BOW TO YOUR
CRAVINGS
STREET FOOD
IS THE GREAT EQUALIZER.
NO GLAMOUR
REQUIRED
Yusho is about the simplicity of Japanese street food. The essential flavors of seasonal meats, fish and vegetables are intensified over a fiery grill. Craft cocktails, wine, sake and spirits are chosen for customized meal pairings and complement the fresh-grilled foods. The door is open. The grill is hot!
Located on The Strip at
For menu or reservations, visit yusholv.com
FEATURING DJ WI K I
For Tickets and VIP Reservations 877.667.0585 I roserabbitlie.com I
@roserabbitlie
Doors at 5:30PM | Nightlife begins at 11PM | Late Night Dining served until 4AM | Wednesday - Saturday
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EVENT
AN EVENING OF HOPE
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UPCOMING EVENTS • June 21
Red Wine and Brew Fest at Clark County Amphitheater (EventBrite.com.) • June 22 Golden Rainbow’s Ribbon of Life Spectacular at the Rio (GoldenRainbow.org.)
PHOTOS BY JOSH METZ
June 12–18, 2014
Three young cancer survivors took center stage and were recognized for their perseverance June 6 at an Evening of Hope, a benefit for the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada. Held on the 16th floor of the World Market Center, the fundraiser attracted about 450 guests who snacked on treats from more than a dozen eateries, including Sprinkles and DW Bistro. Attendees also participated in live and silent auctions, which helped raise nearly $100,000. The funds will allow CCCFN to continue providing support and services to local families with children battling cancer.
De Laurentiis in her new kitchen at the Cromwell.
THE RISING STAR OF
GIADA DE LAURENTIIS The charismatic chef found fame on the Food Network. Now she takes on the high-risk, high-reward culinary world of the Strip. B Y A L M A N C I N I • P H O T O G R A P H B Y A N T H O N Y M A I R
uch has been written about the star power Giada De Laurentiis brings to the Cromwell, where her frst restaurant—appropriately named Giada—opened on June 3. After all, she’s one of the brightest stars of the Food Network, and her appealing smile and Italian family cooking have been making their way into our homes since 2002. Her shows include Everyday Italian, Giada’s Weekend Getaways, Giada in Paradise, Giada at Home and The Next Food Network Star. She’s also the author of seven cookbooks, and she’s a correspondent for NBC’s Today. We know the way she pours her personality into her work; we know about the fastidious attention to detail. Now, as she becomes the frst woman in Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas celebrity-chef lineup, we’re going to fnd out how her determination and charm translate to a kitchen where she is queen, but Caesars—which owns the restaurant—remains king. To get a glimpse into who De Laurentiis really is and what she brings to the Las Vegas dining scene, I recently spent an afternoon with her as she prepared for her grand opening. What I found was a woman with boundless energy, refned tastes, strong convictions and an appealing willingness to spar over the small stuff.
Fame and food are nothing new for De Laurentiis. Her grandfather was legendary flm producer Dino De Laurentiis. Her grandmother was actress and 1946 Miss Rome Silvana Mangano. And after attending Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, she worked for the great Wolfgang Puck in the kitchen of his fagship Spago in Beverly Hills. Despite her formidable pedigree, the star has never had a restaurant of her own. She’d been courted by Caesars Entertainment several times, but didn’t like any of the spaces they’d offered her. That changed when they showed her a space in what was then Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon. “I saw this view,” she says, looking out onto Las Vegas Boulevard. “It was a two-foor parking garage at the time. And I looked around and I thought, ‘This is my space!’” Since then, De Laurentiis has been involved in every aspect of the transformation of that garage into a beautiful restaurant. She wants the space to give guests a glimpse into what it might be like to dine at her home. Except her home doesn’t have that wraparound view of the Strip behind retractable windows. The food has the personal touch, but the view announces that this is unmistakably the big time.
is being rendered and fshes through a simmering vat of pomodoro sauce to make sure it contains enough of her beloved parmigiano reggiano rinds. She tastes nearly everything she passes. Most items meet with her approval— until she arrives at the pasta station. As a chef uses a piping bag to distribute lobster ravioli flling onto a sheet of pasta, De Laurentiis grabs a plastic tasting spoon and samples it. She isn’t happy, believing it’s too cheesy and too bland. “I know that’s how everybody else does it,” she tells the pasta chef. “I don’t give a fuck.” (This won’t be the last time the diminutive TV host drops the f-bomb during our time together.) The boss then begins remixing the flling herself, tasting it as she goes. As she prepares to add tarragon, she complains about her inability to get a consistent quality of the herb. Several times, she asks me and various members of the kitchen staff for our opinions on the flling’s prog-
ress. When nightclub owner Victor Drai drops by to say hello, she presses him into tasting service as well, and seems disappointed with his response. Refecting on this impromptu recipe rework outside the kitchen a few minutes later, the heretofore confdent chef has a moment of self-doubt. “Are you cooking for yourself,” she asks aloud, “or are you cooking for your customers?” Later in the day, I bring up that confict. “I’m a woman who’s torn right now between what I like and what other people like,” she admits. But that, she tells me, is one of the main differences between having a man in the kitchen and having a woman. Women doubt themselves, and care more about what others think. But in the end, she says, “I’m gonna try it my way. If my way doesn’t seem to be to people’s likings, I’ll tweak it a bit.” De Laurentiis’ struggles to create her perfect restaurant aren’t purely inter-
nal, however. Despite her name on the door, she understands that this is not her restaurant. Like many celebrityhelmed eateries, Giada is owned by a casino company—in this case Caesars Entertainment. Yes, the owners want the restaurant to refect its namesake. But in the end, they pay the bills, and they make the decisions. And both sides admit that because of the chef’s attention to details, they frequently butt heads in what Frederick calls an “aggressive collegiality.” “Giada wants the best,” Frederick says. “She does not want to compromise. She knows what she likes, and she knows what her customers expect from her. It’s not inherent to her to make the decisions that all corporations have to ask themselves, which is what can they afford, and what will the customers pay. Whether it’s the china on the table, or whether we use a 15-year balsamic or a 25-year balsamic, it didn’t matter to Giada from a corporate investment-
VEGAS SEVEN
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it’s 11 days before the restaurant’s media preview, and the frst day of training and food tasting for the front-of-the-house staff. I watch as De Laurentiis rushes around the restaurant, weighing in on everything from hostess uniforms to the way in which servers should describe dishes. It soon becomes abundantly clear that when Jeffrey Frederick, Caesars Entertainment’s regional vice president of food and beverage, recently told the press that De Laurentiis is “the most involved chef of any in the Caesars family,” it wasn’t hyperbole. During a break in our interview, De Laurentiis heads to the kitchen, where she reports on an inferior sauce she’d gotten through room service the previous evening, inspects the way pork
In good company: De Laurentiis with Alton Brown and Bobby Flay on Season 10 of Food Network Star.
PHOTO BY EDDY CHEN/THE FOOD NETWORK
June 12–18, 2014
★★★★★
June 12–18, 2014
“I want to do what I want to do. I don’t want to be told I can and can’t do stuf. It’s hard to be put in a box and be told that these are your limitations. I don’t like limitations.”
27 VEGAS SEVEN
PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR
The perfectionists: De Laurentiis with her culinary director and food stylist, Lish Steiling.
versus-return [perspective], or what a typical restaurant would normally do.” The chef admits that getting used to the corporate structure can be a challenge. “I do get frustrated,” she says. “I want to do what I want to do. I don’t want to be told I can and can’t do stuff. It’s hard to be put in a box and be told that these are your limitations. I don’t like limitations.” Nonetheless, she says, “Jeffrey’s opinion means a lot to me.” So she’s given in on items like certain pieces of china, or even on the front-of-the-house staff. “There are certain people that I’ve sort of let [Caesars] hire and train the way they want to do it,” she says. “And there are certain parts of it that are gutwrenching to me.” But there was one area where she just couldn’t compromise, no matter how hard she tried. “We went through a lot of [executive] chefs,” De Laurentiis says of the hiring process for the kitchen. “I was not happy with any of the candidates. Jeffrey told me, ‘Listen, your standards are too high. You have to understand who you are and where you’re at. And you’re not Thomas Keller. You’re not Alain Ducasse. You’re not Guy Savoy. You think you are, but you’re not. And so you need to sort of compromise a little bit. You need to fnd a chef you can mold into what you want.’ “So we picked a chef. I lowered my standards a bit. I compromised. And six weeks later I dug my heels in. I looked at Jeffrey and I said ‘He needs to go. I’m sorry. I tried your way, and it’s not working.’” On that one, Frederick compromised. Just three weeks before opening the restaurant’s doors, the executive chef was replaced with Kurtess Mortensen, corporate executive chef for the Quad, the Flamingo and the Cromwell. (De Laurentiis is looking for a long-term replacement.) Despite the compromises, both sides remain excited about the project. De Laurentiis still loves to stand by the windows and take in that Strip view. And she appreciates the way her restaurant fts into the Strip’s frst standalone boutique hotel, which hadn’t even begun its renovations when she agreed to open there. “It’s more intimate, a little more homey, the way that I think my brand is,” she says of the property. “But it still has that sex appeal, that chicness. So I think that in many ways the two brands meet up really nicely.” Frederick, who has worked with countless celebrity chefs, says De Laurentiis “has really given me a new perspective on how people approach food.” That approach seems to be working: “Within four days of opening [reservations],” he says, “Giada had the second-highest June reservations of any of our premium restaurants.” If that kind of popularity persists, De Laurentiis’ days of compromise may be numbered. “I feel like if I just get to the point where I’m successful enough, [Caesars] will let me do whatever I want,” she says. “And I know that day will come.”
like the Can a charter school modeled on centuries-old methods show the way for education in Nevada?
