Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Mike Weatherford
Dion's 'A New Day ...' tickets may not be as hot as thought
Remember that expensive Celine Dion show and how confident producers were in selling those tickets that average $141.25?
Imagine my surprise then, upon hearing that people were able to buy half-price orchestra seat tickets for Thursday's and Friday's shows -- the second and third paid performances -- at the Coca-Cola Tickets 2Nite outlet at the Showcase Mall.
Upon hearing the news on Friday, Ben Jones, director of operations for rival broker AllstateTicketing, sent an associate (and Dion fan) over to the Tickets 2Nite to find out if it was true. She came back with half-priced floor seats.
"In putting all those controls on scalpers, they apparently cut out the legitimate businesses who want to sell them tickets," Jones says. "If they're already selling half-price tickets and devaluing their product, why won't they deal with legitimate brokers?"
(To clarify: Allstate and Tickets 2Nite are both vendors who have official contracts with hotels and producers, taking a commission on each ticket sold. The scalper-type "brokers" who advertise in classified ads send people to box offices to buy tickets at face value in hopes of reselling them at a profit.)
Concerts West, which handles the ticketing operation for Dion's show at Caesars Palace, could not be reached for comment.
The show itself continues to be tinkered with, after middling to poor reviews from the national press. "The entire creative team is still in town and still exploring songs and running order," says Jennifer Dunne, the spokeswoman for director Franco Dragone.
At least one song has been replaced since the March 25 opening. ...
It's hard to blame either Dion or the war in Iraq at this point, but there are some cutbacks and changes around town.
Monte Carlo magician Lance Burton plans to drop his 10 p.m. shows on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays starting May 6. Having the best show in town for families -- at least among those with double-digit ticket prices -- has proved to be a double-edged sword, driving most of his ticket demand to the 7 p.m. time slot.
"Part of it is I'm just getting older," adds Burton, who turned 43 on March 10.
Burton says he will keep his schedule "flexible so I can conserve my body," reinstating those 10 p.m. shows during "certain times of the year when the town's really hopping."
Burton also will try something a little different during the first days of a scheduled vacation, May 30-June 1. "Lance Burton's Magic & Comedy All-Stars" will have him sticking around to host a roster of friends including Jeff McBride, Fielding West and Dana Daniels.
"It will be kind of like a working vacation," Burton says. "I'll get to hang around with all my comedy-magic buddies."
Charo is older than Burton and has energy to spare, but cut the late shows of her "Bravo" revue on Fridays and Saturdays after missing a post-show flight to Los Angeles and a "Hollywood Squares" taping.
It's hard enough to find her new digs, at the Sevilla nightclub in the Desert Passage mall at the Aladdin, so consolidating fans into 8 p.m. show hasn't been tough.
Neil Diamond impersonator Jay White also is giving up weekends in the Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre. His manager says it's much more lucrative to hit the road and do corporate/convention work.
White will try to make up for a little of that lost revenue by raising weeknight ticket prices from $36.25 to $47.25, starting today. ...
Comedian Pudgy has replaced Tony D'Andrea as the comic relief of the "Skintight" adult revue at Harrah's Las Vegas. The single-named comedian is a Chicago native and has lived in Las Vegas since 1993, when she came here by way of Atlantic City for an afternoon show.
What might have been a routine cast change now will be part of a backstage drama. The change came while the "Skintight" cast was under the scrutiny of documentary cameras for the E! cable network's "Nearly Famous 2: Vegas Showgirls:."
"At any job, when you're being let go for whatever reason, there's drama there," says Jeff Shore, E!'s senior vice president of production. "The process is fascinating."
The crew wrapped 56 shooting days on Friday. The footage probably will be edited into two hourlong episodes to bookend the series, with six half hours in between, scheduled to begin June 1.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Sundays and Tuesdays.
