2022-12-08-Las-Vegas-Weekly

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ASTONISHING. UNPREDICTABLE. MIND-BENDING.

Omega Mart is an immersive interactive experience from the groundbreaking art collective, Meow Wolf. Featuring jaw-dropping work from international and local artists, Omega Mart sends participants of all ages on a journey through surreal worlds and immersive storytelling. Discover secret portals or simply soak up the innovative art as you venture beyond an extraordinary supermarket into parts unknown.

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EDITORIAL

Senior Editor GEOFF CARTER (geo .carter@gmgvegas.com)

Editor at Large BROCK RADKE (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com)

Deputy Editor EVELYN MATEOS (evelyn.mateos@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer SHANNON MILLER (shannon.miller@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer AMBER SAMPSON (amber.sampson@gmgvegas.com)

Contributing Writers GRACE DA ROCHA,HILLARY DAVIS, MIKE GRIMALA, CASEY HARRISON, KATIE ANN MCCARVER, DANNY WEBSTER

Contributing Editors RAY BREWER, JUSTIN HAGER, BRYAN HORWATH, CASE KEEFER, DAVE MONDT

O ce Coordinator NADINE GUY

CREATIVE

Art Director CORLENE BYRD (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com)

Senior Designer IAN RACOMA

Photo Coordinator BRIAN RAMOS

Photographers CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS, STEVE MARCUS, WADE VANDERVORT

DIGITAL

Publisher of Digital Media KATIE HORTON

Web Content Specialist CLAYT KEEFER

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Publisher of Branded Content & Special Publications EMMA WOLFF

PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION

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CEO, Publisher & Editor BRIAN GREENSPUN Chief Operating O cer ROBERT CAUTHORN LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 2275 Corporate Circle Suite 300 Henderson, NV 89074 702-990-2550 lasvegasweekly.com facebook.com/lasvegasweekly twitter.com/lasvegasweekly All content is copyright Las Vegas Weekly LLC. Las Vegas Weekly is published Thursdays and distributed throughout Southern Nevada. Readers are permitted one free copy per issue. Additional copies are $2, available back issues $3. ADVERTISING DEADLINE EVERY THURSDAY AT 5 P.M. PUBLISHER MARK DE POOTER mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com EDITOR SPENCER PATTERSON spencer.patterson@gmgvegas.com
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A Rat Queen mask at Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Summerlin studio (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Your daily events planner, starring Adam Sandler, Yuridia, Golden Knights-Bruins hockey, the Esports Awards and more.

Cirque du Soleil ironman Geoff Carter takes in all six Vegas productions in five nights.

STAGE Learn about the costumes that help make NBT’s production of The Nutcracker so dazzling.

NIGHTS

The Weekly catches up with Ludacris to talk movies, music and more.

Johnson & Johnson: Country stars Cody and Jamey are here the same night, so we help you decide.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 7 I 12.8.22

&

DRINK

Where to find special seasonal cocktails and year-round natural wines.

IN THIS ISSUE
OF CONTENTS
TABLE
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL Photos Courtesy/ Photo Illustration 10 WANT MORE? Head to lasvegasweekly.com.
ON THE COVER
48 36 18 40 44 34
SPORTS Case Keefer hands out his 2022 College Football Betting Awards to the teams that won big at the window.
SUPERGUIDE
COVER STORY
NOISE
FOOD
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YOUR
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LAS VEGAS
RESERVE
TABLE
HOTELS

SUPERGUIDE

THURSDAY

8 DEC.

MIRANDA LAMBERT

8 p.m., & 12/10 & 12/11, Zappos Theater, ticketmaster.com.

BARRY MANILOW: A VERY BARRY CHRISTMAS Thru 12/10, 7 p.m., Westgate International Theater, ticketmaster.com.

VEGAS VALLEY CONCERTS: BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS 8 p.m., the Space, thespacelv.com.

AEROSMITH

8 p.m., & 12/11, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

RODNEY CARRINGTON

Thru 12/10, 9 p.m., David Copperfield Theater, mgmgrand. mgmresorts.com.

THE WILD PARTY Thru 12/11, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Majestic Repertory Theatre, majesticrepertory. com.

NIIKO & SWAE 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events.taogroup. com.

JON REEP

Thru 12/11, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club, ticketmaster. com.

YOOKIE With Algo, Je!!y, Aciidcat, 10 p.m., We All Scream, seetickets.us.

JOHN WESLEY AUSTIN Thru 12/11, 8:30 & 10:30 p.m., Laugh Factory, ticketmaster.com.

LOST KINGS 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

FRIDAY

CODY JOHNSON

With Ashland Craft, Randy Houser, 8 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

NEVADA BALLET THEATRE: THE NUTCRACKER 7:30 p.m., & 12/10 (12/10 & 12/11, 2 p.m.), Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS 7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.

DIPLO

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

TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS

With Red Shahan, 9 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl, ticketweb.com.

NEVADA CONSERVATORY THEATER: CRUMBS

YURIDIA

Yuridia, a beloved Mexican pop icon, has entered a new era. After finishing second place on the fourth season of Mexican reality show La Academia in 2005, she released six albums focused mostly on pop. Now, she’s pushed her powerful, husky voice to Mexican ranchera music on latest album Pa’ Luego Es Tarde, released in October. “Many people had asked me about recording an album of rancheras, but I kept postponing, because I was busy struggling to make it in pop,” the singer told Apple Music. Yuridia partnered with Edén Muñoz, a well-known singer, songwriter and producer of regional Mexican music to create her latest project, which combines heart wrenching numbers like “¿Con Qué Se Pega un Corazón?” with exuberant bolero norteño cuts like “Te Dejo.” For one night, she’ll fill the House of Blues with everything she’s got. 7 p.m., $59-$149, House of Blues, concerts.livenation.com. –Evelyn Mateos (Photo Courtesy)

FROM THE TABLE OF JOY 7:30 p.m., & 12/10 (& 2 p.m. 12/11), Judy Bayley Theatre, unlv.edu.

ADELE

8 p.m., & 12/10, the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com.

RON WHITE

10 p.m., & 12/10, Mirage Theatre, mirage.mgmresorts.com.

JAMEY JOHNSON

10 p.m., Golden Nugget Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

LUKE BRYAN

8 p.m., & 12/10, Resorts World Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

JUICY J 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

ZZ TOP 8 p.m., & 12/10, Venetian Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD 9 p.m., & 12/10, Theater at Virgin, axs.com.

10 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 SUPERGUIDE
ARTS FOOD + DRINK COMEDY MISC
MUSIC PARTY SPORTS
9 DEC.

12TH PLANET

With Modestep, Delta Heavy, 9 p.m., Area15 A-Lot, area15.com.

(Photo Courtesy/Area15)

PLAN YOUR WEEK AHEAD

SUPERGUIDE

ULTIMATE WOMEN OF WRESTLING

6:30 p.m., House of Blues, concerts.livenation.com.

LOUIS THE CHILD

With Charly Jordan, 10 p.m., Zouk Night club, zoukgrouplv.com.

PAULY SHORE

9 p.m. (& 8 & 10:30 p.m. 12/10), Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguys comedy.com.

DJANGOBELLS

6 p.m., Water Street Plaza Amphitheater, cityofhenderson.com.

BUKU & G-REX

With John Casey, 10 p.m., Discopussy, seetickets.us.

SLEEP SIGNALS & QUOR

With AntiTrust, Shatter the Moon, Algorerhythm, 8 p.m., the Usual Place, eventbrite.com.

ADAM SANDLER

No matter how many dramatic roles he takes on—from an anxiety-inducing turn in Uncut Gems all the way back to 2002’s Paul Thomas Anderson piece Punch-Drunk Love, currently waiting for a rewatch on Hulu—Adam Sandler always comes back to the guitar-strumming goofball you know (and possibly love) when he returns to live stand-up comedy. He’s been doing that a lot in recent years at the Cosmopolitan, cracking slightly more grownup dirty jokes and singing silly songs to packed houses at the Chelsea. Whether or not you’re a fan, you have to admit Sandler is a rare performer in that way, a comedian who returns to his roots after dabbling in drama, family enter tainment and more. So even though he’s generating some Oscar buzz for this year’s feel-good basketball film Hustle, it’s a safe bet “The Chanukah Song” will still make the cut for this weekend’s shows on the Strip. December 9-10, 8 p.m., $150-$300, the Chelsea, ticketmaster.com. –Brock Radke (AP Photo)

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11 I 12.8.22

SUPERGUIDE

SATURDAY

MARSHMELLO

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

NIGHT OF LIGHTS 5 p.m., St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, stjuderanch.org.

LUDACRIS 10:30 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

MARIACHI HERENCIA DE MÉXICO: A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 7:30 p.m., UNLV Performing Arts Center, unlv.edu.

JACK JONES HOOPFEST MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Ft. Arizona State, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Creighton, Loyola Marymount, Utah State, 3 p.m. (& 12/12, 6 p.m.), Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

RICK ROSS 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

FOREVER GREY With Hallows, 8 p.m., Artifice, artificebarlv.com.

DEC.

10

GEOFF TATE

With Mark Daly & The Ravens, 7:30 p.m., Count’s Vamp’d, eventbrite.com.

BOY HITS CAR With Jekserah, Prawn Queen, Elephante King, This is Rogue Two, 7 p.m., the Usual Place, eventbrite.com.

MODERN MACHINES 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

NEON SCARS With Inframundo, Gob Patrol, Bi , 7 p.m., the Dive Bar, facebook. com/divebarlv.

LIE FOR FUN 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, dice.fm.

PARTY FAVOR 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

DESERT WINDS: ELF ON THE SHELF & BEYOND 3:30 & 7:30 p.m., Pinecrest Academy Performing Arts Conservatory, 675 E. Dale Ave., eventbrite.com.

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS

LAS VEGAS CLASH MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A pair of teams ranked in the top 10 of the latest AP and Coaches polls square o at MGM, starting at 4:30 p.m. Arizona (No. 4 in AP and Coaches) vs. Indiana (No. 8 in Coaches, No. 10 by AP) will be the headliner, with a high-flying game virtually guaranteed.

Arizona leads the nation in pace per kenpom.com, coming o a Pac-12 championship-winning season that led to the Wildcats earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Indiana, meanwhile, is favored to win its first Big Ten title since 2016 behind National Player of the Year candidate

Trayce Jackson-Davis. In the opener of the event at 12:30 p.m., UNLV plays its final scheduled game against a power conference opponent this season in the Pac-12’s Washington State. $49+, MGM Grand Garden Arena, axs.com. –Case Keefer (AP Photo)

12 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 SUPERGUIDE
COMEDY
FOOD + DRINK SPORTS MISC PARTY ARTS COMEDY
MUSIC
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Brad Marchand (AP Photo)

11 DEC. SUNDAY

THAI RIVERA

7:30 p.m., & 12/12, Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguys comedy.com.

THE EMO NIGHT TOUR 8 p.m., 24 Oxford, etix.com.

JOKER’S REPUBLIC

With Hooray for Our Side, Scotty Dub, Robert Stokes, 8 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

GENE FARRIS

With JVX, DLG, Adam Lozano, Oskar Konne, David Serrano, 2 a.m., Club Ego, eventbrite.com.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. BOSTON BRUINS

5 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com. (AP

12 DEC. MONDAY

BRAD MARCHAND

MONDAYS DARK NINTH ANNIVERSARY

Las Vegas’ variety show for a cause is turning nine! And to celebrate, Mondays Dark will take over the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms for a night of Vegas entertainment hosted, as always, by the one and only Mark Shunock Catch performances by Skye Dee Miles, Clint Holmes, The Bronx Wanderers, the casts of Bat Out of Hell and Freestyle Love Supreme and many more, bid in the silent auction and catch the reveal of Mondays Dark’s 2023 charities. Since it was founded, the twice-monthly charity show—typically held at the Space—has raised more than $1 million for Vegas nonprofits. 7 p.m., $20$50, Pearl Concert Theater, mondaysdark.com.

–Shannon Miller

BRANDON VESTAL

With Rob Sherwood, Brandt Tobler, 8 p.m., Brad Garrett Comedy Club, bradgarrett comedy.com.

KIM LEE 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

SUPERGUIDE

MYLES WEBER

Thru 12/18, 8 p.m., L.A. Comedy Club, bestvegascomedy.com.

MIKE ATTACK

10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, events.taogroup.com.

SERGIO CHICON

With Leo Flowers, Michael Yo, Caitlin Pelu o, 7 & 9:30 p.m., Comedy Cellar, ticketmaster.com.

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 13 I 12.8.22
Photo)

ESPORTS AWARDS

It’s been a wild year for competitive video gaming.

Since the return of in-person esports events, pro players have emerged with a renewed sense of love for the game.

The underground Los Angeles Thieves fought relentlessly to clutch their first Call of Duty League championship against the Atlanta FaZe Clan in August. And in November, Dallas Fuel, a veteran Overwatch League team, topped the San Francisco Shock in one of the tensest finales ever. Both teams walked away with more than $1 million in winnings, but they’ll truly celebrate at the Esports Awards. The prestigious blacktie event, which makes its Las Vegas debut at Resorts World Theatre this year, recognizing the who’s who of the industry, from team owners and players to sportscasters and content creators. If you’ve spent any time rooting for your favorite streamer, here’s a rare chance to catch them up close and offline. 8 p.m., $50, Resorts World Theatre, esportsawards.com.

–Amber Sampson

TUESDAY

FRICTION

With Bushido Brown & Red, Dre4k, 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussydtlv.com.

(Photo Courtesy)

SECRETS

With Archetypes Collide, Dead American, 8 p.m., the Space, thespacelv.com.

SERPENTINE FIRE 7 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com.

JUSTIN CREDIBLE 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events.taogroup. com.

UNIQUE MASSIVE 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Lounge, thesanddollarlv. com.

THE FAB 8 pm., & 12/15, Westgate Cabaret, ticketmaster.com

FAED 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night, wynnsocial.com.

PYRO SURFERS

10 p.m., Sand Dollar Downtown, the sanddollarlv.com/ downtown.

ESCOBAR 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

14 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 13 DEC.
SUPERGUIDE FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM. MUSIC PARTY SPORTS ARTS FOOD + DRINK COMEDY MISC PLAN YOUR WEEK AHEAD 14 DEC. WEDNESDAY
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BINGEING

18 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 KÀ (Courtesy)
COVER STORY

CIRQUE

RJ Owens, who inherited the Bebe François role, says finding that wonder inside audiences is pretty much a mandate among Cirque performers.

The first Cirque du Soleil show I ever saw was Mystère. This was back in springtime 1994, only a few months after the show opened at Treasure Island. Back then, I knew next to nothing about Cirque du Soleil, except that it hailed from Montreal and that it eschewed archetypal circus stuff like animal acts and compact cars crammed full of greasepaint clowns. My ingrained notion of “circus” was so conventional, so American— formed by Circus Circus, one childhood visit to Ringling Bros. and Walt Disney’s Dumbo that I couldn’t imagine anything outside of it.

All of that changed in one night. Though I’ve seen Mystère many times since then, moments from that first show are still fresh in my memory. I remember the hand bal ancers, performing their feats of immense strength, balance and grace while perched atop a half-dome. I remember the musical flourishes that accompanied the bungee performers suspended from the ceiling. (I could probably hum much of Mystère’s original 1990s score for you, even now.) I remember Bebe François—originally played by the late, great Francois Dupuis— glee fully interrupting the show while searching the crowd for his “mama.”

But above all else, I remember tearing up, more than once. I wept happily for Mystère, because cheering, applauding, laughing and gasping didn’t feel like sufficient currency for what I was given that night. I didn’t know that I still had a childlike wonderment locked up inside me until Cirque du Soleil found that vault and drilled it open.

“This may be your 3000th performance, but this is an audience’s first time seeing the show, and if you don’t feel like they feel, think of something that you need to put yourself in that place or think of another career,” he says. “We are creating a memory for the audience that’s going to last an abso lute lifetime. There’ll be some things they don’t like—nobody can like everything—but in every Cirque show that I’ve seen, I can pinpoint specific moments that just filled me with such wonder and awe. … [Even] I’m filled with a sense of awe and wonder, every time I go out onstage.”

Many years later, while stuck at home during the pandemic shutdown, I thought about that first Cirque show. I missed lots of things from before COVID, from indie rock gigs to fancy restaurants, but when I imagined being out in the world, I’d always go first to Mystère, because—and I know this sounds dumb—it could never happen in my home. I could imagine Ty Segall playing a set in my backyard, or José Andrés whipping up his Bazaar Meat gazpacho in my dinky kitchen, but Cirque went far beyond any considerations of space, cast and equipment. Owens was right; I had to be there to feel it.

That was likely the first time I’d wondered if I could see all the Las Vegas-based Cirque productions in one week. During those des olate, formless COVID weeks, I had learned that I could easily binge entire seasons of television over the course of a few days. Would it be that much more of a challenge to attend a Cirque show over several consecu tive evenings?

It was purely a rhetorical question at the time. All the Vegas Cirque shows were closed, one of them permanently, as it turned out (New York-New York’s Zumanity,

which, regrettably, I never saw), and Cirque du Soleil itself filed for bankruptcy protec tion in June 2020. (To be fair, nearly every entertainment company was driven to the brink by COVID, save for Netflix.) Dejected ly, I wondered if the Cirque du Soleil shows I’d seen over the years—Mystère, O and the now-defunct Zarkana—would be all the Cirque I’d ever get.

Cirque thought otherwise. “There was never a doubt that we would come back; it was just a matter of when,” says Eric Grilly, president of Cirque du Soleil’s Resident and Affiliate shows divisions, via email. “We are inherently risk takers. With strong partners and the vast playground of the Las Vegas Strip, we’re able to explore the bounds of our creativity.”

Cirque’s full return to that playground, cemented with the reopening of KÀ in November 2021 and the May 2022 debut of Mad Apple in the former Zumanity theater at New York-New York in May, heartened me as few comebacks ever have. Cirque du Soleil is arguably the sturdiest pillar of Vegas entertainment. It’s one of our best-known cultural attributes, alongside Elvis and electricity. And as anyone who has watched a lot of streaming TV can tell you, six 90-minute shows make for a proper “season.” Once again, I realized, Cirque could be binged— and this time, I would do it.

I set a few rules for myself at the outset. I would see only Cirque du Soleil-branded shows, skipping those owned by the company but without the Cirque name on them, such as Blue Man Group. I had to see all their productions in six days. (I did it in five.) And even though already I’d seen three of the shows (I checked out Mad Apple in previews), I would proceed like Bebe François, approaching every show as if it were the first time. I’d put away the notebook, quash my natural skepticism and lean right into the wonder and awe.

What it’s like to watch all six of Vegas’ Cirque du Soleil shows in five nights?
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 19 I 12.8.22

NIGHT 1

KÀ came first. The MGM Grand show, which takes place inside a breathtakingly colossal theater whose wings are lined with catwalks and steampunk-like metal scaffolding, had the strongest story of the six shows I attend ed during my binge. (Granted, all the Vegas Cirque shows have narrative throughlines save for Mad Apple, which I’ll talk about momentarily.) It’s possible, and even easy, to watch these shows without giving much con sideration to who’s who and who wants what, simply drinking in the spectacle.

But KÀ is different. It has obvious heroes and villains, all of whom go through dynamic, often dangerous physical trials. Throughout KÀ, we see our young protagonists faced with one hardship after the next—ambushes,

shipwrecks and many, many battles, each one unique. The table-like main stage, a tech nological marvel that can tilt and rotate in pretty much any direction, can be made to be anything—a barge lazily drifting downriver, or a sheer cliff face where rappelling soldiers fight each other to the death. At one point, archers fire arrows from the wings, which through mechanical magic “stick” in the cliff face; they become grips that a character uses to climb the wall.

I was slack-jawed for most of KÀ, often times too impressed even to applaud the individual performers. Like all Cirque shows, KÀ contains a vast array of specialty per formers—aerialists, acrobats, martial artists, clowns. But the way they’re employed in KÀ

feels less theatrical and more cinematic. It’s one thing to have a “Wheel of Death” act in your show, but quite another to have two of them, one in front of another, being moved in opposite directions like clockwork. Many bits of KÀ reminded me of recent action mov ies I’ve seen, like Mad Max: Fury Road and Shang-Chi. It didn’t occur to me until I left the theater that this 2005 show might have partially inspired the action in those movies, not the other way around.

KÀ presented me with a gift—watching skilled, conditioned entertainers doing their jobs while distraction erupts all around them. And I watch the performers watching other performers, making sure they’re safe and priming themselves to step in if something goes wrong with an act or a set piece.

Mystère’s Owens says audiences barely see the half of it. “What you don’t see is the people backstage, off-stage, upstage, downstage, above us, behind us and to the side of us who are also watching out,” he says. “We are one giant, lovely dysfunctional family, and family should always be watching out for each other. It’s safe to say that if you’re of the mindset that you only look out for yourself onstage, you’re not gonna last long in a Cirque show. We rely on each other so much.”

KA
COVER STORY 20 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
KÀ (Courtesy)

NIGHT 2

MICHAEL JACKSON ONE & MAD APPLE

My second night was a south-Strip double-head er of Michael Jackson One at Mandalay Bay, followed by Mad Apple at New York-New York. Originally, my whole week was supposed to be like that: Two shows nightly, in the order the shows made their debut. Meaning, I would have attended Mystère (December 1993) and O (October 1998) on Night 1, KÀ (February 2005) and The Beatles Love (June 2006) on night 2 and Michael Jackson One (June 2013) and Mad Apple on night 3. I had doubts about being able to get from KÀ to Love in time for curtain, so I rescheduled them for individual nights, and in so doing, upset the three-night plan.

But a three-night Cirque binge is entirely pos sible, and I recommend trying it, because there are unexpected advantages to seeing Cirque shows back-to-back. For example, after seeing One and Mad Apple on the same night, I realized how many of Cirque’s special-sauce perform ers—the truly unexpected acts—aren’t acrobats, aerialists or clowns.

Take One. As you’d expect of a show celebrating

one of the greatest performers in history, a man whose singing was inseparable from his dancing, One employs multiple forms of performance, many of which you’d never see in a traditional circus. Dancers faithfully reproduce nearly every move for which Jackson was known, from the Moonwalk to the “Smooth Criminal” lean. A powerhouse live singer appears during multiple songs, sometimes harmonizing with Jackson’s recorded tracks, sometimes performing a duet. She floats over the audience seated in a crescent moon—a beautiful touch.

(A disclaimer: Michael Jackson One made me feel uncomfortable for reasons unrelated to Cirque. While its interpretation of Jackson’s career, both onstage and off, is nothing short of lyrical—and no one can deny the immortal appeal of his greatest songs—my appreciation of the show is qualified by the ugly controversy surrounding Jackson’s life, and that’s all I’ll say about it. But if any of that stuff weighed heavily on the young fans seated around me, they didn’t show it. They sang

along with every number, and some even cried loudly during a late-show surprise that made clever use of digital projection.)

Mad Apple is something else again. This New York-themed production is as close as Cirque comes to a straight variety show. The acts are in troduced one at a time, the live band is central to the action and a stand-up comic works the crowd between setups. The performers include singers, dancers, sign-spinners, magicians and a woman who executes a graceful aerial routine while hang ing from her hair. One fast-paced sequence has a team of street ballers launching into running jumps from a trampoline and nailing perfect dunks before landing.

“Shows come together in different ways, [with] inspiration from many places,” Grilly says. “Our casting team is constantly scouring the Earth for the best of the best to join our shows. Our stages provide a life after competition for athletes, and a space for creative expression that competing generally does not allow.”

Another unusual thing about Mad Apple is that the show tells you what it is, generally a Cirque no-no. And while the production doesn’t exactly poke fun at itself, there’s an irreverence to the proceedings that tells the audience that this is a party above all else. (The onstage bars, which stay open until the very moment the show begins, reinforce that message.)

As a result, Mad Apple is a good show for first-tim ers who’ve formed an opinion of Cirque du Soleil without ever experiencing it. That said, it’s not the Cirque show I recommend to most first timers. That would be the following night’s show.

BINGEING CIRQUE LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 21 I 12.8.22
Michael Jackson One (Courtesy) Mad Apple (Courtesy)

NIGHT 3

MYSTERE

“If I ever hear anybody say, ‘we’re coming to Vegas, and we’ve never seen a Cirque show,’ I always tell them to see Mystère,” RJ Owens says. “I’m adamant about this, [because] it is a show that still embraces the original concept of Cirque du Soleil. It embraces the performer; it is all about human exis tence and the human condition onstage. It’s not about the set, or the lights, or the sound. All those things are just part of this beautiful show.

“People will often say to me, ‘Oh, you’re the star of the show.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not; Mystère is the star of the show.’ … It is where you see beauty and grace and grit and determination and hearts and strength and power, beautifully crafted into a visual spectacle that will fill you with a sense of wonder and awe that you haven’t had in years.”

What he said. Nearly 30 years after I first saw Mystère, it still affects me. The taiko drummers descending from the ceiling, the teeterboard jumpers and, yes, Bebe François—it all feels new to me, be cause it seems new to the performers, too. They act as if they stepped onstage with out knowing exactly why they had done it, without knowing they were capable of making art with their bodies until they’d begun doing it.

As a singular personality, Mystère is guileless, wide-eyed, constantly elated. It’s easy to believe in, because it’s aimed squarely at the part of us that wants to believe in a world of miracles. If you want to know if you still possess that quality, Mystère will root it out for you.

COVER STORY 22 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
Mystère (Courtesy/ Kabik)

I first saw O only a few years ago, in late 2019. I came out of the show in a state of loopy astonishment, which, at the time, I attributed to the monster scale of the production. Everything about O is a wow: its cast is massive, its theater feels as large as the Bellagio itself, and its stage, dominated by a giant pool that can become a flat, dry platform in a matter of seconds, must be seen to be believed. But on my second viewing, I understood that what had impressed me so wasn’t the size of the stage, but how O fills every inch of that stage with activity.

You’re never quite sure what to look at. Look too closely at the performers on

swimming carousel horses and you might miss the woman playing a rolling cello, or the grumpy man trying to read a newspa per while engulfed in flames. (One of my favorite blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments is both a behind-the-scenes look and a great joke: At one point the platform rises out of the water with several of the show’s safety divers trapped on it, flapping like beached fish.) It’s stage magic in its broad est form; O is expert at diverting your attention while it sets up a new act. More than once I was startled by the seemingly sudden appearance of performers and equipment. Where did that come from?

That said, there are acts in O that ask

you to narrow your focus. To me, the clowns Leonid and Valery have the most lovely and poignant story arc in the show, or in any of the Vegas Cirque shows for that matter. Adrift on a floating shack, they go through the whole lost-at-sea schtick; they fight the elements, they plug up leaks, they try fruitlessly to get a good night’s sleep.

Finally, out of boredom, they teach each other to dance, and in so doing reveal their genuine affection for one another. It’s a wordless, heart-rending moment that you can read from the back of the house, through a masterful combi nation of performance and staging.

4 o BINGEING CIRQUE LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 23 I 12.8.22 O
NIGHT
(Courtesy)

The Beatles Love

Fittingly, The Beatles Love—which, despite the sale of its host resort, will continue at the Mirage at least through the end of 2023—was the final stop of what amounted to nothing less than a magical mystery tour. Love was the show I was most curious about before I began my Cirque binge, and it didn’t disappoint.

I was already a fan of its soundtrack—a mashup-inspired medley of Beatles hits, deconstructed, remixed and re-contextualized by George and Giles Martin—and it’s employed to perfection in a multidisciplinary spectac ular that pulls out pretty much every trick in the book. The show features aerial acts, dance routines, roller skaters, projection screens

and a moment of … hmm, let’s call it audience envelopment, whose particulars I won’t spoil. It gave me first-time Mystère feeling again.

