Fox 5 mainstay Sean McAllister ends 15-year run
The Kats! Bureau at this writing is Reynolds Hall at the Smith Center, where Las Vegas Philharmonic guest conductor Dick McGee is leading the symphony through “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and other holiday classics.
The Christmas-themed shows are set for 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m Saturday, featuring ex-“Jersey Boys” star Travis Cloer and former “Phantom — Las Vegas Spectacular” co-star Kristen Hertzenberg, who flew in from her home in Houston to take part.
The 120-member Green Valley High School Concert choir is participating, and L.V. Phil music director Donato Cabrera just took to the stage and reminded the kids to “sing to the cheap seats!”
Should be a dandy.
More from this scene, and elsewhere:
McAllister signs off
A super guy and a solid broadcaster, Sean McAllister closed his 15-year run at Fox 5 on Wednesday. His two-year contract with the station timed out and he is off to parts uncharted.
“I kind of liken it to an extended college experience,” McAllister said during an interview, coincidentally, at Sambalatte at the Smith Center just before the Philharmonic rehearsal. “I learned a lot, and grew ready to conquer some things not possible within the constructs of the job environment there. I have dreams and goals are outside of the scope of work I was doing at Channel 5.”
McAllister says he has proverbial the irons in the fire and should make a decision on his future around the end of the year.
The veteran broadcaster has lived through myriad shifts in his industry. He points to the evolution from the use 0f video tape to digital reporting, where phones often supplant TVs as the main vehicle of broadcast news distribution.
“The industry as a whole is making a huge shift into streaming, and it’s a streaming world,” McAllister says. “Our viewers’ screens are now in their pockets, and it’s big change in how we do our jobs. Now we need to make sure we can tell our stories on the screens on a phone.”
McAllister was a member of the launch of the “More” show at Channel 5 in 2006. He and his husband, Shane Warner, are going on honeymoon to Kauai before making any career announcements.
“This move has come at an interesting time,” McAllister says, grinning. “I turned 40, I got married, I’m changing jobs. I’ve heard that your brain undergoes a transformation when you hit 40. Maybe I’m going through a physiological reaction that’s making me want to pursue new things.”
McAllister has become a familiar face in the community and a trusted, reassuring presence on the station’s entertainment coverage. Not surprisingly, he says he will miss his Fox teammates and co-anchors most. He’s worked on-air with Rachel Smith and Jason Feinberg during his entire run on “More.”
“Jason and Rachel have become kind of siblings to me. The day-to-day interactions and the support that we all had for one another has been something special, and not always what you find in a work environment,” McAllister says. “That goes for all the producers, photographers, editors I’ve worked with. It’s so cliche, but it’s true. We really did become a family.”
Goodman’s ‘19 finale
Oscar Goodman closed his 2019 dinner series appearances at the Plaza on Thursday night with some dignitaries in the audience. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (who is coincidentally married to Oscar) shared a table with Raiders owner Mark Davis, Lou Ruvo Cleveland Clinic Center for Brain Health founder Larry Ruvo and his wife, Camille; and hotel CEO Jonathan Jossel.
It was Davis’s first time at the event. He learned quite a bit about such iconic Vegas figures as Caesars Palace and Circus Circus founder Jay Sarno, and drug kingpin/legendary gambler Jimmy Chagra. The speech was a winner, and so was the hotel. A memorable site was Davis walking toward valet, moving freely and unnoticed through the rodeo crowd packing the Plaza’s Omaha Lounge for the band Rhyolite Sound.
This was teased to …
Matthias Jabs has told online media outlets that the Scorpions will perform a residency in Las Vegas in July. This will make sense if you know the Scorpions are a wild, veteran German metal band, and Jabs is that band’s guitarist (impress your friends, or not, that Bon Jovi opened on the Scorps’ “Love At First Sting” tour in 1984).
The site has not been announced. So make it Zappos Theater, where Def Leppard this year hosted a similar residency.
What Works In Vegas
On the topic of the Plaza, the Stirrin’ Dirt Racing demolition derby returns to Core Arena on March 26-29. We will finally be able to attend this event, which has generated fender-bending, word-of-mouth reviews.
Cool Hang Alert
Brett Rigby & B.A.R. Band perform at Westgate Las Vegas’ International Bar at 9:30 pm.-11:30 p.m. through Monday. You get the National Finals Rodeo vibe immediately, with the Western-suited Rigby, and also the hay bales that have been rolled out for this show. No cover, and wear yer boots.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram
