Summer Getaways | Vegas Seven Magazine | May 14-20, 2015

AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS.

AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS.

LAS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE

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FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

PUBLISHER

Michael Skenandore

EDITORIAL

Matt Jacob Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman A&E EDITOR Cindi Reed ASSOCIATE EDITOR Camille Cannon SENIOR WRITERS Steve Bornfeld, Geoff Carter, Lissa Townsend Rodgers CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana EDITOR

SENIOR EDITORS

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Melinda Sheckells (style)

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Michael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining), David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

ART

Ryan Olbrysh Jon Estrada, Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Anthony Mair CREATIVE DIRECTOR

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VEGAS MOMENT

Rock Till You Drop

Have you taken a photo that captures the spirit of Las Vegas this week?

Share it with us at Moment@VegasSeven.com.

| May 14–20, 2015

Some 82,000 concertgoers attended Rock in Rio’s inaugural weekend May 8-9, drawn by the promise of performances by No Doubt, Metallica and Gary Clark Jr.—and, apparently, by the idea of fying over the event. The zipline that spanned the festival grounds at the “City of Rock” was a hot ticket, drawing a crush of fans who apparently felt that great live music wasn’t good enough on its own. To paraphrase the late, great George Carlin: Remember when “getting high at the show” was kind of a spiritual thing?

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Photo by Erik Kabik

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THE LATEST

STYLE

John Parker

Restaurant general manager

How would you describe your personal style?

I prefer simple classics and classics with a twist in high quality. Don’t get me wrong: I have a fun, young, edgy side to me, but I like to build my wardrobe on basics that will last for years. My philosophy is to focus on true classics and more unusual pieces that won’t easily be dated.

Does working in a restaurant on the Strip affect how you dress?

Living and working in such a transient city, in which all walks of life and fashion meet, it allows me to push the envelope from the traditional attire of a person in my position. It keeps me staying “dressed to impress” at my offce, which is the average person’s playground.

Where and how do you prefer to shop for clothes?

May 14–20, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

I have my favorite stores and tend to stay loyal to them, with No. 1 being John Varvatos. They do an amazing job of mixing the basics and staples with just the right amount of edge that I like.

I’m also addicted to online shopping. I can’t resist Nordstrom.com, because you can knock out everything you need for a whole outft—from the cologne to the suit to the shoes—in one sweep. A few others are TouchOfModern.com and ThisIsWhyIAmBroke.com, which is self-explanatory. It’s very dangerous that in a few simple clicks I can have whatever I want sent directly to my house.

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What is your go-to resource for fashion tips?

Right now it tends to be social media. It allows you to see different fashions from all over the world just a click away. I follow David Beckham and, believe it or not, Kanye West. I don’t agree with a lot of Kanye’s comments, but he does have a great eye for style.

Both are edgy but clean with the most fashion-forward sense of what is trendy. – Elizabeth Sewell

Hugo Boss shirt. John Varvatos jacket. Diesel pants. Kenneth Cole shoes.

NIGHTLIFE

By Ian Caramanzana

Juicy J.

Club. The 19-year-old calls Tiësto his mentor, and he’s toured the world, spinning at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival and Croatia’s Umagination along the way. Oh, yeah, he’s also the No. 12-ranked wakeboarder in the world. Not bad for a kid. What were you doing at 19?! (At SLS, 10:30 a.m., FoxtailLasVegas.com.)

MON 18 Got the Monday Blues? We can’t think of a better way to remedy the inevitable slump than by sipping on some delicious craft beer (after work, of course). Newly opened PKWY Tavern has our backs with a stellar happy hour. Enjoy $3 domestic drafts, $3 well drinks and $3 house wine from 4-7 p.m. The tavern boasts 250 craft beer selections, so we encourage you to try them all. Just not all at once … unless you plan on calling in sick tomorrow.

(9820 W. Flamingo Rd., 4-7 p.m., PKWYTavern.com.)

TUE 19

May 14–20, 2015

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THU 14

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RL Grime got his name from Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, and the music he creates is just as scary as the author’s series of horror fction novellas.

Self-TitledMag.com dubbed his style as the “thinking man’s trap,” and his debut album, Void, embodies that sentiment. The album spans several electronic music genres such as Jersey Club, drum and bass and, of course, speaker-rattling trap. Hear it all when he plays at Encore Beach Club. You might just fall in love with a new genre. (In Encore, 10:30 p.m., EncoreBeachClub.com.)

FRI 15 Work can wait, because Internet sensation Jenna Marbles is in town! The 28-year-old YouTube star recently signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency, so

expect to see her snappy brand of comedy across multiple platforms. Party with her at Ditch Fridays. (At the Palms, 10 p.m., Palms.com) It’s been nearly a year since he released Worlds, and Porter Robinson is still going strong. He’s playing nearly every major festival in the world, blessing fans with his “Worlds Live” set.

The performance features the 22-year-old singing and playing keyboards in his latest material—a departure from his high-energy DJ sets. Hear Robinson’s rambunctious hits, such as “Spitfre” and “Unison,” as they were meant to be heard at his Marquee residency. (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

SAT 16 Did you miss Disclosure’s inaugural Wild Life event in March? The English duo brought big house/techno DJs to our humble little city,

including Eats Everything, Justin Martin and Jackmaster.

The pair returns tonight, and this time they’re bringing Pomo, Maya Jane Coles and Claude Vonstroke. The latter started Dirtybird Records—a house-focused label that has been pumping out the best in the genre since 2005. Give him a high-fve, and then dance to his tunes at Light.

(In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.) Politik did a doubleheader last month for the third annual Jump for Joy Foundation’s Dance Against Obesity Camp.

You can jump for joy tonight when he drops his remix of Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” at Tao. (In the Venetian, 10 p.m., TaoLasVegas.com.)