But throughout Love, a thought was turning in the back of my head: What was I taking away from this five-night headstand? Had I learned anything from doing this all-at-once approach, as opposed to seeing the shows over a period of weeks or even months? As Love’s final performer left the stage, I began to put it all together.

The first thing I knew was that I could do it again. I wanted to do it again, to see everything

I’d missed the first or second time. Sure, I could watch all of Game of Thrones again and maybe pick up a new character moment or

spot an interesting background element that had slipped past me on first viewing. But those beats are stuck on a track; it’ll never change.

Cirque du Soleil’s brand of entertainment is built on things not being where you expect them to be or doing what you expect them to do. I could watch O or KÀ a hundred times and never see the same show, since acts are mod ified and performers are swapped in and out. Even the audience has it in its power to subtly change what’s happening onstage.

Also, I understood that the common thread uniting all the shows isn’t their stories or structure, or even the circus acts themselves. The common element, as RJ Owens says, is

COVER STORY
NIGHT 5
24 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22

wonder and awe. There’s no hard and fast template for Cirque shows, other than bringing the audience to that place where it can let go of preconceptions and cynicism and simply be overwhelmed.

“Our shows provide people with a 90-min ute escape into another world,” Grilly says. “Especially coming out of the pandemic, there’s such a need and demand for live experiences and human connection.”

And the binge confirmed what I already suspected: Vegas needs Cirque du Soleil. Putting aside how Cirque transformed the way people look at Las Vegas, the company is, at its most basic level, an industrial-strength

employer—the mind boggles at the number of sound and lighting technicians, safety personnel, physical therapists, trainers and more needed to produce just one Love-sized effort, let alone six of them. It’s not a workforce, so much as a population.

And that population has changed the rest of the city, too—the parts tourists never see. Over the years, I’ve lost count of how many charitable events, community stage produc tions and even gallery shows have benefited from having this international crew living and working in our Valley. The camaraderie that binds these performers and technicians on the job doesn’t end when the curtain

drops; they take it out into the world, and make good things happen with it.

“Over the last two years, things have changed so much, but I have to say that the one constant, probably the only reason why we’re still surviving, is the people,” Owens says. “It is the technicians; it is the artists; it is the ushers; it is the PR people; it is the company itself. Cirque is made up of an extraordinary group of people who are so passionate about their respective duties that they can’t not put out something of excep tional quality. I don’t think it’s in our DNA to put out something that is not going to make you have the feels.”

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 25 I 12.8.22
BINGEING CIRQUE
The Beatles Love (Courtesy)
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NO JOKE

Fresh

21SUCCESSFUL HOMECOMING Reilly Smith scored the lone goal in a five-round shootout to secure a 4-3 victory for the Vegas Golden Knights on December 5 in coach Bruce Cassidy’s first game against his former team, the Boston Bruins.

AVI KWA AME MOVES CLOSER TO FORMAL DESIGNATION

After President Joe Biden announced his intent to designate 450,000 acres of Southern Nevada, known as Avi Kwa Ame, as a national monument, advocates “eagerly await” a formal proclamation.

Biden’s comments came during the White House Tribal Nations Summit on November 30. Honor Avi Kwa Ame—a broad coalition of tribes, residents, business and government partners that has gathered more than 110,000 petition signatures this year—responded with a statement urging the president and Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to honor the land boundaries that the tribes had proposed.

“This effort to expand federal protec tion for Avi Kwa Ame has been years in the making, and finally it is nearing success. However, we strongly urge the administration and its officials to desig nate the monument in accordance with the boundaries proposed by tribes who have been organizing this effort and passing down the importance of this land for generations,” reads a statement from the coalition and its partners.

According to the coalition, Avi Kwa Ame translates from the Mojave language as “Spirit Mountain,” and is regarded by the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and other Yuman-speaking tribes as the “spiritual birthplace” of their ancestors.

Biden’s announcement follows a well-attended public meeting with Bureau of Land Management officials in Laughlin on November 17, and Haaland’s September visit to the proposed monu ment site, which surrounds the town of Searchlight southeast of Las Vegas.

In February, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, introduced legislation to designate the site. Biden and Haaland’s formal proc lamation would make it Nevada’s fourth national monument. –Shannon Miller

28 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
NEWS
off a world tour and two albums this year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are preparing for a set of stadium shows and festivals that will include a stop at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 1. Tickets go on sale December 9 at redhotchilipeppers.com
STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN CASE YOU MISSED IT NEWS

GET YOUR SHOT Forty-four states reported high or very high flu activity the last week of November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates there have been at least 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from the flu so far this season. The deaths include at least 14 children.

NEW PRIMARY ORDER

3A proposal by President Joe Biden would have South Carolina, not Iowa, stage the first presidential primary contest of 2024, on February 3. Three days later, Nevada and New Hampshire would follow. Georgians would vote next on February. 13, then Michiganders on February. 27.

UNLV NAMES NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

Barry Odom has been named the new head football coach at UNLV. The school announced the hiring De cember 6 following a search that lasted eight days.

Odom, 46, served as the defensive coordinator at Arkansas for the past three years. Prior to his stint at Arkansas, Odom was the head coach at Missouri from 2016-19 and posted a 25-25 record. The Tigers went 4-8 in his first year at the helm, then 7-6 in his second year and 8-5 the following season, both of which ended with bowl appearances. He was fired after going 6-6 in 2019.

Financial terms with UNLV had not been announced at press time, but Odom signed a contract extension with Arkansas before the 2022 season that increased his sal ary to $1.85 million per year.

“We could not be more excited to welcome Barry Odom and his family to UNLV,” athletic director Erick Harper said in a statement.

“We had a tremendous amount of interest in this head coaching position and coach Odom checked every box, including having expe rience successfully leading a program at the highest level of this sport.” -Mike Grimala

INMATES GO ON HUNGER STRIKE

The Nevada Department of Corrections reported December 5 that dozens of inmates began a hun ger strike recently at Ely State Prison.

Thirty-nine prison ers started the strike December 1, mostly in protest of food portions being served but also in response to conditions of confinement, property issues and disciplinary sanctions.

The facility is auditing portion sizes at all facili ties throughout the state and reviewing the con tract with its food vendor.

Participating inmates were being monitored for weight and other health aspects, according to the report.

The department stated that it takes seriously the health and welfare of inmates in custody and is working to resolve the matter. –Staff

DECEMBER WAS ORIGINALLY THE 10TH MONTH OF THE YEAR IN THE ROMAN CALENDAR.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 29 I 12.8.22
NEWS
The median price of an existing single-family home sold in Southern Nevada was $430,990 during November, marking a 2% decrease from October. It reached $482,000 in May. 2%
Runners dressed as Santa Claus head northbound on Sixth Street on December 3 during the annual Great Santa Run in Downtown Las Vegas. About 5,000 people par ticipated in the event, a fundraiser for Opportunity Village, which supports physically and mentally challenged people in Southern Nevada. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
NEWS
HOT SHOT Barry Odom, during his head coaching days at Missouri (AP Photo)

CULTURAL CENTERPIECE

The Historic Westside makes plans for an African American Museum

A Las Vegas City Council meeting approval on November 16 paved the way for what could be one of the most ambitious projects in the city’s recent history—an African-American museum and cultural center located in the Historic Westside neighborhood.

The council approved a contract with Gallagher & Associates—a Washington, D.C.-based design and development rm that has guided the creation of the International Spy Museum in D.C., the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, and the Mob Museum in Downtown Las Vegas, among many others—to develop a comprehensive master plan for the new museum at a location still to be determined. Joining the Gallagher team will be fundraising consulting rm Barber & Associates and FordMomentum, a company focusing on communications and community engagement.

The project is essentially an extension of the HUNDRED Plan (Historic Urban Neighborhood Design Redevelopment), the community-led revitalization mission for the Historic Westside, the historically Black West Las Vegas community once home to the Moulin Rouge, the rst integrated hotel in the city. The HUNDRED Plan in Action is the implementation step of the process, on which community partners and the

city have collaborated to bring the plan’s vision to life, and the museum project is considered a potential anchor cultural campus connecting various facilities in the Historic Westside.

“The rst step was Legacy Park, established to honor the trailblazers that helped build this community,” Ward 5 City Councilman Cedric Crear says of the park that opened in December 2021. “It’s been wildly successful, how it’s been received, so then it’s about how do we add to that.”

Crear was born and raised in Las Vegas, and his father was the second Black doctor in Nevada. His personal history aligns with the story of the Historic Westside, and he grew up with those pioneers of the community, the names recognized at Legacy Park.

“There’s a famous picture of the Moulin Rouge agreement [in 1960] to desegregate the Las Vegas Strip, and it’s not just a picture,” he says. “There are people at that table that I knew. [Attorney] James Keller is in one picture, and he taught me how to swim. So it’s pretty cool to see where the community is going, knowing its rich history.”

The planning process for the museum began in December 2020 with a stakeholder and subject matter workshop, and a community survey, stakeholder interviews and open-to-the-public meetings took place in August and

30 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 COMMUNITY

September 2021. Next steps for the development team include an analysis of the arts and culture environment, content strategy, operational and nancial planning and fundraising strategy decisions.

At one September 2021 meeting, Barber & Associates president and principal consultant Anna Barber and Digizeum principal George Davis presented information about similar national and regional museum facilities, and Barber discussed the fundraising approach for the National Museum of African American History, which opened at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 2016.