29 VEGAS SEVEN
sara gardner’s voice breaks a unique, old-school approach, stressing and she covers her face briefy sequence, order and scripting. It’s radibefore composing herself. Gardner, a cally different from what you will fnd mom of twin boys entering middle in most Clark County School District school and a girl preparing for frst classrooms—and it’s on the front lines of grade, apologizes as she recounts the a pedagogical shadow war being waged day she visited American Preparatory out of sight of most parents. Academy’s founding campus in Draper, Utah. “I’m sorry, it’s really emotional ***** for me. My boys were in second grade at the time, and I toured a secondin 1996, carolyn sharette—a mother grade classroom. When I walked in I of seven who holds a bachelor’s degree nearly just wept, because it was exactly in nursing from BYU and has worked as what I had wanted for my boys. They an RN in maternal health and psychiawere orally diagramming sentences, try—was becoming increasingly frusand the kids were excited. They weren’t trated with her children’s education in just moaning the words. They were Highlands Ranch, Colorado. She found animated, they were engaged—and that her children in different grades that’s something that had been missing were coming home and telling her in my boys’ education from Day One.” they were reading the same book and Frustration with Nevada’s education doing the same projects. There was litsystem, which ranked 50th in last year’s tle communication between teachers much-publicized Education Week “Qualabout the curriculum, and the princiity Counts” report, is so widespread it pal didn’t seem to care about this disbarely merits mentioning, except when organization or that the children were it’s your kids who are suffering. And to repeating the same material. be fair, Gardner’s desperation is hardly a “I started asking questions and beNevada-only phenomenon. A Pew study came more and more alarmed at the published last year found that two-thirds structure of public education,” Sharette of Americans feel the nation’s education says. “Simple things, like I would ask a system was either in need of a major teacher how well my child was doing overhaul or needed to be rebuilt entirely. in reading, and they would give me a Like many states, one of the ways Nevery nondescript answer. They would vada is attempting to tackle the probsay, ‘Oh fne,’ or ‘He is reading as well lem is through the development and as we’d expect a frst-grader to read.’ funding of charter schools. The state There was no structure, no sequence as has 34 of them, 18 in the Las Vegas area, to what the students would be learning with six more—including the Utaheach year. It [was] really based on what based American Preparatory Academy— the teachers wanted to teach. I couldn’t planned to open in the Valley this fall. believe an industry that operated with It will be American Preparatory’s frst such disorganization on such a wide campus here, and, though its permanent scale could ever be successful.” home is still a vacant lot near Interstate And so Sharette decided to organize. 215 and Durango Drive, Gardner and the After researching the top performing parents of 400 other K-9 students are schools in Colorado and a wide range of pinning their hopes on it. The school— methodologies, she found that the best housed at 6000 W. Oakey Boulevard unschools had clear, data-driven goals and til the new building is ready in 2015—has focused instruction. “These were suc-
June 12–18, 2014
BY KURT C. RICE
NIGHTLIFE
The view from the Marquee VIP deck, and bottle service to lift your spirits.
What operational challenges do you face at EDC versus those at Marquee? The most challenging aspect is building a club for three nights of operations and running it as though we have been open for years. Our guests expect the same level of service they receive at Marquee. It certainly adds an extra level of operational requirements, including staff training and teamwork.
June 12–18, 2014
How will VIPs get to the Marquee VIP deck? The ultimate experience is arriving via helicopter and fying over all of the auto traffc heading to the event. After landing, a welcome cabana is waiting with drinks, couches and, of course, music before private transportation delivers guests to an air-conditioned check-in tent complete with a Champagne lounge. A quick golf-cart ride away is the deck, where a host will greet and walk guests to their table. The entire process is smooth and caters to the VIP festivalgoers.
