Cuchi-Cuchi!

One of my favorite people will be back in Las Vegas on Sunday, November 25. The Cuchi-Cuchi girl, Charo, will be performing for one night only at the Rampart Casino and this is a show you won't want to miss. I've known Charo for some 25 years and she just gets better. In the early years she would just sing and play guitar while strutting the stage with that sassy look and body. But today, she interacts with the audience as well, which adds to the fun of her performance.

The highlight, in my opinion, is not her singing, but her guitar playing. A classical guitarist, she has the audience mesmerized as she sits on a stool and plays beautiful music for some 10 or 15 minutes. A nice break from the high energy singing and dancing. Her dancers, by the way, are as good as you'll see anywhere.

It was at the Sahara some 25 years ago that I first met Charo. She invited me to a rehearsal, something which she never did. At the time, she was married to famed South American band leader, Xavier Cugat, who, other than me, was the only one sitting in the showroom. All I can say about the rehearsal was that as I watched her perform with her dancers, I realized that Charo does not suffer fools gladly. She is a perfectionist and expects the same from everyone else. But it pays off in the finished product.

Once rehearsal finished however, she and I relaxed in her dressing room where she regaled me with some very funny stories and showed the humorous side of her personality, as well as her love of family.

The performance will be held in the Grand Ballroom at the adjoining JW Marriott starting at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3. Tickets are $40 and include a complimentary meal at the Rampart Buffet. You can pick them up at the main cage in the casino.

LANCE LOVES LOCALS

Magician Lance Burton has always appreciated the local support he gets for his show at the Monte Carlo, one which he's been doing for some 11 years now. This year he once again is saying thank you by offering his Locals Appreciation Weeks beginning the week after Thanksgiving. Tickets for Burton's show are $72.55, plus a service fee, but during the following dates, locals can get to see the master magician for $38 inclusive of taxes & fees: Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 & 10 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, Nov. 28-30 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 1, 7 & 10 p.m.; 7 p.m. show from Tuesday thru Saturday, Dec. 4-8.

To get tickets, call 730-7160 and ask for reservations for Locals Appreciation Week or you can go to The Lance Burton Theatre Box-Office and save the $3 service charge. Showing his humorous side, Burton says he doesn't make any turkeys disappear on Thanksgiving Day because "the show must go on and it makes me sleepy. I've done a show every Thanksgiving Day for as long as I can remember. It's the busiest week of the fall. I usually get together with family and friends though. I have ducks, geese, doves and a parakeet in my show. They might go on strike if they found out I ate one of their relatives." If for some reason you haven't caught his show, put it on your list of things to do. It's great fun and the whole family will love it.

RING IN THE WINTER

This is for all you music lovers. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), is bringing its live-rock extravaganza to the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday, November 18. TSO has been a true rock mega-success, releasing four albums, including the holiday-themed Christmas Eve & Other Stories, The Christmas Attic, Beethoven's Last Night and The Lost Christmas Eve -- all winners as far as I‘m concerned. And it seems a lot of people agree with me as it some five million units have been sold, including more than 900,000 last year.

The orchestra's 2006 Winter Tour played to more than one million fans at 80 concerts and generated revenues in excess of $40 million. Since its first Winter Tour 11 years ago, TSO has been one of the industry's most successful acts consistently rating in the Top 10 for both gross revenues and audience attendance. I throw all that in to show you that they're worth going to hear if you aren't familiar with them.

Tickets are $49.50 and $39.50, plus applicable service charges and taxes, and are available at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office, or you can call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000 and put it on your credit card. You can also buy them by going to www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com. And here's the best part. In the true spirit of holiday giving, $1 from every ticket sold will benefit a local charity.

LESS TIGERS, MORE BURGERS

The Mirage's white tiger habitat is being replaced by BLT Burger, a stylish hamburger restaurant, beginning next spring. The tigers, who prowled the glass-enclosed home since The Mirage's opening in November 1989, can still be seen as part of Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the resort. But rather than the free viewing near the entrance, the Secret Garden charges $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 4 to 12.

Good luck and I'll see you on the Strip. And don't forget to check out www.valleyblogs.com. If you have a question or a Las Vegas experience you would like to share with my readers, please e-mail me at lennylv@netzero.net. Please include your full name and the city or town where you live.