Circus family snaps up the Jungle Palace
THE circus continues at the Siegfried & Roy mansion. The family that founded the Carden International Circus has purchased the S&R Jungle Palace, family rep Wally Eastwood announced Friday.
If that name seems familiar, it should. Eastwood is a decadeslong Strip performer, as the juggling emcee of “V — The Ultimate Variety Show” at the V Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort. His time in Vegas dates to 1987, when he was featured in “Splash” at the Riviera.
Eastwood is the cousin of Carden Circus founder George Carden and his son, Brett Carden. The elder Carden was recently inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame. As he celebrated, he learned that the Las Vegas home of Siegfried & Roy was on the market and might be torn down to make room for an apartment complex.
“Let’s just say, he was livid!” Brett Carden said in a statement Friday. George Carden is not just a Hall of Fame Circus performer himself, but a longtime friend of Siegfried & Roy.
The family paid the $3 million sales price listed this week on the Zillow real estate site.
The mansion was built in 1954. The 8,750-square-foot property at 1639 Valley Drive had two bedrooms, four baths, an outdoor fountain, custom stained glass, skylights, a jacuzzi, a bird sanctuary, animal enclosures, electric gates, a guest house and a cabana.
The Carden Circus is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. George Carden lives in the circus hotbed of Sarasota, Florida.
Upon hearing the property was listed, Brett Carden called his father, who was already on the case, in contact with Eastwood in Vegas. Within an hour of that conversation, Eastwood had a check for the full sales price in hand and the property was sold.
The transaction is scheduled to close March 22.
“After the whirlwind of emotion, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief,” Brett Carden said. He added that the family shares S&R’S love for exotic animals. His wife, Cathy Carden, is the only female to perform solo with the elephants in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She has also performed with the liberty horses and dogs.
Suffice it to say, operations at the estate are a family venture.
Eastwood has worked with Alexandra Carden, wife of George Carden, for the past 15 years, to develop largescale productions. She is a costume designer who plans to re-create Siegfried & Roy’s wardrobe for visitors to the mansion. And Wally’s daughter Kellie Eastwood isa choreographer and an audio engineer.
Eastwood says plans for how to create a post-s&r scene while honoring the duo are “up in the air at the moment.” But the estate will retain its Jungle Palace design.
“Absolutely, that’s the main goal, to preserve that property,” Eastwood said in a text. “We want it to look just like it did when they lived in it.”
‘Longing’ no more
The self-dubbed “Elder Millennial” has just turned 40.
How did Iliza Shlesinger celebrate?
“We had kind of rave at a warehouse with, like, 80 people and it was awesome,” says Shlesinger, whose birthday was Feb. 22 and who plays the Encore Theater at 10 p.m. Saturday (having opened Friday night). “But the raves when you’re 40 are a little more curated than when you’re 20. We had nice cocktails and professional face painters, not just people drooling in the corner, sweating.”
Emphasis on “professional,” right?
“Yes,” Shlesinger says. “Professional sweating.”
Shlesinger is playing the Encore Theater for the first time. The Strip favorite is the latest in a series of former Aces of Comedy headliners to bolt The Mirage for other theaters, primarily Encore. The theater presents an impressive lineup of star stand-ups, among them upcoming headliners Sebastian Maniscalco, Jay Leno, John Mulaney, Ali Wong and Jim Gaffigan.
Ask how she spends her time in our city, and you get a deep dive of locals’ references.
Shlesinger had her ear styled at Ember Body Piercing and plans to return this weekend for a new ear piercing. She’s a fan of Gäbi Coffee and Bakery in Chinatown. She works out at Symmetry in Motion Pilates and Wellness Studio on West Charleston Boulevard. She is a devotee of Night + Market Thai restaurant at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. She has an uncle who lives in Vegas, and when the family visits they usually hit Piero’s Italian Restaurant.
“My uncle and dad, they like to feel like they’re in ‘Goodfellas,’ ” Shlesinger says. “I’m a big off-the-strip person. I just feel Las Vegas gets this bad rap for being just a party town, but there is so much off the Strip that people are missing out on. When I go there, I try to become a local.”
Cool Hang Alert
A buddy from a few moons ago, vibraphonist and pianist Christian Tamburr, graces Vic’s Las Vegas from 9:30 p.m. to midnight Tuesday. The Christian Tamburr Quintet headlines frequently at Lincoln Center (where I caught him with Clint Holmes afew years ago), Kennedy Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Tamburr was also music director of the original “Vegas Nocturne” band at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Las Vegas Academy jazz players (and they are very cool) open from 6:30 to 9 pm. There is no cover charge. Reservations are encouraged. Go to viclasvegas.com for more information.
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.