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Hot Happenings
The Katz Meow
By Bobbie Katz
There are some hot, happenings going on in Las Vegas. In fact, one of them could be called positively “Electric.”
The Aladdin has announced that it will launch a new multi-million dollar revue in early 2002 called Lumiere, starring the beautiful Carmen Electra. The show is being created by Showclubs of America and the 1,100- seat showroom specially built for Lumiere will morph into a 52,000- square-foot nightclub once the show ends for the evening. Showclubs has a 30-year contract to run the venue.
The triple-threat Electra, who is an actress (remember her from Baywatch?), singer and dancer, will showcase her talents in Lumiere which, she says, has been created to epitomize her life. Electra plays a fallen angel who loses her wings and begins a journey of redemption, eventually getting her wings back. The very open Electra says she fell off her path for a while, going through a dark period after losing her sister and her mother within a one-week period. That dark time included what she terms her “ridiculous” marriage to basketball star Dennis Rodman. She says, however, that she truly cared about Rodman and being a caregiver by nature, tried to help him with his very public personal problems.
People Watching
Donny Osmond, who hasn’t appeared in Las Vegas for 15 years, recently wowed the public and the powers-that be with his show at New York-New York. Osmond’s performance was so good, and his persona so personable, that some Las Vegas execs are looking to find a long-term home for him in the city. Rumor has it, however, that Donny turned down an offer to take off the reins in EFX at the MGM Grand after Rick Springfield’s contract expires in January. Regarding the talk around town that the $46 million show may close altogether in January after Springfield leaves, Richard Sturm, President of MGM Mirage Worldwide Entertainment, states that not only will the production continue on in 2002, but so may Springfield. The singer seems tailor-made for the show — his persona and incredible energy is a good match for the amazing special effects.
Have a Little Lightning with That Thunder
Coming soon to a casino near you Manpower Australia, The Thunder From Down Under, seems to have found a new home at the Frontier in Las Vegas, but the male dancer-stripper revue will be coming to casinos in Lake Tahoe, Kansas City, Minnesota, Iowa, Laughlin and Mesquite. They had ’em lined up around the block at the Atlantis in Reno recently.
There are eight guys in the show, including the MC. All say that the reason the show has done as well as it has is because they are a team — that there are no egos in the group, and they are all good friends who can talk to each other and laugh when they make mistakes. What’s the difference between them and the Chippendales, who recently made a one-night appearance at the Rio? “They revolve around money; we revolve around entertainment,” one says. No, the Thunder doesn’t take tips!
Oh, Brother!
Larry Gatlin, who has been making the casino rounds, is making some unrelated appearances with his brothers for the first time in nine years, though he says that his heart is into musical theater now. He wants to write and perform in book shows and has already accomplished both of those feats, starring in The Will Rogers Follies on Broadway and writing two musicals on his own. As of late, Gatlin has been appearing in a show called The Civil War, which has been touring the country. “I started out with my brothers when I was six years old,” explains Gatlin. “I did this for 42 years and then decided it was time to go in some different directions. I love my brothers but 42 years was enough for the time being. I never did say ‘never again’ but I just had other things I wanted to do. I didn’t want to work 250 days a year to make sure that everybody had a Mercedes. I wanted to take care of my own Mercedes and let everyone else take care of theirs. So we’ve all gone our separate ways and done fine. I’m just going to do a few dates with my brothers this year and see what happens.”
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