Yuman linking Las Vegas to Broadway with Estefan musical; ‘Frank’ to run through Frank’s 100th birthday

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Edward Foster

Bob Anderson performs as Frank Sinatra in “Frank: The Man, The Music” during a dress rehearsal Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, at Palazzo.

Published Fri, Jun 12, 2015 (1:45 p.m.)

Updated Fri, Jun 12, 2015 (4:43 p.m.)

New-Look ‘Fantasy’ at Luxor: Gallery 2

Tracey Gittins in the new-look “Fantasy” at the Luxor. Launch slideshow »

The Kats Report Bureau pulled a rare doubleheader Wednesday night reuniting with Carrot Top and “Fantasy” at Luxor.

I had tweeted about this Thursday, but Luxor offers some of the more high-energy and advanced entertainment in the city. Across from the Topper and “Fantasy” at Atrium Showroom are the masked dance troupe Jabbawockeez, with tireless illusionist Criss Angel set up in his theater 6 1/2 years into his 10-year run at the hotel.

At “Fantasy,” the show is in a maternal mode as two cast members, Tracey Gittins and Yesiney Burgess, are in the late stages of pregnancy. On hand Wednesday was producer Anita Mann, forever developing tweaks and steps to advance the show. Mann is developing four new acts to be ready for the production in October. She just about filled a legal pad with notes during Wednesday’s performance (a practice that can send shudders through the cast, given Mann’s attentive eye) and has added a familiar swing singer to the lineup.

More about that person in a few graphs. Otherwise, let’s dig into our trunk of props:

• Las Vegas meets Broadway by way of Chicago in the current run of “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan.” Co-producing the show is Las Vegas entertainment manager Bernie Yuman, who was of course long affiliated with Siegfried & Roy and is currently behind the current move by Matt Goss to relocate to Las Vegas and up his performance schedule at Caesars Palace.

Yuman joins James Nederlander and Estefan Enterprises Inc. in the musical adaptation of the Estefans’ life and career. The production is amid a run at Oriental Theater in Chicago through July 5. From there, it is booked at Marquis Theater in New York beginning Oct. 5 with preview performances and Nov. 5 for the formal premiere. The Estefans are scheduled to appear at the Keep Memory Alive “Power of Love” fundraising gala for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health on Saturday at MGM Grand.

“On Your Feet!” is directed by a man who also is familiar with Las Vegas, Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, who brought “Peepshow” to Planet Hollywood and whose credits include “Kinky Boots” (which opened its U.S. tour at the Smith Center), “Hairspray” (a version of which played Luxor nearly 10 years ago) and “Legally Blonde.”

• As reported here a few moons ago, “Frank: The Man, The Music” is being extended at Palazzo through Dec. 31. Previously, tickets were being sold through the end of this month. I’ve been hearing all sorts of reports out of the show regarding its financial viability — it is wildly expensive, with a 32-piece orchestra and Anderson’s lavish makeup as applied by stage vet Ron Wild. Thus, this move is no less than a vote of confidence from the hotel. Most important, the extension covers Sinatra’s 100th birthday, which is Dec. 12.

‘Frank: The Man, The Music’ Opening Night

Opening night of Launch slideshow »

Along with music director Vince Falcone and guitar great Joe Lano, the show has drawn such Sinatra-connected luminaries as Jerry Lewis, Tony Bennett, Rock in Rio founder Roberto Medina and Dean Martin’s daughter, Deana.

While Medina was in town, Anderson, donning the Sinatra makeup and tux he wears onstage at Palazzo, recorded a segment for a documentary about Medina. The clip, filmed at Michael’s at South Point, was a depiction of the meeting between Sinatra and Medina more than 30 years ago that led to the first Rock in Rio festival in Brazil.

• Penny Pibbets has papered over her differences with the Gazillionaire, at least for now, and is to return next week for a limited run in “Absinthe." Pibbets is the understudy of her cousin Joy Jenkins, who took over as Gaz’s sidekick in December. At that time, Gaz had booted Penny from the production at Caesars Palace in December as Pibbets embarked on her own TV talk-show fashioned production at Art Square Theater.

‘Absinthe’ Fourth Anniversary

“Absinthe” celebrates its fourth anniversary Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at Caesars Palace. Launch slideshow »

Gaz and Penny reunited this year to open the “Absinthe” tour of Australia, with a Gaz clone (for lack of a better term) appearing in the show at Caesars. In addition to Pibbets’ return, don’t be surprised to see a slightly different look out of Gaz.

Of the vacationing Joy, Gaz says he believes that she is on “religious retreat.” Of Pibbets, Gaz said he was “forced” to ask her to help out for a few weeks. The creative tension, and all the other tension, between these two is actually great for the show.

• Lorena Peril is set to leave “Vegas! The Show” after her contract expires this month. Her final show is June 21. She joined the production at Saxe Theater in Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood last August after an extended European tour of “Grease: The Arena Spectacular.”

Click to enlarge photo

Lorena Peril performs during “Divas” night at “Mondays Dark” hosted by Mark Shunock benefiting Dress for Success on Monday, March 16, 2015, in Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel.

A fiery vocalist and performer, Peril took on that tour after performing as principal singer in “Fantasy” from 2010 through early 2013, when her jocular guitarist husband, Ray Jon Narbaitz, and she joined the “Grease” tour (Ray Jon playing the Vince Fontaine role). The two plan to develop a two-person music-comedy show, refreshingly quirky and funny, which they performed for a time at Rush Lounge in Golden Nugget. A snippet: When the couple passes the tip bucket through the crowd, Ray Jon reminds, “For every dollar donated, a Justin Bieber fan dies.”

And, in the sort of turn of events we sometimes see in VegasVille, Peril is swinging for singer Jaime Lynch in “Fantasy.” Those dates are July 13-14. Then Peril and Ray Jon might opt to hit the road as a duo, a couple of kids with their guitar, shtick … and a dream.

• “Alice – A Steampunk Concert Fantasy” continues its run at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel on Wednesday night (doors at 10, show at 11; tickets $30, $10 for locals with valid Nevada ID). The show has one more date booked at the Hard Rock, July 15, and nothing penned in after. But production creator, director and star Anne Martinez says, “We are here to stay” and is scouting the city for a suitable venue — including Vinyl. For Wednesday’s show, Martinez has enlisted the a cappella vocal troupe These Guys, a four-man lineup out of L.A., to play the Four Kings. The four guys in These Guys have been together for four years (conveniently enough) and have been delivering pretty impressive performances at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Nights at Bootlegger Bistro.

• One of the toppermost of the tappermost is performing tonight and Saturday at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. in the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Aaron Turner, a finalist on Season 10 of "So You Think You Can Dance" in September 2013, is appearing in the night-time speakeasy performances after 8 p.m. both nights. Turner is the son of longtime Las Vegas headliner Earl Turner. These performances in the lounge of RRL restaurant are piloted by Skye Miles.

Of great interest is what will happen in the former "Vegas Nocturne" showroom/theater at RRL under the hotel's new ownership of Blackstone Group and stewardship of President and CEO Bill McBeath. Many possible uses for that uniquely designed space and a lot of entertainers on the hunt.

• The pushback against this week’s statewide live-entertainment tax reform ruling by Electric Daisy Carnival producer Insomniac began more than two years ago. Asked in April 2013 if he was anticipating the creation of a second Insomniac festival in or around Las Vegas, company founder Pasquale Rotella said, “Insomniac loves doing business in Las Vegas, and right now our primary focus is producing the best show for the fans who will attend Electric Daisy Carnival. … While we would love to bring another festival to Nevada, we are tabling any further discussions until the state Legislature settles the Live Entertainment Tax issue.” The latest ruling calls for a 9-percent tax on outdoor festivals, including EDC, which were previously exempt from the LET.

2014 Electric Daisy Carnival: Night 1

Armin Van Buuren during Night 1 of the 2014 Electric Daisy Carnival on Friday, June 20, 2014, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Launch slideshow »

2014 Electric Daisy Carnival: Night 1, Part 2

Night 1 of the 2014 Electric Daisy Carnival on Friday, June 20, 2014, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Launch slideshow »

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is not the only suitable outdoor venue for an EDC-styled festival. Operators of the Laughlin Events Center, along with officials from Las Vegas Events (which promotes shows at the facility) have said the outdoor venue and the city of Laughlin is a good match for EDC. The contract for EDC at LVMS, now in its fifth year, ends after the festival scheduled for June 19-21 (months before the tax would be enforced). We’ll know afterward whether Rotella and Insomniac officials believe that the tax is actually a deal-breaker in Las Vegas or anywhere else in Nevada.

• Jeff Civillico can’t seem to shake construction crews at the place he calls “the Imperial Quad Linq Palace.” The comic/ juggler/acrobat opened three years ago on the Strip during the overhaul of Imperial Palace to the Quad and now moves out temporarily as the venue now known as Linq Showroom is further renovated. Civillico performs at Flamingo Las Vegas’s Bugsy’s Cabaret from Sunday through Sept. 6, 2 and 4 p.m., dark Tuesdays.

When Civillico moved into the old I.P. showroom, there were murmurs in the Las Vegas entertainment community that he was on something of a career suicide mission. But Civillico held his ground, amid the din of jackhammers and Skil saws interrupting his show, and is now playing one of the choice showrooms on the Strip.

This is an example of making your own luck, folks, from a man Penn Jillette has called “the second-most famous juggler in the world.” You can guess the first.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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