The Tropicana Turns 60

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TH E TRO PIC A N A TU R N S 60

E , S H OWG I R L S & T H E S K I M N I H S N SU

OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY SAT, APR 1

SUN, APR 2

MAY 3 – 20

FRI, JUN 23

SAT, APR 1............................ACM PARTY FOR A CAUSE BENEFITTING ACM LIFTING LIVES FEATURING DREW BALDRIDGE, KELSEA BALLERINI, RYAN HURD, LADY ANTEBELLUM, KIP MOORE, ERIC PASLAY, BRETT YOUNG WITH HISH

THU, JUN 15.......................BASSRUSH MASSIVE

SUN, APR 2.........................ACM AWARDS OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY BENEFITTING ACM LIFTING LIVES FEATURING KANE BROWN, EASTON CORBIN, CLARE DUNN, WALKER HAYES, LANCO, SCOTTY McCREERY, DEE JAY SILVER

FRI, AUG 4..........................SLAYER

SAT, APR 8 ..........................BRING ME THE HORIZON

SAT, JUL 22.........................THIRD EYE BLIND: SUMMER GODS TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUESTS SILVERSUN PICKUPS, OCEAN PARK STANDOFF

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THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE TOUR

PLUS VERY SPECIAL GUESTS UNDEROATH AND BEARTOOTH

THU, APR 13.......................BON IVER

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS LAMB OF GOD AND BEHEMOTH

WED, AUG 9...................... PRIMUS WITH SPECIAL GUEST CLUTCH

WITH SPECIAL GUEST VELVET NEGRONI

SUN, AUG 27.....................THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW

FRI, JUL 14..........................PRINCE ROYCE – FIVE TOUR W/ LUIS CORONEL

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C O M I N G U P AT B R O O K LY N B O W L L A S V E G A S • MAR 31 - APR 1 •

A N N O U N C E D

THU, JUN 1

TREY SONGZ ON SALE 3/31

WED, JUN 14

PHOENIX

TUE, JUN 20

GARY CLARK JR. ON SALE 3/31

THU, MAR 30 >

<

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ON THE COVER

Read Vegas Seven right side up and then flip it over and start again with Seven Nights, featuring after-dark entertainment and the week’s nightlife happenings.

ON SALE 3/31

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EASYONSTAR ALL-STARS SALE NOW

BATTLE TAPES

K A T C H A F I R E SAT, APR 8 > S A M M Y J SUN, APR 9 > R E B E L S O U L J A H Z MON, APR 10 > R E D TUE, APR 11 > THE HEAD AND THE HEART WITH DREAMERS THU, APR 6 >

OH WONDER WITH HONNE FRI, APR 14 > MARK FARINA / DJ SNEAK SAT, APR 15 > T O O T S + T H E M A Y T A L S WED, APR 19 > PHANTOGRAM WITH LIDO WED, APR 12 >

K E H L A N I SOLD OUT! FRI, APR 21 > T O V E L O SAT, APR 22 > THE JOSHUA TREE - U2 TRIBUTE SUN, APR 23 > O R G O N E + M O N O P H O N I C S FRI, APR 28 > JAMEY JOHNSON WITH MARGO PRICE SAT, APR 29 > SPAWNBREEZIE FRI, MAY 12 > POPTONE SAT, MAY 13 > B L U E O C T O B E R FRI, MAY 19 > SIX60 ROOT OF CREATION / JOE MARCINEK BAND SAT, MAY 20 > TESTAMENT WITH SEPULTURA THU, MAY 25 > BEN HARPER + THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS SAT, MAY 27 > PINK TALKING FISH // A FUSION OF PINK FLOYD, THE TALKING HEADS + PHISH SAT, JUN 3 > M O D E S T M O U S E THU, JUN 8 > SOMO: THE ANSWERS TOUR FRI, JUN 16 > ZOSO - THE ULTIMATE LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE WED, JUN 21 > T H E R E V O L U T I O N

60 YEARS OF TROPICANA LAS VEGAS Photography UNLV LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Pictured FOUNTAIN AT THE TROPICANA ENTRANCE CIRCA 1957

THU, APR 20 >

CENTER STRIP AT THE LINQ || BROOKLYNBOWL.COM || 702.862.BOWL

SEVEN NIGHTS Photography W LAS VEGAS Pictured BOOKER GLAM MACHINE IN W LIVING ROOM AT W LAS VEGAS

This page: Vintage sign for "Hotel Tropicana"

MARCH 30–APRIL 5, 2017 TO DO

CONVERSATIONS

11 24/7

35 Wild Card

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas.

BY SHANNON MILLER

12 I'm With the Band

Mucca Pazza makes marching band look cool.

BY MARK ADAMS

13 The Deal

Blackjack for a buck.

BY ANTHONY CURTIS

FEATURE

14 The Tiffany of the Strip 60 years of Tropicana Las Vegas.

Nightlife photographer Merlin Bronques captures the party at Omnia's Wild at Heart.

BY UNA LAMARCHE

36 Man of Mystery

Chef Robert Irvine keeps his secrets close to the kitchen.

BY DIANA EDELMAN

37 Ask a Native

New neighborhoods, old hangouts and why it's so cold inside.

BY JAMES P. REZA

38 Lucky No. 7

Our favorite old-school casinos.

BY WENDOH STAFF

BY DAVID G. SCHWARTZ

22 Visible to All, Seen by Few

The Tropicana's stained glass ceiling.

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

TASTE

25 Be Their Guest

From the start of a meal to its sweet end, tableside service can be a beautiful affair.

BY MARISA FINETTI

31 Future Reality

Greenfish Labs raises awareness with VR technology.

BY MISTI YANG

32 Mr. Las Vegas ... Airport?

Keeping politics out of place names.

BY DAVID G. SCHWARTZ

A First Look at Bandito Latin Kitchen & Cantina The soon-to-open restaurant will deliver Stripquality food and hospitality with the pricing of a neighborhood restaurant eatery.

DTLV.com Aged in Oak Barrel-aged beers have become popular in recent years—and for good reasons. Read about three Downtown establishments that are committed to these brews on DTLV.com.

ON THE FLIP SIDE

Seven Nights What to do after dark.

BY KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ

RunRebs.com Why UNLV Makes Sense for Chase Jeter The former Bishop Gorman big man is transferring from Duke, and UNLV should be his next home.

When the Sun Comes Up Keep the party going all day long.

BY KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ

From Check-in to Checkout 24 hours in W Las Vegas.

BY JESSI C. ACUÑA

More Than Muscle SOCIAL INFLUENCE

VegasSeven.com

Behind the scenes of Magic Mike Live.

BY CAMILLE CANNON

SpyOnVegas.com The Hookup Find upcoming events, see highlights from the hottest parties, meet the DJs and more.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Photography KRYSTAL RAMIREZ Mercato della Pescheria's Tiramisu

APRIL 21

MARCH 31-APRIL1 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE • JAKE OWEN • LEE BRICE COLE SWINDELL • DUSTIN LYNCH • BIG & RICH BROTHERS OSBORNE • CHRIS LANE • BRETT YOUNG MADDIE & TAE • WILLIAM MICHAEL MORGAN DYLAN SCOTT • TUCKER BEATHARD

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AUGUST 18

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger President Michael Skenandore Chief Financial Officer Sim Salzman Vice President, Marketing and Events Keith White Creative Director Sherwin Yumul Graphic Designer Javon Isaac Technical Director Herbert Akinyele Controller Jane Weigel

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VEGAS SEVEN 701 Bridger Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101 702-798-7000 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada. © 2017 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

Publisher

Michael Skenandore Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Melinda Sheckells MANAGING EDITOR

Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITOR, LIFESTYLE

Jessi C. Acuña ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Mark Adams EDITOR AT LARGE

Lissa Townsend Rodgers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Shannon Miller EDITORIAL INTERNS

Daphne-Jayne Corrales, Heather Peterson Senior Contributing Editor Xania Woodman (Beverage) Contributing Editors Michael Green (Politics), David G. Schwartz (Gaming/Hospitality) Art CREATIVE DIRECTOR

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Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Krystal Ramirez VegasSeven.com DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT

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Jessie O’Brien WEB EDITOR

Amber Sampson CONTRIBUTING WRITER, RUNREBS.COM

Tyler Bischoff Production/Distribution DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION

Marc Barrington ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jimmy Bearse Sales BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Christy Corda DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SALES

Nicole Niazmand ACCOUNT MANAGER

Brittany Quintana ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Robyn Weiss, Matt Iles DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION

John Tobin

TO DO

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas

By Shannon Miller

Bring a picnic blanket to Downtown Container Park’s weekly Family Movie Night. Screening tonight is Disney’s recent animated feature Moana, the tale of a Polynesian princess who saves her home. 7 p.m., downtowncontainerpark.com FRIDAY 31

Downtown’s Simply Pure picks up and moves to the Desert Shores Clubhouse for its spring celebration, which features live entertainment, wine and vegan food made by Simply Pure’s Stacey Dougan and fellow vegan chef Tracy Carter. 6:30 p.m., $40, 2500 Regatta Dr., simplypurelv.com You get an email from someone in a foreign country who needs your financial aid to save them from impending doom. What do you do?

If you’re writer and performer Dean Cameron, you reply and write a play using real email threads written over the course of 11 months.

See The Nigerian Spam Scam Scam at The Space tonight. 8 p.m., $30–$65, 3460 Cavaretta Ct., thespacelv.com THURSDAY 30

PHOTO BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ

Simply Pure chef Stacey Dougan

Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada honors Elaine Wynn and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto at its eighth annual Corks & Forks Gala, which features cocktails, a dinner, opportunities to bid on silent auction items and a performance by Santana lead singer Andy Vargas. 6 p.m., $300, at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, corksandforks17.auction-bid.org UNLV’s Allegro Guitar Series presents Benjamin Verdery, the prolific artistic director of the Art of the Guitar Series in New York, for an evening of innovative classical guitar. 8 p.m., $45, UNLV’s Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center, unlv.edu The Snack Wagon Takeover series returns to Harvest by Roy

Ellamar, this time featuring small bites by Other Mama executive chef and owner Dan Krohmer, who travels table to table discussing his creations with diners. 5–9 p.m., inside Bellagio, reservations available at 866-906-7171 (For more information, see “Be Their Guest” on page 25) Let the heavy electro rock of Battle Tapes wash over you at Brooklyn Bowl, where dancey indie-pop outfit Beginners open. 7:30 p.m., $10, at The Linq Promenade, brooklynbowl.com/las-vegas

Country music and good times abound at the Academy of Country Music Awards’ Bash at the Beach. Hear performances by Jake Owen, Lee Brice, Brothers Osborne, Big & Rich, Maddie & Tae, Brett Young and William Michael Morgan, all while splashing in Mandalay Bay Beach’s wave pool and sinking your toes in the sand. 7 p.m., $75, mandalaybay.com The monthly Neon Lit reading series, featuring writers from the UNLV Masters of Fine Arts program, sets up at The Writer’s Block.

7 p.m., 1020 Fremont St., neonlit.org SATURDAY 1

The Neon Museum’s artist-in-residence Cardio Spider performs sketch comedy and improv in What’s Your Sign? at the museum’s North Gallery. 2 p.m., registration required, 770 Las Vegas Blvd. North, neonmuseum.org What do you get when you have one dinner party, four guests and a conversation about racial identity that gets ugly? An exploration of sex, religion and culture, Disgraced is presented by the Nevada Conservatory Theatre in collaboration with the Cockroach Theatre Company. 7:30 p.m., Alta Ham Fine Arts at UNLV, $17, unlv.edu

Ma rch 30 -April 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com

11

TO DO

24/7

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (left) and The Evangelicals

features more than 20 tasting stations, and proceeds benefit local charity New Vista, which supports the intellectually challenged. 7 p.m., $30–$35, winewalklv.com SUNDAY 2

Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies treat moviegoers to Hitchcock classic North by Northwest, returning to theaters nationwide today and April 5.

2 p.m. and 7 p.m., theaters and ticket prices vary, fathomevents.com

Experimental electronic jam band

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) baffles

and delights audiences with support from Tauk at Brooklyn Bowl. 8 p.m., $38–$70, at The Linq Promenade, brooklynbowl.com/las-vegas

The Kizuna Japanese Spring Festival invites you to partake in a Japanese tea ceremony, learn the arts of flower

Sousa Who?!

Mucca Pazza makes marching band cool

By Mark Adams Most high school band directors would likely abhor what Mucca Pazza is doing to the time-honored tradition of the marching band—and that’s exactly what makes the “performance art marching band” so appealing.

The troupe wears mismatched uniforms, with musicians sporting a collage of gaudy colors, patterns and embellishments on their bibs and plumetopped hats. In place of a color guard gracefully spinning flags into the air are cheerleaders gyrating with pom-poms made of nontraditional materials (think: crime-scene caution tape). Oh, and they don’t actually “march”—they’re generally stationary, and you won’t find a John Philip Sousa classic anywhere in the group’s repertoire.

It’s a stark contrast to what’s going on across America every fall Friday night during halftime at high school football games. For example, my high school band director berated students simply for wearing white socks with the standard-issue black pants, the school’s color guard upgraded to flipping rifles and sabers into the air, and we learned not one, but three styles of marching to use while rushing to create ridiculously complicated formations (tell me marching band isn’t a sport after you’ve high-stepped half of an eight-minute routine). Bonus: There’s no drum major with a huge ego barking orders at Mucca Pazza’s band members.

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arrangement and origami, and enjoy musical and martial arts performances. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza at Lorenzi Park, 720 Twin Lakes Dr., kizunajapanesesociety.org Sip on an assortment of wines while doing some world-class shopping at Downtown Summerlin during the New Vista Wine Walk. The event

MONDAY 3

We’ve all been to the grocery store, but do you really know how to make nutritious, thrifty choices when you shop there? Attend the UNLV Nutrition Center’s Free Grocery Store Tour to learn tips about healthy eating and getting a better bang for your buck.

What Mucca Pazza has done with its quirky style and high-energy performances is what band geeks like me used to consider impossible: They have made marching band cool. Self-described as “a marching band that thinks it’s a rock ’n’ roll band,” the Chicago-based ensemble has been borrowing from (and maybe poking some fun at) marching band customs since 2004. In that time, Mucca Pazza released four albums, had tracks featured on hit shows such as Showtime’s Weeds and Amazon’s Transparent, and has played for crowds everywhere from the Lollapalooza music festival to Late Night With Conan O’Brien.

And we haven’t even touched on the band’s musicality. Its 30-plus musicians perform funky and soulful original songs, more akin to what you’d hear during a funeral procession through New Orleans’ French Quarter or at a bizarre circus sideshow than the noise happening under the Friday-night lights at one’s hometown football field. In addition to the standard marching band instrumentation (brass, woodwinds, drum line), Mucca Pazza features a “freak” section that includes violins, cellos, guitars and even an accordion, giving added eccentricity and a unique sound to the ensemble. And to boot, the aforementioned cheerleaders direct amusing cheers in between songs: “Ready? OK! Hold! Hold! Please continue to hold! … Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line.”

And staying on the line should be worth it when the band brings its avant-garde audio and aesthetics to The Bunkhouse SaMucca Pazza loon April 5. Joining or enjoying a marching April 5, 8 p.m., $12–$15, band was likely social suicide when you The Bunkhouse Saloon, were in high school (it definitely was for 124 S. 11th St., me), but Mucca Pazza obviously marches bunkhousedowntown.com to the beat of a different—and absolutely fucking cool—drum. 7

MUCCA PHOTO BY JANE KOHLMAN DEITRICH

Carnevino Italian Steakhouse keeps it fresh by welcoming guest chef Cesare Casella, the “dean of Italian cooking,” to its kitchen. Enjoy a fivecourse meal with meat provided by farm-to-table online butcher Heritage Foods USA. 7 p.m., $150, inside The Palazzo, cesarecasella.splashthat.com

Listen to Old 97’s “Good With God” collaboration with Brandi Carlile, and then check out the alternative country band at Vinyl. 7 p.m., $22–$45, inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, hardrockhotel.com

THE DEAL BY ANTHONY CURTIS

Blackjack for a Buck ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPL AINTS I

All participants will be entered to win a healthy culinary gift basket.

6:30 p.m., Albertsons, 1300 E. Flamingo Rd., 702-895-4875, unlv.edu TUESDAY 4

Veteran journalists and local attorneys discuss their encounters with the Las Vegas mob of the ’70s and ’80s, such as Tony Spilotro and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, at The Mob Museum’s Courtroom Conversation: The Media and the Mob. 7 p.m., $25, themobmuseum.org The Las Vegas municipal election matters more than you think,

and it’s happening today. Exercise your right to vote—one of the greatest and most underutilized privileges—to elect city council members and municipal court judges who will (hopefully) make our city a better place. 7 a.m.–7 p.m., find your vote center at lasvegasnevada.gov

In The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Frances

FitzGerald traces the white evangelical movement from the late 18th century to the Obama presidency.

On shelves today. $35, simonandschuster.com Learn about the evolution of Mexican organized crime and the security policies adopted by the country’s last two presidents at the Brookings Mountain West lecture,

Narco Noir: Mexico’s Cartels, Cops and Corruption. 6 p.m., UNLV’s

Greenspun Hall, unlv.edu WEDNESDAY 5

Fresh scents such as flowers and lemon come to mind when thinking about spring, which is why Spa Aquae now offers citrus-themed spa treatments such as a lemon velveteen whipped mousse body treatment and an orchard custard garden fresh pedicure.

8 a.m.–7 p.m., prices vary, at JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa, marriott.com

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar’s new spring menus boast items such as Spicy Buffalo Chicken Lollipops and Hatch Chile Bacon Mac N Cheese.

Hours vary, at Town Square Las Vegas and Downtown Summerlin, lazydogrestaurants.com 7 Looking for more stuff to do?

Go to vegasseven.com/calendar

hear about price-gouging in Las Vegas is the escalating level of table-game minimums. Whereas games with $3 and $5 minimums used to be easy to come by, now it’s $10 and $15, and often higher on the Strip. Yep, it’s getting more expensive to sit down and play a few hands. But look around a little and you’ll find $5, $3, $2 and even $1 tables!

One-dollar blackjack these days? Yessir, and at more than one casino!

The first is North Las Vegas’ Lucky Club, where they’ve been dealing a dollar game for quite a while now.

The second, at Hooters, is brand new.

Lucky Club is a ways out and hours are limited, but the game is pretty good.

Hooters is across the street from MGM Grand and dealt 24/7, but the game is not so good. Here are the particulars on each.

The Lucky Club game is played seven days a week, but not 24/7. It’s offered on only one table, from 4 p.m. till the bosses decide to close it. It’s a standard blackjack game dealt from six decks; the dealer hits soft 17, double down is allowed after splitting and blackjack pays the traditional 3-2. This combination of number of decks and rules gives the casino an edge against basic strategy players (the best way to play every hand off the top of the shoe) of .63 percent.

Hooters is dealing a single table around the clock. The game is mostly the same as the Lucky Club game, with one big difference: Naturals on $1 bets pay even money. Not the already bad 6-5, just 1-1. That gives the casino a big 3 percent advantage against basic strategy players, which is about as high as you’ll find on a live blackjack game.

So the deal is in the Lucky Club game, right? Let’s see…

These dollar tables are typically full at both casinos, so you figure you’ll be playing about 40 hands per hour at either. At Lucky Club, the expected loss equation is 40 (hands) x -.0063 (edge) x $1 = -$.252, or a loss of about 25 cents per hour.

(Now you see why casinos don’t deal $1 games.) At Hooters, the equation is 40 x -.03 x $1 = -$1.20 per hour.

Yes, the Lucky Club game is a better gambling value. But only if you’re just gambling. That’s because it considers its $1 game a “promotional table” and doesn’t provide cocktail service. Translation: no free drinks. Do you like to have a beer or two while you play? Then the deal flip-flops and Hooters, where they do deliver comped drinks to the dollar players, becomes the play. Last time I checked, a beer was only $1 at Lucky Club. But that still means an hour of play and a beer sets you back $1.25, which is almost twice the cost of the Hooters tab.

I know which one I’d play. 7 Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.

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13

The

Tiffany of the

Strip

60 years of mobsters, showgirls and big money: The Tropicana’s story is Las Vegas’ story

By David G. Schwartz

Photography The UNLV Libraries Special Collections, Las Vegas News Bureau and Tropicana Private Collection

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Frank Costello was calling it a night.

After enjoying a dinner at L’Aiglon on the East Side with friends, Costello demurred on a drink at the Monsignore restaurant, instead opting to catch a cab to his apartment building at 115 Central Park West, where he planned to make a few phone calls.

As the reputed boss of all bosses of American organized crime entered the lobby, a hulking gunman burst from the shadows and fired a single bullet at Costello’s head. Costello crashed to the ground, bleeding, as the shooter ran out the door and into a waiting Cadillac. But Costello, a veteran of the criminal underworld since Prohibition, wasn’t so easily dispatched.

Incredibly, the bullet caused only a flesh wound, drawing a shower of blood that would make Abdullah the Butcher jealous without doing any real damage.

Costello refused to identify his gunman or say anything to police. “I don’t have any enemies,” he told Deputy Chief Inspector Edward Byrnes. “I have lots of friends.” When further pressed on whether the shooting might have been related to his reportedly winning $150,000 from Midwestern gamblers on the recent Sugar Ray Robinson middleweight title bout, Costello only said, “I don’t discuss my investments or my business.”

However, a piece of paper police officers discovered in Costello’s pocket while he was at Roosevelt Hospital was more eloquent. “Gross casino wins as of 4-26-57,” it read. “$651,284. Casino wins less markers $434,595.00. Slot wins $62,844,” followed by a list of amounts paid to “Mike,” “Jake,” “L.” and “H.” Investigators later determined that, over its first 24 days of operation, Las Vegas’ new Tropicana casino had earned … exactly $651,284. For the next 60 years, the Tropicana would be home to some of Nevada’s most respected gaming executives, a massive skimming operation, a purloined fortune and corporate buyouts. If any single property reveals the many facets of the Las Vegas casino business, it might be the Tropicana.

This page, clockwise from left: Tropicana under construction, 1957; Aerial shot of Tropicana prior to opening; Tropicana ribbon cutting, April 3, 1957. Opposite page: Tropicana entrance, 1957

Ma rch 30 -April 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com

15

An Upscale Oasis in the Desert Dust It started with a man and a dream.

Ben Jaffe was a part owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel, which opened in Miami Beach in December 1954.

Designed by Morris Lapidus, the luxe 565-room masterpiece inspired its competitors to undertake their own renovations. The following year, Jaffe bought a 40-acre piece of land on Highway 91 and Bond Road, far south of the Flamingo, then the southernmost resort on what was already being called the Las Vegas Strip.