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How are the VIP cabanas different from the standard EDC experience? The cabana deck is the most popular area of EDC, because it delivers a full festival experience. It sits about 30 feet off the ground, giving attendees an incredible view of the Kinetic stage, along with a complete bottle menu and diverse food options delivered by cocktail servers and waiters. Security, air-conditioned bathrooms and a central location within the festival make it ideal to serve as a hub for VIPs. Is there a way up there without a table? The only way up to the Marquee VIP
stage is if you have a table, which is why I suggest purchasing a table soon, as they will sell out. Part of the fun of EDC is the festival experience itself—the midway, rides, artwork and other stages. What if a cabana guest wants to check out a different part of the festival? Cabana guests get the best of both worlds: the 21-and-up VIP deck and all of the amenities there, plus access to the entire grounds to check out the other stages, carnival rides, elaborate production décor and more. They can return to their table at any time and come and go as much as they wish. Do cabana bracelets grant you access to the VIP deck for the entire festival or just the day you have the table? The bracelet is good only for the day you purchased it for, and there are different bracelets for each day. What’s the wildest story someone has used to try to gain access to the VIP deck? Most try the “I’m with the DJ” line, and that just doesn’t work. It is pretty easy to differentiate those who belong and those who don’t, and there isn’t much a person could say to gain access if they are not supposed to be there. I am sure people will try just as hard this year as they have in past years. Who is the typical cabana customer? Do artists and celebs hang out up there? We see a huge range of guests at the Marquee stage; the common thread is someone who wants to experience
something that isn’t offered anywhere else. You can expect to see DJs taking in the sets of other DJs, celebrities, owners from other nightclubs and lots of locals. Is this the craziest weekend of the year for you personally? This is one of the weeks I work the hardest, for sure. I get very little sleep in order to make the experience memorable for every cabana guest. I head in for a nap about 7 a.m. and am back up by 11 a.m. to start the following day of preparation. It is stressful, but I love the challenge and look forward to it every year. Can you provide us with some cabana-appropriate fashion advice? I have seen it all: Some dress to impress, others for comfort and still others in ways that are impossible to describe. Have fun with it! Express yourself and, at the end of the day, it is a fantastic experience, no matter what you are wearing. To reserve a cabana on the Marquee VIP deck, email EDC@MarqueeLasVegas.com.
Electric Daisy Carnival attendees who managed to pry themselves from the main stage last year may have noticed couples getting hitched during the festivities— whether legitimate or “raver married” with a just-for-fun certificate. But what do the newlyweds do afterward? Celebrate with a commemorative funnel cake and a vodka Red Bull? Sure, if that’s how you roll. But you could also class up the celebration on the VIP dining deck, courtesy of Hollywood’s Kitchen24. “This is the first year where we’re providing the option to have a wedding reception on the dining deck,” says Kitchen24’s Kimberly Roussel. “This is a unique experience, because anyone can get up on the VIP deck if you order this wedding package. There are a couple of options: You can either have tray-passed hors d’oeuvres and Champagne for $35 per person for a two-hour reception, or you can have a sit-down dinner. You can order off the menu, or we can do a menu for $125 a head that comes with Champagne. We can also do a custom wedding cake with notice.” So, to recap: That’s two hours of VIP status with bubbles and bites for $35 per person, just for saying “I do.” And the fake vows are free. OK, where do we propose? Still, if you’re not feeling matrimonial, noncommittal types who already have a VIP ticket can still take advantage of superior dining options: either a quick bite for while you hang on the deck overlooking Kinetic Field ($60 for a three-day, three-meal pass), or a three-course sit-down dinner courtesy of Los Angeles’ chef Keven Lee for $75. And of course you can still order booze. Visit ElectricDaisyCarnival.com to make your reservation (and all of your friends jealous). Also added for this year: ➜ A new three-day VIP parking
pass allows easy access to a special Speedway lot for $120. ➜ Snapchat will provide free
Wi-Fi access to Snapchat as well as the Insomniac mobile app; you just need to have both apps downloaded on your phone before you arrive at the festival. – Deanna Rilling
CROWD PHOTO BY BEN LIN; INSET PHOTO BY AMIT DADL ANEY
EAT, DRINK AND BE MARRIED AT EDC
NIGHTLIFE
Baauer spins at Light.
EDC: GET THE PARTY STARTED ON SOUNDCLOUD The crown jewel in Pasquale Rotella’s festival empire, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, kicks off June 20, making this the perfect time to fine-tune your musical palate. Being that the lineup for this year’s event was meticulously booked to showcase the world’s greatest DJ talent, choosing which performances to catch during the three-day event is understandably daunting. Fortunately, Insomniac has curated its own Soundcloud page (Soundcloud.com/InsomniacEvents) with full-set recordings from the most famous DJs in the world to the up-and-coming participants of the Discovery Project. The list of uploads and reposts makes for good ready-made playlists as well as research materials for future festival planning. The feed also features entire sets from past festivals including EDC New York, EDC Orlando, Nocturnal Wonderland and Beyond Wonderland. So listeners can also relive magical moments through replaying their favorite sets from the best nights of the year. Here are three of our favorite reasons to press play: ➜ Sounds from the crowd and DJ
Light Changes Its Tune The megaclub kicks it house-party style for Baauer’s Studio B residency
June 12–18, 2014
By Jen Chase
VEGAS SEVEN
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WHEN LIGHT OPENED AT MANDALAY BAY
in 2013, the 38,000-square-foot nightclub added a new page to the Las Vegas playbook by collaborating with Cirque du Soleil to add ultra-sensory visuals and acrobatics to an already electrifying high-tech experience. Now, a year in, Light is reshaping how the cool kids party all over again by actually dialing down the lasers, confetti and EDM with an innovative, monthly experience that transforms Light from Las Vegas megaclub to the city’s best big-little house party.
