Folies Bergere Continues To Be A Must-See: Old Vegas So Retro It Is New Again

Local Review-Journal writer Mike Weatherford writes in
this article:

You can't pump significant money into the Strip's longest-running show because the casino is widely acknowledged to be on borrowed time after a bidding war for owner Aztar Corp. Either an implosion or a significant remodeling could drop the curtain on the classic showgirl revue that has been around since 1959.

But you can't just let it go either. Customers can sense when a show has been allowed to slide into stagnation. Note last Saturday's closing of the 21-year-old "Splash, which offered too little too late with a sketchy overhaul last year.

So what do you do?

What you do is simply go see this show. A little bit classic Las Vegas, sexy topless production numbers with beautiful Las Vegas showgirls, and a reasonable price in a day that $100-plus tickets are the norm make this a fun time. And one that might not be around much longer.

When you think of Las Vegas entertainment, what do you think of? Lasers and tigers? No. You think of showgirls. They are in our movies, commercials, and surround the winners here whether it be a golf tournament, NASCAR race, or big jackpot winner. Folies Bergere has been presenting some of the best before James Bond or Elvis became synonymous with Las Vegas.

Folies is a true celebration of the showgirls and dance throughout the ages with a stunning display of fantasy and light. Opening scenes highlight the entire cast in song and dance with bits of real feathers flying around in the air.

Still undecided? Check out these Folies Bergere Las Vegas photos then check out Folis Bergere ticket info.

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"WaterWorld" Comes To Las Vegas... Will It Have More Luck?

A recent article titled
A new Las Vegas water park in the works raised some eyebrows in Las Vegas. Should a desert city of
almost 2 million people be without a water park? Not at all. But will a casino themed
water park (with snow skiing to boot) make it in Las Vegas? The odds are certainly stacked
against them.

Here is a quote from the article:

Las Vegas Wet hopes to attract tourists and locals alike. "We're probably
going to be 40-60 locals, tourists. Maybe 50-50," said Dooner.



The water park itself will cover roughly 30 acres with themes like Vintage Vegas, Glacier
Bay, and Survivor Island. Part of the water park will even be indoors. "It will
control the evaporation and also make it a little more comfortable on the days that it's a
130-thousand degrees," says Dooner.



Las Vegas Wet also plans a snow dome for indoor skiing, two hotels, a casino, an events
arena, dinning and shopping.

Las Vegas has had more than its share of developers holding huge press conferences
touting mega-projects
that never get built. And what is with a water park going after the 40-60 year old
crowd? Yes, parents and grandparents do bring the kiddies to water parks, but they are not
the target audience.

The developers have backgrounds with Disney and Universal Movie Studios, so we can't
count them out. They claim to have been developing this idea for 18 months. Yet ... after
18 months, they fail to say exactly where this park will be.

Would this be a cool project to have here? Absolutely. Will it be built? Don't hold
your breath.

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Northwest Arizona To Be The New Las Vegas Suberbia?

With Las Vegas out of water and land land prices pushing housing past affordability,
developers are already eyeing Northwest Arizona for new regional housing and entertainment
recreation development according to this story:

Out here, there's no Strip, but you may eventually get twice the house at half the
price.



"Here we own all this property and we control it, there you have to fight for every
inch," said Leonard Mardian.



Mardian plans to build a hotel, a winery, stores, golf courses, even a college. He scored
a major victory securing the limited water rights, beating out Rhodes' company which also
wants to build in White Hills.

Right now, the stretch of highway from Hoover Dam to Kingman is lonely and empty. And
it will probably stay that way to a large extent. Unlike Southern California where wages
often justify people commuting 70-100 miles to work each way, the Las Vegas service
economy and rising price of gas will make families think twice about moving that far out
for affordable housing.

However ... this new development will be very good for the region. A large influx of
well-off retirees are driving up the Las Vegas housing prices, because Las Vegas (to date)
has been an island with little regional development. This will give new opportunity to
retirees who have leisure time, don't face a daily commute, and would gladly trade the Las
Vegas traffic and hustle for the slower pace of life.

Hopefully, this development will help be a safety valve allowing the regions
unstoppable growth to have less of an impact on the area's quality of life.

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Cirque du Soleil Going Strong In Las Vegas ... Will It Last Forever?

Cirque du Soleil's Mystere just celebrated 6000 shows at Treasure Island Las Vegas. KVBC Las Vegas had the story:

One of the most popular shows on the Strip is one that's been around for more than a decade. This Sunday, Mystère will celebrate a milestone, 6,000 shows.

Behind the stunts and stage is a world few ever see. An international cast that's crossed
oceans to pursue its passion.

For the performers, the most fulfilling part is the stage itself. Every night they perform for thousands. Over the past 13 years, it's been in the millions.

Mystere continues to be a great show and (hotel owners) MGM Mirage have indicated no end in sight for this fantastic run.

However, news continues to leak about about future Cirque shows in Las Vegas including a magic themed show at Luxor down the road (reportedly staring magician Chris Angel) and an Elvis themed show at MGM Mirage's Project CityCenter.

While still 2-4 years away from these shows, is Las Vegas going to reach Cirque overload? Certainly Elvis, the (recent opening of) Beatles themed "Love" and the first use of a marquee magician will put a new twist on this very popular theme.

But will the spectacle eventually blend into a blog of one, cannibalizing itself? Only time will tell.

Recent Las Vegas related blog posts by Ted Newkirk:

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Coverage of the Cirque Beatles Show "Love"

Interesting thing that no one has really discussed about all the worldwide coverage of the new Cirque du Soleil Beatles themed show Love:

The coverage is vastly different by those who are of the era where they grew up with (and tend to revere) the music of the Beatles as oppossed to those from a younger generation who may be familiar with it but didn't have it as the soundtrack to their lives.

Las Vegas Review-Journal Mike Weatherford:

"Now, you did understand the exploding Volkswagen symbolizes the band breaking up?" Gilles Ste-Croix asks after Tuesday's performance of the new Beatles-themed opus "Love."

Uhm, well, sure. Of course.

Truth be told, I had still been chewing on other aspects of the climactic number, "A Day in the Life."

You can see by now that "Love" aspires to be more than just spectacular eye candy. The blessing and the curse is spectacle may be all many ticket buyers expect, and all that they will receive. Like "Ka" before it, Cirque's attempts to turn the corner into more substantial theater may be lost to those who can't tug the shirtsleeve of a director to explain things after the show.


The Independent James McNair:

That The Beatles' digitally restored voices have a definition hitherto unheard outside Abbey Road studios is unmistakable. When the opening chord from "A Hard Day's Night" cedes disoreintatingly to the orchestral crescendo from "A Day In The Life", moreover, it is similarly clear that no one is playing it safe here.

Wisely, Cirque's treatment avoids chronological narrative and literal interpretation of Beatles songs. Instead, they opt for "a timeless, three-dimensional experience", their mostly frenetic, often surrealist production alluding to Beatles events such as the 1964 landing at JFK airport, and their final roof-top concert at Savile Row, London. As The Martins put it at one of the press conferences, "This is not a standard musical a là Mamma Mia!"


The Cirque Beatles Show "Love" is the hottest ticket in Las Vegas and looks to stay that way for a long time. Beatles fans consider it a must see, but after the initial buzz wears off, will the show attract the under 50 crowd (which makes up more than half of all Las Vegas visitors) who come for the nightclubs and "what happens in Vegas" activities?

Time will tell.