” SelvaRey Rum, a spirit co-owned by Mars, sponsors the parties and last week launched an additional experience, the SelvaRey After Party Lounge, at Park MGM’s nearby Juniper Cocktail Lounge. And with Usher relocating his Strip residency to Park MGM from Caesars Palace—starting on July 15—expect the resort’s post-show buzz to continue to grow. Usher himself has attended multiple Silk Sonic shows at Park MGM, and John Legend, who recently kicked off his own Vegas residency at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood, is a huge fan. “I’ve known Anderson for quite a while, and we’ve collaborated. And Bruno is so exceptionally gifted, it’s great seeing them together,” Legend recently told the Weekly. “Bruno was already hugely popular, and Anderson was kind of an underground love a lot of musicians and cool kids had, but seeing him blossom in this setting with that platform Bruno already had, and seeing the great music they made together has been so fun to watch.”

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ANOTHER

MAIN ATTRACTION

Braeswood BBQ brings brisket, tacos and more to the Downtown scene BY BROCK RADKE

C U L T U R E

BRAESWOOD BBQ 1504 S. Main St., 725242-2097, braeswood bbq.com. WednesdayFriday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

oing down to Main Street for food and drinks has been a thing for a while now, but it’s important to recognize that quality and creativity are driving everything. It’s truly exciting to see the potential of Downtown Las Vegas being realized in this way at this time, when you can stroll around the southern end of Main, day or night—closer to the Strip than to Fremont Street—and visit an array of unique retail shops, bars and tap rooms, and sample different, delicious food from new restaurants. This is what Sunday Fun Day was hashtagged for. My latest discovery is the Tex-Mex-style Braeswood BBQ, an unassuming year-old joint surrounded by Able Baker Brewing and Wiseguys Comedy Club. With the success of SoulBelly BBQ just a few blocks north, this place might have slipped under the radar a bit. But there’s room in your smoked meat-loving heart for at least two Downtown ’cue spots, and Braeswood is a com-

pletely different, thoroughly casual experience. It’s also my first run-in with posole ramen ($16), a hybrid of soulful Mexican and Japanese soups topped off with a thick slice of rich beef brisket. The spicy pork broth with hints of hominy, fresh lime and cilantro makes for an unbelievable base for the chewy noodles and decadent brisket, and this mighty bowl could easily feed two. It’s an unexpected treasure, an accurate way to describe Braeswood itself. You can eat traditionally here, by ordering smoked brisket, ribs, chicken or sausage by the pound and supplementing with side dishes like macaroni and cheese, potato salad, simmered greens or coleslaw. You can go Tex-Mex-style with rice and beans on the side and crispy chips and creamy queso ($10) as a starter. Or you can mix and match with combination plates ($22-$30), offering multiple choices of meats, sides or tacos. But whether it’s your first time at Braeswood

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or you’re already back for more, you have to have at least one taco. House-made corn tortillas wrap huge chunks of that brilliant brisket that have been stewed in a tomato-chile sauce in the guisado taco ($7), topped with cilantro, onion and guacamole. Overstuffed and addictive, this is the best Downtown taco I’ve had in years, and that’s saying something. Right behind it are the smoked chicken tacos ($5) with crispy bits of bird and pico de gallo with the genius addition of tomatillo. Braeswood also does brisket tacos with barbecue sauce ($7) and hearty pork chili verde tacos with beans ($6), all of which will fill you up fast. Rounding out the menu are brisket guisado and melted cheese-topped fries ($16) and a few sandwich options, including a third-pound burger ($17) with all the stuff plus a pile of brisket. Grab a seat at the counter or on the sunny patio, order a couple icy beers and get down to business. This is serious eating.

