{"id":19,"date":"2009-10-15T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T20:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blogs\/dmckee\/index.cfm\/2009\/10\/15\/Night-of-the-living-dead"},"modified":"2009-10-15T16:06:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-15T20:06:00","slug":"night-of-the-living-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/night-of-the-living-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Night of the living dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will the last person leaving the Riviera<\/strong> please take down the Charo in Concert<\/em>, Abra-ca-Sexy!<\/em> and Tom Stevens<\/strong> posters? Everything about last night's visit to the casino suggested a business that's died but doesn't realize it. Not that it helps to be literally in the shadow of the rotting whale carcass that is Fontainebleau<\/strong>. Between it, Echelon<\/strong> and the apparently defunct Plaza<\/strong> project, that neighborhood is one giant buzz-kill.<\/p>\n

\"\" Still, even on a Wednesday night one does not expect to see such a thinly populated casino floor. There were more players around the electronic table games than the real ones. In the parking-garage elevator, one of the braille "3" panels was missing from the keypad. Management's solution? Scrawl "3" in red ink where the braille pad should be. (ADA non-compliance much?) If the Riviera is blowing off its interest payments in order to use the money on operating costs, it's not going very far, from the looks of things.<\/p>\n

The moribund feeling extended to the upstairs showroom, where Charo<\/strong> has given way to Andrew Dice Clay<\/strong> (or, as the Riv bills him, "Andrew DICE<\/strong> Clay"). Even with a 90-minute cocktail party as an inducement, Clay rolled snake eyes in terms of media turnout. It was a small crowd [sic<\/em>] and even some<\/strike> many of the local bloggers blew it off, so scant was the event's cachet.<\/p>\n

Maybe they were at the Tropicana<\/strong>, checking out Wayne Newton<\/strong>, whose new show …<\/p>\n

Features Rich Natole<\/strong>. This confirms well-sourced reports LVA<\/em> had been receiving that the impressionist would land a new gig at the Trop and it was merely a question of when. Natole, who was subletting a time slot from Anthony Cools<\/strong>, got caught in the crossfire between Cools and Trop CEO Alex Yemenidjian<\/strong>. When Cools, Bobby Slayton<\/strong> and the Penny Lane<\/em> show were sent packing, Natole found himself briefly at loose ends, too. The Natoles are nice people, so I'm glad this Vegas saga has a happy ending. On a sadder note …<\/p>\n

Lanni ailing<\/strong>. Former MGM Mirage<\/strong> CEO J. Terrence Lanni<\/strong> has an undisclosed form of cancer<\/a>. The news comes almost a year to the month since he abruptly resigned from the gaming giant. At the time, Lanni denied that health problems were involved<\/a> but he also said it had nothing to do with a resumé-inflation scandal that threatened to bring him under investigation in New Jersey<\/strong>, Illinois<\/strong> and Nevada<\/strong>. (Another possible motive for Lanni's abrupt departure: MGM stock had just sunk below $10\/share.)<\/p>\n

S&G<\/em> sends wishes for a speedy and full recovery to Lanni, and to his family. I've lost a couple of friends to cancer, so I can imagine the ordeal the Lannis are experiencing. And, if it's not inappropriate, a tip of the Panama hat to low-budget broadsheet Gaming Today<\/em>, which beat all major news outlets to this sad story.<\/p>\n

Reality bites<\/strong>. At least if you're trying to maintain your price point at Aria<\/strong>. The megaresort has cut rates to $159 — and thrown in a $75 amenity credit — to entice two-night stays<\/a>, through April 1. Wouldn't it be ironic if, instead of cannibalizing Bellagio<\/strong>, as feared, Aria wound up gravitating toward the mid-market crowd?<\/p>\n

Please spare a thought<\/strong> for the Queen of Comps, the beloved Jean Scott<\/strong>, who's in her sixth week of convalescence from the flu. First, a hepatitis scare, now this. Let's hope LVA<\/em>'s most popular blogger catches a break — and soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will the last person leaving the Riviera please take down the Charo in Concert, Abra-ca-Sexy! and Tom Stevens posters? Everything about last night's visit to the casino suggested a business that's died but doesn't realize it. Not that it helps … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,60,56,14,4,59,58,11,25,55,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}