PLANET HOLLYWOOD has gone mobile. The newest star in the Planet Hollywood firmament is as colorful as any of its celebrity owners. Star Cruiser is a 40-foot mobile home emblazoned with Planet Hollywood logos that's driving around the city offering prizes and giveaways to locals and visitors who cross its path. Star Cruiser is part of the Las Vegas PH's 3rd Anniversary Celebration, "Summer of Stars."
Touted as the newest and biggest star in the Planet Hollywood family (do Arnold and Bruce know this?), Star Cruiser will be used to announce upcoming events.
The "Summer of Stars" will feature celebrity visits, performances and events throughout the summer. On June 30, Bruce Willis and his band, The Accelerators, will perform a free concert in front of Caesars Palace.
To learn more about the Star Cruiser and "Summer of Stars" performances and appearances, call 791-7827.
'MADhattan' swings
Like the troubadours of yore, performers in "MADhattan" at New York-New York shared their music and lifestyle with a VIP audience at the recent grand opening. But no troubadour ever looked the way these 'MADhattan'-ers look. "MADhattan" is simply a joyous celebration of street performers everywhere.
The show is the brainchild of noted producer Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, Inc. Like many good ideas, Feld's inspiration was by chance. It came after he attended a Broadway musical with his family. When departing the theater he saw "a crowd around a group of kids playing percussion on a set of pots, pans and garbage cans." The music produced on those primitive instruments was only part of the scene that night.
Nearby was a singer with a voice better than any Feld had heard in the Broadway show he had just seen. The idea took hold. Before long Feld assembled a group of scouts to tour the city seeking out the incredibly talented artists that appear in subway and train stations, parks and many other public areas of New York. Some of these street artists have found a new spot in "MADhattan."
This is a high-energy paean to the indomitable human spirit, and survival. More than 80 percent of the show's original music and lyrics were created by the artists themselves. The others who perform are seasoned professionals. Like the city itself there's a little bit of everything in "MADhattan" -- blues, jazz, soul, tap dancing, street dancing, art, and the bittersweet humor and stories of the streets.
Melding street performers with the Las Vegas stage was the assignment of director Danny Herman. As a New Yorker, he knows and admires the street performers. He has captured their rapture and energy, giving a sense of reality to this unnatural spot, the Las Vegas stage.
As much as the performers, Scenic Designer Robert Little, Performance Director Tiffany Riley, Musical Director Jonathan Brielle, Creative Director Jerry Bilik, Tap Choreographer Eugene Fleming, Costume Designer Julie Bennett, Lighting Director LeRoy Bennett and Associate Producers Andrew Kato and Jenny Weiner are responsible for the success of "MADhattan." The show is a tour de force for all.
There are so many outstanding performances -- Asheba; Tony Pots 'n Pans; the a cappella quartet Spank; Zane Massey; the a cappella harmonies of The Trembles; the soul-stirring songs of Roger Ridley; the low down and powerful singing of Michelle Maria Weeks; the wonderful splashy street art of Jean Francois Detaille; the tap dancers -- Roxane Semadini, Rolondas Hendricks and Lindell Blake; and the live "MADhattan" band (what a joy), led by bassist Michael DuClos and featuring Walter Daniel Gonzalez and Kevin Kelly on drums and percussion, Zane Massey on saxophone, Scott Johnson on guitar and Brenda Leonard on keyboard.
The only let-downs are monocyclist Alexander Chervotkin, who was either suffering from opening night jitters or needs more practice; and comics Dick Monday and Peter Pitofsky, who slow down the fun to a snail's pace and had me wishing they would stay down for the count after one too many pratfalls.
Among the celebrities who attended the opening were superstars Siegfried and Roy, "The Young and the Restless" stars Michael Damian and Kristoff St. John, supermodel Kim Alexis, New York Ranger Ron Dugay, Ben Vereen, Pat Morita, Stacey Dash ("Clueless"), Lark Voorhies ("Saved by the Bell"), Hinton Battle ("Miss Saigon"), Michael DiLorenzo ("New York Undercover"), Dorian Gregory ("Baywatch Nights") and TV's "Batman," Adam West.
Many local VIPs came to see and cheer "MADhattan," including Marty Moore, Bill Sherlock, Elaine and Steve Wynn, Debbie and Terry Lanni, Dave Hanlon, Jane Schorr, Candace and Bernie Yuman, Vera and Clyde Turner, Jodi and Dr. Elias Ghanem, Andrea and Tony Marnell, Margo and Sig Rogich, Camille and Larry Ruvo, Gary Primm, Esther and Fred Benninger, Myram Borders, Joyce Luman, Cam Usher and Myrna Williams.
"MADhattan" performances are: Friday through Tuesday at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $44 (tax included). Charge tickets by calling 740-6815, or pick them up at the New York-New York box office, which opens at 10 a.m.
It's noisy, funky, alive and wonderful. It's "MADhattan."
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