Dubbed “Baauer’s Studio B,” this alternative club experience teams Light with one of its resident DJs, Baauer (Harry Rodrigues), who will perform skillfully produced sets steeped in trap, crunk and remixes, with visuals created specially for him by Internet artist and Web designer SuS BoY. Studio B features rotating guests, such as rapper A$AP Ferg, in an atmosphere that’s most un-Light-like, with well-placed livingroom furniture; videos simulating a city skyline, beach-y waves or a backyard party; and the DJ not perched up on
high, but down on the dance foor. Pencil in July 23 for Bauuer’s next visit. Will Studio B still make you sweat? Hell, yeah: Allegedly, Baauer will cut tracks on the spot and premiere them for all to hear. And who knows? With that living-room feel, Light might offer your frst chance to sit comfortably at a club in a long, long time. In Mandalay Bay, 702-693-8300, TheLightVegas.com. A version of this story appears in the June 2014 issue of Vegas Rated. For more from Vegas Rated, visit VRated.com.
Martin Garrix’s commentary over the microphone are included in a Sirius XM recording of one of Garrix’s EDC New York sets, giving it an authentic festival sound. ➜ The EDC Las Vegas Discov-
ery Project sets are compiled into one playlist to give a taste of what to expect at the smaller stage in coming years. These DJs generally play a mixture of commercial and underground tracks. And since these artists are being given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove themselves at one of the largest and most important festivals in the world, they are guaranteed to give it their all. ➜ The EDC New York Wide
Awake Playlist was created to showcase the hit songs from a collection of artists who performed at the festival. Calvin Harris, Krewella and Hardwell are among the top-tier producers who appear on this 63-track list. –Kat Boehrer
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
MARQUEE
The Cosmopolitan [ UPCOMING ]
VEGAS SEVEN
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY TOBY ACUNA AND TONY TRAN
June 12–18, 2014
June 13 Benny Benassi spins June 14 Chuckie spins June 16 Dash Berlin and Cash Cash spin
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
TAO BEACH The Venetian [ UPCOMING ]
VEGAS SEVEN
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY JOE FURY, BOBBY JAMEIDAR, JOSH METZ AND AL POWERS/POWERS IMAGERY
June 12–18, 2014
June 13 Javier Alba spins June 14 Eric D-Lux spins June 18 Lema spins
VEGAS SEVEN
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The masked metal maiden, or “muse character” as the program proclaims, is named Gina Gleason. She hails from Philadelphia and fronts the all-girl tribute band Misstallica. We’ve been exchanging Facebook messages for weeks. She read my 2006 memoir, Life on Planet Rock, and helped inspire this piece, or at least gave me a hella good excuse to see the shows and pay my own brief homage to the 30th anniversary of the greatest live entertainment company on earth. Truth be told, I’ve had Cirque on brain and in heart since revisiting The Beatles Love on February 9. It was the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s U.S. debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. My love for Love is as eternal as the group who set me on my music-loving path fve decades ago. It’s but one beautiful link in Cirque’s sparkling Las Vegas chain; I set out to see the other seven shows in four nights. Go guerilla, I mused to myself. Doubleheaders. Magnifque! Night One of the frst double bill started with the grand dame Mystère. The Canadian circus’ desert empire began in December 1993 with this tribal acid trip, which stands in eternal residence at Treasure Island. Lizards, birds of prey, black widows, an aerialist simulating anti-gravity coitus with a giant metal cube, trampolines and trapezes transfx and titillate as the taiko drum ensemble tells the tale. You can hear the cast members’ hootin’ and hollerin’ with each miraculous movement. Everyone looks to be having so much fun—testing their limitations, exalting their skill sets, hitting the marks. So awesome, but the night’s gonna get better and wetter. No time to catch my breath, it’s off to Bellagio and the late performance of O. My sister Michelle was a synchronized swimmer in college. If she hadn’t blown out her knee, she might have made it to the Olympics. I saw O 16 years ago when it opened, but that was another lifetime. Kevin Costner had his Waterworld; I’ve had mine. As the miracle creatures splash, bend, twist, dive and fy, I experience my own ocean of emotion. The sold-
out room rises to a standing O in rapturous appreciation as my eyes turn damper than the liquid stage. Night Two and Zumanity at New York-New York. Got my vintage Bowie Ziggy Stardust era tee on. Upon entering the red-bordello-hued theater, a hallway-dwelling castmember mumbles under his breath, “Wham bam, thank you ma’am.” I pause, smile and feel instantly at home. Sexuality is celebrated with playful exuberance as a jolly mammoth-busted temptress