Jaffe wasn’t eager to dive into the nuts and bolts of casino/hotel operations. So his company, Bond Estates, leased the property to Hotel Conquistador Inc., a company chiefly owned by “Dandy” Phil Kastel, who had previously partnered with Frank Costello in the Beverly Club, a “gambling joint” just outside of New Orleans, as well as a substantial slot machine operation. Both ventures folded after the Kefauver Committee’s investigations, but Kastel boasted of his continuing friendship with Costello. Kastel publicly oversaw construction of the property despite having not been licensed as an owner. Nor was the name of Meyer Lansky publicly mentioned, though Lansky was omnipresent in Miami and a close associate of Costello.

That spring and summer, five new resorts opened in Las Vegas— none of which lasted the year under their original owners. While the opportunities were there, success was far from guaranteed. But Kastel was optimistic: “I can see,” he said, “where the whole Strip’ll be hotels in 10 years. It’ll be the playground of the whole United States.” Those predictions were as common then as resort fees are today, but a few words show Kastel’s real prescience.

“They ought to stress the resort part of Las Vegas a little more,” he said.

“A man wants to gamble, he’s gonna gamble, but there’s no point in putting a rope around his neck and saying, ‘Here, gamble!’”

The Tropicana fielded a veteran executive team. Robert Cannon started as an auditor at El Rancho Vegas before becoming its general manager; he had served in the same role at the Last Frontier. Veteran show producer Monte Proser designed the signature Tropicana Revue. Louis Lederer, who formed

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the casino’s executive committee together with Chicago real estate operator T. M. Schimberg, was one of the founders of the Sands and also had an interest in the Fremont.

But the Trop’s biggest coup was hiring the “dean of Las Vegas gaming executives,” J. Kell Houssels Sr., as casino manager. Starting with a card club before the 1931 re-legalization of commercial gambling, Houssels had owned shares in and managed the Las Vegas Club, El Cortez and the Showboat. The experienced staff promised to help the Tropicana succeed where so many others had recently failed.

The Tropicana started a special preview for locals at 10 a.m. on April 3, 1957, then opened officially the following day. The 12th casino resort to open on the Strip, the Tropicana was hailed as a step up and a step ahead. The three-story hotel’s Y-shaped design was intended to resemble a necklace; practically speaking, it gave more guests easier access to the pool area, in accordance with Kastel’s stress on the resort aspect. But the Trop’s design was about more than convenience: Architect M. Tony Sherman dressed up an ugly necessity—a water-cooling tower—as a petal-like fountain beside the hotel’s entrance.

Opulence was what set the Tropicana apart. Built by Taylor Construction, which had previously constructed the Riviera on the Strip, as well as Miami’s Fontainebleau and Eden Roc, the Trop cost $15 million—substantially more than the $8.5 million high-rise Riviera and $2 million more than Miami’s Fontainebleau. The Tropicana was believed to have been the most expensive resort yet built in Las Vegas—though at 300 rooms, it was a third of the size of the planned Stardust, which would open the following year. Hailed as a welcome addition to Las Vegas, the Tropicana seemed to be off to a flying start. Even in a town built on glamour, the “Tiffany of the Strip” stood out.

Some, however, feared that the Tropicana was too upscale for Las Vegas. “We’ve made a success appealing to the casual dresser with our ‘Howdy, pardner’ atmosphere,” an unidentified insider told the New York Herald Tribune. “I hardly think you’ll ever see much informality at the Tropicana.” Still, it looked like the Tropicana’s opulence was going to make it a winner.

Opulence was what set the Tropicana apart.

Topless Showgirls, Bottomless Wallets Costello’s shooting changed everything. By June, New York and Nevada investigators had confirmed the link between the wounded mob kingpin and the new resort—only after the famously close-mouthed Costello had served a 15-day prison sentence for refusing to interpret the note or identify its authors. Tropicana president T. M. Schimberg issued a statement categorically denying any link between the hotel and Costello, despite the note and Kastel’s known relationship with the underworld boss. Upon further investigation, it was learned that the note was written by Lederer, the casino’s executive director and largest official stockholder, along with cashier Michael Tanico, who had worked for Kastel’s Beverly Club.

How to deal with this bombshell?

Cautiously. The Gaming Control Board concluded that Lederer and Tanico were solely responsible for the note. Tanico had already quit, and the board recommended that

Lederer be removed from the Tropicana. That left the problem of Kastel, who had never been licensed. The Board determined that he had made an investment of $320,000 in the casino and allowed the Tropicana’s owners to retire that debt at $40,000 a year. Other than that, no immediate changes were demanded.

It has been said elsewhere that Houssels was chosen by the Board to bring respectability back to the Tropicana. In fact, that was never the case. Houssels was a 6 percent owner and casino manager when the hotel opened, though he sold his interest and resigned as manager later that year. But when the casino was forced to close after a string of losses in 1958, Houssels returned with a shopping bag crammed with cash. His liquid assets and his sterling reputation convinced authorities to reopen the casino within hours. The following year, he bought a majority of outstanding stock in Hotel Conquistador Inc., the casino’s operating company, and assumed complete control.

The opening of the Stardust dimmed a bit of the Trop’s luster—not because of the building, but because of the entertainment. Imported from France, the Stardust’s Lido de Paris featured French sophistication and,

more viscerally, topless showgirls.

Not to be outdone, Houssels tabbed entertainment director Lou Walters to bring in Les Folies Bergere, a similarly bare-breasted 9th Arrondissement revue. Opening on December 24, 1959, the Folies would run until 2009.

The Folies was expensive—it cost $750,000 to initially stage—but it gave the casino a then-rare attraction and allowed it to forgo pricey headliners.

The lounge continued to host stars from Count Basie to Herb Alpert to Louis Prima, satisfying guests’ desire for top-flight entertainment in a less-formal setting. The Tropicana gained another amenity in 1961 when landlord Ben Jaffe opened the golf course and country club across Bond Road, which was eventually renamed Tropicana Avenue. Two additional hotel wings more than doubled the resort’s room count by 1962.

Houssels remained, with his son Kell Houssels Jr., the majority owner of Hotel Conquistador until 1968, when the Houssels sold out to a subsidiary of Trans Texas Airways. There were no changes at the resort, however, as Houssels remained at the helm.

But in 1972, Minnesota banker and former college professor Deil Gustafson bought Hotel Conquistador from Trans Texas for $1.52 million.

Following the sale, Houssels and many top executives left the Tropicana for Downtown’s Union Plaza.

Under Gustafson’s tenure, the Tropicana added a new showroom, the Superstar Theater. Supplementing the golf course was Nevada’s first indoor tennis pavilion, with former world champion Bobby Riggs as resident pro. But those additions did not translate to a stronger balance sheet, so Gustafson sought additional investors. One was Sammy Davis Jr., who became the first African-American to own a share in a Strip resort.

The Gaming Commission approved brothers Fred and Ed Doumani, who had bought a 50 percent share of the Jaffe estate’s interest, to temporarily operate the Tropicana in late 1974.

The next year, Gustafson found a savior in Mitzi Stauffer Briggs,

This page: Artist’s rendering of the Blue Room restuarant at the Tropicana circa 1960s—1970s.

Opposite page: Artist’s rendering of a guest room at the Tropicana circa 1960s—1970s; Tropicana interior, 1957; artist’s rendering of the Tropicana showroom, circa 1960s—1970s.

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the wealthy heiress to the Stauffer Chemical Company fortune, who invested $6.5 million in the hotel. By August 1977, she was approved to purchase 65 percent of the Tropicana and replace Gustafson as primary owner, though he retained a 20 percent share. In 1979, the Tropicana opened a $20 million, 22-story hotel tower, whose 570 rooms made the Tropicana competitive with newer properties. A doubling of casino space and the addition of a new shopping area also inspired optimism.

A Tangle of Mob Ties This is where the story turns sour. The Tropicana hemorrhaged money despite Briggs pumping more than $10 million into it. With no casino experience whatsoever, she relied on others for advice, and Briggs’ confidantes did not have her best interests at heart. Briggs’ chief adviser was Joseph V. Agosto, who had joined the Tropicana as vice president of construction when Gustafson was fighting off the Doumanis’ attempts to wrest control of the casino from him. Agosto had been able to use his connection with Nicholas Civella, alleged leader of the Kansas City mob, to prevent the Doumanis from getting a Teamsters pension fund loan. After Gustafson ultimately had to sell to Briggs, Agosto remained with the Tropicana as director of entertainment. However, his influence extended far beyond the Folies Bergere, all the way into the casino cage, where he was able to mastermind a skimming operation that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars for Civella and his associates.

Briggs’ reliance on Agosto’s judgment allowed him to solidify control.

Then, on Valentine’s Day 1979, the FBI raided the Tropicana. The feds had learned of Civella’s hidden influence at the Tropicana thanks to Operation Strawman, a wide-ranging eavesdropping scheme dramatized in Nick Pileggi’s book and Martin Scorsese’s film, Casino. When the dust settled, Agosto had turned state’s evidence and testified against his former associates.

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Casino manager Carl Thomas was convicted of the skimming but, in return for testifying against alleged mobsters in the related case at the Stardust, was released from prison early enough to perish in a single-automobile accident in Oregon. Gustafson served more than three years in prison after his conviction on mail fraud, misapplication of bank funds and conspiracy for a $4 million check-floating scheme he’d initiated in another attempt to retain control of the Tropicana. Briggs avoided prison—even the defendants agreed that she had been duped—but lost most of her fortune in the fiasco. After she surrendered her casino license, the Doumanis gave her a job at their Carving Cart restaurant.

After a decade of questionable practices at the Tropicana, the Gaming Commission was ready to take action. Federal indictments were more serious than a note in a mobster’s pocket, and 1979 was a much different time than 1957. The Gaming Commission quickly demanded that the Tropicana find new owners.

This page from left: Ballet performers in the Tropicana showroom; showgirl Margaret White in 1975.

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Actor Parker Stevenson at the Tropicana’s Grand Prix festivities; Folies Bergere dinner menu from 1981; Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds at Fisher’s opening night at the Tropicana, April 3, 1957; Muhammad Ali works out at the Tropicana on May 12, 1975; Spike Jones, Helen Grayco, Jayne Mansfield, Mickey Hargitay and Yvonne De Carlo enjoy a beverage at the Tropicana; Tropicana marquee from 1977; Burning the old sets and costumes in August 1963, per contractual agreement when a new Folies began.

Center: Charo and Xavier Cugat with his orchestra.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW

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Corporate Takeover A national hotel corporation came to the rescue. In July, Ramada Inns Inc. announced that it had agreed to purchase Hotel Conquistador Inc. and 50 percent of Tropicana Enterprises, the casino’s landlord. The deal was consummated by the end of the month, and the new owners were officially licensed in November. Ramada was, at the time, the world’s second-largest hotel chain, owning 650 hotels; with them in charge, the Tropicana finally settled down into corporate respectability. The company continued the remodeling and expansion program already underway, but the mounting recession would push further growth in Las Vegas off the table. The Tropicana, like many other properties, reacted to the recession by emphasizing the middle market; it started a slot club and sponsored bus trips from Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. The Tiffany days were long gone, and Ramada believed the path to prosperity lay through the quarter slots.

In December 1984, the company broke ground on an ambitious $70 million expansion that would add a new hotel tower, a convention center, restaurants and a five-acre landscaped “island paradise” around the pool area. Now promoted as “the Island of Las Vegas,” the new Trop was geared toward business and tour groups. The Tropicana’s entertainment featured headliners such as Ben Vereen, Don Rickles and John Tesh, as well as laughs at the Comedy Stop. The venerable Folies Bergere, promoted as “Las Vegas’ longest running production show,” became an institution.

And yet Ramada could not seem to find a winning formula. By 1989, the company owned four casinos—Las Vegas’ Tropicana, Atlantic City’s TropWorld, Laughlin’s Ramada Express and Eddie’s Fabulous 50s in Reno, which closed in August of that year.

It had sold more than 90 of its hotels and the Marie Callender restaurant chain in an effort to shore up its casino operations … which lost millions each year.

With more competition looming in both Las Vegas and Atlantic

City—where Ramada earned the majority of its casino revenue—the company took action, selling off its wholly owned hotels and properties and renaming itself Aztar, a name intended to “evoke the wealth of the ancient Aztec empire.” The company’s immediate moves in Las Vegas, though, involved downsizing, as it sold the Tropicana Country Club and Golf Course to Kirk Kerkorian, who built the MGM Grand on its land. Aztar responded to the sudden growth around it (within three years, MGM Grand, Excalibur and Luxor opened; with Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay and New York-New York on the horizon) by adding a series of bird and reptile exhibits in the hallway connecting its two towers, now named Paradise and Island, in 1993. This wasn’t a pirate battle or even a white tiger habitat, but it was in keeping with the island theme. Another attraction, the Casino Legends Hall of Fame, opened in a former downstairs bingo room in 1999, but only lasted until 2005.

In 2002, Aztar finally bought the remaining portion of the Tropicana’s landlord from the Jaffe family, consolidating the property. This might have seemed like the prelude to more growth, but Aztar instead focused on a $245 million expansion in Atlantic City, though it considered building a new 2,500-room resort adjacent to the existing Tropicana.

Dealing Hands, Changing Hands In 2006, Las Vegas visitation, room rates and real estate values were all booming. Aztar and its 34 acres of Strip land became a prime acquisition target, and a four-sided bidding war for the company unfolded that spring. Regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. started by offering $38 a share. Colony Capital, an investment firm that owned five casinos, jumped in, as did regional operator Ameristar.

But it was Columbia Sussex— owners of Lake Tahoe’s Horizon and MontBleu, as well as Las Vegas’ Westin Casuarina and other properties—who carried the day with a $54/ share bid that valued Aztar’s Las Vegas land at $30 million an acre. Columbia Sussex owner William J. Yung III announced a massive expansion proposal: Not one or even two new towers, but 9,500 new rooms and a $3.5 billion makeover. The company’s regulatory difficulties in New Jersey, coupled with the recession, doomed that plan, and the Tropicana fell into bankruptcy.

Onex Corporation, a private equity fund based in Toronto, snapped up $200 million in the Tropicana’s debt in 2009, which enabled it to wrest control of the hotel from Columbia Sussex. The company tapped Alex

Yemenidjian, a former MGM Resorts executive, to lead the casino back to profitability. Onex invested $180 million in revamping the Trop, debuting a sparkling white South Beach theme in 2011. The refresh repositioned the property as a middle-market alternative, but it was only a prelude to the 2015 sale of the casino to Penn National Gaming, the Pennsylvania-based owner of more than 20 racetracks and casinos, including the M Resort.

Penn bought not just 1,500 rooms on the Strip, but one of the few classic Las Vegas resorts still operating. The company has invested $20 million in the Tropicana, and is currently in the middle of a remodeling and expansion program.

As the Tropicana celebrates its 60th anniversary—a rare milestone in Las Vegas—it can look back on a history that includes attempted mob boss assassinations, topless showgirls, wild lizards, skimming scandals and corporate buyouts. The Tropicana has had a little bit of everything. 7

This page: Tropicana exterior in 2012. Opposite page: Folies Bergere showgirls onstage at the Tropicana during the show’s final performance on March 28, 2009.

