The Show Has Been UP: Donny & Marie

This show's been available in the show feed now for a few days, but I've just been too swamped to get it updated on TheStripPodcast.Com. Remember if you subscribe -- for free! -- in iTunes or Zune, you'll always get it first. Anywho, enjoy. -sf

March 29: The Donny & Marie Show

As we record this episode of our show, the folks at the Flamingo Las Vegas are busy applying a spankin’ new wrap to the hotel’s Strip side. And while the faces will be the same – Donny and Marie, of course – they’ll look a little less cheesy, a little more rock n roll. As Donny Osmond explains this hour, the original wrap was thrown up in a hurry when the sibling duo opened there in 2008. But now they’ve weathered a withering recession and passed their 500th performance, so it’s time for something more current and durable. How much longer can they dominate Vegas? Donny’s answer: Forever. Sort of. Stick around to hear what the big brother has to say about their future and hear him play some bits of their first album of new music in decades. Also, Marie chimes in a bit as well.

In Banter: Celine's return, Terry Fator's gay puppet, the Loews Las Vegas' William and Kate deal, the ex-Rao chef's new gigs, and much more.

Links to stuff discussed:

Steve’s bathroom-related Tweet
Blog wrap-up, review, Flickr and special edition of The Strip, re: Celine
Steve’s Las Vegas Weekly column about rude Vegas tweeting
Steve’s Pine Mouth affliction, per ABC News
Terry Fator’s Berry Fabulous
Loews Las Vegas' $249 Royal Wedding Deal
The Alaska Daily News on Alaska’s new Vegas effort to lure tourists to Palin Country
Doug Elfman’s take on MGM Grand’s Scott Sibella on "Undercover Boss"
Former Rao’s chef Carla Pellegrino’s new restaurant and taking over the Trop place
Donny & Marie tickets at the Flamingo
The sites of Donny and Marie
Apple suing others for use of the term App Store

The Strip IS Live Tonight @ 8 p.m. PT!

It's the Donny & Marie show tonight at 8 p.m. PT on The Strip, deploying at least parts of my recent conversations with both of the sibling stars. You can watch Miles and me and listen via UStream by going here: http://ustre.am/tGQx

I believe we've made tremendous progress on the technology/equipment front for both the recording sound and our ability to broadcast solid audio, so wish us luck and join us! Or wait for the podcast version, probably out on Tuesday. That's your call!

The Show is UP: Mystere + Jabbawockeez = Mysterawockeez!

We got back to the LVRocks.Com studio again after a couple of weeks for this episode, which includes what many emailers have said was the blowout grammatical argument of all arguments at the very end. So check that out as well as all the rest. Good stuff. You can click on the date below to get it to play or right-click on it to download it to listen at your leisure. Or, of course, subscribe for free in iTunes or Zune. -sf

Nov. 14: Mysterawockeez!
...with Brian Dewhurst and Phil Tayag

Just as the seminal Cirque du Soleil production Mystere was celebrating an astounding 8,000 performances at Treasure Island last month, the hiphop dance crew Jabbawockeez began a residency a t the Monte Carlo. The two have more in common than you might suspect, both being starless, wholly original visual spectacles that seemed unlikely to make much of a splash in Las Vegas. Mystere, obviously, has. We’ll have to see how Jabbawockeez does, but we’ll hear from stars of both in this episode. First, Steve talks to Brian Dewhurst, who was artistic coordinator for Mystere when it opened in 1993 and in 2000 began performing as a clown in the show. Then, later, we’ll have Steve’s interview with Phil Tayag, the youngest original member of Jabbawockeez.

In Banter: Chip Lightman moves on from Donny & Marie, Rita moves on from Harrah’s, MGM Resorts wants to move on from the Harmon, Steve Wynn has moved on from meat and more.

Links to stuff discussed:

Tickets for Mystere and Jabbawockeez
The Jabbawockeez website
A profile from Via Magazine of Brian Dewhurst from Mystere
VegasHappensHere.Com on Chip Lightman’s settlement with Donny & Marie
Rita Rudner’s news that she’s moving to Venetian in January
Howard Stutz’s scoop confirming MGM Resorts may implode the Harmon
Steve’s Las Vegas Weekly column urging MGM Resorts not to put a wrap on Aria
The Las Vegas Sun’s piece on renting out the condos at Mandarin, Vdara or Veer
Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me’s site
Tickets to see Wait Wait live on 11/18 at Paris Las Vegas
The gambling win, room rates and visitation numbers were all up this month
British Airways is adding bigger planes with first class from London to Vegas
Steve’s AOL News piece on the World Series of Poker’s grand finale
VegasHappensHere.Com on Wynn Las Vegas jacking up Garth Brooks tickets by $110 a seat
John Katsilometes’ Steve Wynn piece on his veganism in the Las Vegas Weekly
Robin Leach reports about Steve Wynn’s reworked will
VegasHappensHere.Com on all the other various Wynn news, including the Pascal departure and the earnings call
The Indian TV interview in which Wynn discusses the Kevyn Wynn kidnapping in detail at the 24ish minute mark

Chip to Donny & Marie Osmond: Thanks & Sorry!

In an epic Friday for news dumps, producer Chip Lightman has settled his lawsuit confidentially and in a "mutual satisfactory manner" with Donny and Marie. There's no word on what the payoff settlement entailed, but there was this from Chip:

“I am pleased we were able to resolve this matter and am sorry that, in the heat of battle, comments may have been made that were hurtful to the Osmonds. Both Donny and Marie are talented, hardworking artists and I wish them continuing success in their careers.”

May have? MAY HAVE? How about:

9. During its production, Lightman has gone to great lengths to protect the privacy, confidentiality and reputation of both Donny and Marie in order to further the marketability and popularity of the Donny & Marie Show. As a result, the Donny & Marie Show has since revived the careers of Donny and Marie and taken them to levels they never could have experienced without Lightman's hard work, determination, and confidence.

10. Contrary to the wholesome, all-American, good-natured image that he presents to the public, Defendant Donny's conduct, at least as it relates to Lightman and [Chip Lightman Entertainment], has been anything but. He has conducted himself in a manner that is underhanded, devious, fraudulent and greedy. The clear goal of his actions has been to line his own pockets with ill-gotten gains to fund his lavish lifestyle of exotic cars, luxury hotel suites, and private jets – all off the backs and hard work of those who worked tirelessly to support his career, including Lightman and CLE.

11. Despite Marie’s seemingly innocent nature, she too is liable for the fraud perpetrated by Donny through her acquiescence, awareness, and utter failure to disclose to CLE the steps taken by Donny to deceive CLE and circumvent their contractual obligations.

You mean like that passage, which is from the lawsuit he filed last month over breach of contract? Or the Tweets, now deleted, in which Chip threatened Donny that he'd be writing a tell-all book?

Donny Osmond took, frankly, a little too high a road with this statement:

“My sister and I want to thank Chip Lightman for great contributions he made in launching our show at the Flamingo. We look forward to the opportunity to work with him again in the future.”

Man, that's awfully forgiving. Or, as Sarah Palin said when her daughter got back together with Levi last summer, it shows a belief in "redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice in our daily lives."

The Bristol-Levi thing didn't work out, either. I suggest Chip not wait by the phone for Donny's call.

LVW Col: Defending Donny & Marie

I just realized I never posted last week's column, about the Donny & Marie lawsuit. The Las Vegas Weekly comments section has gone berzerk, with Osmond fans singing my praises. Since I normally fall on the wrong side of, uh, strident fan bases -- think Bette Midler or Matt Goss -- I'm enjoying being on this side. Read on. -sf

Defending Donny and Marie
An ex-manager’s lawsuit against the duo reeks of desperation

Before those who enjoy such spectacles start cackling that the wholesome, can-never-do-wrong Donny and Marie Osmond are about to be exposed as phonies and frauds amid the brutal breach-of-contract lawsuit that just hit them, they might want to consider the source.

That is, one Harold “Chip” Lightman Jr. Their now-and-forever ex-manager.

Normally, ex-managers are pretty good for the inside scoop on what stars and celebrities are really like. Except that Lightman’s move here smacks of a naked desperation and blinding anger that makes his claims harder to buy.

Lightman believes Donny and Marie breached their contract with him when they recently shitcanned him. Fine. Yippee. If he thinks that, he ought to go ahead and sue and let a judge decide that. It’s the American way.

But apparently, the American way these days is also to make a round of calls to journalists...

Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com

Marie Osmond = Class

Wow.

I'm not sure there's any other word to sum up the press release I just received, but this very rare time I mean it in a good way.

You probably know that Marie Osmond's son committed suicide last week. Obviously, this shut down the show at the Flamingo where she and her brother appear nightly. The depth of this woman's grief is unimaginable.

There was never any question of whether the siblings would return to the stage and that date has now been announced as March 9, 12 days after the tragedy. That's surprisingly soon, but I suspect that being on stage performing and singing is a therapy of sorts for the Osmonds.

But the thing that gets me is that they're also adding five shows in April "to accommodate guests who had tickets to the recently canceled shows" from March 2-6. Now, I'm sure there's some contractual obligation the duo have to the Flamingo to give them a certain number of performances a year and all. But I'm equally confident that no suit over at Harrah's would have held these missed dates against them.

What's just amazing to me is that, even in their suffering, the Osmonds feel an obligation to their audiences. It's just another reminder that they not only perform one of the best shows on the Strip but they're also really, really good people.

The Show is UP: Marie, Part II

Here's the second half of Marie. Enjoy the show! Click on the date below to listen or right-click and save to your computer. Or subscribe (it's free!) via the iTunes link or via the Zune link. Enjoy.

April 9: The Stevie and Marie Show, Part II

In Banter: MGM goes up and down, Tony Curtis is weird, CityCenter may seem cluttered and legislators ponder a whore tax.

Last week she talked about genteel topics like Groucho Marx pinching her butt and brother Donny falling off tables. But this week, Marie Osmond gets controversial, particularly when she’s talking about what she knows about the behind-the-scenes world of Dancing With the Stars and American Idol.

Links to stuff we discuss:

Tickets for the Donny and Marie show
GritsToGlitz.Com, guest co-host Amy’s show
Jill Curtis’s horse rescue organization, Shiloh
VegasHappensHere’s photo of the F’bleau towering over the Riv
The Strip’s Tony Curtis episode
The A.P. on the whore tax hearings
RuPaul’s Drag Race TV show

It's Donny & Marie Day!

No, really! Mayor Oscar Goodman declared it. Here's Donny & Marie accepting the proclamation from Flaming-O resort prez Don Marrandino, whom I caught singing along out loud as Donny crooned "Soldier of Love."

As you can tell, I attended the media opening tonight for the new D&M show at the Flamingo. I'll discuss it more on the next episode of "The Strip," but if you're really curious I sort of live-blogged the show and the meet-n-greet via my Twitter account from about 7-10 p.m. today (9/25).

Most important, though, my Miles-stand-in, Trevor, and I got to pose with the two of them...


...and so now I can die a happy man. Or something. My god that woman looks great, doesn't she?

This Week's LVW Column: Star Blight

Star Blight

Despite Dion’s run, Vegas is still basically where passé stars come to roost

By STEVE FRIESS

I was pushing my editor at a major newspaper hard last week to let me do a piece on Donny and Marie Osmond’s surprising resurgence as a resident act on the Las Vegas Strip. She wasn’t buying it.

“This is typical Vegas,” she IM’d back. “They’re passé.”

But wait! No! Donny’s been on stage lo these many years, and Marie’s big again thanks to Dancing With The Stars.

“Passé,” she repeated. “It’s what Vegas does.”

That rankled me. I’ve always taken it on as one of my missions as a journalist to promulgate a more accurate picture of what Vegas is and does out there into a world transfixed by clichés and shorthand.

To some extent, Vegas has won the battle on several fronts, becoming well-known and respected for its impressive food scene, its beautiful hotel accommodations, its top-shelf shopping. You don’t hear much anymore about the $2.99 steak dinners, squalid rooms designed to propel guests back onto the casino floor or seedy T-shirt stands.

So here I was, taking up the battle. Vegas has changed, I insisted.

“Look at Bette, Cher, Manilow, Elton John!” I shouted back in all-caps.

But she then pointed out the obvious, the truth I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge but which has been there in front of me all along. “Passé, passé, passé, passé,” she wrote.

And all I could think of as those words appeared was: OMG! She’s right!

Ladies and gentlemen, at some point when we weren’t looking, the Céline Revolution was canceled. In fact, I think many of us forgot what the Céline Revolution was supposed to be.

Read the rest HERE