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Braeswood’s guisado tacos, posole ramen, taco and ribs combo and mac and cheese (Wade Vandervort/ Staff) Michael Vakneen (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

EXPANDED EXPERTISE Pizza champ Michael Vakneen delivers personal pan pies to the new Sand Dollar

FOOD & DRINK

n The Sand Dollar Downtown recently opened at the Plaza, and the pizza you’ll eat there—to help you through those long, fun nights of music and drinks—comes from Michael Vakneen, who just took one of the top prizes in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo 2022 right here in Las Vegas. But it won’t be the same stuff you’ve had from his Pop Up Pizza, a fixture at the Plaza since 2012. Vakneen has developed a unique menu of personal pan pizzas for the second location of the storied bar and music lounge that began on Spring Mountain Road, something that can become “their own signature pizza,” he says. Vakneen has been setting himself apart through dedication to craftsmanship for a long time now. His first-place pie at the competition was a celebration of the pistachio: green dough made with hand-

hulled pistachios that had been soaked in water and super-concentrated natural pistachio oil, a lemon-garlic cream sauce, two types of mozzarella plus stracciatella cheese, imported mortadella (with pistachios), preserved lemon, fried mint and fresh basil. It won in the highly competitive nontraditional division of the IPC and placed second in the overall global competition. More and more of the city’s best pizza makers have competed in the annual event in recent years, but no local has placed higher than Vakneen’s accomplishments this year. “It’s been a long road, and I’ve been doing this for a while, so it’s nice to get some accolades,” he says. “It really represented where my skill is now. Pop Up is a New Yorkstyle place, and we pride it on being pretty authentic. Where I’m at now is a more interesting place. “A lot of people have reached out to me in Vegas and internationally asking questions about dough and fermentation,” Vakneen continues. “If I can sort of be that person to help others get to where they want to go, where their dreams are with their pizza, that’s something I definitely see myself doing.” –Brock Radke

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C U L T U R E

Zamir White

DON’T RUSH TO JUDGMENT Why the Raiders have added so many running backs, and what it means for the future

Brittain Brown

Josh Jacobs

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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BY CASE KEEFER

seventh round. Having also signed free agents Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah in March, the Raiders now have seven running backs on the roster, with Jacobs, Drake and Trey Ragas returning from last year. “Running back is just a tough position in the league,” Ziegler said in his post-draft news conference. “Those guys take a pounding, and it’s a physical position. [We were] able to add young players there to compete, see if they can find role, and again, it goes back to what was available when it was our turn to pick.” McDaniels further downplayed the team’s low-cost running back shopping spree over the past two months, noting that he would prefer to carry seven running backs into the start of training camp in July anyway. The Raiders are just ahead of schedule in getting to that number, he said. But there’s clearly a little more to it. Las Vegas traded up four spots in the draft, to No. 122 overall, to take White. That contradicts the company line that the Raiders were simply taking the best player available at their draft slot. And White doesn’t project as a complementary piece longterm. He has No. 1 running back ability in virtually every area after having led Georgia on the ground for two straight years, including on last season’s national championship team, with a combined 1,659 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. He only slipped to the fourth round due to a pair of backto-back ACL tears in separate knees his senior year of high school into his first training camp at Georgia. The second injury happened in 2018, so long ago that White says he doesn’t “even think about it” anymore. White should immediately get carries in his rookie season,

(AP Photo/ Photo Illustration)

when the Raiders will likely be grooming him to take over for Jacobs as the featured back in 2023 if he proves he can stay healthy. “He’s played against a real high level of competition,” McDaniels said of White. “He’s a physical, tough, downhill runner. He’s got burst and speed. He’ll be physical in blitz pickup. They didn’t throw him the ball a ton, but he’s got adequate ability in the passing game. Just a tough kid who … overcame some adversity. He really made a tremendous career for himself at Georgia, overcoming what he had to overcome.” The 6-foot, 215-pound White was the nation’s top-rated running back recruit out of Scotland High in Laurinburg, North Carolina. His college decision came down to Georgia or Alabama, coincidentally right as Jacobs was leaving the latter following a storied career that saw him win one national championship and reach the final in his two other seasons. Jacobs had similarly arrived at Alabama right after Drake graduated with a pair of national titles from his time with the Crimson Tide. “Those are both great backs that I have looked up to for years,” White said of Jacobs and Drake in a Zoom call with reporters. “As far as me coming in, it’s just working and grinding and not worrying about [playing time]. I just want to come in and compete, just have fun and meet them guys.” Aside from White and Brown, all of the Raiders’ running backs aren’t contractually tied to the team beyond next season. That means there’s a chance the