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Through the Looking Glass

By Lissa Townsend Rodgers Photography Krystal Ramirez

The Tropicana’s stained glass ceiling is a masterpiece visible to all, but seen by few

I

n Las Vegas, people are often so busy looking for a jackpot on the horizon that they don’t see the treasures right in front of them. Or, in the case of the Tropicana Las Vegas, over their heads.

Above the casino’s main gaming floor is a 4,000-square-foot stained glass ceiling, a composition of ochre and sepia, bevels and facets, mirrored glints and jewel tones. At one end, a group of Valkyrie nymphs with butterfly wings on their helmets gaze down at the blackjack tables with serene half-smiles—this is Vegas, so, while not entirely topless, they are, shall we say, rather loosely draped.

Remarkably, all this extravagance also had a practical purpose, which is hinted at by the many mirrors inset amongst the amber-tinted glass. Before cameras, those mirrors were how “the eye in the sky” kept watch on the gaming below—literally, rows of catwalks from which casino workers could look down on the roulette, poker and craps tables and make sure all play was on the up and up. From above, one can also see the shock absorbers built into the ceiling’s superstructure, cushioning the vibration of a giant building full of air conditioning, heating elevators and tens of thousands of people.

The ceiling was the centerpiece of a 1979 Art Nouveau redesign led by Tony DeVroude and cost $1 million to install, a fortune in the disco era.

There have been rumors the ceiling would disappear—especially when the property was given its South Beach– style face-lift in 2011—but it never happened. How could you cover art with acoustic tile? Besides, who’s to say those Valkyrie nymphs don’t have a little Lady Luck in them? 7

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TASTE

Be

Their

Guest

FROM THE START OF A MEAL TO ITS SWEET END, TABLESIDE SERVICE CAN BE A BEAUTIFUL AFFAIR

By Marisa Finetti Photography Krystal Ramirez

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TASTE

I

n its simplest iteration, “tableside service” means servers grinding fresh black peppercorns or grating Parmesan cheese to finish salads or pastas with finesse. But this is Las Vegas, where the dining experience is just that much more elevated. Here, tableside preparations are the ultimate sensory experience, showcasing the beauty and story of a particular dish—from classic dry-aged steaks finished with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil (Carnevino), to the alla vodka pasta prepared inside a Parmigiano-Reggiano wheel (Salute). Savvy diners expect tableside shows that range from the whimsical to the glamorous—all worthy of an encore.

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TASTE

Imperial Peking Duck Opposite page: The Chandelier’s Schnozberries Taste Like Schnozberries cocktail.

This page, top: Imperial Peking duck service at Wing Lei gets the white-glove treatment.

Bottom: Roy Ellamar’s snack wagon at Harvest is a bounty of culinary offerings.

Next page, clockwise from top: The dessert cart at Bazaar Meat brings out the kid in all of us; Mercato della Pescheria offers a little pick-me-up with its tiramisu presentation.

Wing Lei, Wynn Las Vegas Peking duck service at Wing Lei is an experience that tickles all the senses.

Whet your appetite with a visual feast as the glistening duck emerges into view and makes its way through the dining room to the table. As the duck is carved tableside, the smoky and sweet aromas tease the olfactory senses. Then, finally, taste gets its turn, as tender slices and crispy duck skin are wrapped with cool, fresh spring onions and cucumbers and a sweet and rich Hoisin sauce. Once served, choose from steamed buns or Mandarin crepes to wrap all that duck goodness.

Roy Ellamar’s Snack Wagon

Harvest by Roy Ellamar, Bellagio “Wagon” is Hawaiian slang for cart, but Roy Ellamar’s snack wagon is more like a beautifully crafted wooden carriage that graciously glides through the restaurant, featuring the exclusive creations of the day. The offerings are ever-changing, but always flavorful, farm-to-table delicacies. Ellamar has served a smoked salmon belly dip, tuna poke, Painted Hills hanger steak tartare and warm, savory pork belly paired with pickled apple and braised radish. The snack wagon has become a culinary stage for other chefs around town to show off their tableside service. Chefs including Todd English, Wilfried Bergerhausen and Shawn McClain have put their spin on one of the wagons.

Schnozberries Cocktail

The Chandelier, The Cosmopolitan This is the cocktail that you imagine Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt and Violet Beauregarde would be drinking as grown-ups. The Schnozberries Taste Like Schnozberries cocktail becomes a multisensory experience when a flowerpot is “watered” with liquid nitrogen and releases the schnozberry aroma. The Everlasting Gobstopper is an ice sphere made of ginger juice and miracle berries, and, as it melts, it simultaneously changes the way your palate perceives sweetness and the way the drink tastes. The cocktail itself is made of a spirited rum, bitter Aperol, sloe gin, a floral pink peppercorn lychee syrup and citrus. Hidden in the flowerpot is a sweet and sour lolligarden. Goes to show you are never too old for a good licking.

TASTE

Dessert Cart

Bazaar Meat, SLS Las Vegas Two years in the making, chef José Andrés has finally unveiled his playful dessert cart at Bazaar Meat.

The only one of its kind among all his restaurants, this cart is the candyland of your dreams, with an oversize key gracing the top. The bright cherry-red and golden cart houses “some little sweets,” many of which are meant to be perfect, singular bites. Go for chocolate bonbons shaped like raspberry lips, salted caramel candies, key lime tarts, dark chocolate and almond éclairs, and praline caramelized puff pastries. And if you like to eat sweets set to music, arrange for the cart to upload your personal favorite selection using Bluetooth technology.

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Tiramisu

Mercato della Pescheria, The Venetian From the Italian, Tiramisu means “lift me up,” or “carry me up.” If you’re a romantic, you will go with the notion that the name refers to the heavenly experience that the texture and taste of tiramisu offers.

But, with the strong espresso coffee and high sweet content, the more likely translation of tiramisu is “pick me up,” since that’s exactly what it does, especially when prepared tableside at Mercato della Pescheria. On a wooden tray, a mixture of cocoa, espresso and coffee liqueur is poured from a copper pot over house-made ladyfingers. Then, imported mascarpone, whipped cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla are whipped together. The mascarpone mixture is spooned over the top of the ladyfingers, then served with dark chocolate shaved over the top. One bite and you’ll skip all the way to heaven. 7

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Future Reality Greenfish Labs uses virtual reality to tell stories and raise awareness

By Misti Yang

FROM TOP: 360-degree view of Malawi; Greenfish Labs VR user headset; and Greenfish crew, including Ybarra on the far left, filming The Passion for Fox network.

Twenty-four G o Pro cameras and Pope Francis: This might sound like the recipe for a B-flick about a swashbuckling pontiff, but it’s not. In 2016, that’s how a Las Vegas virtual reality production company captured Pope Francis’ appearance in Poland during World Youth Day, a festival organized by the Catholic Church about every three years. Commissioned by the American Bible Society, Greenfish Labs created a VR experience by using GoPro cameras—those little plastic-covered gadgets you might see mounted on top of a motorcyclist’s helmet—and a Nokia Ozo, a $45,000 recording device that captures 360-degree footage thanks to its spherical shape.

“Having the Catholic Church say ‘Virtual reality is key to spreading our word to the younger generation’ is amazing, and to film Pope Francis and [the 3 million people in attendance] was amazing,” says Joshua Ybarra, vice president of production for Greenfish Labs. “I almost get goose bumps now thinking about it.”

Virtual reality is sparking global interest, which means Ybarra is in demand in many places. Over the past year alone, he has also traveled to the Dominican Republic, Playa del Carmen, Guatemala, Malawi, New York and San Francisco to coordinate VR shoots for clients.

VR is a computer-generated immersive experience that strives to mimic reality. It is filmed in 360-degree 3-D and is typically viewed on a cellphone that attaches to a headset and reacts to movements. As the head turns, the scene extends to reveal more of the image, just as if you were experiencing it in person and in real time. Though best viewed on a device that blocks out peripheral vision, like the headset, VR can also be explored on a computer. “It lets people transport their viewers to anywhere in the world,” Ybarra says.

This is the second location for Greenfish Labs, which

started in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and is looking to capitalize on the local market. Ybarra, a Las Vegas native, is instrumental in the company’s growth. Ben Duffey and Sovanna Mam, the founders of Greenfish, met Ybarra after hiring his wife as a makeup artist for a local shoot. She suggested they work with him to coordinate gear, as he had experience filming locally and was familiar with VR. After employing him for another project, they decided it was time to expand here and focus on Las Vegas events and clients, including the convention scene.

While many VR production companies rely on interactivity to create memorable content, Greenfish believes it must be more than that. “We strive to tell people a story,” Ybarra says. “We strive for empathy.” Many Greenfish clients are nonprofit and religious groups. Ybarra has filmed abandoned girls in Guatemala with the goal of raising money to build a new orphanage, and he also recorded citizens of Malawi to demonstrate the effectiveness of microloans.

As for the locals? Ybarra hopes companies will embrace VR to show the world what the city has to offer, from lounging in cabanas at the pool to snowboarding in Lee Canyon.

He’s excited to help small businesses like the local taco shop gain exposure with VR, too. “I want to help them with their dream to succeed,” he says. 7

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SOCIAL INFLUENCE

GREEN FELT JOURNAL

Mr. Las Vegas… Airport?

The trick to naming places after people is to keep politics out of it

By David G. Schwartz Photo Illustration Cierra Pedro

F

ive years ago, no less an eminence than then-U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared that McCarran International Airport needed a new name. Citing the 22-year (1933—1954) Nevada senator’s personal shortcomings, Reid announced that, in his opinion, McCarran’s name “shouldn’t be on anything.”

At the time I agreed, in a “modest proposal” sort of way, that a name change was in order. Ditch the historical baggage, I said, and dump McCarran. But don’t stop there: Clark County, named for a man Mark Twain called “the most disgusting creature that the republic has produced since Tweed’s time,” needed a new namesake, as did Las Vegas (don’t want to risk getting confused with Las Vegas, New Mexico, you know).

Fast-forward to 2017, and a name change for McCarran is back in the news. This time Reid isn’t proposing the switch, although he is part of the story: State senator Tick Segerblom wants to rename McCarran “Harry Reid International Airport” in honor of the recently retired senator. Segerblom wants Reid’s name on Southern Nevada’s chief air gateway because he “symbolizes modern Nevada.”

Perhaps, perhaps not. But one thing is certain: As the political becomes increasingly partisan, putting any politician’s name on anything runs the risk of alienating half of the country. Even those who feel warmly toward Reid or don’t care one way or the other will be reminded of national politics which, by the time it filters down to the general public, seems like mostly people arguing with each other: Good for raising your blood pressure, but not the best thing to put you in a vacationing frame of mind.

Also, while now outside the mainstream of acceptable public discourse, many of McCarran’s views were widely shared in his time. Sixty years from now, it is quite possible that some of Harry Reid’s beliefs will be considered egregiously offensive. Times change, but they keep on changing. Swapping out those we remember to keep up with the current social and political mood is a game of eternal catch-up.

For the sake of argument, let’s say we go ahead with the name change, but with a less controversial figure than Reid. Who else could possibly symbolize modern Las Vegas in a way that doesn’t alienate or annoy?

One man comes to mind: Wayne Newton. He’s Mr. Las Vegas, after all. What better symbol of Las Vegas than him?

• There’s already a boulevard named after him that leads to the airport.

• He’s a longtime aviation enthusiast.

• He’s been performing in Las Vegas casinos for nearly 60 years— about twice Reid’s tenure in the Senate.

• When he’s not in town, he’s bringing a taste of Las Vegas to theaters from Mississippi to Alberta to California.

• He’s performed for the United Service Organization since childhood, becoming chairman of the USO Celebrity Circle in 2000.

• He was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame.

• He’s been on television from The Jack Benny Program (1964) to Sharknado 4 (2016).

• That mustache—that might be reason alone.

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There are plenty of precedents for naming an airport after an entertainer. The name of Bob Hope, Newton’s predecessor as USO Celebrity Circle chairman, adorns Burbank’s airport. Farther south, John Wayne Airport serves Orange County, California. And nothing says jazz and culture like Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Just thinking of Satchmo certainly gets you in the mood for Bourbon Street.

If Wayne isn’t acceptable, there’s no shortage of classic Las Vegas headliners whose names would pop the Vegas brand: Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra—or, for that matter, the entire Rat Pack—or Siegfried and Roy. Wait, you might say: None of those luminaries is still performing. We could try a fresher, more contemporary name, but picking just one entertainer might alienate non-fans. So let’s just have visitors fly into Celine Dion/Britney Spears/Elton John/Pitbull/ Jennifer Lopez/The Who/Billy Idol/Donnie & Marie International Airport. Of course, we’d have to keep updating the name as performers cycle in and out, so maybe that wouldn’t work after all.

My sentimental choice would be Crazy Girls International Airport, honoring a long-standing revue that is so quintessentially Las Vegas that even the Riviera’s demise couldn’t end it.

It seems there are two real options for McCarran: keep the name, or just call it Las Vegas International Airport. The Brits might have the right idea in sticking with place names for their airports: Liverpool’s John Lennon airport is the only U.K. hub named for a person. Neutral might be the best way to go.

Because, after all, the idea is to use the airport to get people to our city, not make a statement about it. 7 David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

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CONVERSATIONS

Legendary nightlife photographer Merlin Bronques brings his party prowess to Omnia’s Wild at Heart campaign

By Una LaMarche

“I love nightlife because you never know who you’re gonna meet,” says Merlin

Bronques (pronounced like the New York City borough), the photographer who’s been making partygoers look like professional models since 2004 on his website lastnightsparty.tv.

Case in point: Alexis, a beautiful girl with “the sickest vibe” who Bronques spotted from across the room at Wild at Heart, a weekly Tuesday-night female-focused bacchanal in Heart of Omnia at Caesars Palace. He was there to scope out the scene, having been hired to shoot the party’s new ad campaign, and ended up finding his muse on the dance floor. “It was an authentic moment,” he says, still sounding awestruck. “She was completely undiscovered.”

Authenticity is important to Bronques. Raw talent has won him plenty of high-profile gigs with numerous fashion clients as well as brands like Nokia and Diesel. Yet he feels most at home riding the energy of a live event, with its unpredictability and unscripted moments. For the Wild at Heart campaign, he shot close-ups during

the day on a controlled set, but then brought his models to the real party that night to capture what he calls “the X factor.”

This event is all about catering to women, so Bronques says he’s mixing “that ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ Cyndi Lauper vibe with debauchery.” As promised, the photos and videos have an ever-so-slightly risqué girls’-night-out theme, following a pack of gorgeous women (some models, but also Alexis; a girl named Macy whom he met at Life Is Beautiful festival; and Brie, who was working at Omnia when she caught his eye) as they dance, drink Champagne and strike poses in Wild at Heart-themed sunglasses. Or, in Bronques’ words, “girls just not giving a fuck.”

“He really understood the inspiration behind the goal of our campaign and the overall look we were going for,” says Michelle Wong, marketing manager of Omnia. “His photos have a great amount of sex appeal while remaining sophisticated, which perfectly captures the essence of Wild at Heart.”

