Say what you like about Wayne Newton‘s Once Before I Go at the Tropicana Las Vegas, it has the biggest band you’ll see on the Strip: 20 strong, plus backup singers. Most Strip headliners have to make do with one-third that number. But Newton’s instrumental extravagance comes at a price: all-out war with the musicians’ union. The latter is posting online some of the critical brickbats, as well as several vocally constipated MP3s in which The Wayner — believe it or not — actually sounds worse than he did at the Trop.
Beyond the camp-curiosity aspect, the important matter is the Sophie’s Choice faced by Local 369. Six hours’ pay for a 90-minute performance plus before-and-after rehearsals, doesn’t seem like a draconian offer on the face of it. But if the union accedes, then its series of agreements specifying discrete rehearsal and performance fees begins to unravel up and down the Strip. However, when productions like Peepshow are ditching live bands in favor of backing tracks, the dilemma may soon become moot.
Down is the new “up”: If you’re a buyer, Global Gaming Expo is still the place to go. G2E is touting a 7% increase in attendance to its exhibit hall this year. However, if you’re a vendor, it’s no longer the destination of choice, as this year’s attenuated exhibit floor made plain. For instance, Atomic had what I call “the virtual booth” (left), consisting of little more than some placards, a computer and a video display. However, if you were en route to the bathroom, it made a handy shortcut.
Seriously, vendor attendance was so far down that — despite more buyers on hand — overall turnout was -3.5%, even after the higher number of prospective customers is factored in. Since the American Gaming Association has gone transoceanic with ventures like G2E Asia, it was only a matter of time before the “mothership” began to suffer, a circumstance our dire global economy has been only too happy to accelerate.
Rare win for Packer. Degenerate gambler Harry Kakavas claimed that minions of James Packer illegally lured him into playing at Crown Casino, in Melbourne. An Australian court has ruled, in effect, “No dice.” Kakavas, who blew through obscene amounts of money at Crown, failed to demonstrate that his exclusion from a Sydney casino should have extended to other cities. He’s also now on the hook to Packer for $913K-plus. Given both men’s poor track record with gambling-related expenditures, perhaps they should entrust the cash to a third party who will invest it wisely.
Beating Adelson at his own game. Not only has Genting Bhd blown past lumbering Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, it’s also stealing a march on Sheldon Adelson‘s home state of Massachusetts. The Mashpee Wampanoag are well shot of Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman. Who’d plow $690 million into a racino in Rhode Island? That’s almost as much as Adelson spent on Phase I of Sands Bethlehem, which at least has the virtue of proximity to New York City, and far more than the combined sale prices of Trump Marina (unconsummated) and the Tropicana Atlantic City. Kerzner’s track record of U.S. casino investment is almost as bad as Packer’s … but not quite. Packer’s total crap-out will be a benchmark of ineptitude for some time to come.