the center of the stage stands a 50-ton manmade monolith called the Sand Cliff Deck. This mechanical marvel is equipped with circular elevators to bring performers in and out; 80 “rod actuators” sprout from the foor surface, enabling performers to maneuver toward the ceiling. Video-projection foor tiles allow computer-generated images to appear on the performance surface. In the show’s most heart-wrenching sequence, warriors sink gracefully into the black sea as echoing tongues chant farewell. My
AS THE MIRACLE CREATURES SPLASH, BEND, TWIST, DIVE AND FLY, I EXPERIENCE MY OWN OCEAN OF EMOTION. wraps her ample breasts around the head of an elated guest. Edie, the Mistress of Sensuality, emcees the ribald proceedings, which shamelessly exalt the ecstasy of human contact. When she beckons a timid tourist from Columbus, Ohio, to take part in faux orgy, he transmutes before our eyes, surrendering into horizontal bliss among the half-naked cast members. How many times in your life have you felt absolutely liberated? And acted out as such? Zumanity reminded me of my youthful, free-wheeling years as an associate editor of Hustler. And of what I had since lost—the absolute joy of naked, fearless expression. Night Three, and it’s about to get more sensational. Kà is the company’s most expensive production, and that’s evident the moment you step foot into the jaw-dropping MGM Grand theater. In
brother took his wife, Lynda, to see Kà on their recent 30th anniversary. They’ve lived, loved and worked in Las Vegas since the early ’80s. “Wow,” he texted me. “I’m speechless. And I bought the soundtrack.” Speechless, yeah, that says it all. Enchanted and exhausted, I make my way up the Strip to Aria for the nightcap. Mad scientist, juggling redhead, elfn ballerinas, clown tamers and snakes— Zarkana is a robust reptilian wonderland that rocks hard—an Alice Coopermeets-Jules Verne freak parade. Back in the day, when I was at the editorial helm of RIP magazine, I would’ve assigned a cover story on this phantasmagoria and asked Alice to write it. With each Cirque adventure, I leave the theater in a slightly altered state, vibrating like a gently struck gong as I return to the reality of my nontheatrical midlife.
Which brings us to Night Four’s fnal and most bizarre back-to-back. Criss Angel’s Believe began its prolifc prestidigitation run at the Luxor on Halloween 2008. Believe fans adore the razor-swallowing, rabbit-conjuring star of cable TV’s Mindfreak. I’d never seen him perform on the tube, live or anywhere else. But I sure knew that theater in the belly of the great glass pyramid. This is where Blue Man Group made their indigo mark on Las Vegas. I dated the director back in 2004, used to pick her up after work, hang out with the blue guys and musicians, watch her do “notes” with the performers. Had not stepped in that room since and had to take a few minutes to adjust my perception and focus on the notorious sleight of hand and eye master of illusion. Believe did not suspend my belief in anything except one talented trickster’s ability to put on a good show. In all other Cirque shows, you bear close witness to the athletic marvels and choreographed splendor, like the two Asian girls in O who bend themselves into impossible human pretzel positions before your very eyes. The genuine magic of Cirque is watching men and women do incredible, impossible things where seeing is truly believing. Through the tunnel that connects Luxor with Mandalay Bay, it’s grand fnale time. An hour into the Michael Jackson extravaganza, the audience is dancing, shouting and shaking their bodies down to the ground, united in song and memory for a beloved musician who devoted his life to raising the vibration of the planet through the power of groove. And no one in the massive hall is foating higher than me. The full cast delivers the unifying anthem “Black or White,” and for a few transcendent moments, this broken, greedy, hate-flled world disappears. I’ve escaped—we’ve escaped. Last tear trickles down my gray-whiskered cheek. I text my Michael Jackson muse, Gina. “Wow.” And snake-dance my way home.
PHOTO BY A ARON FELSKE
June 12–18, 2014
A&E
Can’t beat it: Michael Jackson One.
STAGE
A&E
What’s the gist of the new special, America 180°? Our country looks like it’s fipped in some primal ways to me. It’s not the entire crux of the special. Obviously, my prime directive is to be funny. There’s a lot of comment on how it’s going to take me a little bit to get used to how the country is now constituted. As someone who operates on the right a bit, does Sheldon Adelson ever come out to see your shows at the Orleans? Listen, I’m socially liberal and I’m conservative on a couple of basic things. We’ve got to kill the bad guys. I think we should keep 50 percent of our money. I know that’s made me a combination of John Birch and Curtis LeMay. But quite frankly if two people with similar genitals want to get married because they love each other, it’s kind of a nice thing. Or someone wants to abort a baby four months in, it’s none of my business. Somebody will settle up with their maker at some point. There’s a broad brush being used right now, but I think I’m socially liberal in many ways. [People want] to say I’m a pig for wanting to keep half my money. They say you should give more of your earnings back and say, “Why do you want to spoil your kids?” My answer would be, “Why do I want to spoil your kids? I don’t even know your kids. I love my kids.”