That venue cost approximately $700 million, Barber explained at the meeting, with $300 million coming from

federal appropriations, “so it’s great to have Las Vegas supporting this particular initiative in the Historic Westside, because a lot of nancial support and credibility can come from government support.”

At that same meeting, Davis, former executive director of the California African American Museum (CAAM), which moved to LA’s Exposition Park discussed the importance of de ning the mission of such a museum. “The concern the founders had for CAAM was that people think of African American history and culture and they think of the South, or the Harlem Renaissance,” Davis said at the meeting. “They think of the West Coast as Hollywood and Las Vegas, and they don’t think that culture is part of the history of African Americans.”

Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, has been at numerous community meetings about the HUNDRED Plan and revitalization e orts throughout the Historic Westside. If and when the museum development moves forward, she sees herself in an advisory role helping organizers and administrators understand the community’s unique history.

“We don’t know the history of Black communities in our country,” White says. “Every time you hear a story, people are surprised. They didn’t know that happened. It’s really important that the

world begins to know this history, and having this museum in the community will help with that knowledge.”

Although an exact location for the museum has not been o cially discussed, White and Crear agree that keeping it in the Historic Westside community was an essential decision. The Nashville museum dealt with controversy before its opening in January of 2021 at the site of the former convention center at Fifth and Broadway in downtown Nashville. It was originally slated for the historically Black Je erson Street area.

“The community came back from those [meetings and workshops] with an overwhelming yes, that they want to see it here,” Crear says. “I’ve told everyone, museums are a heavy lift. We’re not making any promises. We’re just going to vet it as deeply as possible and see if we can make it happen.

“But it’s exciting to get this far, and we haven’t seen momentum in our community like this as far back as I’ve known,” he says, pointing to plans for a new library in the Historic Westside at Enterprise Park.

There’s no established timeline for when the master plan will be complete, but Crear says he expects comprehensive information to be collected and organized through 2023, and “to have something we can dig our heels into, a solid look and what it is going to be.”

Fundraising will be the foremost challenge, White says, but creating an experience with the capability to attract Las Vegas tourists along with locals to a location not frequently visited by either group could be the de ning piece of the project mission.

“We have to make this a place where people from New York, Florida, California and every place else will want to see it and make it a part of their time in Las Vegas,” White says. “It has to be that dynamic, creative and innovative for people to want to add it as one of their stops. That’s an important part, because it’s making the Black community part of this tourist destination.”

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 31 I 12.8.22
NEWS
“We don’t know the history of Black communities in our country. Every time you hear a story, people are surprised. They didn’t know that happened. It’s really important that the world begins to know this history, and having this museum in the community will help with that knowledge.”
The Welcome to the Historic Westside sign, located at the o ramp of U.S. 95 South and Martin Luther King Boulevard (Christopher DeVargas/Sta )
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CULTURE

34 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
A Peacock costume for The Nutcracker in the wardrobe room of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Summerlin studio.

LOOKING THE PART

It’s officially holiday season in Las Vegas when the red battledress, plum tutu and Mouse Queen mask come out of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s immense costume closet.

The Nutcracker, built upon Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous music from the late 1800s, was first performed in its entirety in the U.S. in 1944. The characters remain recognizable to this day, thanks largely to the intricate outfits that help bring Clara’s dream to life.

THE NUTCRACKER

have been with NBT since 2012, Amanda Williams, wardrobe coordinator for the company, tells the Weekly. The pieces were handmade by costume designer Sandra Woodall, who has also contributed her work to the San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet and troupes abroad.

December 9-24, days & times vary, $36-$186. Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter. com.

The costumes Smith Center attendees will see onstage this year

“They were made in a big house, the costume shop, in New York City by many, many artisans … with a lot of people it would’ve probably taken a few months,” Williams says. “They have to design, buy the fabric, do the pattern work and then cut the fabric

and hand it off to the stitchers to build. Then they do the fittings. So it’s a really long process.”

Though colors look vivid and sequins shine brightly under the bright lights at Reynolds Hall, the details are far richer up close. The Snow Queen’s snowflake details are made with a soft velvet material, and the impressive ombre effect of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s piece can be seen clearly.

And these costumes can be heavy; the colorful and bejeweled Peacock tail contains a harness with a metal plate, which Williams estimates weighs about 15 pounds. Though the audience might not

be able to observe every detail, Williams says they still serve an important purpose.

“There was a famous designer, [Barbara] Karinska, [and] what she always did was make certain that the dancers felt special,” Williams says. “It wasn’t always about the audience reading the details; it was about what [the dancers] felt. It put them into that headspace [of the charac ter], like an actress.”

The wardrobe coordinator makes alterations that ensure the costumes work for the dancers every year, since their roles change. And, to preserve the works of art, Williams replaces any elastics once a year, since they typically deteriorate in the desert heat.

After every performance, the costumes are hung on a rack with fans blowing in their direction to help them dry. They’re dry cleaned immediately after the full run of performances—and then hung in NBT’s costume room inside its Sum merlin Studio in a way that doesn’t put stress on sensitive areas, such as the shoulders or armpit areas.

All of that work helps to “create the fantasy,” Williams says.

NBT’s artistic director Roy Kaiser adds, “Part of our job is to create another world, and the costumes are certainly a huge part of that, along with the sound, lighting and everything else. When you’re sitting in the audience, we take you someplace else.”

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 35 I 12.8.22
STAGE
Nutcracker ’s lavish costumes further energize
The
Nevada Ballet Theatre dancers
A Sugar Plum Fairy costume from Nevada Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker Nevada Ballet Theatre’s wardrobe coordinator, Amanda Williams

FAST AND CURIOUS

Ludacris talks music, movies and why he loves the views at Zouk Nightclub

Ludacris has never gone very long without a return trip to Las Vegas. In re cent years, the rapper and actor has been bouncing between venues for different club gigs at Light, Drai’s and the new Tao Beach Dayclub.

“I guess I’m one of those guys who likes to satisfy my curiosi ties, and I’ve been able to do that at different spots,” he tells the Weekly from Hawaii, where he just touched down for a secret, private show. “Also, I’m a foodie, so anytime I perform in a differ ent casino I get to check out all the restaurants they have. I’m half-joking.”

continues to tour when he has time, hit ting major clubs in other cities and mixing in major festival sets. Ludacris was one of the top-billed names at this past spring’s Lovers & Friends Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.

While he’s been tinkering with new sounds and is planning to release some thing in 2023, it’s no secret that music has taken a back seat lately. Ludacris will resume his best-known film role as Tej Parker in Fast X, rejoining Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and the gang for the landmark 10th installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, due in theaters in May.

The 45-year-old artist is also in post-pro duction on Dashing Through the Snow, a Christmas movie that you’ll have to wait to catch during the next holiday season. Di rected by Tim Story and co-starring Lil Rel Howery as “the first Black Santa Claus,” Luda says, the story follows the rapper’s character as a somewhat Grinchy divorced dad through a Christmas Eve adventure with his child.

LUDACRIS December 10, 10 p.m., $20$30+. Zouk Nightclub, zouk grouplv.com.

Now Luda might be settling in at Resorts World, where he takes the stage for the second time at Zouk Nightclub on De cember 10. He hasn’t officially signed on as a resident artist, but he’s digging the environments at the Strip’s newest casino destination, particularly the dynamic feeling from the stage at Zouk.

“The way the room is set up is perfect, this big square, and all I can see from the stage is people, no seats or tables,” he says. “It’s dope to play to a crowd when you have that 180-degree peripheral thing going on. They did a good job of making the nightclub feel like more of a perfor mance venue.”

And he would know. Although his last proper album was 2015’s Ludaversal, he

It’s definitely a different role for Ludacris.

“I like to do the opposite of what people expect me to do, and I love doing that and continuing to grow and expand my acting résumé,” he says, adding that he doesn’t have some grand plan to morph into a dramatic actor as other musicians have attempted. “It’s more of taking one step at a time and mak ing smart decisions. When you come into it as a rapper, people have a certain idea about you in the first place, so you have to go hard to not be looked at as some form of your regular everyday character.”

He’s taking the same approach to his music, which he’s excited about coming back to in a bigger way in 2023. What will an updated Ludacris sound like?

“That remains to be seen,” he says. “I think it has to be a little of both in order to continue to reinvent yourself. There has to be a little evolution and progression, but you have to give the people the thing they fell in love with.”

36 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
CULTURE NIGHTS
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 37 I 12.8.22
Ludacris (Courtesy/Zouk Nightclub, Resorts World Las Vegas)
Get vaccinated to protect & strengthen our community and loved ones against COVID-19 and the FLU. vax4nv.nv.gov VACCINATED AND PROUD

JOHNSON VS. JOHNSON

Which awardwinning country artist should you catch on December 9?

The National Finals Rodeo might be nearing its end, but there’s still a few cowboys to catch. For example, award-winning country musicians Cody Johnson and Jamey Johnson are set to play Las Vegas—on the same night. But which Johnson is right for you? Let’s break down the options.

CODY JOHNSON

Playing: Michelob Ultra Arena, with Ashland Craft, Randy Houser, 7 p.m., axs.com Genre: Country-rock. Songs you might know: “Diamond in My Pocket” (2011), “Dance Her Home” (2013), “Til You Can’t” (2021).