two rookies could come into 2023 as the Raiders’ onetwo running back punch of second-year players if they impress this season. Brown is more of a passing-down back, and therefore a natural complement to White. He looks like a strong candidate to develop on the practice squad this season, though he could sneak onto the 53-man roster if he proves capable of helping on special teams in a big way. Las Vegas is unlikely to carry more than four running backs out of training camp and into Week 1 of the season. Jacobs, Drake and White look like shoo-ins, assuming they’re healthy. Bolden should have the next best chance given his years of experience under McDaniels with the Patriots. Abdullah, a former second pick of the Detroit Lions, and Ragas, an undrafted free agent who impressed last year’s coaching staff and elevated to the active roster for one game, appear to be ultra-long shots to make the team. But it’s hard to know for sure with the surprises that have already transpired. No one saw the Raiders signing two running backs in free agency and then drafting another pair. “You can never have enough good players at any one position,” Ziegler said. “We’ve talked about it from the beginning: We want to build depth in competition, and that’s going to be a very important part of this program. It was an opportunity to take some swings.”

SPORTS

arly last season, Josh Jacobs went to the Raiders’ coaching staff with a request. The star running back was coming off a Pro Bowl season but wanted to see more of fellow running back Kenyan Drake, whom he thought was being underutilized. “I don’t want this to be a oneman show,” Jacobs explained going into a Week 7 game against the Eagles. “My body don’t want this to be a one-man show, you feel me? I tell them, ‘Incorporate him.’” Jacobs won’t need to urge anyone for more of a timeshare at his position this upcoming season. If anything, it’s starting to look like he might need to do the opposite—ask for more opportunities. The NFL Draft made it clear that the Raiders’ new power duo of general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels prefers, like most of the rest of the modern NFL, a “running-back-by-committee” approach. Unlike former coach and ultimate personnel authority Jon Gruden, they’re not interested in using anyone as an every-down back or allocating a large part of the salary cap to the backfield. On the second day of the draft last month, before Ziegler had even made his first pick as general manager, he announced in a statement that the team would not be picking up Jacobs’ fifth-year option for the 20232024 season. The Raiders could conceivably still negotiate a new deal with the 24-year-old former first round pick out of Alabama, but they turned down a chance to lock him up for an extra year at $7.9 million. Then, on the draft’s final day, Ziegler selected a pair of running backs—Georgia’s Zamir White in the fourth round and UCLA’s Brittain Brown in the

VEGAS INC BUSINESS

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TOURISM

ELECTRIC VEHICLE RENTAL COMPANY READY TO OPEN DOORS TO THOSE LOOKING FOR A DRIVING EXPERIENCE

BY BRYAN HORWATH VEGAS INC STAFF ustomers are already making reservations to rent Tesla electric cars from a company opening soon at the Strip’s new-

est resort. A startup company called EVolve EV Rentals will offer Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Model S and premium Model X vehicles, with Resorts World Las Vegas as the pick-up and drop-off location. The business is scheduled be operational by June. John Marino, the company’s president, said the firm was confident about making a similar deal with another Strip resort in early 2020, but the onset of the coronavirus pandemic derailed that plan. Once Las Vegas started to return to some semblance of normalcy, the firm revisited the original plan, but the people who had been negotiating with EVolve were no longer with the resort, Marino said. The company had contemplated launching its Tesla rental service in Minnesota, but the winters there are cold and not ideal for electric vehicle battery life. “We wanted to be in Las Vegas,” he said. “In a warmer climate, the range for batteries is a lot better. We were able to find a partner in Resorts World where it made a lot of sense for us.” Resorts World is expected to soon open its Vegas Loop passenger stop for the Boring Company underground transportation system, which runs beneath the nearby Las Vegas Conven-

tion Center campus. With that system, Tesla vehicles are driven along tunneled roadways. Since it can be difficult to rent Teslas, Marino said, the hope is that EVolve will become popular in Las Vegas. To start, the company will have a fleet of 25 Teslas, three of which are Model X cars. The cars retail from about $40,000 to more than $100,000. Marino said he hopes to add 25 more Teslas to the fleet by the end of the year, and the company likely will add other electric vehicle brands to its stable as time goes on. “Unless a person buys a

