By John Katsilometes
Last week as I was packing boxes, lifting end tables and otherwise preparing to move out of a loft in the Arts District to a new home in the northwest, I received an interesting call on my BlackenBerry.
It was Steve Wynn.
Well, it wasn’t quite Steve Wynn. It was Cindy Mitchum, personal assistant of Steve Wynn. She was connecting me to Steve Wynn.
This was no random phone call. I had been trying to reach SAW (that’s the acronym for Steven A. Wynn, which I think makes him seem pretty hip in a slightly dangerous way) for a few days, seeking comment for a story I am writing for Las Vegas Life magazine. He discussed that story, the subject of which will be disclosed at a later date, and also dovetailed into a few other areas that had nothing to do with the reason he called.
A couple of nuggets:
* I noted that during his decades in the resort casino business, Wynn has helped develop several high-level resort executives in Las Vegas and around the world. Over the years, such Vegas power players as Scott Sibella at the Mirage, Bobby Baldwin at Mirage Resorts, Felix Rappaport at the Luxor, Gamal Aziz of MGM Mirage, Dan Lee of Pinnacle Entertainment, and Bill McBeath of MGM Mirage (project CityCenter) have all been employed by Wynn. He ran through some of the names and I said, “It’s quite a pyramid scheme you have there.” Wynn laughed and responded, “We are always scheming. I wish I were smart enough to take credit for everyone’s success. The biggest kick of all for me is to watch guys flower, but the fact of the matter is that I gave them a prominent stage to play on. Big, fancy joints make heroes out of people. I’m not sure I’m so smart. I just keep building big resorts.”
* The best way to judge how a hotel is performing is to talk to its staff. It might seem obvious, but that point is particularly revealing for Wynn, who has drawn the wrath of Wynn Las Vegas dealers for his tip-pooling plan. “If you want to know how the president of a hotel is perceived, ask the staff. Ask the people in the back of the house,” Wynn said. “You can do that at the Wynn – ask those questions at our hotel. But just don’t ask a dealer.”
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Fab LV scrambles from Wynn to the other side of the Vegas spectrum to report that the city’s favorite pig farmer is about to re-enter the spotlight. Bob Combs is one of the winners of the “Dirty Jobs” online contest where viewers selected a former subject as a guest for the Discovery Channel program’s 150th anniversary show. The top 10 jobs will be revisited, and the Combs’ will be part of a “brown carpet” celebration in San Francisco that will air over Labor Day weekend. In an e-mail blast to friends and fans, Janet and Bob Combs say, “We are looking forward to a very exciting time with Mike Rowe,” who is the show’s happily embattled host.
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Odd bookings: Billy Bob Thornton at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch on Aug. 3, and Kris Kristofferson at Aquarius in Laughlin on Aug. 11.
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Odd sighting: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens at “Love” at the Mirage on Monday night (yes, he has two Beatles in his own name). Wonder if he got the show’s message.
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The $407,950 endowment awarded to Nevada Public Radio from the Nevada Community Foundation is remarkable because it represents the largest operational grant ever given to NPR. The funds will be doled out over the next two years. NPR is in the midst of a pledge drive (which does not mean you should be sending furniture polish to the station), and I will take this opportunity to plug my appearance on Dave Berns’ “State of Nevada” this morning with the Review-Journal’s Mike Weatherford. The live show has passed, but the rebroadcast is at 8 p.m. on KNPR 88.9-FM. Vegas entertainment is the theme of this installment.
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In the aftermath of R-J publisher Sherm Frederick's column from Sunday, we attempted to reach Masturbating Monkey for comment. Through a spokesman, the monkey said he was "too busy" to respond.
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Release me: Miss America Lauren Nelson (who was crowned right here in Sin City!) has made another appearance on cable TV. According to a news release shipped by Team Tiara, on Sunday she attended the National Governors Association annual meeting in Traverse City, Mich., where she spoke on the topic of Internet safety and how best to keep children safe from online predators (a photo accompanying the release shows Nelson, a former Miss Oklahoma, wearing her tiara during the session at the governors’ fete). The event was broadcast on C-SPAN, which as far as I’m concerned puts that network in play as a contender to air next year’s pageant, which hopefully will return to Planet Hollywood.
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A compelling marriage of sensibilities is happening at Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, where the veteran Vegas tribute band Loveshack is playing at Naughty Ladies Saloon from Thursday through Sunday. Naughty Ladies Saloon has most recently been home to such lounge staples as the Checkmates and Jerry Tiffe, but as spokesman Mike Gilmartin said in an e-mail, “We decided to expand the entertainment offerings by skewing to a younger demo with Loveshack.” Skew away! This one is too enticing to miss.
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One more for the book club: One of my favorite Vegas acts, and four of my favorite Vegas guys, the Las Vegas Tenors, are booked to perform at the Las Vegas Hilton on Sept. 7-8. Performing with the boys – Teddy Davey, Bobby Black, Bill Fayne and Mark Giovi – will be Bella Rumore, an all-female string octet formed by Lisa Viscuglia (a friend) and Nina DiGregorio (whom I’ve never met). But I can promise this is a show loaded (loaded! I tell you!) with talent.
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Vegas moment: On Thursday at around 1 p.m. at the Sahara’s NASCAR Café bar, a group of race fans standing at attention during Hanson’s rendition of the National Anthem before the July 15 USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR event at Chicagoland Speedway.
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PL8 in my head: 2DYE4 on a gold Dodge Durango.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected]