Danny Gans and the new Beatles-Cirque du Soleil show will share The Mirage marquee. Photo by Ralph Fountain.
A compromise with Danny Gans will let the new Beatles-Cirque du Soleil show have top billing on The Mirage marquee.
Gans, who has first right-of-refusal, has agreed to give the new show the marquee for the first 90 days, according to Gans' manager, Melanie Van Burch.
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"He graciously gave up the marquee for 90 days, and then they will split it," she said. "There was never a dispute. Nobody's fighting.
"Danny's a big fan of The Beatles. He knows how important it is to launch a show."
DERBY DAZE
One of the things I most miss about Cincinnati, along with Skyline Chili's five-way, was the Kentucky Derby experience.
My introduction came in 1973. I was on a dinner break from my job with The Associated Press. I stopped in the Cricket, now a long-gone favorite watering hole of Cincinnati Enquirer crowd.
Over at the bar, many newspaper friends had gathered in front of the TV to watch the Derby.
Many of the staffers were from Kentucky, just across the Ohio River. Their reaction to "My Old Kentucky Home," a Derby tradition, was a first for me: I had never seen so many people break into song in a bar. Tears flowed everywhere.
It gave a newcomer goose bumps, and I've never heard the song since without remembering that emotional day at the Cricket.
During my six years in Cincinnati, one of my last duties many a night was to send out a story on the results from nearby Latonia Race Course (now Turfway Park).
The son of the track's general manager would call in the thoroughbred results, and the 20-something kid, I recall, was always in a rush. Now I know why: The kid was going places.
Mike Battaglia has been setting the Kentucky Derby odds since 1974, when he was 24. Later, he was the Derby announcer for 19 years.
I'm a twice-a-year horse player, so imagine my heart palpitations Saturday when I had Barbaro winning the Derby, and two other top four horses on a $20 Superfecta ticket.
Jazil, my runner-up choice, was fourth and Bluegrass Cat, my pick to finish third, was second. That was as close as I got to picking the 1-2-3-4 finish that paid $84,860.40 on a $2 bet.
Steppenwolfer upset my Derby apple cart.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
After 15 years in Las Vegas radio, deejay Ken Johnson is returning to the East Coast. He accepted a job Friday in Reading, Pa., where he and his wife have family. ...
Hot spots & cool stuff: John Keawe, a slack-key guitar artist who helped win Hawaii's first Grammy Award, is performing at 3 p.m. today at the California Hotel as part of the three-day May Day May Lei celebration.
SIGHTINGS
Paris and Nicky Hilton, at the unveiling of the Palms' Fantasy Tower suites on Saturday. ... Oscar winner George Clooney, dining at Terra Rossa (Red Rock) with Rande Gerber and friends, before heading for Gerber's Cherry nightclub. ... At Tao (The Venetian): 'N Sync's Lance Bass, belatedly celebrating his birthday. He was 27 on Thursday. Actress Shannon Elizabeth and pals joined the party about 1 a.m. ... At ghostbar (Palms): ESPN's Suzy Kolber, Jerry Tarkanian and Playboy's Tishara Lee Cousino, the May 1999 Playmate. ... At the Sand Dollar's Sweet 16 birthday bash: Former NBA all-star Spencer Haywood and KLAS-TV, Channel 8 anchor Dave Courvoisier, at different tables, taking in blues artist Jude Bowerman.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. Everyone is in the mood. Rush Limbaugh has tested positive for margaritas." -- David Letterman