There’s’ tension in the Three 6 Mafa camp. According to an interview with HipHopDx. com, member DJ Paul says it’s unlikely we’ll see the legendary Tennessee rap group reunite anytime soon.

At least, founding member Juicy J has cultivated a successful solo career, collaborating with such artists as Katy Perry and Wiz Khalifa on his third album, Stay Trippy. J is set to release the follow-up to that album, Pure THC: The Hustle Continues, in July. See if he debuts some

SUN 17 Spanish-born DJ Danny Avila isn’t even old enough to enter a club, but he’ll command the party at Foxtail Pool

RL Grime.

Jenna Marbles.

new material at House of Blues. (In Mandalay Bay, 8 p.m., HouseOfBlues.com/ LasVegas). If the Southern rap twang isn’t your thang, head to Omnia for a set by Dutch producer Afrojack.

The Grammy awardwinner made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list this year. He also recently bought a new Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce to add to his collection of luxury sports cars. Ask him how it feels to drive the fastest Lamborghini in the world.

(In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., OmniaNightclub.com.)

WED 20 Happy Hump Day! Get over the curve by dancing to the sounds of Impakt. According to his Instagram bio, he “plays music to make you shake and jiggle.” Do just that when he mans the decks at Commonwealth.

(525 Fremont St., 2-5 p.m., CommonwealthLV.com.)

DINING

“I don’t feel like one of the corporate, executive types.

I think our company is a little different. It’s not so structured, and defnitely not cookie-cutter.” {PAGE 56}

Restaurant reviews, news and the summer festival that pairs wine with classical music

Small Feasts

You don’t have to be a glutton to enjoy Downtown’s latest draw

Buffalo-style sweet breads at Glutton.

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NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER —or a restaurant by its name. When it comes to the new Downtown spot Glutton, the moniker conjured up images of massive portions of fairly unsophisticated cuisine. Not even close! What the restaurant actually delivers is just the opposite: small, shareable portions of well-executed, extremely creative items.

Glutton is a collaboration between chefs Bradley Manchester and Joseph Kudrack, who previously worked together at Red Rock Resort.

It occupies a small space on the corner of Carson Avenue and Seventh Street. The décor is simple retro urban with exposed brick walls and the building’s original oak ceiling dating from 1955.

Guests may choose to be seated at tables, at a “food bar” where they can chat with the chefs preparing their meal, or at a tiny “boozy bar.” It’s open for lunch and dinner with separate menus for each, and closes between meal periods.

The cuisine straddles the worlds of fne dining and casual Americana. There are small snacks, such as pork rinds with cayenne and cheddar, pickled spring tomatoes with whipped ricotta and basil, and chicken liver mousse. The wood-fred oven puts out chicken, sea bream and fatbreads. And other entrées include pastas, lamb crépinettes and a burger.

Ingredients are regionally sourced, with the suppliers listed on the menu.

Among the more interesting items I’ve tried is an order of Buffalo-style sweetbreads. When I saw it on the menu, I was worried the chefs were offering it simply as a novelty item, and would drown out the offal’s taste by bathing it in spicy sauce. But they showed a lot of restraint in balancing the favors. Sure, they had the familiarity of bar wings, but you could still identify the main ingredient. Moreover, they come with sweet-and-sour celery and a touch of whipped blue cheese, giving them an elegant touch.

Another great dish is gnocchi in a rich brownbutter sauce, accompanied by fork-tender braised pork cheek. A chewy and mildly charred

May 14–20, 2015

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

By Al Mancini

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Chef Yvonne Maatouk is quietly building her culinary empire

By Al Mancini YVONNE MAATOUK HAS A LOT ON HER PLATES these days. She continues her longtime role overseeing the kitchens of Strip party spots PBR Rock Bar and the Rockhouse. About six months ago, she was asked to create a menu for her boss Jonathan Fine’s latest off-Strip venue, PKWY Taphouse & Grill. And she’s now refning the menu at the Linq’s

Chayo Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar. In a town where women are sadly under-recognized in the restaurant world, Maatouk's position as corporate executive chef for Fine Entertainment makes her one of the most powerful women in the culinary community—even if her restaurants aren’t the type that generally draw critical attention.

PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR

DINING May 14–20, 2015

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It’s a Long Way to the Top

“I don’t feel like one of the corporate, executive types,” Maatouk says, almost laughing at the phrase. “I think our company is a little different. It’s not so structured, and defnitely not cookie-cutter. We have quite a few different things going on.”

Maatouk grew up in a culinary family.

Her Egyptian-born father joined the merchant marines, “jumped ship” in New York and worked his way from dishwasher to line cook in various diners. He met his wife when she was working as a waitress on Long Island. They eventually moved to Florida and opened their own diner, where their daughter peeled potatoes and washed dishes.

After going to school for music education, the future chef realized that she couldn’t escape the restaurant world and enrolled in culinary school.

Two weeks after graduation, at the age of 21, Maatouk took a job as a cook for the Armed Forces Recreation Center in Germany. She traveled around Europe, briefy returned to Florida, and fnally accepted a position as a chef at a summer camp in Wisconsin, where she spent the frst of two summers running her own kitchen for the frst time.

“After I left there, I came to Vegas for the frst time,” Maatouk says.

“Why? I don’t know. I have no idea what possessed me to come to this side of the country!”

Her frst local job was at the Golden Nugget, where she worked as a garde manger, preparing salads and other cold foods, returning briefy to Wisconsin for another summer. After repeating the role at the South Point, she became aware that women don’t always get the advancement opportunities they deserve in Las Vegas kitchens.

“I knew I was never gonna have the opportunity to run a hot kitchen there,” she says of the resort.

So she headed to Colorado in 2009 to gain fne-dining experience. It meant taking a serious pay cut, but she felt it was her best opportunity for advancement. “To leave a job where I had a great salary and great benefts and go back to being a line cook for $10 to $12 an hour,” she says, “it was almost starting over with my career [in order] to change where I was.”

But the experience paid off. Upon returning to Las Vegas, Maatouk took a job cooking at the Hard Rock Hotel’s pool club. Shortly after being laid off, she met Fine and went on to run his growing culinary empire.

“I don’t know if there was any luck to it,” she says. “My work ethic got me to where I am.”

That work ethic inspires her daily to bread her own chicken fngers, smoke her own meats at both PBR and PKWY Tavern and temper authenticity with accessibility at Chayo, providing both beer-swilling tourists and locals relaxing after work with something that’s both good and affordable. It’s a balancing act that would frustrate some of this town’s best fne-dining chefs, but one Maatouk seems to have been born to do.

DRINKING [ SCENE STIRS ]

Jessica Fesler, Double Helix Wine & Whiskey Bar’s bar manager.

HAPPY HOURS WITH A VIEW People visit Las Vegas for the lights, but glittering panorama is invisible from a windowless casino or lounge.

Still, there are spots in Sin City where you can drink in the view and a cocktail—both of which go down smoother during happy hour.

Mix Lounge sits atop Delano and offers 15 percent off drinks and small plates from 5-7 p.m. The sleek, deep-toned room is a chic backdrop for city lights, while elegant libations—such as the Poire Impériale and Marcel’s Fizz, as well as half a dozen craft beers—are an excellent way to end your day or begin your evening. DelanoLasVegas.com.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Harrah’s features center-Strip views and two daily happy hours from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and 9:30-10:30 p.m. Food includes the prime burger and crab BLT, while cocktails tend toward the sweet side— pomegranate martinis and blueberry mojitos—but there’s also a selection of wine and beer. HarrahsLasVegas.com.

Oscar’s view down Fremont Street has been partially obscured by Slotzilla, but there’s still some sparkle to be seen.

The bar offers half-price drinks from 4-6 p.m. every day, from the vodkaAperol Red Light District and bourbonbased Consigliere to former Mayor Oscar Goodman’s signature Bombay Sapphire martini. OscarsLV.com.

If you want too see the whole Strip, the High Roller will take you on a 360-degree ride. You never have to leave your seat during Happy Half-Hour, when your ticket includes a 30-minute ride with an open bar.

The cabins roll daily from noon-1 a.m. Friday-Sunday. Caesars.com/ HighRoller. – Lissa Townsend Rodgers VegasSeven.com

romantic. “There are very strict regulations that pertain to what can be in [a 21-year-old whiskey], and it’s not a lot. It’s water, grain, yeast and 21 years,” she says. “If you think about everything that’s happened to you in the last 21 years of your life and put a favor to that, that’s what a lot of these whiskeys are.“ During her ladies night, Fesler’s strategy is to introduce whiskey newbies to a cocktail such as the New York Sour. She then moves on to something a little more stripped down—a Manhattan or Old Fashion maybe, to better showcase the whiskey. “Then, before you know it, I want a Basil Hayden with two ice cubes,” she says.

Fesler encourages her guests to ask questions and not be intimidated by not knowing their preferences yet. “There is a lot to talk about, and once you get into it, it’s kind of like being a part of a weird secret society.” She’s also successfully turned a group of former wine drinkers into serious whiskey fans. “Women have better palates then men. They can actually appreciate [whiskey] more, because they can pull out subtle, light favors.”

And nothing makes Fesler happier than seeing a woman order a whiskey neat. “It’s like seeing a chick on a Harley.”

So drink like a woman, and make it a whiskey. – Jessie O’Brien

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➜ Women are increasingly ditching their vodka for whiskey, and that’s just fne by Jessica Fesler, Double Helix Wine & Whiskey Bar’s bar manager. Her “Keepin’ It Classy” Sunday ladies night (8 p.m.-close, in Town Square, DoubleHelixWine.com) offers $4 whiskey cocktails to encourage women to try the spirit that has in the past been linked exclusively to masculinity.

“For some reason, whiskey is one of those things that fell to having that male stigma,” she says. “It’s something people just have to get over.” And they are. Fesler, who’s been bartending for eight years, has seen the change frst hand.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the show Mad Men. Now classic cocktails are really coming to the forefront,” Fesler says.

“Whiskey companies are all for it because it’s an untapped market. You’re seeing commercials now with all these really elegant ladies drinking whiskey on the rocks.”

Fesler’s passion for whiskey began with the challenge of making whiskey cocktails that honored the spirit without drowning it. “You learn how to work with something as opposed to working over it,” she says. But she also loves whiskey for reasons that are themselves a mixture of practical and

Level 107 Lounge.

May 14–20, 2015

FESLER BY L AURA L ARSON

Woman of Whiskey

The Valley’s loftiest spot is Level 107 Lounge atop the Stratosphere. Early happy hour runs from 4-7 p.m. with half-price appetizers and two-for-one cocktails. The late-night happy hour offers half-price apps from 10:30 p.m.1 a.m. and two-for-one drinks from 1-4 a.m. StratosphereHotel.com.

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A&E VegasSeven.com

| May 14–20, 2015

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He hadn’t ever changed, it turns out, over the course of seven seasons. And on the eve of the series’ fnal episode, it’s fnally driven home that the man who worships at the altar of moving on is stuck frmly in place. Does any of this sound familiar?

For a show that’s set in the same era as peak Vegas, the two have somehow never crossed paths. Mad Men has been to California, Detroit and to Plattsburgh, New York, (trust me, as someone who spent three years in Plattsburgh, there is zero reason for any show to ever take place there), but never to swingin’ ’60s Sin City. Which is, in itself, weird.

Showrunner Matthew Weiner is on record saying one of his chief aims was to spotlight the other ’60s, the one that doesn’t get the anguished Vietnam setpieces and the overblown Buffalo Springfeld soundtrack. It’s the ’60s of the culture, not the counterculture.

