Champion Warriors running the fast break on the Strip
NEW YORK — The Kats! Bureau at this writing is the lobby of Hotel Edison in Midtown Manhattan. I am here catching up with the creative team from “Bandstand,” the musical written by Las Vegas composers and musicians Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor. The musical has been doing bangin’ business at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre since winning the Tony Award for Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler claiming that honor) on Sunday.
But the news in VegasVille never halts:
Warriors’ fast break to L.V.
The Golden State Warriors, who polished off the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night to win their second NBA championship in three years, have touched down for some genuine frivolity on the Strip. Team owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber joined team members Kevin Durant (the NBA Finals MVP), Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Ian Clark, Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee, David West, Matt Barnes and Zaza Pachulia are among the Dubs to hit Vegas this weekend.
The team was welcomed to town by MGM Resorts International Chairman Jim Murren, who dispatched one of the company’s private jets to fly the entourage to Vegas. They were taken to Aria, and welcomed by members of UNLV’s administration and members of the Runnin’ Rebels. School President Len Jessup, new Athletics Director Desiree Reed-Francois and Coach Marvin Menzies were among the welcoming party. “This was a great opportunity for our players to get to shake hands with the NBA champs and showcase Las Vegas for the best of NBA,” Jessup said.
Several payers hit Drai’s at the Cromwell for the latest installment of “The Coolest Party Ever,” hosted by DJ Esco Durant, a fan of Vegas nightclubs (he reveled at Marquee at the Cosmopolitan on New Year’s Eve), was greeted by a sign reading: “Drai’s Welcomes MVP Kevin Durant.” The champs were each presented personalized Belvedere magnums inscribed with their names.
The team is continuing its Vegas fast break tonight and Sunday.
A theft of history
In a city that too often discards its cultural artifacts, veteran Las Vegas producer Blair Farrington’s collection of stage memorabilia is a civic treasure. But Farrington, who has produced several Vegas shows (“Show in the Sky” at the Rio and Britney Spears’ spectacular welcome-to-Planet Hollywood show among them) was robbed of many costumes pieces either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Farrington was moving his collection out of a storage facility that is being closed and leveled on Flamingo Road and Arville Street.
The alarms at the business had been turned off and no surveillance cameras were installed. Among the items missing: A suit of armour from the “Treasures of Russia exhibit at Rio, an original lion headdress from “Show in the Sky,” a 3-foot-tall pink Marie Antoinette headdress from “Winter in Venice” at the Venetian; a steampunk headdress from the Black & White Ball at the Hard Rock Hotel and a pair of stilts, also from “Show in the Sky.”
Farrington, a creative consultant on “Baz — Star Crossed Love” at Palazzo Theater, says he cannot yet put a monetary value on the pilfered items, and is still taking inventory on what else might be missing. “But you know, it’s not about the money, not at all,” he said. “It’s the value of history, it’s the sentimental value. When I saw these pieces missing, I felt like I’d lost a loved one.”
El Deano celebrated
Deana Martin, daughter of Dean Martin and a fine vocalist who frequently headlines Vegas, is performing June 23-24 at South Point Showroom. Her father’s 100th birthday was marked June 7, and her show on June 25 is more typical of her father’s act: Martin is hosting a roast of Dennis Bono, honoring his 70th birthday, also in the Showroom. Doors are at 5 p.m., show is 6 p.m. Bono is the longtime host of “The Dennis Bono Show,” simulcast from the Showroom on radio stations across the West.
Roasters include an original from “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast:” Rich Little, as well as actors Robert Davi and Tony LoBianco. Clint Holmes, Frankie Scinta, Lorraine Hunt-Bono and Robin Leach are also taking part.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.