Published Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 | 8:30 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 | 10:22 a.m.
Oscar Goodman's "Being Oscar" book signing at The Mob Museum in Downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, May 23, 2013.
The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is Greenspun Hall at UNLV prepping for another interview on “Kats With the Dish” the KUNV 91.5-FM radio show I’ve been co-hosting with the eminent Tricia McCrone for more than three years now.
Our guest is longtime Neil Diamond tribute artist Rob Garrett, who is among the lineup of tribute acts at Shimmer Cabaret at Westgate Las Vegas. Remember when there was talk of pulling that room apart for an open lobby bar? Me, neither. Maybe that idea will be revisited, but right now Shimmer is it for entertainment at Westgate, where “Raiding the Rock Vault” gave three weeks notice and was told it was fine to leave — in like three hours. That show is headed for the Trop, and there is no regular entertainment listed in the great Westgate Theater.
This week, we checked in with “Purple Reign,” which makes great use of the unique design and high staging of the Shimmer Cabaret space. Jason Tenner continues to effectively mimic the Prince voice, guitar, face and lace — the band burns it up. Jennifer Romas kicks (and shakes) tail, and the show is a treat for any Prince fans. It’s a good move, going with tributes, as Trent Carlini continues his famed Elvis impressionist show for a King-Diamond-Prince lineup. Hope it works out for Westgate because that little enclave is suddenly a very important nightspot.
Away from Westgate, we have been raking the scene with great zeal. Checking in with …
• Oscar Goodman, who resumes his speaker series Thursday night at Oscar’s Steakhouse at the Plaza with a lotta mob talk. Is it real, today? How has fiction strayed from reality when the entertainment media (and also news media) portrays the mob? Oscar knows, and he will be discussing the mob and his life as the famous Las Vegas mob attorney during the dinner talk, which is in fact titled “Is There a Mafia?”
The session begins at 6:30 p.m, and the dinner is a choice of chicken artichoke, filet mignon and stuffed shrimp combo, pan-seared halibut or New York strip steak. Red and white wine and martinis will be served (but hopefully not overserved, given the response of at least one guest in previous Goodman talks), and the price is $150. Call the restaurant at (702) 386-7227 for info.
Asked about the topic he is dusting off for this event, Goodman said he became aware that there was a mafia around the time he celebrated his 25th anniversary of practicing law in Las Vegas. This was in 1979, as Goodman says he believed the message conveyed for years by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover that the mob did not exist in the United States. Goodman was made a believer at his anniversary party, when he was presented a shirt depicting Mount Rushmore with his own caricature added to the lineup of four presidents. The phrase ““One of the Great Lies: There is No Mafia” appeared across the front of that shirt.
“Maybe I’ll bring the shirt to my talk,” Goodman said in a phone chat this week. If I can find it.” Otherwise, Goodman is saving his best material for the dinner. See you there.
• The Pointer Sisters, who turned up, quasi-surprisingly, at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. on Tuesday night. The legendary vocal group performed a private event at Wynn Las Vegas earlier in the evening and made it to RRL just after midnight in a “pop-up” performance. They sang “Fire,” their great cover of the Bruce Springsteen classic. The lineup were charter Pointer Sisters members Ruth and Anita, along with Sadako Pointer, who is Ruth’s granddaughter.
This was not a random pop-up, however. One of the performers in the music space at RRL is Malik Pointer, Ruth’s son. He was joined by the great Skye Dee Miles, a cracking band and a couple of highly energized dancers for a busy night of entertainment that didn’t end until after 1 a.m.
Celebrity magician Murray Sawchuck, shown in front of the Wild Wild West casino on Tropicana near I-15. Not likely his new home, but who knows?
• Murray Sawchuck, who is on a citywide tour of potential venues as he preps to leave Laugh Factory at the Tropicana. The odd magician out as Jan Rouven moves into the Tropicana Theater, Sawchuck has been roaming the city and taking selfies (or, having someone else take photos) of him standing in front of various hotel-casinos and venues. He’s been spotted in, or shot at, the Venetian’s Sands Showroom, the Riviera, at Silverton, Orleans, MGM Grand (where in the photo he pretends to be peeling away the hotel's towering David Copperfield sign) and even Wild Wild West.
It’s all a means to keep the buzz burning as Sawchuck seeks a suitable home for his afternoon comedy-magic show, which co-stars his wife, Chloe, and sidekick Doug Leferovich as “Lefty” the janitor. Sawchuck’s last show is to be Oct. 30, and he plans to “make it a big thing,” as he says, by inviting a bunch of his fellow friends and colleagues on the Las Vegas entertainment scene, including Rouven. No word yet on which, if any, of those photographed venues are going to be home to Sawchuck’s “Celebrity Magician” showcase.
The Plaza, renovated in 2011, has a lobby that features marble and inlaid mosaic tiles, chandeliers and a plush front desk that matches the classic Las Vegas feel with a contemporary look.
The hotel has 1,003 rooms and suites that showcase views of the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas. Amenities include world-class entertainment, a casino floor that offers an array of classic gaming choice, which include 600 slot machines, a 400-seat bingo room, 18 table games and 57,120 square feet of casino space.
Among the dining options is Oscar's Beef * Booze * Broads, a steakhouse opened by former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, which is located in the glittery dome enclosure above the hotel's main entrance.
The Plaza sits at the west end of the Fremont Street Experience on the site of the first train depot and auction site in Las Vegas, dating back to the San Pedro-Los Angeles-Salt Lake Railroad in 1905. The railroad was sold to Union Pacific in 1921 and the depot was demolished in 1970 to make way for the Union Plaza Hotel, built in 1971.
The hotel has been featured or is visible in several movies, including the 1971 James Bond film, "Diamonds are Forever;" the 1989 film "Back to the Future Part II;" the 1995 move "Casino," and the 2000 movie "Pay it Forward."
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas dares to be different. From the hotel’s red reservations desks to fine art found throughout the resort, The Cosmopolitan’s signature style is helping to pave its own path on the Las Vegas Strip.
Upon entering the resort, you’re greeted by pillars of video boards playing video art by Digital Kitchen and David Rockwell Studio exclusively produced for The Cosmopolitan. Just beyond that, you’ll find all your favorite casino games on the resort’s 100,000-square-foot casino floor.
The Cosmopolitan’s rooms standout as the resort’s most unique feature. About 2,220 of The Cosmopolitan’s 2,995 rooms have 6-foot deep terraces that span the length of the room, a first at a modern Strip hotel. Other in-room amenities include soaking tubs, kitchenettes and quirky accessories like artsy coffee table books.
The dining experience at The Cosmopolitan isn’t something you’ll find at other Strip resorts, either. All of The Cosmopolitan’s 13 restaurateurs are new to the Las Vegas market. You’ll find American steakhouse fare in a modern setting at STK, top-notch sushi at Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill and the freshest fish flown in from the Mediterranean daily at Estiatorio Milos.
Whether the sun is up or down, Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub is the place to find the party at The Cosmopolitan. The venue is a dayclub/nightclub, complete with a pool and cabanas outside and three different rooms with three different vibes inside.
If nightclubs aren’t your thing, you can grab a drink at one of The Cosmopolitan’s five other bars, like The Chandelier, which is encased in 2 million dripping crystals.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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