Desert Companion - September 2013

Fall fashion

SEPTEMBER 2013

Indie film director Kelly

Schwarze keeps it reel

featuringFALL CULTURE GUIDE

to

the

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Congratulations to the physicians and surgeons honored in this year’s Best Doctors edition, including those who teach and practice at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.Ovunc Bardakcioglu, M.D.Joseph P. Thornton, M.D.Colon and Rectal Surgery

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i

4 | Desert Companion | SEPTEMBER 2013

editor’s note

The art of the matter

next month

in Desert Companion

i propose a

toast ... to our

drinking issue

“It was the first and best perfor-mance I’ve ever seen.” That’s what a grade-schooler wrote after attending one of the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Youth Concert Series shows, an an-nual, five-day tear of concerts at The Smith Center that treats valley fourth- and fifth-graders to what is often their first taste of orchestral music — for many, their first soul-stirring commu-nion with performed music as vigor-ous, vitalizing art. Other choice quotes from the thank-you notes written by these young listeners: “I dreamed we were at a forest.” “We stopped at a castle and went through the doors, then the conductor came out and they played magical songs.” “I felt like I was in heaven. You can just imagine it.” And you can just imagine these wide-eyed students filing out of the concert hall after the show, their minds all fizz-ing and crackling with new energies. The Youth Concert Series in January is just one facet of the Philharmonic’s educational outreach, which also in-cludes a statewide concerto competi-tion for young musicians and in-school master classes that have the Philhar-monic’s musicians teaching kids how to shred on the violin and rock the tuba. The Philharmonic isn’t the only one thinking about young people. For its part, Nevada Ballet Theatre offers at-risk youth opportunities for bal-letic expression with its Future Dance program (p. 28) — dance courses for young people who might never be able to afford such classes otherwise. For those students who show exceptional promise, Nevada Ballet Theatre offers scholarships, and even takes on top-tier students as trainees. Meanwhile, The Smith Center is in the midst of

its Any Given Child initiative. Backed by the expertise of The Kennedy Cen-ter in Washington, D.C., the program seeks to plug our arts, cultural and performance organizations into our schools, creating a home-brewed arts education curriculum for thousands of students from kindergarten through eighth grade. On top of that, The Smith Center recently landed a grant from Disney to help five lower-income Clark County schools build theater programs.

As students herd back to school this fall, countless traditions come with the season: buying the notebooks and back-packs, packing school lunches, peeling kids off the iPad for earlier bedtimes. Another, less happy tradition: bemoan-ing the state of arts education in public schools. It’s no secret that the Clark County School District isn’t exactly flush with cash, and in times of tight budgets (ahem, all the time in a state with a wobbly, three-legged table pass-ing as a stable tax structure), art and music classes are often the first to go. Consider this portion of the program your standard battle cry for improv-ing arts education funding. Because, whether you’re an idealist or a prag-matist, you’ve got to admit the catalytic power of the arts on youth: In addi-tion to teaching them about truth and beauty and the radiant nobility of the human soul and all that, education in the arts has also been shown to prime those spongy minds for learning math and science as well. (I dimly suspect I might have a balanced checkbook to-day if only my trigonometry teacher had played piano.)

But what repeatedly struck me as we put together our annual fall culture

guide was how many of our local arts organizations and institutions — in ad-dition to, you know, doing their main thing creating beauty and keeping the radiant nobility of our souls humming at proper calibration — commit time and energy to entire programs dedi-cated to inspiring and teaching valley youth. Amid the tussle of the larger issue of properly funding schools to include courses in art, music and per-formance, these groups are the boots — or, rather, the ballet slippers and violin bows — on the ground in our community right now. They’re not just stimulating hungry young minds. They’re also creating tomorrow’s au-diences and tomorrow’s performers — pretty important, wouldn’t you say, in a city with entertainment sizzling in its DNA? The show has just begun, but so what: Give them a standing ovation now.

Andrew KiralyEditor

Education is critical to improving the quality of life for our communities. Caesars

Foundation has joined Teach For America’s efforts to eliminate education inequity by

enlisting our nation’s most promising future leaders to teach in high-risk schools.

Through our partnership with Teach For America we have adopted Walter V. Long

Elementary School for the second consecutive year, and for the first time we are

adopting Jerome Mack Junior High School – both for the 2013-2014 school year, in

an effort to engage parents and students in a variety of sponsored activities.

Find out more about how these organizations are supporting education in Nevada.

Visit Teach For America’s website at www.teachforamerica.org and Vegas PBS at

www.vegasPBS.org.

