Sunday, April 16, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.
Soon there will be a Golden Nugget at the end of Las Vegas' entertainment rainbow.
While extensive renovation and expansion of the downtown property in general is in progress, entertainment in particular is taking high priority for the new owners - Landry's Restaurants Inc., which bought the Nugget last fall.
The storied Theatre Ballroom - which opened in 1984 with a performance by Willie Nelson and resident headliner Frank Sinatra - closed recently.
Over the decades it has featured some great entertainers, including Sinatra, George Strait, Johnny Cash and others.
Kenny Rogers was the first entertainment director under Steve Wynn.
When the place reopens, Old Blue Eyes himself wouldn't recognize it, but for his dressing room, which will undergo only minor changes.
The seating capacity will be increased from 400 to 600.
There will be true theater-style seating, as opposed to the padded straight backed chairs currently in use.
The floors will be "raked" 45 degrees - rising 2 1/2 inches per seating level.
There will be plasma screens, video components and countless other changes that will turn the ugly duckling into a swan, of sorts.
And it will be fully equipped to serve television, motion picture and other crews who want to use the facility.
"We're making the room more user friendly in regards to TV and film production, which we have been doing a lot of in the past couple of years," said Joe Leone, the Nugget's vice president of entertainment. The TV series "CSI" has used the Nugget twice and the Travel Channel has been there.
The renovation should be completed sometime in late July.
Leone didn't know the cost. "The budget is still being worked out," he said.
But whatever the price, it should be worth the money for the Nugget to remain competitive.
"The Golden Nugget is a Strip property that is geographically downtown," Leone said. "The entertainment policy here has always been about servicing and exceeding the expectations of our own customers - and (bringing Strip) traffic to us.
"I'm more keyed in on what's happening on the Strip so that I can compete at that level - or what is not happening on the Strip (so) I can find my niche and pull consumers off the Strip."
Leone has worked for the Nugget through a succession of owners.
First there was Steve Wynn, who hired Sinatra to be his headliner in 1982.
Then there was MGM, who bought it in 2000.
Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, owners of Poster Financial Group, took over in 2004.
Landry's, whose CEO is Tilman Fertitta, bought out Poster, Breitling and three other investors last year.
At the time he was getting licensed, Fertitta announced that the renovation would include a 1,200-seat showroom.
However, that plan has been scrapped in favor of dramatic changes to the existing room.
"The 1,200-seat theater was conceptual," Leone said. "In the new tower we will have some entertainment venue, but we are deciding what it will be exactly.
"It will probably be a multipurpose type of entertainment venue. We like to be able to bring a boxing match downtown, have a room where we could have a thousand-seat dinner for Microsoft and then shift to a concert."
Leone said there also will be two small venues for free entertainment.
But the Theatre Ballroom - which may undergo a name change - will be the main showroom.
Impressionist Gordie Brown was the last resident headliner to perform there. He will be debuting at the Venetian later this year.
Working around Brown was a series of performers, among them Tony Bennett.
Known entertainers, including Bennett, will continue to perform at the Nuggett, but Leone said there will be "two or three anchor shows."
The shows would be at 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., with each tailored for different demographics of fans - the early show for a more general audience and the late show for a younger group.
"Our demographics have been changing the last few years - with three sales in five years, that will mix you up a little bit," Leone said.
The core base of consumers at the Golden Nugget remains older slot players.
"It used to be the 55-year-olds, but now across the board it is closer to 50," he said.
And the property is looking at going even lower, although not as low as young adults.
"We won't go after the Hard Rock or the Palms customers," Leone said.
But the renovations should appeal to a younger class of older adults, those in the 40 and over range.
"Certainly our new pool area will have a younger demographic," he said.
Landry's, owners of the Landry's, Joe's Crab Shack and Rainforest Cafe chains, is the nation's second-largest operator of aquariums and plans to develop a swimming pool at the Nugget next to an aquarium so that swimmers can pass within inches of sharks.
"And there will be a lot of other amenities that will allow ourselves to market to that demographic - restaurants for example," Leone said.
He said the anchor shows and the headliners have not been chosen yet.
"The focus right now is designing the room and renovating it," Leone said.
However, he says he's doing some window shopping - looking at entertainment in Los Angeles and New York, just to see what is out there.
In a few weeks he will be taking a trip to Europe.
"I want to see what's happening on the other side of the pond," he said.
He isn't looking for the next Cirque du Soleil, or magicians or impressionists, although those types of shows are not totally out of the question.
Leone says he hasn't limited himself to anything.
"I'm doing my best to think outside the box," he said. "I'm making that effort to find some things that may be under the radar right now."
A topless show is not ruled out for a late show.
"But I would not do topless just to do topless," Leone said. "If you brought me a show that I thought was credible, had a lot of talent, was interesting and had a topless component to it and I thought it worked, I would have no problem with that.
"But I don't equate T&A with bringing in younger demographics. That's the easy way. Sex sells, but I don't think that works for us."
He said Vegas already has a sexy image.
"That's why people are coming here," he said.
Leone doubts if an adult show would be a major reason for people to leave the Strip to come to the Nugget - there are too many of them readily available on-and-off of the Strip.
The Nugget is not alone in its battle for customers. Other venues downtown are also in the fight.
The Plaza is working to upgrade its entertainment. The Lady Luck recently closed for remodeling, but its owners have started a nightclub district across the street that is beginning to draw crowds.
Leone said he's encouraged by what's happening, but he isn't particularly nostalgic about buildings being torn down and replaced.
"Some people say we don't have a sense of history in Las Vegas," said Leone, a one-time performer himself. "Entertainment is our history, not the buildings. Not the casinos."
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