Quintessential Don The ’60s of grown-ups. moment: Season 2, EpiAnd what was a bigger institution sode 3, “The Benefactor.” of the grown-up ’60s than Las Vegas?

Don’s shocking hair-pullIf Mad Men was never here in body, it ing, fngerbang/whispered damn well was in spirit. So, in that vein, threat-negotiating tactics let’s consider immutable Don Draper, with Bobbie Barrett reveal forever reaching for that change he can an even darker side to our never actually affect. Let’s look at all the hero—and prove once and ways Don is secretly Vegas. for all that Don probably Quintessential Don moment: didn’t even take one busiSeason 1, Episode 13, “The Wheel.” If ness course at the local you fully embraced this show early community college. on, it was because of the scene where Vegas analogue: Not so Don pitches Kodak on his campaign much “analogue” as just for their Carousel slide projector.

“Vegas.”

“This device isn’t a spaceship,” Don Quintessential Don intones, lost in a dreamy reverie. “It’s moment: Season 3, a time machine. It goes backwards and Episode 9, “Wee Small forwards. It takes us to a place where Hours.” When Sal Romawe ache to go again. It’s not called the no refuses the advances wheel. It’s called the Carousel. It lets us of Lucky Strike honcho travel the way a child travels. Around Lee Garner, Garner gets and around, and back home again to a Sal fired from Sterling place where we know we were loved.”

Cooper. Even though Don turned Vegas analogue: The High Roller. a blind eye to Sal’s homosexualWhat could be more circular than ity—progressive enough for 1963—he Vegas appropriating the London Eye, thinks Sal should’ve just given it itself stealing from the grandeur of up to the cigarette exec. What’s the the original Ferris wheel that was point of hanging on to your office gay the crowning attraction of the 1893 guy if he isn’t going to service your World’s Fair? Around niche clients? and around, to a place Vegas analogue: where we know we Ignoring prevalent MAD MEN were loved. Or back to sexual social mores for Season Finale 10 p.m. the Linq. For 37 bucks the sake of business?

May 17 on AMC, and a stroll through the Forget hookers and AMCTV.com. gift shop. strippers. (We won’t, of Quintessential Don course. But you should moment: Season 1, for the sake of this Episode 8, “The Hobo comparison.) It’s all Code.” This is the frst time we fnd about the six-week divorce laws of the out that Don Draper isn’t who he said early ’30s and the economic windfall he was. That he’s really Dick Whitman, they afforded. You get the feeling that son of a hobo-feecing father who if the Depression-era mayor of Reno grew up on some nondescript Illinois had the chance, he would’ve made out farm where they didn’t even have the with Andrew Mellon to keep the city decency to stock good vodka near the in the black. Would’ve been downright chicken coop. inconsiderate not to.

Vegas analogue: Cody Stevenson, Quintessential Don moment: the 23-year-old douche-uniform-wearSeason 3, Episode 13, “Shut the Door, ing lax bro in line at Marquee isn’t who Have a Seat.” Don and his merry band his ID says he is. He’s really Tyler Jacobof traitors conspire to steal Sterling son, the 20-year-old douche-uniformCooper out from under McCann Erwearing lax bro in line at Marquee. ickson’s takeover bid.

Cigarettes, dancing and diners: Mad Men is just like Vegas.

Vegas analogue: This is straight up Ocean’s 11, down to Lane Pryce as the doomed Richard Conte of the group and Joan as a way-hotter Angie Dickinson. This is also, ironically, the episode where Betty Draper goes to Reno to prep for her divorce from Don. Quintessential Don moment: Season 4, Episode 12, “Blowing Smoke.”

Don goes rogue, writing an op-ed in The New York Times saying that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was going healthy and would no longer take on tobacco companies.

Vegas analogue: Water parks and theme parks and adventure domes and jousting and little kids getting their sticky paws all over the slot machines.

Don renouncing cigarettes is as ridiculous as family-friendly Vegas.

Quintessential Don moment: Season 5, Episode 1, “A Little Kiss, Part 1.”

Don debuts his shiny new marriage to Megan, and she in turn serenades him with “Zou Bisou Bisou” to the unending delight of every dude in the room.

Vegas analogue: The sudden, economy-rearranging head-frst dive the Strip took into a nightclub-frst business model. You still wouldn’t rule out this ending with Steve Wynn and Jesse Waits crying together on the foor, would you?

Quintessential Don moment: Season 5, Episode 11, “The Other Woman.” Don tries to stop Joan from prostituting herself for the sake of the business.

Vegas analogue: Does not apply.

Quintessential Don moment: Season 7, Episode 7, “Waterloo.” The episode ends with Don hallucinating Bert Cooper singing “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

Vegas analogue: A bizarre musical number that wasn’t ever real? See: Triumph: It Runs on Steam.

Quintessential Don moment: Season 7, Episode 9, “New Business.” Don chases his own past, beginning a relationship with a diner waitress named Diana who reminds him of Rachel Katz (his mistress from Season 1), and his history of cratered relationships.

Vegas analogue: SLS. Slightly modifying an old classic and doing some hand-waving in the general direction of the past, only to realize it’s never the same as the thing you’re actually chasing. Also, your hundred bucks gets you a lot farther than it would with other diner waitresses/at the Bellagio.

Don’t ever change, Don. Or Vegas.

We know you can’t.

CONCERTS

[ ROCK IN RIO ]

No Doubt Makes a Massive Show Feel Intimate

A&E

The City of Rock, May 8

“I just wanna know every single person here tonight,” Gwen Stefani said to an audience of … thousands.

It’s been 20 years since No Doubt emerged from Orange County with their breakthrough album, Tragic Kingdom, but they still play with the fervor of a band trying to win fans. Stefani was constantly in motion— twisting her torso, flipping her platinum locks, racing and jumping across the stage. Bassist Tony Kanal kicked both of his legs off the ground with nearly every strum. Yet with all of the exhilaration, the band achieved an undeniable intimacy with its audience.

