Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

THE MAJOR PRODUCTION SHOWS 247
Value HOT TIP!
Tickets2Nite is a new-ish daily service that puts any unsold seats for that
evening on sale, starting at 2pm, for—get this!—half price. Hot diggity! Of
course, there are some drawbacks. It’s rare and downright unlikely that
really ultra-super-duper shows are ever going to have unsold seats
(because the hotel will just sell them to the always-waiting-and-happy-topay-full-price
stand-by line), but you’d be shocked at the range otherwise,
from basic crap to stuff that we would recommend even at full price (they
aren’t allowed to say on the record which shows’ tickets often come up for
sale). Alas, the very nature of the service means you can’t plan; you have to
stand in line and take your chances starting at 2pm (we advise getting in
line even earlier than that). So if you have your heart set on white tigers,
don’t rely on Tickets2Nite, but, if like a good gambler, you like taking
chances, head for 3785 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (in the Showcase Mall Booth).
American Superstars One of a number of celebrity-impersonator shows
(well, it’s cheaper than getting the real headliners), American Superstars is one of
the few shows where the impersonators actually sing live. Five performers do
their thing; the celebs impersonated vary depending on the evening.
A typical Friday night featured Gloria Estefan, Charlie Daniels, Madonna,
Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross and the Supremes. (And they recently added
Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin.) The performers won’t be putting the
originals out of work any time soon, but they aren’t bad. Actually, they were
closer in voice than in looks to the celeb in question (half the black performers
were played by white actors), which is an unusual switch for Vegas impersonators.
The “Charlie Daniels” actually proved to be a fine fiddler in his own right
and was the hands-down crowd favorite. The live band actually had a look-alike
of their own: Kato Kaelin on drums (it’s good that he’s getting work). The
youngish crowd (by Vegas standards) included a healthy smattering of children
and seemed to find no faults with the production. The action is also shown on
two large, and completely unnecessary, video screens flanking the stage, so you
don’t have to miss a moment. In the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower, 2000 Las Vegas
Blvd. S.& 800/99-TOWER or 702/380-7711.Tickets $36 adults, $25 children 5–12, show and buffet
package $44. Sun–Tues at 7pm; Wed and Fri–Sat at 7 and 10pm; dark Thurs.
Blue Man Group: Live at Luxor Are they blue? Indeed they are—three hairless,
nonspeaking men dipped in azure paint, doing decidedly odd stunts with
marshmallows, art supplies, audience members, tons of paper, and an amazing
array of percussion instruments fashioned fancifully from PVC piping. If that
doesn’t sound very Vegas, well, it’s not. It’s the latest franchise of a New York–born
performance-art troupe that seems to have slipped into town through a side door
opened by Cirque de Soleil’s groundbreaking successes. Don’t get the wrong idea:
This is no Cirque clone. There are no acrobatics or flowing choreography, no
attempt to create an alternate universe, just a series of surreal, unconnected bits.
But even if the whole is no greater than the sum of the parts, the parts are pretty
great themselves. It’s funny in the weirdest and most unexpected ways and the
crowd is usually roaring by the end. Fans of typical Vegas shows may leave scratching
their heads, but we are glad there is another color in the Vegas entertainment
spectrum. In Luxor Las Vegas, 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. S. & 702/262-4000. Tickets $88–$94. Tues
at 7pm; Sun, Mon, and Wed–Fri 7 and 10pm; Sat 4, 7, and 10pm.