Tag Archives: actors

Become a Playwright, Actor or Composer in Las Vegas

Insurgo’s No Shame Theatre in Las Vegas may just be the ticket you’re looking for to show you can write plays that people will flock to see. 

No Shame is a longtime national movement that has finally arrived in Las Vegas.  The first 15 written works arriving each week at Insurgo Theatre will be cast, rehearsed and performed- on the same night.

You can bring literally anything in to showcase- from avant-garde to music- or movement-based pieces to improvisational works, monologues and scenes.

Non-writers interested in acting can also show up and let the Insurgo staff know they’re ready to perform whatever’s thrown at them.  The only rules for actors and playwrights is that you can’t hurt yourself, the audience or the space.  And no breaking the law.   Anything else is fair game.

No Shame Theatre on Thursdays beginning Feb. 25 at 9:30 p.m.  $5 for both general audience and participants.  Insurgo Theatre Movement, 900 E. Karen Ave., Las Vegas, 702-369-3692.  www.insurgotheater.org

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Nicolas Cage Gone in Sixty Seconds from Las Vegas

It seems no matter who you are – or how much you earn – it’s never enough to cover all the bills.  

In June 2009 Forbes magazine ranked actor Nicholas Cage 45th on its list of the 100 most powerful celebrities and estimated his income at $40 million for the previous 12 month period.  Just 6 months later Cage’s $8.5 million Las Vegas home went into foreclosure and has now reportedly been sold for $4.95 million after just one day on the market.  The 14,000+ square foot home on Spanish Heights Drive has six bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms and features a theater and a subterranean 16-car garage.  

This is only the latest round of financial troubles trailing the Academy Award winner.  In November, 2009, the two homes Cage owned through Hancock Park Real Estate Company in New Orleans were sold at a foreclosure auction and this followed the loss of a residence in California.  This is all right on the heels of a lawsuit Cage filed in October against business manager Samuel Levin.  

In the lawsuit, Cage claims he has “discovered that he is now forced to sell major assets and investments at a significant loss and is faced with huge tax liabilities because of Levin’s incompetence, misrepresentations and recklessness. Rather than attaining financial security, Cage has been forced to dispose of significant assets in order to pay for Levin’s gross misconduct.” 

In addition to home losses, Cage also owes back property taxes and a substantial amount to the IRS.  

“Over the course of my career I have paid at least $70 million in taxes. Unfortunately, due to a recent legal situation, another approximate $14 million is owed to the IRS,” Cage told People magazine.  The good news for Cage is that as a bankable Hollywood actor, he won’t be finding himself on the unemployment line soon and his five projects currently in play should help him regroup and, hopefully, regain his financial footing.

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Don’t Expect Paris Hilton Back in Las Vegas Anytime Soon

BFFThe second season of  “Paris Hilton’s My New BFF” premieres Tuesday on MTV, but instead of hanging out and partying in Las Vegas, the filthy rich socialite heiress has plans for finding her next hot and fabulous cohort–in the United Arab Emirates. 

According to Variety, Hilton will head to Dubai later this month to begin the 17-day shooting process, with the finale shooting in Los Angeles. Hilton’s current boyfriend, Doug Reinhardt, is likely to appear in the show as well. (However, her other boyfriend, Real Madrid soccer star Christiano Ronaldo, appears to prefer the Las Vegas roulette tables, seen trying his luck at the Palms Casino last week.)

“Paris Hilton’s My New BFF-Dubai,” will be produced by Lionsgate and Ish Entertainment, who have struck a deal with the Dubai-based Uniqon. The deal is part of a larger Lionsgate initiative to locate new international partners. 

Michael Hirschorn, co-founder of Ish Entertainment, is enthusiastic about the project.  “I love it for the sheer wildcard aspect of it,” he said. “It’s so out of the ordinary.”

The show will include Hilton’s experiences and reactions to Arab culture and society, as well as the girl-on-girl competition that the show’s format typically features. Half of the potential BFF’s will be from the Middle East, and half from elsewhere who are currently living in Dubai. 

While testing the ladies’ character to see who fits her style, Hilton’s going to have to drastically tone down her behavior. Hirschorn said the Dubai production won’t be as risqué as the American and U.K. versions, given the cultural norms in the Middle East. 

Let’s see how long the party gal fares without alcohol, swearing and plunging necklines.

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Stars of “The Hangover” Hijacked in Las Vegas Orgy-fication

Actress Heather Graham plays a single mom stripper in the new Las Vegas-filmed comedy movie “The Hangover,” which opens today.   During a break in filming, Graham went to see the Cirque du Soleil hot and naked “Zumanity” show in Las Vegas with co-star Bradley Cooper and director Todd (“Old School”) Phillips. Heather Graham

Every night, for the finale, cast members toss unsuspecting audience members onstage for a sexless orgy.  The night they visited, the Zumanity cast slipped Copper into the orgy, took off his shirt and rubbed him all over, according to Graham. 

Bradley CooperCooper was not only unsuspecting, but before the show, Cirque workers assured him, Graham and Phillips they would not be orgy-fied. 

“They were like, ‘We’re not gonna take you guys up onstage,’” Graham says.  “We were like, ‘Oh good’ – and then they grab Bradley, take his shirt off, and he’s like, ‘Ohhh!’ Really freaking out.” 

But it was all apparently in fun as they just laughed the incident off.

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Mob, Celebrities are Supreme Toppings for Las Vegas Pizza Biz

joe-pesciActor Joe Pesci, right, who won an Oscar for his supporting role in the 1990 mob classic “Goodfellas,” is apparently going into refined cahoots with Las Vegas convicted racketeer Rick Rizzolo, left, planning to rick-rizzoloslice up the payola coming from opening up several pizza joints called “Pesci’s Pizza Parlors” in Las Vegas, with several others in a foreign country.

Tough-guy actor Pesci is keeping the business dealings close to the cuff, though, disavowing any connection with Rizzolo, simply saying his longtime friend and personal assistant Tommy DeVito – and story source – “was confused.”

Pesci quickly switched gears,  saying  he is partnering with Las Vegas businessmen Sig Rogich, Sig Rogicha prominent public relations that advised the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and Elias Ghanem II,  who works for Wynn Resorts in the executive training program.  Ghanem’s dad, Dr. Elias Ghanem, was known as the “physican to the stars,” serving celebrities including Elvis Presley, Liberace, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Ann-Margret, and Wayne Newton.

Currently finalizing the new business paperwork, they plan to be in business in four or five months, according to longtime Pesci associate Tommy DeVito, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1970. 

DeVito, 80, and Pesci, 66, have been guitar-playing pals since they were 11-years-old and living in New Jersery.  DeVito, center, went on to form the Frankie Valli-led Four Seasons and was the group’s leading guitarist until a falling out with the group over his mounting gambling debts. tommy-devito

Pesci is a producer of the “Jersey Boys,” a musical based on the lives of the Four Seasons.  A spinoff of the Broadway hit has been playing in Las Vegas for a year at The Palazzo. 

Pesci and DeVito are such close friends that Pesci called DeVito a couple of months before the filming began on Martin Scorcese’s “Casino” to say he was taking the name Tom DeVito for his character, a mob thug based on Las Vegas hit man Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro. 

Rick Rizzolo, 50, received notoriety during the Las Vegas “G-Sting” federal trial, causing former Justice Department Organized Strike Force prosecutor Stan Hunteroton to exclaim to the court:  “Not since the reign of Anthony Spilotro and his associates has there been a more infamous hoodlum than Rick Rizzolo.” 

Rizzolo was among 17 defendants, including Las Vegas city officials, later found guilty on a related charge.  He served 11 months of a sentence of one year and one day before his release last year.   Rizzolo was also ordered to sell the Las Vegas topless cabaret Crazy Horse Too business and placed under three years of supervised release and fined $250,000. 

‘Dying’ to taste their pizza?   Maybe they could open up a pizza parlor in the planned Las Vegas Mob Museum?

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Improv Theater in Las Vegas Packs ‘Em In

Whether you are a fan of watching improvisational theater or just maybe would like to try your hand at acting, there are some opportunities for you in Las Vegas.    improv

Although, Second City has closed up after eight years at the Flamingo, the Improv Vegas recently debuted their Sunday 7 p.m. show at the Bonkerz Comedy Club inside Palace Station.   For a $9.95 ticket you can have the time of your life. 

Improv Vegas also produces their SET show at the Onyx Theatre, 953 E. Sahara Ave., 702-732-7725, at 8 p.m. on Mondays, $7 a ticket.  The show features improve plus standup comedy, juggling and other disciplines and is a showcase for students at the company’s training center, also at the Onyx. 

Improv Vegas classes are limited to 10 people and last six weeks, with six or seven classes going at any given time.

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Comedian Bob Newhart to Receive NAB Award in Las Vegas

Droll comedian/actor Bob Newhart will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame during the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show Television Luncheon on April 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. bobnewhart

Newhart is being recognized for his contributions to entertainment which span comedy albums, two highly successful television series and several movies and guest appearances.   The award will be given to Newhart by NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr.

Past NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame television inductees include Bob Barker, Regis Philbin, The Tonight Show, and Star Trek. 

The NAB Show will be April 18 through 23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton.  Exhibits will begin on April 20.  NAB Show information:  http://www.nabshow.com/2009/eventInfo/default.asp

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Kelsey Grammar Tapped for NAB Award in Las Vegas

Emmy and Golden Globe winner Kelsey Grammar will receive the first Television Chairman’s Award at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show Television Luncheon on April 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. kelseygrammar

Best known as the repressed Dr. Frasier Crane from the series “Frasier,” Grammar has also served as producer, executive producer and director on a variety of projects including the NBC series “Medium” and the CW program “Girlfriends”.  

The Television Chairman Award was developed to “recognize individuals for a significant breakthrough in one or more specific art disciplines in television.” 

K. James Yager, CEO of Barrington Broadcast Group and NAB Television Board chairman, said, “His multifaceted talent makes him the perfect first-time honoree of this award.” 

The NAB Show will be April 18 – 23 with events at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton.  Exhibits will begin on April 20.  NAB Show information is available at http://www.nabshow.com/2009/eventInfo/default.asp

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Ne-Yo has come a long way . . .

While studying at the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies as a performing and visual arts major, Shaffer Smith neyolearned that it’s okay to be different.  Today, 29-year-old Ne-Yo – Shaffer was renamed after Matrix movie character Neo – doesn’t need to be concerned at all about being different.  He appears to be quite comfortable in his role as a three-time Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter, actor and record producer. 

Ne-Yo has accepted his fourth acting gig, being part of the cast of George Lucas “Red Tails” – a film about the World War II Tuskegee pilots.  Yes,  it’s that George Lucas and it’s those Tuskegee pilots.  

This will also be the feature film directorial debut for Anthony Hemingway.  In addition to Ne-Yo, the ensemble cast includes Terrance Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Bryan Cranston, Nate Parker and Method Man.

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Kato who? Uh, is he the homeboy of O.J. Simpson?

O.J. Simpson is cooling his heels in the Big House at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Northern Nevada, eating savory “mystery meat” while serving his nine-to-thirty-three-year term for his memorabilia heist that went terribly wrong at Palace Station.  But his house guest back in 1994 when he was charged with killing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, was Kato Kaelin. 

Kaelin, now 50, testified at the 1995 murder trial and his life has been inextricably linked to the former football star ever since. 

Kaelin’s transition from real life reality to acting has been seamless.  He has been a Screen Actors Guild card-carrying katokaelinmember for 22 years.  A year before the killings, he had tested, albeit unsuccessfully, for a part in the film “Dumb and Dumber.”  

After the trial Kaelin was launched into faux stardom, going on a speaking tour and appearing in several TV reality shows and films.   For the past five year he has worked for National Lampoon in Los Angeles developing film projects.

Coming full turn, Kaelin now graces the Planet Hollywood stage in Las Vegas as a wedding crasher in “Tony and Tina’s Wedding.”   His character plays Tony’s house guest for five years, sleeping, fittingly, on the couch.

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Criminal Minds Star Morphs into ‘Allllvinnn!’

CBS’s Criminal Minds very popular actor Matthew Gray Gubler is a Las Vegas product born and bred.  Performing as matthewgublerthe three Ph.D. degree-holding Dr. Spencer Reid on the TV series since 2005,  Gubler was raised in a quiet neighborhood near Bob Baskin Park in Las Vegas, later graduating from the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts High School and later attended a four-year class at the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, majoring in drama and graduating in 1998.  