Stefani invited a poster-yielding fan onstage to snap a selfie. She got personal during “the make-out part” acoustic portion, telling fans “Excuse Me Mr.” is “a song I wrote about Tony Kanal. And it’s a really mean song.” (While that fact is no secret, you couldn’t help but feel closer to them both with that honesty.) Stefani polled the audience on whether to play “Happy Now” or “End It on This” (they did the latter), and the band closed with three mega-hits: “Don’t Speak,” “Just a Girl” and “Spiderwebs.” After an emotional group bow, Stefani signed autographs and shook hands with fans in the front row, just like she must have done decades ago. ★★★★✩ – Camille Cannon [ ROCK IN RIO ]

Mark Foster and His People Deliver an Aural Odyssey

The City of Rock, May 8

Arms wide on the opener “Pseudologia Fantastica,” Mark Foster looked angelic as he welcomed the audience with his signature falsetto. Though his Los Angeles-born band consists of three members—six for this live set—Foster carried the show with his chameleonic abilities. Against a backdrop of mesmerizing psychedelic visuals, he toggled between keyboards, guitar and vocals, also picking up drumsticks to boost the beat on “Call It What You Want.” And when he wasn’t bound to an instrument, he kept the energy high. Foster moved with swagger on “Miss You” and wailed like Tarzan against the rumbling bass of “Are You What You Want to Be?” “Let’s keep it going!” he said, jumping in anticipation after a guitarist’s six-string recovered from temporary technical troubles. Although audience excitement dipped after the group’s biggest hit “Pumped Up Kicks,” Foster and his

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on the Walls).” Then they … did stop. ★★★✩✩ –C.C.

KNEEL, FANS! Neil Diamond is a consummate performer and he’s got a setlist of classics (“Cherry, Cherry,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie”) that will turn you into a foot-stomping, fistshaking believer. He plays the Mandalay Bay Events Center on May 17 ($60-$175).

HE RIDES “LOW” Juicy J’s album, Pure THC: The Hustle Continues, doesn’t drop until July but fans can catch the rapper known for “All I Need (One Mo Drank)” and “For Everybody” when his The Hustle Continues tour hits House of Blues on May 19 ($28-$35).

ON SALE NOW Fans of ’90s-era alt-rock won’t want to miss the Under the Sun 2015 tour featuring Sugar Ray, Better Than Ezra, Eve 6 and Uncle Kracker when it lands at Mandalay Bay Beach on July 18 ($35). Shut the door baby, don’t say a word.

PHOTOS BY ERIK K ABIK/ERIKK ABIK.COM

May 14–20, 2015

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People picked it back up with a raucous rendition of “Don’t Stop (Color

CONCERT

Rise Against.

The

HIT LIST TARGETING THIS WEEK'S MOST-WANTED EVENTS

By Ian Caramanzana ALICE: A Steampunk Concert Fantasy.

Sepultura was the only Brazilian act to mainstage at Rock in Rio, but lead singer Derrick Green also represented the festival’s new home in Las Vegas by wearing a Double Down Saloon T-shirt. There were no Ass Juice caipirinhas, but the second day of “Rock Weekend” had an abundance of fist-pumping, foot-stomping and black T-shirts.

Rise Against blasted through a set of their alternative radio hits that had the kids singing along, while guitarist Steve Vai joined Sepultura onstage to add some shred to their bombastic

[ ART ]

RISE AGAINST BY ERIK K ABIK/ERIKK ABIK.COM

PERPETUAL TOUCH

Elegantly rendered hands in charcoal and white conté recall 15th-century Renaissance sketches by Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Rather than resting idle in sepia-toned space, the hands rove, grasp, explore and express a multiplicity of touch and caresses over time. ¶ “Sex is about the loss of time and space,” artist JP Rakehorn says of his solo exhibit: Rub, Sweat and Smears on display at Sin City Gallery in the Arts Factory through May 31. ¶ Figures and encounters are adrift upon indeterminate space—consumed by passion specificity falls away.

In place of location, the backgrounds of most works are filled with rich mark making—trailing lines of charcoal, scribbled white, splatters of water, the ring of a cup stain, ink washes, bits of text— clouding yet amplifying the erotic gestures and creating a layered history of touch built up over time. Erased, redrawn and added to over many months, the work has an unfinished quality. Repetitive touch mimics the repeat encounters of lovers. Perpetually in process, the intimate moment will go on forever. ¶ Rising out of the milieu of texture, exquisite details emerge, such as the slick glimmer of black boot, rumpled highlights on tight fabric, mouths kissing or the delicate cobweb of a stocking. ¶ “This is what my life is like,” Rakehorn says. “It’s messy and dirty, but it’s got these gleaming little bits of loveliness.” – Jenessa Kenway

"Klara Latex" at Sin City Gallery.

SHE’S BACK! Canadian singer and impressionist Véronic DiCaire returns to Jubilee Theater in Bally’s for 14 performances of VÉRONIC Voices. The 38-year-old is known for her ability to mimic a wide range of iconic voices such as Adele, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Celine Dion. Dion even co-produced the show. Hear her 50 voices beginning May 14. VeronicVoices.com.

NOT THE SINGER Starting May 15, you can catch Sin City Opera’s interpretation of German composer Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel at the Winchester Cultural Center.

Engelbert Humperdinck is also the name of an English pop singer, but you won’t hear his hits here. Instead, you’ll witness a “deconstructed, introspective” version of the fairy tale that emphasizes the theme of homelessness. Grim. SinCityOpera.com.

FOR ART’S SAKE See some of the best art our city has to offer at ARTrageous Vegas. The event at the Tropicana has all bases covered: visual art, performing art, fashion design, floral art and even chocolate/sugar art. Some of the city’s best have been invited to participate, and you can take it all in May 16. ArtrageousVegas.org.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE A beloved childhood classic gets a dark, boisterous makeover on May 20 in ALICE: A Steampunk Concert Fantasy. The rock musical based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland turns the nonsensical tale into a immersive journey with trippy visuals and vibrant choreography. The concept might sound crazy, but “we’re all mad here,” right?

HardRockHotel.com/Vinyl.

VegasSeven.com

The City of Rock, May 9

into mosh pits and fortunately left them too exhausted to get angry about the lack of encore.

Metallica undoubtedly had the best backdrop: about 100 Metallica fans rocking out throughout the set.

(Although that part where the giant screen showed James Hetfield shredding away while two guys texted behind him was a little off-putting: We know you’re stoked but tweet later, bro.) The band went on a bit tardy but appeased the crowd with a version of “Fuel” that tore out at about 200 MPH, followed by “Master of Puppets” and “King Nothing,” in a triumvirate of classics that erased any thoughts of “late” or “cold.” If people still used lighters, they would have held them up for “The Unforgiven,” and “Enter Sandman” must have been one of the largest gatherings of air guitarists on one place. Still, when the fans on the stage and the fans in the crowd bang their heads in unison, magical things happen. ★★★★✩ – Lissa Townsend Rodgers

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The Deftones and Metallica Bring the Rage to 'Rock Weekend'

death metal. Linkin Park … well, I spent their set at Slots A Fun and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

I first saw the Deftones about 15 years ago, and they remain one of the finest live bands going. Chino Moreno is possessed of one of the best voices in rock, encompassing guttural hardcore rage, anthemic stadiumready belting and the sort of dreamy liquidity required for Cure covers.

The Deftones went hard for their set, going from the “Rocket Skates” opener (“Guns! Razors! Knives!”) to the one-two punch of the epic longing of “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” and the pummeling “My Own Summer (Shove It).” “Passenger” was greeted with a particularly loud roar—on disc, the song features Maynard Keenan of Tool, and the audience was anticipating a special guest; Tim McIlrath of Rise Against charged onto the stage and the two shrieked and soared for an increasingly ecstatic crowd. The closer was a thrashing rendition of “Head Up” that whirled the audience

May 14–20, 2015

[ ROCK IN RIO ]

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STAGE

HEAVY BURDEN TO CAREY Pardon the new Caesars songbird for the showbiz sin of aging

PHOTO BY DENISE TRUSCELLO

SHE’S 45. HER VOICE ISN’T 25.

Can we agree that, regarding new Vegas headliner Mariah Carey, this is a fact of time and nature—not a war crime punishable at The Hague?

Can we agree despite The New York Times—while granting she’s “one of the greatest pop voices of the last three decades”—likening her once-golden pipes to “decaying manufacturing machinery” and declaring she’s “in decline and trapped in a cage of her own making”? Despite Internet hyenas—whose bitter drivel isn’t worth repeating—who wouldn’t know a G-sharp from a G-string?

Blather over Carey’s vocal quality erupted anew with last week’s debut of her residency at Caesars Palace, a solid diva showcase.

While Mariah #1 to Infnity won’t go down as supreme Vegas spectacle, there’s enough production pop to fatter the pop star: giant butterfyemblazoned panels framing the stage; energetic backup dancers; and inventive multimedia, including animation videos (highlights being a balloonfestooned carnival for “Fantasy” and a projection of her manse on “Touch My Body”). Although she’s never airborne a la Britney or Shania, she arrives onstage via a pink convertible (“Dreamlover”), a Jet Ski (“Honey”) and a round bed (“Touch My Body”).

Mostly, it has Mariah, in a neat conceit, performing her 18 No. 1 hits in order, kicking off with “Visions of Love” and climaxing with the recent (but non-No. 1) “Infnity.” Often, the fveoctave chanteuse nails it, notably those shatter-notes that make dolphins even greener with envy. … But not always.

No, the pipes aren’t pristine. They’re huskier, even sometimes skidding off into pitchiness. Should anyone record the show and conduct comparisons

with the original tracks, they’d likely fnd sections sung at lower keys.

That’s not decline. That’s accommodation—which has compensations.

Young Mariah awed me. Seasoned Mariah intrigues me. And now I have a rooting interest—I was pulling for her to pull it off, tapping something more emotional in me than the dog-whistle-level squeals climaxing “Emotions” ever could.

Once she was a perfect instrument.

That trilling was thrilling. Perfection is beautiful—and a bit boring. In imperfection, there’s character. One reason I’ve admired Sinatra-era singers is that over decades, their vocal suppleness and virtuosity cede dominance to depth and richness.

Their artistry arced as they did. Though subtle, there’s an edge now in Carey’s voice, albeit in an intolerant genre.

Sadly, the pop world doesn’t suffer maturing performers gladly—by defnition, it’s an immature form. Prospects for Carey’s career endurance are threatened by twin obstacles: One is surviving show-biz middle-age, as she’s still boxed in by fans’ demands to revisit their youth by revisiting hers, but far from more generously viewed elderstateswoman status. Also, she built stardom atop astonishing vocal abilities that time and nature would inevitably whittle to something approaching normalcy. Given the enormity of her gift, normal can seem subpar.

Fascinating to watch will be whether Carey embraces new material beftting a more textured, nuanced sound—her voice of tomorrow—and whether the media and online yowlers let her untether herself from the surface perfection of yesterday.

Got an entertainment tip? Email Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.

A&E

MOVIES

PASTORAL LOVE TRIANGLE

Mulligan plays a Victorian-era proto-feminist with ease and charm.

Carey Mulligan shines as a lady farmer wooed by three suitors

By Michael Phillips Tribune Media Services

EQUIPPED WITH ITS OWN BRAND OF ROUGH-

hewn glamour, the new flm version of the 1874 love quadrangle Far From the Madding Crowd is a long way from the widescreen, 171-minute running time and anachronistic Julie Christie eyeliner of the Thomas Hardy novel’s best-known previous adaptation, released in 1968.