4 color process

The will to do wonders®

The will to do wonders®

®

®

IT STARTS WITH EDUCATION

contentsdesert companion magazine // desertcompanion.com


09.2013

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FEATURES55Fall culture guideClear up your calendar, because this fall is gonna be filled with art, music, theater and more

DEPARTMENTS

13All Things to All People

Page turners By Ricardo Torres

24Travel

Gateway to Zion By Alan Gegax

28Community Making a move

By Chantal Corcoran

32Television

A very special episode By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

38Profile

Refuge for the lost By Emmily Bristol

47Dining

Over the rainbow roll By Brock Radke

105Guide

From rock to theater to dance, your guide to culture

112End note

The Card Artist By Mike Newman

84The plush lifeThis season’s chilly weather styles blend comfort and structure

76Making the gradePrep school gets a playful makeover in this season’s looks for little scholars

on the coverIndie filmmaker Kelly Schwarze

Photography by Christopher Smith

job #: 22790

client: The Smith Center

title: Fall 2013 Shows Montage –

Desert Companion Sept 2013______________________________

run date: September 2013

release date: 8/12/13

release via: email______________________________

technician: Pam

software: InDesign CS6

color: CMYK

fonts: Neutraface______________________________

pub: Desert Companion

bleed: 8.875” x 11.25”

trim: 8.375” x 10.75”

live area: 7.625” x 10”

HI-RES MECHANICAL______________________________

initial date

CD

CW

AD

prod mgr

designer

OK to produce

by: __________________________

date: ________________________

IN PERFECT HARM O NYU P COM I N G FA LL S H OWS | TI C K E T S STA RTI N G AT $2 4

VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO SEE THE FULL LINEUP TODAY. 702.749.2000 | TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711 | For group inquiries call 702.749.2348

361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106

Phot

o by

Jay

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.

Phot

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Jay

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Kronos Quartet: Kronos at 40

Tony Hsieh

Judy Collins

Phot

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San

drin

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e.

Phot

o by

AJ

Mas

t.

Salzburg Marionette Theater

Michael Feinstein: The Gershwins and Me

Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra The Blues

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aldi

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hoto

by

Car

los

Peric

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Ladies of Jazz Phot

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Mic

hael

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Audra McDonald in Concert

Mariza World Tour 2013

Zoppé — An Italian Family CircusPhot

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The Las Vegas Contemporary Dance

Theater — Fall Concert Series 2013


Publisher Melanie Cannon

editor Andrew Kiraly

Art director Christopher Smith

GrAPhic desiGner Brent Holmes

sAles And mArketinG mAnAGer Christine Kiely

nAtionAl Account mAnAGer Laura Alcaraz

Account executives Sharon Clifton, Robyn Mathis, Carol Skerlich, Markus Van’t Hul

mArketinG AssociAte Lisa Kelly

subscriPtion mAnAGer Chris Bitonti

Web AdministrAtor Danielle Branton

contributinG Writers Cybele, Emmily Bristol, Chantal Corcoran, Scott Dickensheets, Megan Edwards, Hektor Esparza, Alan Gegax, Mélanie Hope, Matt Kelemen, Kathryn Kruse,

Debbie Lee, Christie Moeller, Mike Newman, Mike Prevatt, Brock Radke, Lissa Townsend Rodgers,

Norm Schilling, Linda J. Simpson, Ricardo Torres, Kristy Totten

contributinG Artists Bill Hughes, Jacob McCarthy, Sabin Orr

Editorial: Andrew Kiraly, (702) 259-7856; [email protected]

Fax: (702) 258-5646

Advertising: Christine Kiely, (702) 259-7813; [email protected]

Subscriptions: Chris Bitonti, (702) 259-7810; [email protected]

Website: www.desertcompanion.com

Desert Companion is published 12 times a year by Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89146.

It is available by subscription at desertcompanion.com, or as part of Nevada Public Radio membership. It is also distributed

free at select locations in the Las Vegas Valley. All photos, artwork and ad designs printed are the sole property of

Desert Companion and may not be duplicated or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The views of

Desert Companion contributing writers are not necessarily the views of Desert Companion or Nevada Public Radio. Contact

Chris Bitonti for back issues, which are available for purchase for $7.95.

ISSN 2157-8389 (print)ISSN 2157-8397 (online)

Mission StatementDesert Companion is the premier city magazine

that celebrates the pursuits, passions and aspirations of Southern Nevadans. With

award-winning lifestyle journalism and design, Desert Companion does more than inform and

entertain. We spark dialogue, engage people and define the spirit of the Las Vegas Valley.

PuBL ISHED By NEVADA PuBL IC RADIO

(702) 452-52723433 Losee Road, Suite 4North Las Vegas, NV 89030schillinghorticulture.com

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We don’t set out to create Award Winning Landscapes. We build intimate and delightful garden spaces that

grow ever more beautiful, year after year. We invite nature into our lives, help the environment, and celebrate life in Southern Nevada.

“The earth has music for those who listen.”