After that “The Gube,” started his “profiling” career by studying at the University of California in Santa Cruz and two year later decided to leave California and move to New York to enroll at  the Tisch School of the Arts, later graduating from that school in 2002.  While in Manhattan he walked the runways for some of the biggest fashion designers including Marc Jacobs, Burrberry, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger and Sisley. 

Gubler, 29, is now taking a brief television break from his “personal voyage of desperation and tragedy,” to voice Simon in the new Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel movie planned for release on December 25th by 20th Century Fox.

 “I welcome the role with open arms because it’s so fun- not that I don’t love looking at bloody fingerprints,” says a confident and beaming Gubler. 

Okay!

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Dennis Quaid to Receive ShoWest’s Male Star of the Year Award in Las Vegas

Dennis Quaid will receive the coveted ShoWest male star of the year nod at the upcoming confab of theater owners. dennis-quaid1

ShoWest runs March 30-April 2 in Las Vegas at Bally’s and the Paris Hotel & Casino. 

Quaid will be seen in theaters with Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions’ CG-animated “Battle for Terra,” which opens May 1. Later this summer, Qauid will be acting in Paramount’s actioner “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” and then in Overture’s horror pic “Pandorum.” 

Quaid will receive the ShoWest award at the closing banquet on April 2.

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ShoWest Awardees Announced

“Where does one begin when referring to Michael Caine,” said Mitch Neuhauser, ShoWest co-managing director.  “With over five decades of films to his credit, Michael Caine has quietly commanded the screen in well over 100 roles. He simply does it all, and he does it all so incredibly well be it comedy, drama or action. With such films as ‘Alfie,’ michael-caine‘Funeral in Berlin,’ ‘Sleuth,’ ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ ‘Educating Rita,’ ‘Hannah & Her Sisters,’ ‘The Cider House Rules,’ ‘The Quiet American,’ and of course, ‘The Dark Knight,’ Michael Caine’s diversity has accorded him this incredible ability to draw movie audiences in worldwide throughout his career. We could not be more honored to present this brilliant actor with the ShoWest Lifetime Achievement Award.” 

Michael Caine will receive the ShoWest Lifetime Achievement Award at ShoWest’s Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony at Bally’s and the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 2.  

Also being recognized at the 2009 ShoWest event are Zack Snyder as the ShoWest 2009 Director of the Year Award, Zac Efron – ShoWest 2009 Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award (previous Las Vegas Backstage Access article), Bradley Cooper – ShoWest 2009 Comedy Star of the Year Award, Sienna Miller – ShoWest Supporting Actress of the Year and Chris Pine – ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow (previous Las Vegas Backstage Access article).  

Kerasotes Showplace Theatres Chairman and CEO Tony Kerasotes and President and Chief Operating Officer Dean Kerasotes, will also be honored as the “ShoWesters of the Year” at the 2009 convention.

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Captain Kirk Beams Down to Las Vegas in ShowWest Starship

showwestBefore Chris Pine walks the red carpet during the May Star Trek movie premier this May, he will first be attending the ShoWest Final Night Banquet on Thursday, April 2 to accept the ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow award.  

Past winners of ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow have included Emile Hirsch, Shia LaBeouf, Heath Ledger, and Matt Damon. 

ShoWest is an annual event for motion picture professionals and theatre owners.  This year it will be held at Bally’s and Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from March 30 through April 2.  

Although current economic trends have cut into the entertainment budget of most families, ShoWest provides an opportunity for theatre owners and operators to find enhancements and offer incentives that will not only bring those crowds back but keep them at the theatre longer.

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Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck Surprise Las Vegas Clubgoers

Joaquin Phoenix, who recently announced his retirement from acting in order to pursue his new music career, on Friday night, January 16, stepped to the microphone at the Lavo nightclub in the Palazzo in Las Vegas.  joaquinphoenix

The two-time 2008 Oscar nominee hasn’t completely walked away from the movies, though, as Casey Affleck, also an Oscar nominee, was at the Palazzo to record the special event for a documentary that Affleck will direct about Phoenix’s new musical career.

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