Backstory: Passionate about pro bull riding and singing, this East Texas cowboy fully committed to music in 2006 and began independently releasing popular albums, including 2016’s Gotta Be Me, which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s country chart. In 2018, Johnson, a ectionately called “CoJo” by his fans, became the first unsigned artist to sell out Houston’s Livestock Show and Rodeo, held at the 72,220seat NRG Stadium (he signed with Warner Music Nashville later that year). Then this year, the singer sold out opening night at the same event, a feat equaled only by Garth Brooks and George Strait, two of Johnson’s most pivotal influences. Armed with a low, silky drawl, a fetching smile and a penchant for creating languid, accessible country music, the ex bull rider has become a country powerhouse.

The pitch: The 35-year-old Johnson has seven albums’ of music from which to pluck, not to mention a holiday record, so fans should be two-steppin’ all night. He has said he arranged 2021’s Human: The Double Album the way he would a live set list, so the man clearly takes his concerts seriously.

40 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 CULTURE
NOISE
Cody Johnson (AP Photo/ Chris Douglas);, Jamey Johnson (Courtesy/ Charles Reagan Hackleman Willie)

JAMEY JOHNSON

Playing: Golden Nugget Show room, 10 p.m., ticketmaster.com

Genre: Outlaw country.

Songs you might know: “The Dollar” (2005), In Color,” (2008), “High Cost of Living” (2008).

Backstory: It’s possible that your favorite Willie Nelson or George Strait song originated from Jamey Johnson’s prolific pen.

The Alabama singer-songwriter and former U.S. Marine Corps mortarman has co-written singles for both of those country music legends (including Strait’s No. 1 hit “Give It Away”), along with Trace Adkins and Jessie James Decker. “The Dollar,” Johnson’s 2005 breakout song, helped him emerge as a solo force, but it was back-to-back albums That Lone some Song (2008) and The Guitar Song (2010) that secured his place among the era’s acclaimed country artists. Lonesome single “In Color” received “Song of the Year” honors from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association in 2009 and remains Johnson’s most iconic track to date. Recently, the 10-time Gram my nominee was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

The pitch: A country outlaw through and through, the 47-yearold Johnson doesn’t compromise on his dusty sound or the husky ballads and acoustic confession als behind it. Largely due to a debilitating head injury suffered in 2010, it has been 10 years since he released any new music, but that hasn’t stopped him from hitting the road, so here’s your chance to scratch that itch for time-tested, old-world country.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 41 I 12.8.22
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MAKING SPIRITS

SAND DOLLAR LOUNGE

The Miracle on Spring Mountain holiday popup is back at the original Sand Dollar, and this year the festive fun extends to the newish Sand Dollar Downtown at the Plaza with the similar Sippin’ Santa on Main. The difference is in the cocktails, as both bars have their own themed menus. Hit Chinatown for Grandma Got Run Over by a T-Rex (vodka with orange liqueur, Gentian aperitif, aloe vera, spiced pomegran ate and grapefruit mix), then head Downtown for the Island of Misfit Toys (aged Jamaican rum, chai tea, pumpkin puree and cinnamon). The special cocktails will flow through Decem ber 31, with live entertainment always happen ing at both Sand Dollars, but only the Spring Mountain spot has guest chef pizza pop-ups, including Nicola Costagliola (from Guy Savoy) on December 12 and Justin Kingsley-Hall on December 14. thesanddollarlv.com

MÁS POR FAVOR

The trendy taqueria also located in Chinatown has transformed into the Tim Burton-inspired Nightmare Before Xmas expe rience through December 27, with characters from the movie, a giant themed tree and other darkly festive decor. Specialty food items like the Sandy Claws tacos with chipotle lobster extend the fun beyond the cocktails, but there’s plenty of libation varia tion for everyone. Check out the Oogie Boogie, reposado tequila blended with pumpkin pie horch ata, allspice dram and agave. masporfavor.com

44 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22
BRIGHTER
CULTURE Catch the tingle with these Las Vegas holiday cocktail experiences

SHADY GROVE LOUNGE

The Silverton’s coziest bar has once again become the Bad Elf, an over-the-top holiday bar serving up naughty North Pole vibes through January 2. Look at the size of those ornaments!

Slam a Grinch shot, made with Peach Schnapps, Malibu rum and Blue Curacao, then relax in the red-and-green-lit Airstream trailer with the Spicy Apple Cider with Fireball and honey. silvertoncasino.com/badelf

THE SKI LODGE

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas year-round at Spiegelworld’s wintery speakeasy attached to Superfrico at the Cosmopolitan. But only now can you taste its latest cocktail creations tailored for the season, including a Grasshopper with Fernet and Creme de Cacao served with a candy cane garnish, a classic Coquito with a frosting rim, and Not the Buttons, a drink for two made with bourbon, Sherry, Faler num, ginger, honey and lemon. That one will have you ready to go outside and make a snow angel. superfrico.com/skilodge

EXPLORING NIGHT + MARKET’S NATURAL WINE LINEUP

 What is natural wine? For those of us who aren’t oeno philes or master sommeliers, it’s a valid question. Chad Jordan, general manager at Night + Market (the plus sign is silent, BTW), has assembled the Valley’s only all-natural wine selection at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas Thai eatery, and he’s ready to help you drink your way to an answer.

Jordan likes to share a staff mantra that natural wine, also known as naked, raw and/or low intervention, is “wine that has nothing added and nothing taken away.” That not only means using organic grapes—all natural wines are organic but not all organic wines are natural—but also handpicking the fruit, using native yeasts for natural fer mentation and adding minimal, if any, sulfites.

It results in a cloudy, unfiltered style of wine that can be described as funky or barnyard-y, sharing some traits with sour beers. But it’s also a low-ABV, easy-drinking style of wine that first enamored N+M founder Kris Yenbamroong as he grew his LA food empire. In promoting his Thai drinking food, he found the slightly acidic-yet-benignly flavored natural wines conducive to extended eating and drinking endeavors. Think: chuggable.

The N+M menu has no suggested pairings, due to nat ural wine’s versatility. Jordan says that gives diners free reign to sample dishes like the outstanding vegan larb ($17), comprising house-made tofu patties, or the staple spicy crispy rice salad ($17) with any of approximately 90 different bottles. So whether you’re pouring the light and crisp Casino Royale Chenin Blanc from France’s Domaine Mosse—produced specifically for the Vegas restaurant— or Christina, a strawberry- and brioche-tinged Austrian Zweigelt rosé, you needn’t fret about what you’re chewing. –Jim Begley

NIGHT + MARKET Virgin, 702-693-5280, nightmarketla.com. Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, noon-4:30 p.m. & 5-11 p.m.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 45 I 12.8.22
FOOD & DRINK
From left, the Sand Dollar’s Yule Tide, Sippin’ Santa, Jingle Bird, Kris Kringle Colada and Top Shelf Elf (Wade Vandervort/Staff) Julien Pineau’s Bocca di Rosa, Casino Royale and Matassa Blanc at Night + Market (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)
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BEST IN BETS

The College Football Betting Awards return to honor six of 2022’s top teams

The college football regular season has wrapped up, with bowl games right around the corner starting December 16. That means it’s time to take account of the best sportsbook performances among the 131 Football Bowl Subdivision teams from throughout the year with our seventh annual College Football Betting Awards. Here are the winners in our six established categories. The final three awards are more subjective but were chosen after careful consideration from closely mon itoring the betting market all season.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: TCU

BETTORS’ CHOICE: USC

TULANE (Team with the nation’s best record against the spread)

TEAM OF THE YEAR:

(Team that furthest eclipsed its over/under preseason win total)

Last year’s winner: Utah State

Last year’s winner: Michigan

The Green Wave finished 11-2 both straight-up and against the spread, culminating one of the best seasons in program history with an American Athletic Conference Championship Game win against UCF. If the expanded, 12-team Col lege Football Playoff took effect this year and not in 2024, Tulane would have received an automatic bid as the highest-ranked Group of Five conference team. Instead, Tulane will face USC in the Cotton Bowl. The Trojans will need to be careful; the Green Wave already knocked off Big 12 champion Kansas State and a participant in last year’s Col lege Football Playoff, Cincinnati, outright. USC opened as a 1-point favorite over Tulane in the game.

The Horned Frogs were expected to be competitive but not dominant while breaking in their first new coach in 22 years this season, with Sonny Dykes taking over for Gary Patterson. Instead, Dykes brought the program to new heights—its first-ever nod for the College Football Playoff. TCU came into the year with an over/under win total of 6.5 games but pulled off the perfect regular season with a 12-0 straight-up record. Kansas State edged TCU in overtime of the Big 12 Championship Game, but those contests don’t count toward the win total anyway. A couple of other teams went over their win total by five victories—Tulane and Duke— but TCU was the only one to beat it by 5.5 games.

COVERING STREAK OF EXCELLENCE: OREGON STATE

(Team with the longest current winning streak against the spread)

Last year’s winner: North Texas

The upcoming Las Vegas Bowl, scheduled for December 17 at Allegiant Stadium, will feature the nation’s hottest team to bet on when Oregon State faces Flori da. The Beavers have covered six straight dating back to October 15, including a 38-34 regular-season fi nale comeback victory against rival Oregon as 1-point underdogs, plus a hard-fought 24-21 loss to 10-win Washington as 4.5-point under dogs. Oregon State used one of the nation’s most experienced rosters and best rushing attacks to go 10-2 against the spread, contending for Team of the Year before Tulane pulled away with its conference championship.