—George Santayana

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Board of DirectorsOfficers

susAn mAlick brennAn, chAir

Brennan Consulting Group, LLC

cynthiA AlexAnder, esQ. vice chAir

Snell & Wilmer

tim WonG, treAsurer

Arcata Associates

Florence m.e. roGers, secretAry

Nevada Public Radio

DirectorsshAmoon AhmAd, m.d., mbA, FAcP

kevin m. buckley First Real Estate Companies

louis cAstle, director emeritus

PAtrick n. chAPin, esQ., director emeritus

kirk v. clAusen Wells Fargo

elizAbeth FretWell, chAir emeritus City of Las Vegas

JAn Jones blAckhurst Caesars Entertainment Corporation

John r. klAi ii Klai Juba Architects

GAvin isAAcs SHFL Entertainment

lAmAr mArchese, President Emeritus

WilliAm mAson Taylor International

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chris murrAy director emeritus

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Jerry nAdAl Cirque du Soleil

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Follow us online:www.facebook.com/DesertCompanion www.twitter.com/DesertCompanion

CELEBRATE STYLE

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Available at

When ordinaryis not enough.

The Trails Village Center1900 Village Center Circle, Summerlin702.256.3900tbirdjewels.com

DesertCompanion.Com | 13

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09.2013 t o a l l p e o p l en e Ws

p e o p L e

Co m m U n i t Y

s H o p

B o o K s

Hear more Brenda priddy discusses “car spy photography” on “KNpR’s State of Nevada” at desertcompanion.com/hearmore

So Las Vegas isn’t exactly known as a bookish town. Don’t tell that to Ann DeVere. She’ll laugh.

“I’m just so delighted at people telling me people in Las Vegas don’t read anything but the top of a craps table. It’s not true ... there’s a whole culture of readers here,” says DeVere, owner of 20-year-old Plaza Books off East-ern and Warm Springs. “We’re a lot richer culture in that regard than people give us credit for.”

Why is she so upbeat — what with e-books, Amazon, smartphones and the ADD culture of the Internet eat-ing away at the contemplative virtues of the indie book shop? Because DeVere is part of a guild — the Las Vegas Bookmans Guild. If it sounds archaic, that’s because it is. The guild system goes back hundreds of years, when medieval merchants cooperated to establish and main-tain standards of their craft. One key element of this old-school idea: focusing more on collaboration than competition. Guild members regularly refer custom-ers to each other and meet monthly to discuss popular literary themes and buying trends. The guild (lasveg-asbookmansguild.com) has become a survival tactic in an era of changing reading habits.

“In the used bookstore business, there is no competi-tion,” says guild member Myrna Donato, who co-owns Amber Unicorn Books. Case in point: during the inter-

view, Donato helps a customer searching for a cook-book. When she realizes Amber Unicorn doesn’t carry it, Donato offers to track down a copy at another local store. “Our main goal is to get the book in the hands of the customer. They need to know that they’re valuable.” She says the guild has certainly helped business; Amber Unicorn’s sales are up from last year and she’s even plan-ning to expand the store for the second time in five years. Across the street is something telling: an empty building that once housed a Borders Books.

Also nearby is Greyhound’s Books. The store, rich with the smell of bound pages and swells of classical music, is owned by Phil DeFlumear. “We want to eliminate the stigma of crap bookstores,” DeFlumear says of the guild. “You have to be worthy of shopping here to be here.” He doesn’t say this with an impertinent tone; he simply appreciates informed customers who invest time in reading. His own love of books is infectious: DeFlumear shares his 60 years of book store biz wisdom with students at UNLV, where he teaches classes on running a book store. Several of his students are even aspiring used-book store owners — and also part of the guild. Call them the next title in the series.

— Ricardo Torres

continued on pg. 14

C o m m U n i t Y

Bound together

Hear more Hear a discussion of big books that became even bigger movies on “KNpR’s State of Nevada” at desertcompanion.com/hearmore

Keep up with Desert Companion events, news

and bonus features at desertcompanion.com.

H i s t o r Y

old scHoolpop quiz: What

town has nevada’s

oldest and smallest

school still in con-

tinuous operation?

If you answered

Goodsprings —

located just 34 miles

southwest of las

Vegas — retired

Goodsprings

schoolteacher Julie

newberry might just

give you a gold star.

talk about resilience.

one hundred years

later, class is still in

session. on sept. 14,

the school, originally

built as a one-room

schoolhouse (with

two outhouses)

for the whopping

cost of $2,000,

celebrates its 100th

anniversary. “I have

said that if there is

ever a fire, these

things go out the

window before I

do,” says newberry.

Staging a movement: from left, Rehan Choudhry, Joey

Vanas and Michael Cornthwaite

From left, Lou and Myrna Donato, Phil and Barbara DeFlumear, Leo Behnke and Pat McCarty

Available at

When ordinaryis not enough.