Comedian Update
Dennis Miller wants to kill the bad guys, keep half his money … and make you laugh June 12–18, 2014
By Jason Scavone
VEGAS SEVEN
76
IT’S BEEN NEARLY 30 YEARS since Dennis Miller took over Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update chair, and he’s still the gold standard for unapologetically hyper-intelligent comedy. His six-year run on SNL paved the way for TV’s The Dennis Miller Show, the Emmy-winning Dennis Miller Live and his current daily Westwood One syndicated radio yakker The Dennis Miller Show. Not to mention his recurring stints on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. Miller is a regular at the Orleans, where he returns June 13-14, just in time for the June 13 premiere of his special America 180° on Epix. We caught up with Miller to talk the politics of comedy, Carrot Top’s eyebrows and touring with Jack White.
Is that a source of frustration when people have trouble parsing a libertarian message like that? I’m 60 years old. I don’t glean my self-worth, self-awareness or inner placidity off the herd. If you’ve got six decades and you’re still waking up in the morning trying to fgure out the collective opinion, you’ve kind of missed the point. If I’m at a cocktail party and somebody comes up to me and says, “Barack Obama is the single greatest president we’ve ever had, a real genius, and I don’t know where we’d be without him.” I know they want me to come up out of the water like a Carcharodon in the Keys. All I do now is I fatten myself out. I don’t even fair an iris. There’s not a hint of sarcasm. I say, “You’re right, a brilliant man. Maybe the most brilliant private citizen we ever had. I just feel lucky I was born during his tenure.” I look them right in the eye. Within two seconds they look at me and go, “What? Are you fucking with me?” They know it’s bad. You’ve just got to get them to say it instead of you. It’s a small list of comedians doing political material almost
exclusively. It’s basically you and Bill Maher, and The Daily Show industrial complex. Why do you think that is? Once you do a job like Weekend Update for six years, you are a topical comedian. Some people call it political, but I’m in the business of tearing the powers that be a new one. The powers that be now particularly don’t make sense to me. If you are lucky enough to get a foothold as a Weekend Update anchor and decide to go against that and never tell another topical joke again, you’ve got bad instincts. Neither Norm Macdonald nor Kevin Nealon really seemed to continue on in that vein. I can’t even get Norm on the phone and he’s a friend of mine. I don’t know what to say about Norm. He’s Garbo. Kevin, if you watched his approach to Weekend Update, it was always a little more whimsical. Everybody’s got to follow their own muse. I’ve got a small monkey trick that allowed me to buy a house and send my kids to school. I’m going to keep hitting it. I could go out tomorrow and be Carrot Top, but Carrot Top is Carrot Top. You might have a hard time getting a deal at the Luxor doing his same act in a showroom next door. I don’t have an eyebrow bonsai. You did an interview on your radio show with Orson Welles biographer Todd Tarbox and you named one of your specials Citizen Arcane. As a Welles fan— His work, not his imperious nature. I fnd Welles the enfant terrible artistically intoxicating but personally off-putting. Then again, he bedded Rita Hayworth. The other person in the cultural landscape who’s an avowed Welles fan is Jack White. You ever think about doing a Wellesthemed tour together? I’m a Jack White fan. I know he has that heavy, you almost need a tetanus shot after you listen to his version of the song from Citizen Kane. It absolutely rocks. I think he’s a genius. He’s one of those guys [who’s the answer when] everybody wonders who do they talk about 50 years from now?
DENNIS MILLER
The Orleans Showroom, 8 p.m. June 13-14, $56 and up, 702-365-7075, OrleansCasino.com.
MUSIC
BBR’s Anne Martinez makes a wonderful Alice.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL CONTRERAS
THROUGH THE ROCKING-GLASS I’M READY TO POP my T Spot Lounge cherry at Tuscany Suites & Casino with a free performance of Alice: A Steampunk Fantasy in Wonderland at 10:45 p.m. June 17. The show stars BBR, comprising vocal duo Anne Martinez (who sings in Pin Up at Stratosphere) and Savannah Smith (from Vegas! The Show at Planet Hollywood). Backed by four dancers and a nine-piece band, Martinez and Smith perform everything from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” to Duffy’s “Mercy” to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” all of it visually alluding to the Lewis Carroll fantasy novel and thrust down the dark psychedelic rabbit hole of a neo-Victorian post-apocalypse. Martinez, who designed the show, worked with trumpet player and composer David Perrico (from Pop Evolution at Stratosphere) to imaginatively rearrange classic pop songs. A bit of the novel’s prose is used to help transition between songs. But it’s the lyrics and explosive choreography that really drive the narrative. “I’ve always loved steampunk,” Martinez says. “I wanted to try out a different kind of sexy style, one not so overused. It lets you know instantly that you’re in another world. Alice is our take on steampunk.” In other words, this is as underground as it gets. Can’t wait to see what the Red Queen ends up singing. Other cool (if more punk-centric), under-the-radar shows this week
and next: SoCal skate-punk pillar D.I.—essentially singer Casey Royer with a revolving cast of rock musicians—returns to Las Vegas, playing Dive Bar at 9 p.m. June 13. Infamous for such landmark albums such as Horse Bites, Dog Cries, D.I. is defnitely a vintage act worth grooming your old-school Mohawk for. And at 7 p.m. June 14 at Artistic Armory, San Diego ’80s crust-core group Battalion of Saints go marching in with songs such as “Doomed World” and “Fighting Boys.” A true iconic band of the Cold War era, and one that needs to be experienced live, I’m told, to truly understand their infuence. And at 9 p.m. June 15 at Triple B, melodic hardcore heroes A Wilhelm Scream—hailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts—are set to ruin everyone’s hearing. If you like hooks set to pounding drums and lacerating guitar riffs, this will please you for sure. Founding member and frontman Kyle Toucher brings his pioneering California thrash-punk band Dr. Know to, once again, Dive Bar at 9 p.m. June 20. Taking their name from a James Bond flm, the band’s roots extend back to 1981, making them among the very frst “nardcore” groups. (Nardcore is hardcore music originating from Oxnard, a sprawling suburb near L.A.) Your Vegas band releasing a CD soon? Email jarret_keene@yahoo.com.
