‘Sideswipe’ closes show at Tropicana

The martial arts troupe "Sideswipe" has closed its afternoon show at the Tropicana, its producer saying the young cast performed more than a month without being paid.

But the showroom's operator, Jay Bloom, says the show closed at the end of a 30-day termination notice and denies owing the troupe money. "We just couldn't come to terms financially to continue the show," Bloom says.

The troupe's founder, Matt Mullins, says the nine performers were last paid Jan. 3 for performances through Dec. 20. The show was last performed Friday.

"We tried to go as long as we could," says Mullins. "But we've been out there quite awhile without getting paid."

The complaint is at least the fourth against Bloom and/or his Eagle Group Holdings, which operates the Tropicana's Tiffany Theatre in a lease agreement with the casino owners.

Bloom's firm also plans to open a museum attraction, The Las Vegas Mob Experience, at the Tropicana within two weeks. Last week, Bloom was sued by Ralph Buzzetta, an investor who claims he loaned Bloom $50,000 in an agreement that he would be paid back $60,000 in return.

In October, Bloom was sued by a former partner, James Beckmann, who alleges Bloom cut him out "of a potentially profitable business he had helped build and developed."

And Tuesday, Antoinette McDonnell -- the daughter of '50s-era mob boss Sam Giancana -- complained to state gaming regulators that Bloom breached a contract for her to contribute family artifacts to the museum and serve as its spokesperson.

Bloom and Mullins have different descriptions of their financial arrangement for "Sideswipe." Mullins says Bloom served as producer, encouraging the group to open the show in Las Vegas with a financial guarantee to Mullins' company. "There was no other way we could have made it happen," Mullins says.

"The idea was that once we got to a certain number of seats filled, then it was going to be a ticket split. Before then we were basically working for a check."

Bloom says: "The reality of the situation is they weren't drawing more than single digits (in ticket sales). The percentage of the door never came into effect with single-digit ticket sales."

Bloom characterizes the arrangement as a partnership. "His requirement was 'Matt Mullins presents' on all the advertising. I'm not listed as a producer on the show. We certainly have helped them financially, we've helped them with opportunity. ... Unfortunately the show didn't come together to become the Vegas show it could be in a timely enough fashion."

Mullins counters: "There was no surprise in what we delivered. He knew what we had to offer," and in fact encouraged the group to open with a bare-bones production instead of waiting for the input of a professional director both had agreed upon.

Mullins formed the troupe from a Chicago area karate school, where he was an instructor for many of the performers that now range in age from 18 to 22. "Everybody worked as hard as they could," he says, including passing out promotional materials in the casino and plans for an outreach to valley schools. "We feel that we've been done wrong a little bit here." ...

David Copperfield once made the Statue of Liberty vanish, so hiding in plain sight is a snap for him. But he sounds tired of it now at the MGM.

Now that Drew Carey and his band of improv comics are gone with the Super Bowl, the MGM's Hollywood Theatre is basically Copperfield's room. The magician says he's booked for 40 weeks this year. That's almost up there with Terry Fator or some of the other MGM Resorts acts who have permanent signage or theaters carrying their name.

In spite of that, "you kind of had to hunt to find me. I have no marquee at the MGM," he says. "It'll change more over this next year. You'll see more presence outside the building."

Copperfield never seemed worried about the neutrality of the Hollywood Theatre in the past. It sounded kind of like a couple denying they are getting serious; it kept the pressure off and Copperfield free to tour as much as he wanted.

But now, "I'm beginning a very big promotional kind of co-branding with the MGM and you'll see more of that (branding)," he says. "We're sneaking new illusions into the show all throughout the year. Doing out-of-town tryouts in town." ...

Copperfield was just a lad of 13 when Engelbert Humperdinck first played Vegas in 1969. But maybe they could hang out now. Copperfield is 54 and the British crooner turns 75 in May. But he says, "I don't live the life of a guy my age, the way I am. I feel like I'm 20 years younger."

Humperdinck plays The Orleans showroom this weekend, and describes an interesting project in the works. He says pop stars are writing specially commissioned songs for his next album, with tunes in the works from Paul McCartney, Bryan Adams and, oddly enough The Breaks, a mostly instrumental surf-rock band with former members of Midnight Oil.

"I send them a recent (video) of how I am today and they elaborate on it," the crooner says. It sounds a lot like the way U2 wrote a song called "Sugar Daddy" for Tom Jones, Humperdinck's arch-rival back in the day. ...

What took 'em so long? Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, the buffest "Jersey Shore"-man of them all, will guest-host the Chippendales show at the Rio on Saturday. The press release promises some lucky audience members will "get to fist pump and party with Ronnie" after the show. ...

No jokes about hockey-fan literacy. Without much promotion, Harrah's comic magician Mac King collected 500 books for the Clark County Reads program at a recent Las Vegas Wranglers game. It went so well they're doing it again at Friday's game. Anyone who brings three new or gently used books for school-age children will get two tickets for King's show and one for a future Wranglers game.

King wants to collect 2,100 books to deliver to four at-risk elementary schools during Nevada Reading Week later this month.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.