The Trails Village Center1900 Village Center Circle, Summerlin702.256.3900tbirdjewels.com

14 | Desert Companion | September 2013

cont

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the party wouldn’t be a

true celebration of a historic

school if it didn’t have an

educational twist. as part

of the celebration, they’ll

offer tours of the school and

historical displays collected

by newberry. a parade of

model ts, an auction and

placing of a time capsule

by the school’s current

students are also part of the

daylong event. a bonus: a

walking tour of the town led

by members of the Good-

springs historical society.

mark p. hall-patton, clark

county museum system

administrator and expert on

the history channel’s “pawn

stars” says, “It’s a great

way to understand some

of the heritage of clark

county.” Info: goodsprings.

org — Linda J. Simpson It’s typical for kids to sing songs in kinder-garten classrooms to help the learning process along. You already know this well — can you recite the al-phabet without getting the “ABC” song in your head?

Kim Glover knows this particularly well. After all, in addition to being a teacher, Kim Glover is also an actor (most recently, she played Nurse Ratched in a spring production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). She regularly incorporates the arts into her les-son plans, but this year Glover is taking music, dance and even finger-painting to a whole new level in her classroom. That’s because this year, Glover, a long-time Clark County School District teacher, is one of 39 instructors teaching at the newly opened Doral Academy. It’s a kindergarten to seventh-grade charter school, and Las Vegas’ first fully arts-integrated pro-gram. It opened last month, and it’s already popular: This summer, Doral (doralacademynv.org) fielded 1,800 applicants for only 750 spots; selections were determined via lottery.

“By incorporating dancing, singing, movement, act-ing, I can better get my students to learn basic con-cepts faster and with ease,” says Glover, who is also the mother of two CCSD graduates, a high school stu-dent and a first-grader at Doral.

Doral is not a school for the performing arts — say, like Las Vegas Academy. An arts-integrated school doesn’t teach just the arts, but rather teaches tradi-tional school subjects through the arts. For instance, a fifth-grade teacher instructing on spatial relation-ships might work with a visual arts teacher. Together they would plan and teach the lessons, which, in an arts-integrated curriculum are often project-intense, focusing on both the art and math objective. Students

not only explore spatial relationships, but gain an ap-preciation for the arts.

“It’s very purposeful, and the students are very much part of that process,” says Doral Academy Prin-cipal Bridget Phillips, since the goal is “to get children up, engaged, moving, using their bodies, creating.” She adds, “Children really learn better when they’re using all of the different modalities.”

To meet objectives, the school has hired some spe-cially licensed teachers, such as its media productions teacher, formerly with Channel 13, and a dance teach-er from the Nevada Ballet Theatre. Beyond core sub-jects and the basics such as art, music and P.E., Doral elementary students receive instruction in media pro-duction, violin, theater and dance.

“Art is in my blood,” says Joanie B. Zibert Wil-liams, Doral Academy’s board president and one of the founders. Williams says that she and other south-west community parents had been offering art classes from their homes to compensate for the lack of arts in public schools. This and her dissatisfaction with large class sizes led to conversations, which led to research and planning, and eventually the charter school, where her third- and fourth-grade children attend. Her four-year-old son will join them when Doral’s pre-kindergarten program opens in January.

“I want my youngest to become a learner. I want him to love learning and to not think of it as a chore but as something fun,” says kindergarten teacher Glover. “It is not about, ‘Read this book and an-swer the questions.’ Using the arts in education fires different synapses in their brains that are not stimulated through regular pen and paper work.” — Chantal Corcoran

Gather up your wenches, halberds, flagons and ye other olde medieval thingamajigs for

the Age of Chivalry festival Oct. 11-13 at Sunset Park. Info:

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If paperback fiction authors are cooks,

Las Vegas is the seasoning they want with-

in easy reach. Setting too bland? Nothing a

little Sin City can’t fix. Characters too flat?

Turn them into mobsters or showgirls. It’s a

secret plenty of authors have known since

the dawn of pulp. Proof: Seventeen bank-

er’s boxes at the Clark County Museum

containing more than 1,000 mass-market

paperback novels published within the last

60-plus years. They range from whodunits

to sci-fi, but they all share that same spice:

They all take place in Las Vegas.

A longtime book collector, Clark County Museum Administrator Mark Hall-Patton has been “picking up” paper-back novels set in Las Vegas for around a decade. “About seven years ago, I got serious about it,” he says. As a historian, he realized that the books could provide a unique basis for research into portrayals of Las Vegas. “I chose mass- market fic-tion,” he says, his idea being that a com-prehensive gathering of “throw-away” books would offer insight into the role Las Vegas has played in popular culture over the last half-century. With titles like Dealing Out Death and Sin Binge, they were written to entertain for a few hours and then to be tossed aside. “Neon Night-mare!” screams one back cover. “She gambled with lust in a shower of shame!” declares another. Though produced for nothing more than titillation, as a group they paint an evolving portrait of Las Vegas since the end of World War II.