In ’68 the posters for director John Schlesinger’s version touted the story of “a willful passionate girl ... and the three men who want her!” Little of that sort of fulminating can be found in the vicinity of director Thomas Vinterberg’s version, a relatively compact and forcefully acted affair starring Carey Mulligan as the farmer-heroine Bathsheba Everdeen. For those working from the contemporary literary perspective of The Hunger Games, yes, Katniss Everdeen is named after Hardy’s magnetic character. And as ever, there are three men who want her.

The new flm’s adaptation by David Nicholls tightens the focus on the relationship between Everdeen and her

frst serious suitor, the sheep farmer Gabriel Oak, played by the Belgianborn heartthrob Matthias Schoenaerts.

Hardy’s narrative contrives, exquisitely, to torture his characters with massive reversals of fortune as Everdeen’s life as an independent agent becomes complicated by the dashingyet-weaselly soldier Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge). The third gent in her life is the older man next door, prosperous bachelor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), who pines and pines and bides his time while Everdeen’s life proceeds along Destiny’s path.

It’s a nice-looking path: Vinterberg shot Far From the Madding Crowd in some choice English locations. The Danish-born director’s earlier work includes The Celebration and, more

recently, The Hunt, tales of rampant, crushing hypocrisy and poisonous social mores. With the Hardy project, Vinterberg ventures into related yet different territory. Everdeen exists in Hardy’s novel to be underestimated, dismissed, written off—her triumph is a triumph of resolve over expectation.

While some of the requirements of Hardy’s narrative elude or simply do not interest Vinterberg—in general, the bigger and more “scenic” the moment, the less compelling it comes off—he’s a strong partner to his key actors.

Mulligan is pretty terrifc as Everdeen. For any performer playing a protagonist ahead of her time, the challenge is to respect the boundaries of what that character was, and is, up against. At times Mulligan’s knowing

SHORT REVIEWS

May 14–20, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

The D Train (R) ★★✩✩✩

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Jack Black plays Dan Landsman, the awkward lump nobody remembers. Even now, helping organize his high school’s 20th reunion, the once-“cool” kids don’t invite him for beers. But then a late-night Banana Boat commercial gives him an epiphany, a vision of Oliver Lawless (James Marsden), the bronzed, semi-bearded god of their high school. If Dan can get Oliver to commit, maybe more classmates will “like” their Facebook page. And Black, aging out of his irrepressible nerd-cool persona, earns our sympathy but few laughs.

5 Flights Up (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

The cinematic charms of Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman are no match for the hell that is the New York real estate market in this middling comedy about getting old, downsizing and running up against real estate agents, hagglers and looky Lous.

Retired teacher Ruth (Keaton) and painter Alex (Freeman) put their apartment on the market, and, in turn, visit open houses looking for a place where they can move.

It’s all rather stale, with Keaton stuck on half-speed, and Freeman waiting for her to be the funny one.

The Age of Adaline (Pg-13) ★★★★✩

A narrator introduces Adaline (Blake Lively) under her current alias, Jenny, on New Year’s Eve 2014, then explains the aging that stopped after a car wreck in the 1930s.

Now she works in the San Francisco city archives, and only her retirement-age daughter (Ellen Burstyn) knows her secret. Then a suitor, Ellis (Michiel Huisman), fixes his eye on her. Reluctantly, she falls for him. Then Harrison Ford shows up for the third act, as he and t Kathy Baker play Ellis’ parents. And Ford, in an affecting performance, lifts this romance in ways we never see coming.

half-smile suggests a woman slightly out of period. But her technique is shrewd and assured, and Vinterberg’s (relatively steady) deployment of handheld cameras brings us close to the faces, and the predicaments.

I can’t help but wish this new Far From the Madding Crowd came with the thrill of interpretive discovery, the way Jane Campion gave Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady a good shaking-up or, more conventionally, the way James Ivory mainstreamed E.M. Forester in A Room With a View and Howards End. This achievement isn’t quite that. But a good, solid version of this novel, guided by Mulligan, is still an achievement.

Far From the Maddening Crowd (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

By Tribune Media Services

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

Action, relentless and assaultive. Wisecracks, numerous, pretty sharp and evenly parceled out among Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Evans (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and so on. Entertaining as much of Avengers 2 is, especially when it’s just hanging out with the gang in between scuffles (the Guardians of the Galaxy lesson, learned), this picture meets expectations without exceeding them.

Adult Beginners (R) ★★✩✩✩

The story is that of Jake, a self-centered Manhattan entrepreneur played by Nick Kroll. Jake’s latest startup company flames out, leading to a move back to New Rochelle into the house where he grew up. Broke and bored, he becomes his 3-year-old nephew’s deeply unqualified but increasingly game caregiver. With a second child on the way, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale’s characters, Justine and Danny, have begun to seek romantic attention outside their marriage.

Jake falls into bed with another caregiver, while building a bridge back to Justine.

Little Boy (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

When the father (Michael Rapaport) of a bullied lad named Pepper (Jakob Salvati) heads to war, life stumbles along for the boy. Pepper finds a friend in Mr. Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the town’s most conspicuous (or only?) Japanese-American resident. This friendship is regarded poorly

by Pepper’s unhappy older brother (David Henrie). Pepper’s mother (Emily Watson) shares a more tolerant viewpoint with the local Catholic priest, the latter instilling in Pepper the notion that hope, even the size of a mustard seed, is enough to move mountains.

