Work on Cirque du Soleil’s 3-D movie enters homestretch

It's tough to imagine anyplace more in-your-face than Las Vegas.

And soon, movie audiences won't even have to try, thanks to an upcoming cinematic showcase of Cirque du Soleil's Strip spectaculars -- in 3-D.

The production heads into the homestretch this week, with reshoots planned at various Cirque venues -- and in a studio where green-screen effects will be captured on camera.

"All of the show content, which is the biggest part of the film, is made of excerpts from the Las Vegas shows," Jacques Mathes, who is in charge of extending the Cirque brand into multimedia and lifestyle ventures, told Review-Journal colleague Mike Weatherford during previous filming in December.

"We've created a narrative with characters that take us from one show to the other," Mathes explained, "but we're sort of discovering Cirque's world in Las Vegas."

The movie doesn't have a name yet, but there are some big names attached to the project in addition to Cirque: "Avatar" creator James Cameron, one of seven credited producers, and producer-director Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two "Shrek" and "Chronicles of Narnia" movies.

Still stirring: PBS' "Chef Hubert Keller: Secrets of a Chef" keeps cooking this week at the show's custom-designed kitchen studio at KLVX-TV, Channel 10.

It may be an ideal location, Keller says, but after two seasons at a California winery, "we were actually looking at several options" for the series' third season, from cooking schools to private residences.

When Keller and producer Marjorie Poore visited KLVX's new headquarters, however, station officials "were excited to host the cooking set," he recalls, making an offer Keller describes as "extremely generous. It makes our lives so much easier."

Taking the cake: Speaking of culinary creations, the Food Network's upcoming "Last Cake Standing" rolls on at a variety of Vegas locations.

A special version of "Food Network Challenge," the six-episode competition (scheduled to debut in April) features eight pastry stars vying for the title of "Best Cake Artist in America" -- and a $100,000 grand prize. Among the challenges is one with a special Vegas-style twist: a round-the-clock, 24-hour marathon.

Back in action: Watch your back, Hannah Montana, because Jadagrace is back in town.

The young performer ("Terminator: Salvation") returns to shoot additional episodes of a half-hour series, aimed at pre-teens, featuring music and comedy sketches.

In the show, Jadagrace plays the star of a TV series set in Las Vegas, creating a "show within a show" format, explains Harry Basil, one of the show's producers.

"There's never been a variety show" aimed at kids "set within Las Vegas," he notes. "We thought, what a cool place to do it."

Previous shows included sky diving and rock climbing; go-karts may figure in this go-round, Basil notes.

Most of the shoot, however, will return to Studio City Entertainment Group, 4221 Las Vegas Studio Court (behind the Palms), site of December's filming. Local kids who want to be extras are invited to join the weekend shoots, Basil says. Call the studio at 222-9587 for further information.

Reality check: Some out-of-town visitors join such ongoing reality projects as Animal Planet's "Tanked," E!'s "Holly's World" and History's "Pawn Stars" and "American Restoration."

The Canadian travel show "15 Good Reasons To Go To ... " is scheduled to explore reasons for going to Vegas in a weeklong visit starting Friday, while VH1's "Audrina" (featuring "The Hills' " Audrina Patridge) was expected in Las Vegas over Super Bowl weekend, following Patridge to a variety of Strip haunts.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or ccling@reviewjournal.com.