Just like magic, shows reappear

The magic-show shuffle continues like a deck of trick cards. Rick Thomas temporarily changes course from the Riviera to the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood and a new afternoon show is bound for Paris Las Vegas.

Tuesday's closing of "Zen Magic" at the Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile paved the way for Thomas to spend some or all of the summer in there, after the Sahara's closing left him at large.

Thomas says he is still moving into the Riviera and putting his name on the old Versailles showroom. But the room was in such disrepair, the remodeling to bring it up to code was threatening to eat up at least half his summer. "Summer's big for me."

The Riviera is fine with the temporary arrangement that will keep his cast and crew working, Thomas says. "They want me in there as soon as possible. But they know as well as I do that we have to work on that room."

Thomas will perform at 3 p.m. each day starting June 3 and running through late summer, unless the Riviera is ready sooner. Saxe will co-produce with John Stuart.

"Zen" was a low-profile title helmed by the Japanese illusionist team Ai and Yuki. The afternoon show had played there since July.

Card-manipulating magician Stephane Vanel makes the jump from "MGM Grand's Crazy Horse Paris" to his own showcase at Paris Las Vegas (seems logical, considering he's French) as a roommate of hypnotist Anthony Cools.

"The Magic of Paris" also features the marionettes of Anthony Rais and dance numbers. It will run at 4 and 6 p.m. starting June 1. Cools controls the space, but the magic show is independently produced by Thierry Cohen, a newcomer to the Las Vegas market.

Sleight-of-hand magic takes more skill to perform than the usual Las Vegas illusions, but the economics can be tough because it loses its impact in a large venue. Cools' theater is a comparable setting to the Crazy Horse cabaret where Vanel performed nearly eight years until 2009.

"I came with a brand-new product they haven't seen," Vanel says of having to convince Caesars Entertainment executives "Why should we hire this guy?" in a presentation. "When I finished, they understood it was a new kind of magic. Somebody gave a chance to sleight of hand. I think the audience will appreciate that it's real magic, no box." ....

More from the magic respect department. For the past couple of weeks, magicians have been distracted from their usual gossip by a 12-minute video rant against Criss Angel from British writer Paul Carr, who stayed in a different Vegas hotel each day for 33 days.

Carr derides Angel's show from the magician's perspective: "I really wanted to say he's a terrible showman but a technically very good magician, but he's not." Angel does the mouthful-of-razor blades standard "in such a pedestrian and such a bad way that you think, 'You're just not good at any kind of magic.' " ...

Business must be good for Gladys Knight's showcase at the Tropicana. Starting June 1, ticket prices are edging up by $10 in all three tiers of pricing. Knight battled bronchitis last week, but at this writing she is supposed to be back in action at the hotel.

That would allow me to continue my mini-obsession with the Strip's mini-obsession with James Bond themes, sparked by Celine Dion's surprise medley in her new show. Dion isn't here this weekend, but if you play it right, you can hear Sheena Easton do "For Your Eyes Only" on Saturday or Sunday at the South Point, and use the other free evening for Knight's lesser-known "Licence to Kill." ...

Show producers and their publicists care more about anniversaries of this or that title than the public does. Still, any longevity is an achievement these days, so here's a three-in-one anniversary wrap-up:

"The Lion King" on Sunday notched two years and nearly a million customers. The show heads into its home stretch at Mandalay Bay -- it closes in December to make room for Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson tribute -- by introducing a locals deal that lets a full-paying adult buy two children's tickets for $15. Say "Roar" when you order and be prepared to show a Nevada license.

No children's deal at "MGM Grand's Crazy Horse Paris." But the topless show marks 10 years on the Strip today and has KXPT-FM 97.1 morning personality Steph MacKenzie as a guest star Saturday. Wearing a bustier once sported by Carmen Electra is a far cry from the ol' "I have a face built for radio" cliche.

Were there ground rules on how revealing this would be? "Only by my husband," she says with a laugh. "He's very supportive as long as I have nippies (aka pasties) on."

Youngsters would hear some words at "Jersey Boys," but grown-ups should be happy the musical celebrated its three-year anniversary last week.

The cool anniversary should be the fifth for the Beatles' "Love" June 8. It falls curiously close to a tour-launching Paul McCartney show at the MGM Grand Garden on June 10. ...

Merle Haggard's son was kidding, right?

Serving as an in-house opening act for Dad's show at Sunset Station Friday, Noel Haggard joked that the crowd was going to have to do better when Pops came out, or they weren't going to get much of a show.

Sure enough, the 74-year-old country legend capped the show after an hour, which included Noel's warm-up songs. The time was comparable to an earlier show in Anaheim, Calif., and the next night in Wendover, according to Internet reports.

The elder Haggard is a singer who beat lung cancer in 2008, so his fans are forgiving. Only a smattering asked for refunds, said a Station Casinos representative, who added that Haggard's "contract was really vague, unfortunately" about specifying a length of performance time.

But a real opening act would have been only fair, and Noel might want to watch his wisecracks in the future.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.