{"id":8629,"date":"2012-03-13T11:08:26","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T19:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=8629"},"modified":"2017-11-09T10:03:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T18:03:17","slug":"putting-the-best-and-worst-foot-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/putting-the-best-and-worst-foot-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the best and worst foot forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After months of confidentiality agreements and other top-hush nonsense, it’s official: Fitzgeralds Casino Hotel<\/strong> in downtown Las Vegas<\/strong> will become the D.<\/strong> Now, I can’t think that — let alone type it — without recalling the Family Guy<\/em> episode in which Stewie Griffin<\/strong> opens an ill-fated nightclub called pLACE<\/strong>. (“What happened?” “Andy Dick<\/strong> happened.”) Wannabe-hip nomenclature<\/a> aside … it looks as though new owner Derek Stevens<\/strong> has good ideas for Fitzgeralds, the most decrepit-looking casino-hotel in Downtown<\/strong>. However, it’s probably not advisable to announce that you have a Web site<\/a> until there’s something actually on it. Stevens is going to do a rolling renovation, much in the fashion of the Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong>, so you’ll have to pardon his dust awhile.<\/p>\n

His PR peeps promise that “the D will introduce daily live entertainment, one of Vegas\u2019 only two-level casinos; 638 remodeled contemporary rooms and suites; and two high-energy bars \u2013 the Longbar<\/strong> [longest in Nevada<\/strong>] and the D Bar<\/strong><\/em>.” The street-level casino is clearly targeted to the younger set, featuring “the latest in slots and tables games manned by the D\u2019s playful dancing dealers<\/em>.” In addition to “today’s hottest songs,” the gaming product is scheduled to offer 10X odds on craps and 3:2 blackjack on all tables (not just one, single, solitary loss-leader, as at the Riviera<\/strong>). “Vintage,” coin-in slots and — yes!<\/em> — Sigma Derby<\/strong> are promised for the upper level. I think I can hear reader Jeff_in_OKC<\/strong> booking a return flight to Vegas this very instant. It looks as though Stevens is creating something like that “Slot Machine Hall of Fame” that Jeff and I have been brainstorming for years.<\/p>\n

\"\"An express elevator will take players directly<\/a> from Fremont Street<\/strong> to the second floor. Either this will be a convenience for locals or a way of protecting the ground-floor douchebagerie<\/em> from having to mingle with the AARP set. As for entertainment, if it ain’t broke, Stevens isn’t planning on fixing it. That means renewed contracts for tireless comedian Kevin Burke<\/strong><\/a>, for inexplicably long-running dinner show Marriage Can Be Murder<\/em><\/a> (marriage may not be murderous, but that food sure is) and for Don B’s Steakhouse<\/strong>. The latter gesture is a touching hommage<\/em> to previous owner Don Barden<\/strong>, who once had grand designs of his own.<\/p>\n

All hotel rooms will be reworked, to bring them into line with contemporary standards. That means iPod<\/strong> docking stations, WiFi, flat-screen TVs and even good, old-fashioned wired Internet<\/strong>. (It’s kinda shocking to learn that Fitzgeralds didn’t even have that last item.) Vegas Club,<\/strong> this could have been you: A reliable source informs me that Stevens was in talks with Tamares Group<\/strong> to acquire the Club but switched course and bought Fitzgeralds instead. Either way, Downtown punters come out ahead. Completion of the face lift is scheduled for sometime this autumn.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jersey Boys<\/em> has reopened<\/strong> in its new digs at Paris-Las Vegas<\/strong>. The show, with its relatively narrow proscenium, makes an odd fit for the Paris-LV showroom: very wide and shallow. Spectators who get stuck with main-floor tickets on the far left- and right-hand sides of the auditorium will have a direct view of a blank wall. (But if Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> were to peddle this at, say, $10 a head, it’d be one of the hottest tickets on the Strip.) Despite the obvious mismatch of production and venue, only Michael Clark<\/strong>‘s Roy Lichtenstein<\/strong>-inspired projections really suffer in the relocation from Palazzo<\/strong>. However …<\/p>\n

… with one of the Strip’s best-drawing shows<\/a> now in the house, you’d think Gary Loveman<\/strong> and his underlings would take a little pride in that fact and spruce up accordingly. The faded lobby carpeting looks all of its 13 years and, in lieu of a program, one is given a smudgy, five-page mimeograph, in tiny print. That’s right, Gary: Why go first cabin when steerage will suffice? On a happier note, Jersey Boys<\/em> has lost almost none of its magic and even a Sunday-night audience reacted as ecstatically as though Frankie Valli<\/strong> and the actual Four Seasons<\/strong> were onstage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After months of confidentiality agreements and other top-hush nonsense, it’s official: Fitzgeralds Casino Hotel in downtown Las Vegas will become the D. Now, I can’t think that — let alone type it — without recalling the Family Guy episode in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,155,18,83,51,4,7,55,12,47,8,9,19,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629"}],"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=8629"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20560,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629\/revisions\/20560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}