‘Absinthe’ stretches out in new digs
Caesars' "Absinthe" unpacks to stay awhile Friday, no longer a traveling tent show in the eyes of the law.
The comic carnival of circus and burlesque closed last month because of a six-month limited-use permit for the European show tent that housed it. There was talk of coming back next spring. But midway through the run, the goal changed to a year-round presence. Why waste momentum for any title that can get some traction in these hard times?
So "Absinthe" reopens in a new pavilion on the same outdoor plaza between Las Vegas Boulevard and the front door of Caesars Palace. "We essentially have a brand-new tent," says co-producer Scott Zeiger. "There's nothing we could do to that antique venue that would conform to code," he says of the first big top, known as a Spiegeltent.
The new venue sounds a lot like the Silverton's semipermanent show structure. It's insulated, equipped with fire sprinklers and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Alas, it doesn't have any wooden walls or stained glass. Still, Zeiger promises, "when you go inside that space, you will be transformed.
"What we know is that the charm of the show was the funky coolness, decor and intimacy. So what we've done is kept all the bric-a-brac that was out there on that campus, and it will be installed inside this tent."
The new tent also is large enough to move the outdoor beer garden and drinking games into a lobby space inside for the winter. "Absinthe" will stage 10 shows a week year-round for at least a year.
What the new edition won't have is the act that became the tell-the-folks-at-home, water-cooler talk of the first edition: The Skating Aratas. Roller-skating daredevils Victor and Jenny Arata have agreed to join "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show." Producer David Saxe says the couple should be skating in his show within a week, after visa issues are resolved for the European couple.
Saxe says he was able to woo the Aratas during a period of indecision for the future of "Absinthe." However, he claims the "Absinthe" producers have not made the defection easy.
The Aratas are part of a larger overhaul of "V" phasing in gradually over the next month. A round pod stage will be built into the audience for Jenny to be spun in circles, making spectators feel the danger.
Old-timers will be just as intrigued by the return of Saxe's sister Melinda, "The First Lady of Magic." Saxe launched "V" after marriage and maternity retired the Melinda show at The Venetian in 2002. Now she goes in as one of several segments, without the pressure of carrying the whole show. ...
Think of it as a delayed payoff. You can't make the black humor of Penn & Teller part of your Halloween fun because the duo have the month off at the Rio. But that's because Penn Jillette is (unofficially) taping "Celebrity Apprentice."
That means, next spring, you might just witness Jillette facing off with another loudmouth comedian, Lisa Lampanelli, in Donald Trump's boardroom, with George Takei and Clay Aiken as collateral damage.
Worth the wait!
Teller is not sitting idly by. He tweeted that he's part of "a workshop to help create a Broadway version of 'The Exorcist.' " ...
"Absinthe" isn't the only show going back to the same casino after a hiatus. "Junk rockers" Recycled Percussion have been trying to get back into the Tropicana. They keep the classic showroom open starting Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.. ...
Michael Grimm, the Las Vegas-based winner of "America's Got Talent" in 2010, will join this year's finalists Oct. 28-30 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. But if you want to see more of him, cross the Strip for his Flamingo holiday show Nov. 29-Dec. 11.
Donny and Marie Osmond vacate the Flamingo showroom after Nov. 26 to take their own Christmas show to Detroit and Chicago. Grimm moves into the slot with his new song "It Must be Christmas Time" for his first Strip engagement outside the "Talent" shows. ...
If Bob Anderson tried to fit all the musicians who will be with him Saturday into the old Top O' the Dunes, there wouldn't be much room for an audience.
A mainstay of the lounge scene back when lounges were swingin' miniversions of the big showrooms, Anderson says he is out to shed the moniker "singing impressionist" with orchestral pops concerts, such as Saturday's with the Las Vegas Philharmonic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"I'm not trying to see how many people I can do in my show," says Anderson, who moved to Branson, Mo., in 2004 and soon will relocate again to Myrtle Beach, S.C. He sings most of the Philharmonic concerts in his own voice to further the reputation that "Bob's a singer who happens to have an act and throws his impressions in."
Anderson landed the coveted pops bookings by teaming up with Las Vegas arranger-conductor Vince Falcone for a Frank Sinatra tribute that uses the same charts Sinatra used in the 1970s. "It's the combination of Vince, the real music and the quality of what they hear."
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.
