Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)

Martin might be asking for tickets himself

- JOHN KATSILOMET­ES Contact John Katsilomet­es at jkatsilome­tes@ reviewjour­nal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats­1 on Instagram.

SMITH Center President Myron Martin appreciate­s sports as much as musical theater. This is a man who, in 2012, watched every Broadway musical in New York and also attended the 2012 NFC Championsh­ip Game in San Francisco between the 49ers and Giants at Candlestic­k Park.

He stood the entire time, too. At the title game, I mean.

Over the past several months, Martin has received a torrent of ticket requests for “Hamilton,” which opens at Reynolds Hall on Tuesday. He might be on the other side of this issue this week, as he is reviewing his schedule to possibly attend Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, or Game 5 on June 7, if necessary. (Incidental­ly, both of those games fall on “Hamilton” nights at The Smith Center.)

“If that happens, I’ll be the one calling my friends who have season tickets,” Martin says. “I’ll say, ‘So, your wife doesn’t want to go to that game, does she?’ Maybe I can fill in?’ ”

Martin has seen a handful of Vegas Golden Knights games this season. “I know this to be true: When it comes to the community having something to rally around, I put The Smith Center and Golden Knights together,” he says. “We did not have this a decade ago, and now we have both.”

‘Marilyn’s’ bumpy ride

Early reports from “Marilyn — A New Musical” at Paris Theater is the cast, led by Ruby Lewis in the main role, is terrific. The band burns. Talent is on display all over the stage.

But “Marilyn” is struggling in that vital area: staging. Reports are the show’s set designer walked from the production after Wednesday night’s preview opening. The scenery has been sparse and underwhelm­ing, especially for a residency musical on the Strip, and not up to the performers’ high standards. “Marilyn” producer Tegan Summer of Prospect Entertainm­ent concedes plans have been delayed for myriad reasons.

As Summer said Saturday, the set builder picked by the production has been slow to deliver a finished product, and only about half to twothirds of the planned staging is actually in place. The cost of materials (especially steel) has further compromise­d developmen­t of the set. As Summer spoke, he sighed and said, “The rest of our set is literally on a flatbed in Philadelph­ia right now, being driven to Las Vegas.”

The pieces should be in Las Vegas in about a month. The show celebrates its gala opening Friday.

What of the sign?

The @CityofLasV­egas Twitter feed has caused some #nocaps confusion. A post from Friday showed the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign’s famous lettering in all-lowercase, as if the structure itself had been refashione­d to match the no-caps effort on social media.

But I took a trip to the sign Saturday afternoon to be sure. It’s the same as it ever was. The post was the result of some graphic trickery.

Scene at Planet Hollywood

Criss Angel has been rehearsing his new show at Planet Hollywood Showroom over the past week, prepping for his production after he closes at Luxor at the end of October.

Meantime, across the mezzanine, constructi­on has begun at the the old Gallery nightclub space connected to the sinceclose­d Cabaret club. New entertainm­ent seems planned for that venue.

Having a golden night

Golden Knights players Jonathan Marchessau­lt, David Perron, William Carrier and James Neal attended Celine Dion’s show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday night. At least one VGK star was expected to attend Saturday’s show.

Vegas Golden moments

Golden Knights gear is being displayed all over town, including Tao (where the Buddha at the entrance sports a VGK home jersey) and on both lions at MGM Grand. The lobby lion and the big cat at the entrance on the Strip have both been adorned with Golden Knights logos on their chests.

Elsewhere, a 5-foot-tall, chocolate Marc-Andre Fleury statue stands in front of Bellagio Patisserie. Work began on the figure Feb. 10 and was finished about two weeks ago. The figure is almost entirely edible, but for a Styrofoam frame, and is loaded with 90 pounds of chocolate (milk, dark and white) and 20 pounds of Rice Krispies.

Fleury also is being honored by the adult revue “X Country” (of course!) at Harrah’s, but you need to peer in close to see how. During the shower number in the production at Harrah’s Cabaret, a framed photo is always placed on a nearby nightstand. Such figures as Caesars Entertainm­ent President of Entertainm­ent Jason Gastwirth have had their photos slipped inside that frame.

Today it’s Mr. Fleury, now depicted in chocolate and smiling behind all that steam.

 ?? Tao Las Vegas ?? The buddha at the entrance of Tao at The Venetian wears his new Vegas Golden Knights jersey.
Tao Las Vegas The buddha at the entrance of Tao at The Venetian wears his new Vegas Golden Knights jersey.
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