“Vegas shows up sometimes in places

where you wouldn’t expect it,” Hall-Patton

says. There’s a novel about nuns, for ex-

ample, and a sci-fi story about a gambling

planet modeled on the Strip. While he

does use keyword “Vegas” to scour sites

like Harlequin and AbeBooks, Hall-Patton

also keeps an eye out when prowling used

bookstores and checks out suggestions

from people — always paying from his own

pocket, though he’s donated the collection

to the museum. As long as the story is set

in Vegas, it’s a mass-market title, and he

can get a physical copy, Hall-Patton wants

it. Mystery, fantasy, romance, police proce-

durals, television and movie novelizations,

men’s action, chick lit — Las Vegas has lent

its neon brilliance to all of them as well as

to a more vague but instantly recognizable

genre Hall-Patton calls “sleaze.”

In the early novels — those written in

the two decades after World War II — the

Mob is a major focus. “Las Vegas doesn’t

have any redeeming features,” Hall-Patton

says. It’s unrelenting Sin City, described in

almost mythological terms and painted in

broad strokes. “Now that there are 2 mil-

lion people living here,” he says, “it’s had

an effect.” In contemporary Vegas novels,

details are more accurate and characters

more realistic. But even though fewer nov-

els these days feature gambling and mob-

sters, stereotypical Las Vegas still shines

through with tremendous resilience. “As

much as we might like to think that Las

Vegas is like every other town — it isn’t,”

Hall-Patton says. “You won’t see stories

set in a drugstore in Henderson.”

The novels also reveal the evolution of

stock characters. In early novels, women

— usually showgirls — are either victims or

seductresses defined by their interactions

with men. These days, men might figure

in, but the women are less often pawns or

vixens. “They’re far more likely to be were-

wolves or vampires,” Hall-Patton says. After

all, you can make a 4,000-year-old vampire

own a casino. Nobody will ever notice that

he never goes outside in the daytime. “I

thought this would be an interesting and

valuable collection for understanding Las

Vegas,” Hall-Patton says. They might be

trashy, but thanks to Hall-Patton’s persever-

ance, generosity and foresight, they are not

trash. — Megan Edwards

The Vegas pulp collection

and Its curator, mark hall-pattonPHOTOGRAPH BY bIll huGhes



sHop

To the point

always en vogue, this to-the-point

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Valentino Contrast yoke wool & silk dress, $3,390, nordstrom in the fashion show mall

t r e n D a L e r t

Season closerfall’s hottest trends to watch for — and wearby CHristie moeLLer

BCBGMAXAZRIA two-tone toggle bracelet, $38, bcbG-maXaZrIa at town square, fashion show mall, forum shops

Thomas Pink Carmen Shirt in white, $300, thomas pink in the shoppes at palazzo

Formula X for Sephora The Holograms in Hocus Pocus, $12.50, sephora in town square, the forum shops at caesars, the miracle mile shops at planet hollywood

D&Y pink beanie, $24, davidandyoung.com

Vince Camuto Kyla tote, $328, Vince camuto in the

fashion show mall

Black & white sometimes

things are just better in black

and white.

Punk’s not dead!

particularly with these punk-inspired spikes, studs, leather and grommets. dust off that old band t and infuse a little

’80s punk into your look.

DKNY black leather ankle biker boot with studs, $295, dkny in the forum shops at caesars

LK Bennett black and white jacket, $545, lk bennett in the forum shops at caesars

Bally Papillion pixie bag, $1,795, bally in the

fashion show mall

Skirt the issue

this ultra-chic, ultra-wearable, figure-flattering silhouette is a favorite this fall. hitting just below the knee, it’s a refreshing departure

from last season’s shorter-than-short

skater skirts.

Thomas Pink Alice skirt, $495, thomas pink in the shoppes at palazzo

Top it off Whether it’s a

simple beanie or a chic chapeau, this season, hats are

where it’s at.

Kate Spade “to the brim” cloche, $148,

kate spade in the fashion show mal

LK Bennett Drew heel, $345, lk bennett in the forum shops at caesars.

Purple pros

the rich vibrant color that symbolizes royalty reigned on the runways this season,

chasing away last season’s blues.

Sergio Rossi suede caged peep-toe bootie, $995, neiman marcus in the fashion show mall

Animal magnetism

bring out your animal this season

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Shopping for a tree? A little detec-tive work get you a happy, healthy tree that’s much more likely to thrive in your garden. Here are some tips.

Bigger isn’t better. Don’t buy too large a tree in too small a container. It may seem like a good deal, but it likely has a condition called girdling roots, or pot-bound; the roots have grown into a circle around the edge of the pot. If the condition is uncorrected, the tree may choke itself to death or snap off at the base years after planting.

The thick of it. Look for trees with thick trunks for their height and lower foliage along the trunk. Lower foliage feeds and strengthens the trunk directly. It also helps prevent trunk sunburn, which can devastate a tree’s health.

In too deep? The tree should also be plant-ed at the right depth in the container. A tree planted too deep can often already have devel-oped disease on the trunk tissue. To see if it’s planted at the right depth, wiggle it in the can or box. If the trunk is pivoting down below the soil, kind of “wallowing” around in the soil, it’s likely planted too deep. The wiggle test also helps de-termine if the tree has the girdling root condition. If, upon wiggling the tree, you see a heaving plate of soil in a smaller circle, or a distinct curved line where the soil is separating, that tree is likely girdled.

Like ’em young. Younger trees establish more quick-

ly, take off faster and are healthier and bigger in the long run. My preferred size for new trees is 15-gallon, and if I can find a 5-gallon specimen, I’ll often opt for that. Trees that are smaller at planting time often end up larger than their bigger-planted cousins in a relatively short time — and you pay less in money and labor.

— Norm Schilling

I’ve always said that one of the keys to successful gardening is to put a plant where it

wants to be, give it room to grow — then sit back and enjoy a glass of wine. It’s a little

more complicated than that, though. Once you’ve decided on the right plant for the right place, proper planting

techniques will help assure a long-lived, healthy plant.

Oversize the planting hole. The planting hole should be twice the diameter

of the container of the plant at the top, and the same size as the diameter at

the bottom. But don’t dig any deeper than the depth of the soil in the pot. The

planting hole will have a sloping edge, which helps encourage root development

into the surrounding soil.

Amend the soils. Non-desert species often dislike our alkaline soils. To amend

the soil, add the following to the pile of dirt from the hole: 1) Well-decomposed

organic matter (it should look like dark, rich soil), at a rate of about 15 percent

compared to the pile of backfill. 2) bone meal, 3) soil sulfur pellets (dissolved in

water), 4) a good pre-plant fertilizer like Gro-Power Flower-n-Bloom 3-12-12.

Handle with care. Handle the root ball gently when removing it from the

container. Gently push with long strokes with the ball of your hand on the sides

of the container to loosen it, then push up from the bottom of the pot to break

it loose. For smaller plants, kneading the edge of the root ball helps break the

roots loose and will encourage them to grow into the surrounding soil. For larger,

woody plants, use hand pruners to cut the root ball out with vertical slices about

an inch deep about every five or six inches around the pot. NS

PoWer PlanT

a Well-done

sTakeNewly planted trees often

require staking to get them

off to a good start, promot-

ing root development and

supporting weak trunks. The

stake that comes with your

tree is called the nursery

stake or transport stake, and

it should be removed the

day it’s planted. These stakes

are right up against the trunk

and can cause injury in the

long term by rubbing against

the tree’s trunk tissue.

If staking is required,

purchase “lodge-pole”

stakes. Use two or three

stakes per tree, set deep

into the soil, outside of the

tree’s root ball. Use a flexible

tie material that is not too

thin, so that it doesn’t cut

into the trunk tissue.

Don’t stake your tree too

firmly. It should be able to

move in the wind. This move-

ment encourages the trunk

to grow stronger. The rule of

thumb from the International

Society of Arboriculture is

that trees should not be left

staked more than one year.

Along with staking, protect

your new tree from sunburn,

which can devastate the tree.

Protect an exposed trunk

with a water-based white

paint, or a product like Easy

Gardener Jobes Tree Wrap. It

stretches and expands with

the trunk and provides great

initial protection. Remove it

entirely after two or three

summers have passed. NS

H o W Y o U r g a r D e n g r o W s

Take this tree advice

p r o t i p

Get trunk: Plant your tree well and

it will grow.

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HEAR MOREIs Las Vegas getting fatter? Hear experts weigh in on

“KNPR’s State of Nevada” at www.desertcompanion/hearmore

department

nNestled below the towering cliffs at the entrance to Zion Na-tional Park, Springdale is probably the most cosmopolitan small town in Amer-ica — but most tourists seem blissfully unaware of that fact. Most of Zion’s 3 million annual visitors see the town as just a place to park to catch the shuttle in to Zion, and Springdale is fine with that. The 530 folks who call Springdale home exude a quiet confidence commensurate with the impressive offerings that line Zion Park Boulevard, the city’s only trafficked road.

Towns this small are usually quiet and conservative, especially in Utah, but with the sheer volume of visitors to Zion, Springdale (springdaletown.com) has had to keep with the times. The main road is dotted with art galleries, bars, res-taurants, shops, boutiques and hotels worthy of any major city. As Springdale Mayor Pat Cluff puts it, “When you’re in Springdale, you’re not in Utah.”

A touching proof of the mayor’s words comes from the two owners of Under the Eaves (undertheeaves.com), a beautifully appointed bed & breakfast just

We’re not in Utah anymoreWith its bars, boutiques and galleries, Springdale is a cozy and cosmopolitan gateway to Zion

By alan GeGax

HEAR MOREGet inside tips on great Zion hikes on “KNPR’s State of

Nevada” at desertcompanion.com/hearmore

travel

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Grounded sounds: The Earth Day

Festival in Zion


Swan LakeACT II

Sleeping BeautyACT III (Aurora’s Wedding)

Friday, Nov 1 & Saturday, Nov 2, 2013 - 7:30pmReynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts

The immortalized characters of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty come alive on stage this November with two enchanting love stories

in a tribute to Tchaikovsky’s timeless scores.

Sleeping Beauty Act III generously sponsored by

Tickets: (702) 749-2000 | NevadaBallet.org

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minutes from Zion’s entrance. Mark Cham-bers and Joe Pitti have been together for 22 years. Four years ago, vacationing at Zion, they stayed at the quiet B&B, fell in love with the place and bought it. The town embraced them. Chambers is now on the town council and Pitti is chair of the planning commis-sion. “We’re stewards of this land,” says Pitti, echoing a sentiment shared by virtually ev-ery resident.

To feel the love where the locals go, The Bit & Spur (bitandspur.com) can’t be beat. Opened in 1981, The Bit, as locals call it, has a large patio where casual diners can watch the setting sun light up The Watchman, one of the incredibly colorful monoliths that make Zion famous. Business is bustling, but Joe Jennings, one of The Bit’s owners, knows it’s all because of Zion. “The park has to be your number one priority if you’re going to have a business in Springdale,” he says. To that end, the Bit & Spur is more than

Take a hike alreadyAccessible and awesome, Zion is pretty grand, too

though Zion canyon may not be as

massive as its “grand” neighbor to the

south, the amazing features of Zion

are much more accessible. Zion’s main

attraction is The Narrows, where the

Virgin river lets hikers “wade in the

shade,” fording upstream beneath cliffs

more than 1,000 feet high and as little

as 20 feet apart. to get an aerial view of

the canyon, test your nerves on Angels

Landing, an isthmus of sandstone with

1,500-foot cliffs on three sides. Similar

views can be had across the canyon at

Observation Point, where hikers need

strong legs instead of steady ones — it’s

an extra 700 feet of climbing, but not

nearly as dangerous. For a short, family-

friendly adventure, check out Weeping

Rock, a permanent spring that drips

water like rain from an overhanging cliff.

tip: Weeping rock can be hiked at night,

providing sweeping views down canyon

with a backdrop of stars. AG

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happy to give up its parking lot for tourists catching the shuttle system into the park. They know that after a long day of hiking, tourists parked in their lot are likely to hop off the shuttle and walk right in to The Bit for a cold beer. The last weekend in Septem-ber, The Bit & Spur hosts the Zion Canyon Music Festival (zioncanyonmusicfestival.com), a free, two-day outdoor music fest in a uniquely beautiful setting. In keeping with Springdale’s spirit of responsible steward-ship, this “Leave No Trace” festival is pow-ered by “solar trailers” that provide portable solar energy. For those with a sweet tooth, no trip to Springdale is complete without a Bumbleberry pie. Baked on site at the Bum-bleberry Inn (bumbleberry.com), the sweet, tart pies have been a Springdale institution for more than 40 years. Rooms at the inn come complete with private decks and ac-cess to a small petting zoo.

For a more upscale hotel experience, check out the Best Western Zion Park Inn (zionparkinn.com). Yes, it’s a Best West-ern, but put out of your mind any images of dreary chain hotels. Clean and modern rooms mean tourists can sleep well after adventuring in Zion. To get ready for the next day’s travels, rooms include a break-fast buffet at the on-site Switchback grill, complete with a live-action egg station (for hungry hikers, this means a lot). The dining room itself is impressive, with bare timbers and enormous, west-facing windows that the staff opens on pleasant days. Best West-ern’s owner, Mike Marion, embodies the dichotomy of this rural Utah destination. A practicing Mormon, Marion followed in the footsteps of LDS Prophet Joseph Smith by getting into the hotel business. Likewise,


Quiet riot: Springdale is surprisingly cosmopolitan.

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KoKopelli triathlon adventurous racers can

test themselves with a

1,500-meter swim in the

reservoir at Sand hollow

State park, a 20-mile bike

ride amid shifting sand dunes

and red sandstone, followed

by a 10k back through the

park. Sept. 14, St. george,

bbsctri.com/kokopelli

tuaCahn amphitheater See a play or hear a concert

with the most beautiful

set imaginable — utah’s

color country. the natural

amphitheater is nestled into

the rocks near Snow can-

yon State park and boasts

everything from “Mary pop-

pins” to “thoroughly Mod-

ern Millie.” performances

throughout fall, tuacahn.org

utah shaKespeare Festival

this month’s offering is the

historical drama “richard

ii.” also on tap are “the

Marvelous Wonderettes,” a

musical set in a 1950s high

school, and “peter and the

Starcatcher,” which tells

the backstory of peter pan.

performances through

oct. 19, bard.org

Zion Canyon musiC Festival this free, two-day concert

event is held in Springdale,

and hosts a variety of live

bands, local foods and

brews, arts & crafts and

a kids’ zone. acts on this

year’s bill include the hol-

lering pines, We are Mirrors

and nicki bluhm and the

gramblers. Sept. 27-28, zi-

oncanyonmusicfestival.com

Save the datesSights, sounds and events in the Zion area this fall and beyond

when he acquired the rights to the town’s only state liquor store. Adjacent to the li-quor store is Switchback Jack’s, the best (and only) sports bar in town. Marion ob-serves the more traditional side of his LDS roots at Springdale’s Mormon church. A pretty brick building, the “Visitors Wel-come” sign out front is most definitely ob-served. About half of Springdale’s residents are Mormon, and on Sundays, the pews are packed with locals and tourists alike. Ac-cording to Marion, on major holidays like Easter, attendance can be more than 80 percent tourists.

