Famed tenor returning, with friends

Robert Macy

Wednesday, March 22, 2000 | 3:35 a.m.

Famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti is paying a return visit here, but admits he's not much of a threat to the city's lifeblood gambling industry.

Pavarotti is scheduled to perform here April 22 with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo.

The show at the Mandalay Bay Resort Events Center will be the only West Coast concert during 2000 for the trio, who perform as the Three Tenors.

Pavarotti christened the 10,000-seat center last April, shortly after the hotel-casino opened.

The famous tenor said he helped cover some of the opening expenses, shedding $1,000 at the roulette tables.

"I lost everything," he joked in a telephone interview from his home in Italy. "I set a limit, then I walk away. I'm a poor player, a very poor player."

The Mandalay Bay Events Center is one of the smaller venues for the Three Tenors.

"This is probably the most intimate venue in which they will perform," said Mandalay Bay spokesman Bill Doak. "Their concerts are held mostly in stadiums or major arenas."

Doak said some tickets remain for next month's show.

In 1994, the Three Tenors' Los Angeles performance was seen by a sell-out audience at Dodger Stadium and viewed by a worldwide television audience of more than 1.3 billion.

Pavarotti said his 1999 concert at the Strip resort was a special evening.

"It's a good concert venue," the famed tenor said. "I had an absolutely fantastic time, and I expect it to be the same again this year."

Pavarotti said he is impressed with the audiences and the environment in Las Vegas, a city better known for showgirls and lounge singers than opera stars. Before last year he had performed here in 1984 and 1985.

"Las Vegas is something almost unreal," he said. "It is a beautiful place and you become a child again. What an incredible atmosphere."