As the Sahara wheezes towards the grave Sam Nazarian dug for it and the Tropicana Las Vegas goes “South Beach” in a blaze of blinding white, the Riviera is left in sole possession of the “old school” niche on the Strip. And its new owners and management are serious about pursuing nostalgic customers. The erstwhile La Cage Theatre will become the Starlite Theatre and a partial list of headliners includes: ex-Supreme Mary Wilson (6/22-73), Connie Stevens (right, 7/6-7/17), The Fifth Dimension (9/28-10/9) and — as previously reported in this space — David Brenner (10/26-11/6). Throw in a couple of tribute bands and that’s a chauffered trip down Memory Lane.
Connie Stevens?!? Man, I am so there! Her sidekick will be John Byner, which makes me feel as though I’ve just been catapulted back to 1972 or something. True, those of us whose memories stretch that far or farther aren’t the customers who’ll ring up $189K bar tabs whilst trysting at Tryst. But they’re a solid (and vocal) customer base and the Riv is making a concerted attempt to bring them — back? — into the fold. To which S&G says congratulations and … you go!
Check your decimal on that bar tab.
I am not nostalgic for the cramped conditions you must endure to sit through a show at the Riv. Way before having children when the wife and I hit Vegas more often we went to Splash. OK show, but the sardine in a can feeling could not bring the end fast enough. Then the cab line down in a smoke filled cave was more suited for Seal Team Six than my party. We survived, barely.
An S&G reader suggests the $189K Tryst bar tab may be a forgery. I’d be more suspicious myself if a high-ranking Hard Rock Hotel exec hadn’t told me that a $19K bar bill at Rehab was merely “average.” If our country is as broke as Steve Wynn says, where do (his) customers get so much moolah? They can’t all be from overseas.
I am confused by the Riv… How do you book Connie Stevens AND Extreme Midget Wrestling?If there was a Venn Diagram of the recent bookings, all of them would overlap except for the big circle that is the wrestling gig three pages later.