UNLV Hall of Famer Myron Martin is Vegas’ king of arts

Myron Martin has long been synonymous with Las Vegas’ performing arts centers.

Yes, centers. Plural.

Before he took the helm at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts six years ago, Martin was head of the UNLV Performing Arts Center in the school’s College of Fine Arts. He was also an instructor at the university, and regularly brought big name appearances and shows to UNLV’s Ham Hall.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is my time at UNLV, running the performing arts center and also teaching in the college of business in the marketing department and really helping kids build careers,” says Martin, who was named as one the 2018 inductees into the UNLV College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame. “We created the Best of New York Stage Series, with Gregory Hines, and Kristin Chenoweth before she was in ‘Wicked.’

“This award is a great way to remind everyone of the cultural history at UNLV, because the Performing Arts Center helped set the stage for the Smith Center.”

Martin opened the Smith Center for the Performing Arts at Symphony Park — then known as Union Park — in downtown Las Vegas in 2012. He moved to Las Vegas from New York in 1995 to run the Liberace Museum and Foundation, and in 1999 moved on to the PAC at UNLV. Martin also co-produced the Las Vegas version of the musical “Hairspray” at Luxor in 2006, and has been at the forefront of the city’s cultural community since he arrived in town.

As Martin says, “This is an extraordinary honor, and I’m humbled. That’s the only word for it.” He joins a powerhouse list of 2018 UNLV Hall of Fame inductees at the April 3 ceremony at the school’s Student Union Ballroom. The 2018 honorees include Guy Laliberté, founder of the Strip’s predominant production company, Cirque du Soleil; glass sculptor Dale Chihuly and his wife, Leslie Chihuly; Claudette Robinson, a Motown star as a member of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles; and acclaimed Las Vegas urban planner and architect Denise Scott Brown.

Also being recognized with the Koep Dean’s Medal are broadcaster and educator Dr. Harvey Allen, and arts administrator William Lowman. Artist and educator Tim Bavington, known for creating “Pipe Dream” at Symphony Park, is UNLV’s Alumnus of the Year.

The UNLV Entertainer & Artist Hall of Fame has honored an impressive array of subjects since its launch in 2003.Tony Curtis; Phyllis McGuire; Robert Goulet; The Killers; Liberace; architects Tony Marnell, John Klai, Tom Schoeman, and William Snyder; Wayne Newton; Penn & Teller; and Siegfried & Roy are among those who have been duly awarded.

Marty on the mend

Comedy legend Marty Allen is recovering from a broken right hip he suffered in a fall at his Las Vegas home on Christmas morning. Allen is in rehab but expected to fully recover from his second broken hip; he broke his left hip on Nov. 11, 2011 — yes, 11/11/11.

Allen and his performing wife, Karon Kate Blackwell plan to resume their road dates after Allen finishes rehab. His next performance is set for April 21 at the Rrazz Room in Boca Raton, Fla. By then he’ll be 96, folks.

Funny at the Foundry

The Jon Lovitz-Dana Carvey “Reunited” residency at The Foundry at SLS Las Vegas performed better onstage than off. Reportedly, the show lost $30,000 per weekend in the hotel’s premier entertainment venue. The “Saturday Night Live” alumni closed their residency in November. I would not expect a return to headlining comedy in that room anytime soon.

In good Shaf

Paul Shaffer closes his Shaf-Shifters shows at Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The performances have drawn such guest performers as Sonny Charles of The Checkmates Ltd., disco diva Martha Wash (“It’s Raining Men”), Righteous Brothers Bill Medley and Bucky Heard, and Martin Short.

Two down

Say this for Jarrett & Raja. The music/magic tandem has achieved the improbable, opening and closing two shows on (well, near) the Strip in a single year.

Their experimental dinner-show production at the Hooters Hotel opened in March and closed in August. Their new show at the Stratosphere Showroom opened in October and closed the first week of December.

Under-performing ticket sales are behind both shutdowns. These guys are resilient, but they need a breather to sort out their next path — if there is one — in VegasVille. A third show they fronted, “One Epic Night,” burned out at the Plaza in 2016. Meantime, they are joining a tour of “Masters of Illusions — Live!” on Jan. 26 in Sarasota, Fla.

“We ran out of money,” Raja Rahman, the piano virtuoso of the act, said last month after learning the show was done. “Ticket sales were not what we hoped.”

Another Stratosphere show, also a production of Red Mercury Entertainment (in partnership with veteran Vegas producer Dick Feeney), “The World’s Greatest Rock Show,” ends its run Jan. 21. I’ll miss the rollout of Bruce Springsteen (until that act was axed amid budget cuts in the show, Van Halen, Heart, Journey, Meat Loaf and Kiss. Maybe it will resurface, but it won’t be at the Strat.

Contact John Katsilometes at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.