Mr. Las Vegas extends schedule through ’22
WAYNE NEWTON seems serious about this Strip residency concept.
Mr. Las Vegas’ “Up Close and Personal” production at the Flamingo’s Wayne Newton Theater inside Bugsy’s Cabaret is being extended through December.
At age 80, Newton is piloting a busy schedule. He’s signed to perform multiple shows per week, multiple weeks per year, over several months.
“This feels like when Kirk Kerkorian first extended me at the Flamingo in 1963,” Newton said Wednesday of his added dates. “It’s history repeating itself.”
That commitment through the end of 2022 harks back to Newton’s original run at the Flamingo. Kerkorian owned the hotel in those days, and he signed Newton to his first showroom gig in November 1963. Newton’s music-and-storytelling showcase runs at 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Dec.
18. (Tickets for all dates start at $69, not including fees, and are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.) Newton had been booked through the end of June.
He says he will add a couple of classics to his storytelling format. Newtown has previously performed “Danke Shoen,” “C.C. Rider,” his best-selling song, “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast,” and “My Way” in the 90-minute show. He reunited with drummer and music director Marc Atkinson, keyboardist Mariano Longo and bassist Danny Demorales.
Newton has headlined in Caesars Entertainment venues over the past six years. He was at Windows Showroom (now The Magic Attic) from 2016 to 2018 and at Cleopatra’s Barge from 2019 through the COVID shutdown. He returned to the stage in January, swapping dates at the Bugsy’s venue with the “X Burlesque” topless revue.
“I am thrilled to be staying with Caesars Entertainment,” Newton said. The entertainment icon was recently featured on an episode of the HBO Max series “Hacks,” chatting with series star Jean Smart at a UFC event. The show is set in Las Vegas, with Smart starring as legendary stand-up comic Deborah Vance.
“The cast and crew were absolutely first class to work with,” Newton said. “What can I say about Jean Smart that hasn’t been said before? In my opinion, she is one of the best actors of all time. I’m privileged to have been able to work with her.”
Playing for actual chainsmokers …
Teasing to an upcoming piece about XS Nightclub/ Encore Beach Club headliners The Chainsmokers, Drew Taggert and Alex Pall recalled some “bad gigs” early in their development. “For every show that we’ve gotten to play at XS, we played, like, a dueling piano bar in St. Louis on a Wednesday night,” Pall said. “For every big venue that we have played, we played
100 not-so-nice ones, and we remember that.”
Booked in Australia
Penn Jillette is taking orders (advance orders, anyway) for his new book, “Random,” a crime caper that is sure to “bend your mind like a spoon,” according to publisher Akashic Books. The story centers on a 21-year-old Las Vegas local, Bobby Ingersoll, who’s saddled with a gambling debt from his father. He owes the iniquitous Fraser Ruphart, who operates a crime operation from the Trump International (Jillette appeared twice on “Celebrity Apprentice” when Donald Trump hosted).
The book is due Oct. 11. In the interim, Penn & Teller is touring Australia through the first week of July. Michael Carbonaro is headlining at the Rio in the duo’s absence through July 10. Carbonaro’s run marks the first time any act other than Penn & Teller has performed an extended residency in their theater.
The need, the need for Twizzlers …
We’re not big moviegoers. There is usually, like, a Lady Gaga show on the same night of the latest “Fast & Furious” release. But we took in “Top
Gun: Maverick” at Brenden Theatres at the Palms on Wednesday. A pre-release, VIP screening kind of thing. Wow, kids. That movie is big. Big stars. Big dogfights. Big romance. Big script, too, in the sense that it is broadly written. You can leave for several minutes on a Twizzler run and not lose your place, storywise. We ran into theater operator Johnny Brenden, who is several weeks from finishing the theater remodel. But it was a fine, fine time at his cineplex.
Cool Hang Alert(s)
The Fremont Street Experience has it down(town) with its Downtown Rocks series. The popular string of festivals is back, full force, with Xambassadors on Saturday and Starship Featuring Mickey Thomas on Sunday. The shows are 9 p.m. at the Third Street Stage.
We are longtime fans of Downtown Rocks, since we caught Joan Jett and Cheap Trick many moons ago. Highlights this year include 10,000 Maniacs, Dishwalla and The Calling on June 25; Molly Hatchet, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Mackenzie Porter on July 4; Sebastian Bach (whom we are seeing on the Vegas scene like every other night) on July 23; Rick Springfield, Men at Work and John Waite on Sept. 3; The Pretty Reckless on Sept. 10; Slaughter, Vixen and Sweet on Oct. 22; and Stone Temple Pilots closing the series Nov. 19. That’s not the full list, which you can find at vegasexperience.com, but a suitable start. All these shows, and the requisite people-watching, are free.