Model S or a Model X, it’s not terribly easy to be able to drive these vehicles,” Marino said. As of last week, the company was waiting for final approval from the state to be able to rent the cars, which can be reserved for a day, weekend or week. The cheapest Tesla starts a $199 a day. Renters must be at least 21 years old. “When someone’s renting a Tesla, it’s not really your car to get from point A to point B,” said Jackson Clay, manager of the

A Tesla Model Y, one of the vehicles available from EVolve Tesla Rentals (Steve Marcus/Staff)

EVolve rental desk at Resorts World. “It’s more of an experience. We’re planning to expand throughout the West to places like Phoenix and Los Angeles and other cities. Possibly Florida, eventually, too.” Clay said the Teslas that EVolve will offer will have a range of at least 300 miles on a single battery charge. That means Las Vegas visitors can easily take one of the cars not only up and down the Strip but to popular nearby destinations like Valley of Fire State Park, the Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon and even the Grand Canyon’s west rim. “We’re not going to be a volume business,” Jackson said. “We’re not going to have people lined up out the door. With every rental, the customer will get a demonstration so they’re comfortable behind the wheel. We’ll make sure people have all the tools to be comfortable before they drive off the property.” Part of the reason Resorts World was interested in the partnership was EVolve’s commitment to environmental sustainability, resort president Scott Sibella said. “Giving visitors the opportunity to conveniently rent a Tesla is a great way to enhance their rental experience and add to our overall efforts to provide guests with sustainable options across the resort,” Sibella said in a statement. EVolve customers won’t have to be Resorts World guests, but there is a coupon code that people staying at the resort can use. The rental desk, once it’s fully up and running, will employ about six people. “These cars are very user-friendly and very fun to drive,” Clay said. “One of the great things, too, is that these are carbon-neutral vehicles, so they’re great for the environment.”

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VegasInc Notes Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada hired William Abbott as director of development. He will lead Abbott the nonprofit organization’s development, communications and marketing teams, external relationships with current and potential donors, and strategic planning for efforts that inspire and prepare K-12 students for success by offering lessons in financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship. Logitix, a live event ticketing technology and analytics firm, named Lou D’Angeli as its senior director of Las Vegas events. D’Angeli brings over 25 years of experience as a

marketing executive for brands such as Cirque du Soleil and World Wrestling Entertainment. Through this newly created position, D’Angeli will lead the Las Vegas division of Logitix to optimize live event ticket sales for shows through real-time data, dynamic pricing and distribution. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History added two new board members: entertainment entrepreneur Darnell Strom and Las Vegas banker Dawson Her Many Horses, the first Native American board member to join the now 21-person board. Her Many Horses is the head of Native American Banking for Wells Fargo and is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Strom holds the position of partner and heads the Culture and Leadership Division at United Talent

Agency in Los Angeles. Both bring unique backgrounds in business and political activism to the position. UNR Extension named Macy Helm as SNAP-Ed coordinator and Brian Luckey as SNAP-Ed evaluation coordinator Helm to assist in increasing the health and nutrition program’s impact throughout Nevada. Jeanette Ivan joined American Nevada Luckey Company as assistant property manager. She has 13 years

of commercial property management experience in office, retail, industrial and medical management, and was previously with Avison Young. Her duties include supporting the property management team with day-to-day accounting, marketing, operations and financial activities for the property portfolio. Braintrust, a certified minority-owned business and integrated marketing agency, promoted Jesse Mello to creMello ative director and Troy Gallo to director of brand strategy. Mello now oversees all creative output curated by the design, creative, web Gallo and digital teams. Gallo now spearheads strategic brand development initiatives by assisting clients with new or redeveloping brand identi-

ties to best differentiate themselves from competitors, and to better foster an impactful brand experience. Broadbent & Associates Inc., an environmental, water resource and civil engineering firm, hired stack technician Ferrari David Ferrari. Prior to joining Broadbent, Ferrari worked in the steel industry as a sales representative. John Naylor and Jennifer Braster, founders and managing partners of Naylor & Braster, Attorneys at Law, were named the Clark County Bar Association’s 2021 Volunteers of the Year at the organization’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Southwest Medical added a new provider to help meet the need for health services in Southern Nevada. Carl Plaza, APRN joins the Nellis Healthcare Center location (420-560 N. Nellis Blvd.) and specializes in adult medicine.

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