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The Water Diviner (R) ★★✩✩✩

Unfriended (R) ★★★✩✩

Beyond The Reach (R) ★★✩✩✩

Child 44 (R) ★★✩✩✩

Russell Crowe’s feature directorial debut stems from an honest impulse to dramatize ordinary people who honor their dead. Yet the results are narratively dishonest. In the wake of Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, an Australian farmer traveled to the Turkish battlefield searching for the remains of his sons. Crowe plays the title character, whose three sons head off to fight and apparently die at Gallipoli. Fulfilling a promise made to his wife, farmer Joshua travels to Constantinople.

With the aid of a mournful Turkish major, Joshua finds his way to Gallipoli.

Ben (Jeremy Irvine), a tracker, is summoned to take rich businessman Madec (Michael Douglas) into the wastelands, beyond “The Reach” (a geographic feature) in search of a trophy bighorn sheep. Irvine makes a convincing Ben, a wary kid a little slow on the uptake, but a man with skills and the physique to stay alive as Gordon Gekkowith-guns tracks him. Douglas makes a good villain out of a cardboard construction. But French director trips over himself trying to invent fresh wrinkles in this Man vs. Man vs.

The Elements tale.

Not since The Blair Witch Project in 1999 has a horror film taken such a creative approach to scares as Unfriended. It’s a tale of friends who become the target of an unseen cyberentity starving for revenge. Whoever—or whatever—is stalking the teens is looking to avenge the death of a young woman so embarrassed by a YouTube video that she committed suicide. It’s a familiar story made fresh by the fascinating way the movie was shot. Layers of information that would normally slow the scare-factor pacing can be added through the onscreen images.

Part serial-killer thriller, part old-school anti-Soviet propaganda, Child 44 centers on an obedient MGB (secret police) agent played

by Tom Hardy. Set in 1953, the film, inspired by the Tom Rob Smith novel, presents an image of the Soviet Union in which ordinary citizens live in fear. How to explain the body of a young boy found in Moscow? Senior MGB officer Kuzmin (Vincent Cassel), enlists investigator Leo (Hardy) to deliver the official report. In his next assignment, he is asked to investigate and potentially denounce his own wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace).

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SEVEN QUESTIONS

tumes?” Finally, in late 2014, they said, “OK, we’ve decided we’re going to donate what we have to the museum.” They realized that storing the collection was costing them money, and they didn’t really have plans for it. And we said, “We’ll take everything.”

They didn’t have plans for this collection?

When I was talking to them, I said, “The museum would love to mount little pop-up exhibitions at the Tropicana. Now that we have the costumes, we’ll be able to make archival mounts for them and actually create something cool.” And they absolutely had no interest in that. They said, “We’re the new Tropicana.” They’re re-branding themselves. They really don’t want to embrace their past or their legacy. At least not yet.

So when can we see these costumes upstairs in the Museum’s main collection?

First, we’re diligently working on an inventory for the Tropicana so they can write off the donation. Then we’ll pick the things that are in the best condition: triplicates or quadruples of [pieces] we think are important [to form complete, perfect costumes]. We’re still opening boxes, discovering pieces and fnding something that reminds us of another piece, and we’ll say, “Geez, I wonder if that goes there?” And we’ve started what we’re calling the Folies Bergère bible, which is a series of photographs from each era that we can reference to make sense of it all.

I’m hoping that we’ll be able to understand the progression of a costume. You can tell that some of these costumes have had two lives. Maybe they started out as just a big velvet ball dress, and then they were shortened and turned into something else.

Now that it’s been shortened, there’s no way to look back. But if we have a photograph, we fgure out the evolution. UNLV Special Collections has a lot of stage shots, but we’re really depending on the community.

Since the last Folies show was just in 2009, a lot of these performers probably still live here. And the wardrobe staff has scrapbooks. Things don’t come to us in archival boxes; they come in big messes like this, and we have to make sense of it.

Have you been able to tell if anything big is missing?

The Nevada State Museum’s guest curator on costumes and textiles, taming a mountain of showgirl threads and how you can help

May 14–20, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

By Geoff Carter

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You design handbags (KaranFeder.com); you’ve created licensed products for a variety of clients, from the Liberace estate to Lucasfilm; you serve on the boards of several costuming and creative organizations.

What persuaded you to become a guest curator for the Nevada State Museum?

I volunteered about two years ago because they had a costume and textile collection. Once I started studying it and realizing there was no curator for it, I saw there was a really cool opportunity to develop the collection. What would the museum want to include

to tell the story of Las Vegas’ costumes and textiles? I became obsessed with making that happen.

We’re standing among thousands of costumes from the Tropicana’s Folies Bergère (1959- 2009). How did this mountain of glitz get here?

In late 2013 or early 2014, I heard that Mamma Mia was coming to the Tropicana. That was a very costume-heavy show, and I thought, “They’re going to want that storage room.” So I aggressively started to bug them: “What are you going to do with these cos-

How can locals support this preservation effort?

Crew and cast performers can reach out to help identify pieces. And we would love to be able to recruit a signature sponsor. State funds are so limited. … At some point I would imagine we’re going to screech to a halt because we no longer have the money to buy the archival materials for the housing and mounting of the costumes. Single gown-size boxes typically run $45-$60 apiece. … These aren’t typical gowns. Everything needs to be custom built, which is not only expensive but also time-consuming.

Do you see the Nevada State Museum becoming another stop on the Vegas history tour? You’ve seen the neon signs, the mob artifacts and the A-bomb ephemera; now, see the rhinestones and feathers?

Exactly. We’ll have to redesign our marketing materials to refect the fact that we now have this collection. In our current advertising, we show our woolly mammoth as the museum’s focal point. Maybe, soon, that will change, and there’ll be a showgirl right next to the mammoth!

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

Karan Feder

We’re missing most of our headdresses. Those are the pieces that tended to walk out the door and disappear, or be used for Halloween costumes. And for a while, they gave away headdresses to high-rollers.

But once people see that the Museum is preserving these costumes, they’ll realize it’s more important that that costume remain in our hands, rather than under their bed or in the back of their closet.

AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS.