Hello? More dates for Lionel Richie at Axis? Boyband revue sauntering into Sin City Theater

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Denise Truscello / WireImage / DeniseTruscello.net

Opening night of Lionel Richie’s residency “All the Hits” on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, at Axis at Planet Hollywood.

Thu, May 19, 2016 (9 p.m.)

Lionel Richie Opening Night at Axis

Opening night of Lionel Richie’s residency “All the Hits” on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, at Axis at Planet Hollywood. Launch slideshow »

Dave Grohl Interviews Lionel Richie

Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters interviews Planet Hollywood headliner Lionel Richie, pictured here, on Thursday, May 5, 2016, at Axis at Planet Hollywood for Sirius XM Radio. Launch slideshow »

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is SLS Las Vegas, where we are taking a step back to prepare for as a weekend of high velocity. Upcoming in the next three days are the opening of Jewel at Aria on Friday, the Keep Memory Alive “Power of Love” Gala at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday and the 2016 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

That’s just the west side of the Strip.

Tonight, on the eastern edge of L.V. Boulevard, it’s The Cult at the Foundry here at SLS — I saw this band in the late 1980s at Cal Expo Amphitheater in Sacramento. Great time, from what I was told. What’s the saying? My best memories are blackouts? That was one of them. But I never would have guessed that at this point in life I would see The Scorpions and The Cult in the same six-day span in Las Vegas.

Let’s rock it elsewhere, eh?

• Lionel Richie’s initial run at Axis at Planet Hollywood sold well enough to spark speculation that he’ll extend beyond the announced dates this fall. Richie ended his run with a packed house Wednesday — and among the 4,000 or so in the room was former Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman grooving to “Brick House.”

Richie is back for 10 dates beginning Sept. 21. The decision on whether to return is his, and the joy he shows onstage makes it apparent that he wants more.

• As reported earlier, Xavier Mortimer is opening his 7 p.m. daily magic production at Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood on June 5. Mortimer has left the cast of “MJ One” at Mandalay Bay and thus is the first Cirque du Soleil artist to leave the company to headline his own show on the Strip. We’re writing up a columnabout Mr. Mortimer (by “we” I mean “I am”) for a future TKR post. Mortimer is the second magician to perform at Sin City Theater. Column friend Murray Sawchuck keeps his 4 p.m. show, so if you want magic, there is a veritable glut — glut, I tell you! — at Planet Hollywood.

That said, Mortimer and Sawchuck are different types of magicians. Mortimer is a magician-storyteller, and Sawchuck is a magician-comedian. At least this is how the distinction has been described to me.

But Mortimer’s move to Sin City Theater is not the only news from the mezzanine level of P.H. The Sin City Comedy show is moving from the theater to the Crazy Girls Cabaret (the old Gallery nightclub across from Sin City) on June 5, keeping its 8 p.m. slot and format of four rotating comics and two dancers.

And arriving June 24 is the boyband revue “Everybody” of Chicago, taking up the 5:30 p.m. slot at Sin City between Sawchuck and Mortimer (if any of these guys perform sleight-of-hand, it’ll be a veritable magic marathon at Sin City). The idea is to package “Everybody” and its rollout of tributes to ’N Sync and The Backstreet Boys with dinner at Planet Dailies. Then ticket-holders could hit a show at Axis (Britney Spears is the ideal demographic).

To top it off, the venerable adult revue “Crazy Girls” performs nightly at 9. The magic in that show, of course, is Tony "Bag of Donuts" Douglas as the comic relief, and also the oversized furry-pink phallus that showers the audience with streamers …

Anyway, one more show is to fill the Sin City lineup, at 10:30 p.m., the plan being to announce that show soon and open in July.

Rehearsal for 'Pin Up' Starring Claire Sinclair at Stratosphere

Rehearsal for Launch slideshow »

• The new singer in “Pin Up” at the Stratosphere has been announced: Natalie Ramsey, who was the show’s swing singer under Lisa Marie Smith, who has departed to join the cast of “Baz: Star Crossed Love” at Palazzo Theater, which opens June 25.

Ramsey is a graduate of MacDonald College of Performing Arts in Sydney, Australia, and has performed in “Show in the Sky” at Rio and as the dance captain at the Bourbon Room at the Venetian.

As Ramsey and “Pin Up” turn the calendar, “Baz” is in rehearsals for its opening night. The theater at Palazzo is undergoing its major overhaul, with the main stage jutting out to the back of the lower level of the venue. It is to be a totally immersive setting. The music director in the production is someone I met several years ago at The Composers Showcase, Chris Lash, a dynamite talent who is working on a project with "Jersey Boys" cast member Travis Cloer, so be on the lookout for that.

• Powering up at the most recent performance of “Alice” at Brooklyn Bowl: Spiegelworld founder and “Absinthe” producer Ross Mollison (taking the seats purchased by The Gazillionaire, who missed the show because of an accidental Molly overdose), and “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers” music director Dave Loeb. The next “Alice” at the Bowl is set for June 14.

NBT and Matt Goss at the Smith Center

Nevada Ballet Theatre dancers Alissa Dale and Grigori Arakelyan rehearse at the Smith Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Launch slideshow »

• As the landscape on the Strip continues its seismic shifts, Matt Goss continues to deliver his reliably great performances at the Gossy Room at Caesars Palace. He also is doing good work away from the stage with his new PSA to raise awareness about the dangers of drunken driving. The new spot is being used by Las Vegas Metro Police as its safe-driving outreach campaign, and as Goss noted in a Fox 5 interview with Rachel Smith, his younger sister Carolyn was killed by a drunken driver in 1988.

“Drunk driving is a gamble that no one should take,” Goss says in the spot due to be airing on local TV by this weekend.

• Great line from AEG Live Las Vegas Senior Vice President John Nelson at Saturday night’s Human Rights Campaign gala at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. “I remember when Anita Bryant was campaigning against the gay culture in the United States,” said Nelson, the night’s Equality Award recipient. “My family didn’t drink orange juice for two years.”

As Nelson noted later, not everyone got that, but those who did got a good laugh. Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell was honored with the night’s Leadership Award during a gala that served, in part, as a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. More then 600 people turned out and $50,000 was raised, with the highlight of the live auction being a $16,000 bid for a pair of tickets, two business-class seats and two nights at the W Paris to see Celine Dion. … Now I just need to find a suitable plus-one #SheckyKats.

• During the red-carpet walk at the gala, “Vegas! The Show” co-star Josh Strickland noted that he is appearing at Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the Disney all-star show with the London Symphony Orchestra. Strickland performed in “Tarzan” on Broadway before he opened in “Peepshow” at Planet Hollywood in 2009. The show is Oct. 23, and expect Strickland to level the place, same as he did at Composers Showcase of Las Vegas last month.

Frankie Moreno’s Opening Night

Opening night of Frankie Moreno’s “Under the Influence” on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at Planet Hollywood. Launch slideshow »

• Joining Frankie Moreno on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights is James Maslow of Big Time Rush fame. He (Maslow) is debuting a song this weekend during the performances of “Under the Influence” at Planet Hollywood. The two met through Base Entertainment officials and such common friends as (mild name drop coming here) Joey Fatone.

And be aware of this: Next Thursday, the special guest is Graham Russell of Air Supply. Anyone who remembers the nights at Rush Lounge will be glad to see the return of Russell, who was apt to stop into the Golden Nugget hovel and sing “All Out of Love” to great response. Should be quite the scene (hic!).

• The premiere of “Tempest Storm — A Documentary” led to standing ovations in each of the first two screenings of the film last week at the Toronto Film Festival.

“Two standing ovations!” Storm said during a phone chat Tuesday afternoon. “Even for me, that’s a lot.” No dates yet for a Las Vegas premiere, but T.S. promises to keep us abreast.

This weekend, Storm is making an appearance Friday and Saturday at the “Doo Wop Hall of Fame of America” gala at Cabaret Jazz. Both shows are 7 p.m., and Storm — a siren, still, at 88 — promises something special from the gowns she plans to wear.

I love what Storm says in the intro to the documentary: “When I had no home, the stage was my home. When I had no family, the audience was my family.” And it still is.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram at Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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