(Team that made the most money for gamblers through pointspread victories)

Last year’s winner: Michigan State

A lot of big-money professional bet tors spent the season betting against the Trojans in coach Lincoln Riley’s first year, but that was outweighed by the masses of recreational gamblers backing them every week. The latter group was mostly rewarded, as the Tro jans went 8-4 against the spread during the regular season before a 47-24 Pac-12 Championship Game loss to Utah at Allegiant Stadium. Quarterback Caleb Williams, the expected Heisman Tro phy winner, typically produced in the big moments, with three of the Trojans’ point-spread losses coming in games in which they were big favorites and the outright outcome wasn’t in doubt. USC is bound to be a popular bet again next season with Williams due back for one more year, but Riley will need to surround him with more muscle in the trenches to take the next step.

48 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 12.8.22 CULTURE

BOOKMAKERS’ CHOICE: PENN STATE

(Team that made the most money for the house through point-spread victories)

Last year’s winner: Arkansas

Penn State is technically tied with Oregon State for the nation’s longest covering streak, giving the Nittany Lions a tiebreaker in a category that had many deserving candidates. The Big Ten has two teams in the College Football Playo —No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State—but it had three great sides this season, including No. 11 Penn State. The Nittany Lions covered against the Buckeyes, barely sliding within the number in a 44-31 loss as closing 15.5-point underdogs after money came in against them all week. Similarly, Auburn was a popular choice when it hosted Penn State in Week 3 and closed a 2-point favorite before the Lions mauled the Tigers 41-12 on the road. Coming through in those two high-pro le spots, and in a couple of other instances, was enough to earn Penn State the nod here.

(Associated Press)

UNDERDOG OF THE YEAR: SOUTH CAROLINA

(Team that performed the best with the odds stacked against it)

Last year’s winner: Baylor

No team ended the season on more of a high than the Gamecocks, who crushed the College Football Playo hopes of both SEC East divisional rival Tennessee and in-state rival Clemson with upsets in back-to-back weeks. South Carolina shocked Tennessee 6338 as 23.5-point underdogs and then snuck past Clemson 31-30 as 14-point underdogs. The Gamecocks’ reward is a Gator Bowl berth against Notre Dame, and the early line has them as an underdog again, this time by 4.5 points. South Carolina also knocked o Texas A&M and Kentucky as an underdog in back-to-back weeks in the middle of the season.

RAIDERS Report

■ Last Week: Raiders 27, Chargers 20 Las Vegas won its third straight behind another pair of outstanding performances from running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Davante Adams. Through Sunday’s games, Jacobs led the NFL in rushing with 144 yards, while Adams led the league in receiving with 177 yards. The receiver caught two long touchdown passes from Derek Carr during a third-quarter onslaught that helped the Raiders pull away from their AFC West divisional rivals. The Raiders are now just two games out of a playo spot and entering what looks like a soft portion of the schedule—they’re favored to win four of their remaining five games.

■ This Week: Raiders (5-7) at Rams (3-9) When: Thursday, December. 8, 5:15 p.m. Where: SoFi Stadium TV & Radio: Amazon Prime Video & 920 AM/92.3 FM Betting line: Raiders -6, over/under 44.5

■ Matchup: The Rams have fallen victim to the most stark “Super Bowl hangover” in history; they have the second-worst point di erential in the NFL at -79, only 11 months after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Injuries are almost entirely to blame.

Super Bowl MVP receiver Cooper Kupp, former Pro Bowl quarterback Matthew Sta ord, three-time Defensive Player of the Year defensive tackle Aaron Donald and high-priced free agent receiver Allen Robinson are the headliners of a lengthy list of players currently out. The Rams built a team high on star power and light on depth. It worked for them last year, but this year they’re experiencing the flip side.

■ Raider to Watch: edge rusher Chandler Jones

The Raiders splurged with a three-year, $51 million contract for the 32-year-old, two-time All-Pro sack artist in free agency, and had virtually nothing to show for it through the first 11 weeks of the season. That changed against the Chargers, as Jones finally broke out against a young, injury-ravaged o ensive line with three sacks, two other quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a pass deflection.

The Rams’ makeshift o ensive line should present a similar opportunity. Las Vegas envisioned the pass rush being the strength of its defense, and maybe it’s not too late, if Jones can continue complementing Defensive Player of the Year candidate Maxx Crosby on the other side of the line. –Case Keefer

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 49 I 12.8.22 SPORTS
Raiders receiver Davante Adams (17) pulls in a touchdown reception against the Chargers on December 4. (Associated Press) Tulane players celebrate their team’s victory over UCF in the American Athletic Conference championship game.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CHIEF SEES POTENTIAL FOR AREA TO BE ‘THE PERFECT DESTINATION’

The new chief business development officer for the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance says Southern Nevada is well on its way to becoming a regional hub for burgeoning companies.

“If we’re successful, we’ll be thought of as the preferred destination for doing business in the Southwest U.S. within the industries we’re trying to grow here,” said Bill Arent, 51, who started in the position last month after working 25 years for the City of Las Vegas, much of it in economic devel opment. “If we’re thought of that way, I know we can turn the corner, and I don’t think it will take 25 or 30 years.”

Target industries for the LVGEA—a public-private organization that helps attract businesses to the region—in cluding advanced manufacturing, information technology, cybersecurity, renewable energy, transportation and logistics, and robotics.

The organization’s mission is to attract high-paying jobs to the greater Las Vegas region.

In his new role, Arent oversees the LVGEA’s business development team. He is tasked with using his relation ship-building skills to help bolster the area’s reputation as a business hub.

While Las Vegas is an established tourist town, many economic strate gists have pointed out the importance of the region to diversify economically.

“We’re looking at a five-to-seven-year time frame for where we’re going to be much more competitive,” Arent said. “We want to be a benchmark city that other peer cities point to.”

When it comes to recruiting, Arent said, he and his team will be aggressive

and look regionally and nationally for companies that could be good fits.

“Certainly, we want to build on our gaming and hospitality base,” Arent said. “We also want to attract other industries. Because of our location and our business-friendly tax environment, we’ve been getting a lot of distribution companies and logistics companies. We want to attract more of those high-val ue, high-wage companies.”

Haas Automation, a California machine-making company that has invested heavily in a new Henderson campus, has been viewed as a success story in efforts to diversify the region’s economy.

The company’s under-construction facility in west Henderson represents the type of noncasino employer that Arent and his team would like to con

tinue to attract.

Recently, it was announced that two companies— Kodiak Trucking and manufacturing firm Wilen Vegas—plan to add a combined 275 jobs in the Las Vegas area over the next two years.

Wilen is expanding an existing man ufacturing facility, while Kodiak plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to North Las Vegas.

The LVGEA provided support for both initiatives, according to the orga nization.

Arent also pointed to recent news that a company called Redwood Mate rials, a lithium battery recycling firm based in Carson City, received more than $100 million in tax abatements from the state after it announced a $1.1 billion capital investment. Redwood plans to build a facility in Storey

County.

“That’s a major industry that is located throughout Nevada,” Arent said. “We have a lot of battery manu facturing in Southern Nevada, which has been here for a while, so we want to attract businesses that support supply chains in that industry and other businesses.”

Arent said economic diversification is vital as the area continues to mature.

“It’s imperative,” he said. “If we have higher incomes in the region, there’s more spending in the local economy, and those gaming and hospitality companies are better supported by the base of people living here. It’s good for everyone in our community.”

Arent made the jump to the LVGEA, in large part because of the organiza tion’s leadership, he said. In February, it announced former Regional Trans portation Commission of Southern Ne vada CEO Tina Quigley as its president and CEO.

When Quigley hired Arent, she referred to him as “the perfect fit to lead the next iteration of the LVGEA’s business development efforts.”

Betsy Fretwell, an executive at Switch and chairwoman of the LVGEA’s board of directors, also spoke highly of him.

“Thanks to Bill’s many years of lead ership in economic development for the city of Las Vegas, he has developed robust relationships with the region’s stakeholders, local municipalities and the business community,” Fretwell said.

Arent earned a master’s degree in public administration from UNLV, an institution he said will play a large role in helping to attract businesses and people to Las Vegas.

“My wife has her bachelor’s from UNLV, and my oldest daughter is now a freshman at UNLV,” Arent said. “Look, with UNLV, we have a Tier One research university, which is huge. I see it as my job and my agency’s job to make sure those graduates coming out of UNLV have good jobs here so they don’t have to leave the market. I love this community, and I’m excited to continue to help move this community forward.”

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VegasInc Giving Notes

Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada added four board members: Dustin Engel, senior vice president at Merrill Lynch; Craig Fjelsted, vice president of taxation at Caesars Entertainment; Dr. Ati Hakimi, founder and CEO at Vegas Direct Primary Care; and Reece Oswalt, associate superintendent at the Clark County School District Board terms extend through Decem ber 31, 2025. Candlelighters serves approximately 400 families locally and 1,200 children, both siblings and diagnosed children, each year.

City National Bank provided Nevada HAND and Assistance League of Las Vegas with Community Reinvest ment Act Grants totaling $10,000. The funds will enhance their work and allow them to better deliver services to those in need. City Na tional contributes financial, in-kind and volunteer assistance to non profit institutions and organizations that enhance the quality of life and promote public interest where the company conducts its business. The main areas of the bank’s community outreach include education, health and human services, community de velopment, and arts and culture.

Two new members recently joined the administrative team at the United Way of Southern Neva da: Zina Allen, vice president of human resources; and Rich Robinov, vice pres ident of marketing. Their knowledge and experience in their respective fields is a welcome addition to the Unit ed Way leadership team.

Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth was awarded two federal grants totaling $1,350,000. Twenty-nine local nonprofits have received more than $193,000 in Cox Charities grants to support pro grams that serve Southern Neva dans. Cox Charities, the philanthropic arm of Cox Las Vegas, has awarded more than $2.8 million in grants in Southern Nevada over the past 15 years.

Junior Achievement of Southern

Nevada and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation each received $25,000 from pro ceeds generated by the annual Cox Charities Golf Tournament. Three additional nonprofits received grants from tournament proceeds, including $20,000 to the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, $15,000 to SafeNest and $7,353 to Leaders in Training A total of $101,000 was awarded to nonprofits as a direct result of Cox’s employee contributions. The 2022 grant recipients include: Af ter-School All-Stars Las Vegas; Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada; Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada; Communities In Schools of Nevada; Discovery Children’s Museum; Foundation to Assist Young Musicians; Goodie Two Shoes Foun dation; Green Our Planet; Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada; Las Vegas Clark County Library Dis trict Foundation; Leaders in Train ing; Lend a Hand of Boulder City; Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation: Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth; Operation Homefront; Public Education Foundation; Refuge for Women; Springs Preserve Foun dation; Tech Impact; the Just One Project; the Neon Museum; the Pride Tree; the Salvation Army; the Shade Tree; Three Square; United Service Organizations Inc.; Vegas PBS and Veterans Care Charity

The Nevada chapter of the National

Hemophilia Foundation looks to brighten Christmas for eight fami lies in need this holiday season. The chapter has created Amazon wish lists in each of Santa’s reindeers’ names to represent each family. Those looking to support a family can adopt an entire family and fulfill their wish list or order presents directly through the Amazon list. Donors may also donate to the or ganization and specify gift cards or cash donations be made toward the Adopt-A-Family program to support teenagers and other family members not looking for toys this season.

Southern Nevada-based education organizations Serving Our Kids and Communities In Schools of Southern Nevada are expanding their efforts to increase the resources available to students thanks to a combined $200,000 donation from Google The donation to Serving Our Kids will cover costs to provide 800 chil dren with a weekly, weekend meal bag during the school year.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas will break ground on a second Ronald McDonald House on December 13. A second house will eliminate a long waiting list for families with critically ill children in Las Vegas who have nowhere to stay. And a first-of-its-kind design will provide an innovative approach to housing families during pandemic surges.

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1-877-320-2188 (TTY: 711).

PREMIER CROSSWORD HOROSCOPES

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, “To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. ... But that sort of freedom demands powerful inner resources, a high degree of self-awareness and a consciousness of your responsibility to yourself and therefore to other people.” That last element is where some freedom-seekers falter. Make sure you don’t do that as you launch a new phase of your liberation process.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Musician David Byrne believes he is neurodiverse because he is on the autism spectrum. That’s an advantage, he feels, giving him the power to focus with extra intensity on his creative pursuits. What about you? The coming months will be an excellent time to explore and cele brate your own neurodiversity.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet Jane Hirshfield says that Zen Buddhism is built on three principles: 1. Everything changes. 2. Everything is connected. 3. Pay attention. Even if you are not a Zen practitioner, focus on the last two precepts in the coming weeks. Intensify your intention to see how all the apparent fragments are interwoven.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Author Flannery O’Connor wrote, “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” You also have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it and strive to transform it into a better place. Make this one of your inspirational meditations in the coming months.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Many sports journalists may root for their favorite teams but also “root for the story.” They want a compelling tale to tell. They yearn for dramatic plot twists that reveal entertaining details about interesting characters performing unique feats. Get engaged in epic sagas, creating yourself with verve as you weave your way through fun challenges and intriguing adventures.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Venus is too hot and dry for humans to live on. But if travelers from Earth could figure out a way to feel comfortable there, they would enjoy a marvelous perk. One complete day and night lasts for 243 Earth days and nights. That means you and a special friend could take a romantic stroll toward the sunset for as long as you wanted, and never see the sun go down. Dream up equally lyrical adventures in togetherness during the coming months.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Where do you seek the spiritual?” asked Buddhist monk and author Thích Nhat Hanh. His answer: “You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegeta bles and washing the dishes become sacred if mindfulness is there.” Act as if the whole world is your precious sanctuary.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpios can be solicitous and welcoming: the best party hosts. They know how to foster social situations that bring out the best in everyone and provide convivial entertainment. Yet Scorpios also know every one’s secrets. But instead of using that knowledge to wreak havoc, they use it to weave deep connections. Make that your specialty in the coming weeks.

Big baboon, Andean spitter, showy parrot

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It’s risky to get too fixed in your habits and too dogmatic in your beliefs. So you feel an imperative to keep disrupting routines before they become deadening. When you are successful, it’s due to your capacity for creating an inner sense of home that enables you to feel grounded as you ramble free. This superpower will be extra strong during the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Edgar Allan Poe said, “We can, at any time, double the true beauty of an actual landscape by half closing our eyes as we look at it.” He was referring to how crucial it is to see life “through the veil of the soul.” To be receptive to the full glory of the world, our deepest self must also participate in the vision. This is especially true for you right now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Theologian Henri Nouwen wrote, “I have discov ered that the gifts of life are often hidden in the places that hurt most.” If Nou wen’s theory has a grain of truth, you will capitalize on that fact in the coming weeks. Amazingly enough, a wound or pain you experienced in the past could reveal a redemptive possibility that inspires and heals you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen says it’s wise to talk to yourself. No other conversational partner is more fascinating. No one else listens as well. Upgrade the intensity and frequency of your dialogs with yourself. It’s an excellent astrological time to go deeper with the questions you pose and to be braver in formulating your responses. Make the coming weeks be the time when you find out much more about what you truly think and feel.

“HOOKED-UP HYBRIDS” BY FRANK LONGO WEEK OF DECEMBER 8 BY ROB BREZSNY 2020
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lead-in 27 “Gloria in Excelsis —” 28 Lapel inserts 29 Begin a losing streak 30 Serengeti grazer,
bird,
36 Houston coll. 38 Singer Sumac 39 Singer Irene 40 Part of NYSE 41 “Love Me or Leave Me” singer Ruth 43 Great anger 46 — loss 48 Kanga’s son 49 Mountain cat, plated burrower, marine crustacean 56 Comic Daniel 57 La Cage — Folles 58 Grizzlies, e.g. 59 Overjoys 63 Funny Girl director William 65 Contend (for) 66 Aggressive shore birds 67 Arctic cetacean, swamp snapper, arboreal ape 73 Not alfresco 74 Tea holder 75 Like dunes 76 City of south India 77 Founder of Bolshe vism 79 Suffix with hotel 80 Writers Tan and Lowell 84 Pink wader, forest anthropoid, aquatic sucker 88 Hasty escape 91 Riser at dawn 92 Pester 93 Singer Willie 94 Tuba material 97 Lunch, e g. 100 Tree of Iowa 103 Milk, in Mexico 104 Scavenging dog, woolly Peruvian, leaf-munching crawler 109 Onion relatives 110 Low cards 111 “Botch- —” (old hit song) 112 High card 115 Monster star Charl ize 116 Prairie canine, destructive insect, colorful fish 120 Successively 121 Fought one-on-one 122 “Agreed” 123 Wee 124 Accent 125 Made of clay DOWN 1 Hunter’s garb, in brief 2 Apple desktop 3 Website notice to get customer service 4 Ending for dull 5 Palme — (Cannes film award) 6 Digression 7 Exclusively 8 Health facility 9 Arizona city 10 Online sales 11 Lunch on the grass, e g. 12 Lake feeding the Mississippi 13 Part of NYSE 14 Chichi scarf 15 Interstices 16 Larynx locale 17 One showing houses 18 Erté’s genre 19 “Agreed” 24 Weaver’s frame 29 Biting pests 31 Equine sound 32 Yellowfin, say 33 Remunerated 34 Kuwaitis, e g. 35 Notorious film studio 36 Four-sided geom. shape 37 Langston Hughes poem 42 Ill-defined situations 44 BBQ meat bit 45 Altitude 47 Exited right after chowing 50 Ruminates 51 Skating leap 52 Milk, in France 53 Treats often dipped in milk 54 Somber song 55 Sauce brand 60 Hanoi holiday 61 Noted time 62 IRS datum 63 Ridge on a finger print 64 Grow mature 66 Actress
Pretty Little Liars 67
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54 LVW PUZZLE & HOROSCOPES 12.8.22
KING FEATURES SYNDICATE ACROSS 1 17-year locusts, e.g.
Intercede
Errant
Lovingly, on music scores
Daintily small
Planet shape
Jewel units
Nov.
long-billed
sticky-tongued predator
Parrish of
Pick-up-sticks logic game
One or more
Aves.
Kin of “Arf!”
Hammered musical disk
Stair support
First form fill-in, often
Gp. backing arms
Cop — (haggle in court)
Nickname for the Devil
Michelle of Tomor row Never Dies
Auld lang —
Ailment causing swelling
Horror film assistant
Pell- — (chaotic)
JFK follower
Weaver of Greek myth
Heavy knife
Vail trail
Revels in
Illustrate via panto mime
Trial figure
On — with
2006 world figure skating champion Meissner
Singer Kravitz
Actor Peter O’—
Rufus M. author Eleanor
Camera brand
Mötley —
Make at work
Little bird
replacers
Mag staff
Jays, on sports tickers
Doc treating tonsillitis

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