Friday, May 20, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Critic echoes dark view of 'Le Reve'

Could Steve Wynn's $40 million aquatic gamble "Le Reve" become Le Belly Flop?

Critics continue to suggest it may be doomed to stinker status.

Chicago Tribune arts critic Chris Jones joined the chorus this week, calling "Le Reve" Franco Dragone's most courageous creation to date. The show is "staged in a monster-size, custom-designed, digitally live, water-and-seats theater-in-the-round that makes even the most jaded jaw drop like a lead balloon. Yet it is the Vegas extravaganza least likely to succeed long-term with a mainstream audience."

Jones suggests the show was "unveiled much too fast" and might be too dark.

"'Le Reve' positively oozes unease," Jones wrote. "Which is why it will appeal to serious fans of the avant-garde. But they probably don't gamble much."

Dragone told the Tribune, "I think this is my last show in a casino."

Batman saves the day

Riddle me this: When Frank Gorshin became too ill to shoot a film in Las Vegas this month, guess who came to the rescue?

Holy guacamole, it was Batman!

Director James Brooks was three days from shooting Gorshin's scenes here when Gorshin's agent called to say he had been hospitalized.

Adam West, who played the iconic Batman role, was on the telephone to Brooks, volunteering to fill in for his friend Gorshin, a popular impressionist who played The Riddler in the 1960s TV series.

"That was so unbelievable. I'll never forget him for that," Brooks said by telephone while on location at Spring Mountain Ranch.

Gorshin, who died Tuesday at age 72, had agreed to play a judge from Denver who sentences the film's young lead character, played by Simon R. Baker, to work on a special ranch. "Bionic Woman" Lindsay Wagner's character operates the ranch, and Gary Busey plays a doctor.

"Buckeroo" wraps on Saturday after two weeks of shooting here.

The Scene and Heard

No more free peeks at the Penske Wynn Ferrari Maserati casino dealership. Starting Monday, it costs $15 to check out the dream machines at Wynn Las Vegas. That 15 bucks includes a cap. ...

Hip-hop superstar Eminem has purchased two suites at Palms Place, the Palms' planned condo tower, and has indicated that he might convert the two into a supersuite, Palms owner George Maloof confirmed Thursday.

May I recommend ...

Opera Las Vegas honors Audrey Holmes, Clint Holmes' mum, tonight at the performance of Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" at Summerlin Library Theater and Performing Arts Center. The elder Holmes, 90, played Santuzza in "Cavalleria Rusticana" as a young British opera singer in 1945 when she became pregnant with Clint, now a headliner at Harrah's. The show begins at 8 p.m., after a 7 p.m. pre-concert lecture. For more information: 459-6353.

Sightings

Marg Helgenberger, George Eads and Quentin Tarantino, at the Palms for the "CSI" season finale party at The Lounge and ghostbar.

The Punch Line

"If the caped crumb is here, the cowled creep can't be far behind." -- King Tut in "Batman."

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.