The party debuted in May 2015 in the luxe Heart of Omnia. Billed as a haven for women to let

loose with friends, it filled a hole in the Las Vegas nightlife scene.

“Usually you go to parties and it’s very guy-centric,” Bronques says. “They wanted something where girls could walk in and just be comfortable.” Having attended tens of thousands of parties over the past few decades, he knows better than anyone that it’s hard to control the vibe of the room. “You can’t really say that a party is gonna be a certain way and expect it to be that way; it depends on who shows up,” he says. Which is why he was instantly impressed by how different, and genuine, Wild at Heart felt. The people weren’t “the usual bottle-service crowd,” and the music, curated by special guest DJs and performers such as DJ Irie and O.T. Genasis, was electric—hardly your typical club’s ladies’ night fare.

Which brings Bronques back to that X factor that inspired the campaign. “All of my work is based on taking a chance in order to get something beautiful that you didn’t anticipate,” he says.

“Omnia embraced that. Now they’re gonna to have some images that don’t look like everything else in Vegas.” 7 Ma rch 30 -April 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com

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Robert Irvine keeps his secrets close to the kitchen

Mystery Man

ASK A NATIVE

New Neighborhoods, Old Hangouts & Why It’s So Cold Inside

By Diana Edelman Photography Anthony Mair

By James P. Reza

Robert Irvine— who made a splashy entrance on the

Las Vegas scene nearly a year ago by rappelling 22 stories off the Tropicana to announce a signature restaurant at the property—is the latest celebrity chef to set up shop in town, a place he refers to as the “culinary mecca of the world.” But, if you ask him about what exactly guests will experience at his new spot, he goes mum.

All Irvine—who wants to maintain an element of surprise surrounding his restaurant, set to open at the end of July—readily admits is that “the food will be eclectic and wow-able,” and he will be serving up comfort food “with a twist.”

He hints at the gimmicks of chefs like Guy Fieri and his Donkey Sauce, only offering that his desire is to “be the only [restaurant in town doing] this certain thing.”

Cryptic? You bet. And for now, that’s the best we’re going to get in terms of details.

That is, until he returns to town “When people for his one-night-only show, Robert Irvine Live at the Tropicana Theater, come to your where he’ll tease us with tidbits about the restaurant that will “take restaurant, the world by storm.”

The former Food Network TV they have host, known for Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible and his curtraveled rent CW talk show, The Robert Irvine Show, isn’t doing a deathacross the defying stunt but showing audiences that in Las Vegas, anything globe to is possible.

And when the lights go up April get there, 6, the city will learn exactly what that means. Dubbed a high-energy, and their multimedia and multisensory theatrical experience, the show (think expectations Dinner: Impossible style, in which Irvine faces culinary challenges while are very high.” attempting to make a meal with a time constraint) lets the audience dictate what happens. It’s about laughter. Escapism. Cooking. Two hours of fun at Irvine’s expense.

“It’s got challenges, videos—all the things that go into a good variety show,” he says. “It’s silliness.”

At the end, those in the audience will be treated to some information most aren’t privy to—more details about his restaurant slated to debut at the property’s former sportsbook.

As for opening a celebrity chef–driven restaurant, Irvine knows challenges await.

“The wow of TV only lasts so long, then you have to deliver.

When people come to your restaurant, they have traveled across the globe to get there, and their expectations are very high,” he says. “We intend to deliver that. We’ve got lots going into that and how we make it different. Everybody who is everybody is [in Las Vegas]. What better way to test your chops than that?” 7

Robert Irvine shows us his best squat stance at his soon-to-open Tropicana restaurant.

CONVERSATIONS

Where will the next signs of urban redevelopment surface?

I

t’s a moving target. Currently, the Arts District is undergoing the early stages of large-scale change, featuring multiple renovations, new buildings and infrastructure improvements. Next up? Chinatown. A mid-rise mixed-use apartment building is underway at the northeast corner of Spring Mountain Road and Valley View Boulevard, hoping to entice urban professionals seeking a late-night lifestyle. After that? My money’s on the Medical District. Centered on Charleston Boulevard between MLK and Rancho Drive, this newish district—soon to house the UNLV School of Medicine, maybe a light rail route and close to “old money” neighborhoods—is going to see substantial redevelopment over the next 10 years. Other areas in waiting include Symphony Park and perhaps Cashman Center, especially if the mayor gets her stadium.

Ahoy, matey!

I n January, I wrote about the pending rebirth of the Starboard Tack, a legendary off-Strip tavern dating back to the early 1970s. During the Tack’s heyday, the surrounding neighborhood was home to Strip musicians and casino industry folks, who made it a hangout. Hoping to recapture some of that former vibe, the Kostelecky family’s spot has re-opened with co-captains Lyle Cervenka and Bryant Jane steering the ship. I visited the first weekend and was pleased to find a newly exposed neon sign and the original captain’s wheel refurbished and hung outside the door. The food and booze menus are tropical themed, but don’t confuse it with a tiki bar: This place is solid yacht rock, in the best possible way. And, as it was in the 1970s, the Tack is just the right balance of close/far enough to Downtown.

Why is it so cold inside right now?

W

elcome to Las Vegas in the spring: The hottest place in America where you have to wear a sweater inside! We used to blame this on businesses trying to entice strolling visitors hailing from places where 75 degrees is considered hot. But the practice of freezing us out has spread far beyond our casino corridor. From coffeehouses to corporate boardrooms, whenever it’s warm outside, it’s Arctic inside. I once asked an employee at the long-dead Borders bookshop why it was so cold. His response? Their thermostats were centrally controlled by a corporate office in the Midwest. Today that might be technologically possible—but in 1997?

Unlikely. It’s true that thermostats at businesses are often locked, but someone in local management has the key. I’m guessing that the wild temperature swings of spring require too much micromanaging for a “set it and forget it” culture. Suggestion? Pack a jacket. Until November.

Have a question or comment about Las Vegas past, present or future? Send them to askanative@vegasseven.com.

Ma rch 30 -April 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com

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CONVERSATIONS

LUCKY NO. 7

We asked the WENDOH Media staff:

What is your favorite old-school casino?

I loved everything about the Stardust, from the spectacular sign to the shiny silver curtains in the lounge. When I first moved here and sometimes wondered why the hell I came to Las Vegas, I’d go to the Stardust and it would remind me. –Lissa Townsend Rodgers, editor at large

The New Frontier. Gilley’s had the best dollar shots and beer night with line dancing. I actually rolled my ankle and had to be carried off the dance floor. –Christy Corda, business development director

Jerry’s Nugget. One of the first casinos I went to in town for an audit that actually had real coins falling from the machines. It was impressive.

–Sim Salzman, chief financial officer

The Silver Slipper.

My grandfather used to take me with him to bet the ponies.

–John Tobin, billboard sales director

At around 7, my family visited Las Vegas for the first time and we roomed at Circus Circus. When we weren’t playing carnival games at the midway, my sister and I were gawking at circus acts and playing tag in the halls. We frequented the Pink Pony café so much that service got used to picking the largest table for us: Where there was one grandma, there were two and possibly three, as well as a handful of cousins. –Amber Sampson, web editor

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Ma rch 30 -April 5 , 2017 vegasseven.com

Palace Station.

My Dad was a fixture there, in the poker room. I’d ask the front desk, “Do you know where Willie is?” That’s all. “Yeah, follow me,” they would say. They would take me to him.

–Marc Barrington, director of production/ distribution

Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall is my favorite place in the world. I celebrate my birthday there every year, wearing a vintage Sam’s Town iridescent green jacket that my great-grandma handed down to me. Slot machines, bingo, buffets: I might only be 25, but that place brings out my true inner 87-year-old.

–Jordan Bruy, executive assistant/ special products coordinator

Photography courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau

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