Marketplace
SEVEN QUESTIONS
UGANDA BE KIDDING ME
Chelsea Handler performs at 8 p.m. June 13-14 in the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan, $85, 702-698-7000, CosmopolitanLasVegas.com.
want to do. We’ve been kind of brainstorming and collaborating with other people whom I want to work with. I knew what direction I wanted to go in. I want to take some time off, which I’ll be doing—I’m going to take three to six months off. My [stand-up] special is going to air in October, and other than that, I’ll be on TV a couple of times next year. I fgured it was a time for a break— for me and for everyone from me. Earlier this year, you went gangster in a CNN interview with Piers Morgan. What has hosting a talk show taught you about being a good interviewer? You have to be a good listener. I think that’s the most important thing. Any question you have is most likely going to be a question thousands of other people also are interested in hearing the answer to. Listening is frst and foremost the most important thing. That’s the one thing Piers wasn’t able to do.
The comedian on ending her talk show, the art of interviewing and why 24 hours behind bars was more than enough
June 12–18, 2014
By Jason Scavone
VEGAS SEVEN
94
You’re performing here the second weekend in June. Did you lose some kind of awful bet to be doing a latespring show instead of coming in the fall when it’s 30 degrees cooler? No, I just added the dates at the end of my tour. The tour was supposed to end in Atlantic City. Then after we booked it, I was like, “Oh, I forgot to do Vegas.” My friends always love to come to Vegas. We probably won’t be spending a ton of time outside. Your new book, Uganda Be Kidding Me, is an account of your travels through Africa. How was the booze there?
It wasn’t great when we got there, but it was fne when we left. We trained everybody on the continent of Africa how to make a proper margarita. Anybody who goes on safari now and gets a decent drink, you have me to thank. You can write me a thank-you letter. Now that Chelsea Lately is set to end in August, how do you feel about the show as a whole, and how are you approaching the end run of episodes? It’s kind of the end of an era for me, but obviously I’ll be doing other things. I’ll probably be making an announcement in a month what that is.
I’m excited about [the show ending], but it’s not a big fanfare goodbye like Leno or Letterman, obviously, because I’m not retiring. I’m going to go do something else, but I just haven’t made public what that is yet. Were you caught by surprise with all the speculation that you were going to take over for Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show? Yeah, because it was all speculation. None of the things people were writing about me were at all true. Nothing was. I wasn’t even contemplating doing any other jobs. I was never in discussions for any other job, except for the one I
After Laura Prepon played you on Are You There, Chelsea?, do you ever watch her on Orange Is the New Black and wonder how you’d do in prison? I’ve been to prison, so I know that I wouldn’t do very well—not as well as Laura. I got a DUI when I was 21. They put me in L.A. County Women’s Prison for about 24 hours. I wrote about it in one of my books. It was public information before somebody could out me. That was enough. I’ve never been back since. So you haven’t scoped out good pruno recipes just in case? No, I have not.
PHOTO BY TIMOTHY WHITE
Chelsea Handler
Having honed those skills, would it be diffcult to leave them behind if interviewing isn’t going to be a part of what you do next? I’m always going to be interviewing people. That’s something I really enjoy. I’m going to be doing it in a different capacity than I’m doing now, I’m sure. But it’s not something you leave behind. It’s like having a conversation with any person. I’m always interested in the details. When someone relates a story to me and they say, “Oh, they broke up,” I’ll be like, “Why did they break up?” She says, “Oh, I don’t know, I didn’t ask.” “What do you mean you didn’t ask?” I’m interested in people I have no interest in, and the interpersonal workings of every relationship. I’m just a really super curious person. I can’t read a book and not understand a paragraph without rereading it 15 times until I do understand it. If I don’t know a word, I have to look it up immediately. A certain kind of person needs an answer to every question they have.
For tickets, visit mgmgrand.com or charge by phone at 866.740.7711.