CEOS taking a quick way down at Circa
THE Kats! Bureau on Sunday was the VIP section of Circa’s sportsbook. It was so nutty in that place, with co-owner Derek Stevens wearing his official Circa ball cap backward and an octet of guys boisterously celebrating a bachelor party, we neglected to mention we’d been writing from there.
But today, it’s again Circa time, and Stevens has dropped a boomlet (not to mention a bunch of CEOS) from his resort.
A total of 10 executives from across the country are rappelling down the side of Circa at 1 p.m. Wednesday. This is nuts, of course, and for Stevens is entirely in character.
As he explains, “It’s 10 CEOS from various companies, investment companies, hedge funds. You know, solar power companies, stuff like that. And, they’re also very wealthy individuals.”
Yes, this is rich, all right. These guys are wealthy, and adventurous. This is a largely an anonymous bunch, all of them from outside of Las Vegas. Only Transocean CEO Jeremy Thigpen and Grey Owl Partners founder Adam Zylman have consented to being identified.
The other crazy eight have asked Stevens and his team not to identify them in relation to the event. This is simply to do something collectively that they have never done before.
Stevens said the group is in Vegas for a conference, and staying at various hotels in Las Vegas. They hit him up six or eight months ago to ask about rappelling down the side of Circa. They’d heard about the new downtown hotel, and sought a climbing company and insurance companies to Ensure safety protocols are in place.
“It’s kind of a head-scratcher,” Stevens said. “It’s like, you never know what’s gonna happen in Vegas … When they said they wanted to go down the side of our building I was like, ‘You want to what? I went, ‘Whoa,’ But then we got our team involved and it’s all legit.”
The group is scaling down the south-facing side of the building facing Stadium Swim. Stevens said he is having his crew pull windows out, about three-quarters of the way up the tower. The rich guys will descend, in line, down to the pool deck.
Asked what he gets out of such a stunt, Stevens chuckled and said, “We’re gonna get some good photography. And I’m hoping that we develop a relationship with these 10 guys and their companies going forward. Other than that, yeah, it’s gonna BE some great historical photography.”
But don’t count on Stevens himself to scale the resort. He’s more interested in building up than sliding down.
“No, I’ll pass,” Stevens said. “I want to watch it first.”
Branding at the rodeo
The National Finals Rodeo is buying into its mask mandate for the event’s return to the Thomas & Mack Center. We have confirmed that Nfr-branded masks will be sold at merch throughout the event. We’ll chart the sales, including those we pick up.
Making the cut
Jay White is the Neil Diamond tribute artist and former hockey goalie with a goal of his own. The Henderson resident is forging an acting career, starring in “STARLIGHT,” a musical drama centered on a star-crossed recording artist from the 1960s-70s. The film is premiering at 7 p.m. Saturday at Galaxy Theatres at the Boulevard Mall.
Steve Tatone has written, produced and directed the film, which was shot in Las Vegas and Sarasota, Florida, and features 17 original songs. The project has been 10 years in the making, but White stayed with it and matured along with his character, the singer Bobby Drake.
King Errisson, Diamond’s percussionist and a Vegas resident, is also in the ensemble cast.
White has been well-known on multiple fronts. He was an emergency goalie for the Las Vegas Thunder and Las Vegas Wranglers over the years. In his playing prime, he was a starting goalie for the Kalamazoo Wings in the old International Hockey League. He also headlined for two decades in his Diamond production at the Riviera.
And before the Saturday premiere, White headlines at the Italian American Club (6:30 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. show) on Friday. The cast will be on hand. Hit up the club at iaclasvegas.com for details.
She feels for you
You might have noticed a distinctively bald singer backing Chaka Khan on tour. She is the terrific Tymara Walker, who closed her run with Khan over the weekend. Walker, late of “Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel the Concert” at Harrah’s, is developing the original musical “The Rocking Chair,” with Donte Miller, founder of Hearts Productions in Las Vegas.
What Works In Vegas
The reading of Oscar Goodman’s underdevelopment autobiographical musical, “Goodman,” which packed Troesh Studio Theater on Sunday and Monday night (it was invite-only, but still). We will have more on this project, and soon. Suffice it to say “Hizzoner” is very excited.
Cool Hang Alert
Craig Canter has a solid hang happening at 7:30 p.m. Mondays at the Piazza lounge at the Tuscany Suites. The Vegas singer is backed by Steven Lee on guitar, Brenda Cowart on the keys and Adam “The Mayor” Shendal on drums. “Black Magic Woman,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “New York State of Mind” are in the set list. No cover, no hassles, at Tuscany.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section.
His “Podkats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal. com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @Johnnykats1 on Instagram.