Of course, everything winds its way back to Zion. For those looking to do more in Zion than a few day hikes, the place to go is Zion Adventure Company (zionadventures.com). It’s the one-stop shop for all things Zion — from equipment rentals to guided trips to backcountry shuttles. But their most valu-able service has no price: Nobody in Spring-dale knows more about Zion than these peo-ple. But like everyone else in town, they’re genuinely enthused about sharing their love of the park with the tourists from around the world who discover on Zion’s doorstep a very big small town.

“Peter and the Starcatcher” at Tuacahn Amphitheater

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department

iI’ve twice seen Ariel Triunfo dance. The first time was three years ago, when Ne-vada Ballet Theatre’s 2010 summer intensive classes were wrapping up and the parents of so many ballerinas gathered in Nevada Ballet Theatre’s large Studio B to watch the session’s concluding performance. Whether it was tap dancing, modern or classical ballet, Triunfo was always the standout. Her big brown eyes, filled with determination and joy, lit up the makeshift stage; her face and movements ex-uded charisma and personality; and her feet, wrapped tightly in pointe shoes for the ballet portion, moved with strict precision across the Marley floor. At 14, she was one of the older dancers in the pageant.

Like so many girls, Triunfo has wanted to be a ballerina since she was very young but, like too many, her parents couldn’t afford to buy her lessons. Ballet classes are expensive. Ne-vada Ballet Theatre’s tuition for young dancers begins at $55 a month, for a one-hour weekly class, and the price climbs from there as stu-dents add classes or advance in levels. Once a dancer reaches the academy’s upper echelons, level seven or eight, the starting tuition is as high as $295 a month. Add to this the regular expense of tights, leotards, costumes and ballet shoes (pointe shoes run about $70 a pair) and growing a ballerina is no small investment.

In New York, Triunfo’s parents managed to find their then-five-year-old daughter dance classes through various community centers, but these ended a year and a half later when the family moved to Las Vegas. Then, when Triunfo was nine, her mother spotted a notice

posted at the public library that would change her daughter’s life forever.

Nevada Ballet Theatre’s community out-reach program, Future Dance, was auditioning children for scholarships. Recipients would re-ceive dance classes at the West Las Vegas Arts Center through a federally funded national ini-tiative whereby Nevada Ballet Theatre teamed up with Creative Communities to bus kids from public housing into community dance classes.

Terané Comito, Nevada Ballet Theatre’s director of education and outreach, remem-bers Triunfo’s audition. “Right away, when we saw her, we were just blown away. That’s how much natural talent she had. She had perfect turnout, great feet, musicality for days, flex-ibility — but no real serious training.” That’s what Future Dance gave her. They were so impressed with the young Triunfo that the

ballet teachers whisked her straight into Ne-vada Ballet Theatre’s Academy, bypassing the community classes, where she began studying alongside tuition-paying students.

That was eight years ago. Triunfo’s been a Future Dance scholar ever since. And this past June, with two other dance scholars, Karri Jo-nas and Carolyn Roorda, she became one of the first graduates of the Future Dance program.

‘ it Changes ChilDren’s lives’For 20 years, Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Future Dance has been offering free after-school dance classes to students in local at-risk elementary schools. Twice a week, from Octo-ber through May, students in the third through fifth grades train in gymnasiums and cafeterias with Future Dance’s teaching artists. The 28-week study, which includes modern, hip-hop,

Make your moveAt-risk kids with ballet dreams find support — and life-changing opportunities — at Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Future Dance program

By Chantal CorCoran

Photography by JaCob mCCarthy

community

Getting the pointe: Future Dance

graduate Ariel Triunfo


The Hill Concert SeriesTickets On Sale September 5th!

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jazz and ballet, culminates in a grand spring concert for friends and family in the theatre at Las Vegas Academy. Currently, 12 schools and 650 students participate in the nonprofit program, including Elaine Wynn Elementary, where Jonas first began, and Gilbert CVT El-ementary, where Roorda was discovered.

“It changes children’s lives,” says Erika Kirby, a fourth-grade teacher at Harvey N. Dondero Elementary who’s also been a Future Dance teacher for nine years. “The children that I teach every day in the class would nev-er be able to afford dance classes otherwise. Their families struggle just to get by or just to deal with the basic necessities.”

Nearly the entire student body at Dondero signs up to participate, but only 130 students are accepted. Behavior, attendance and grades all factor into the decision process. “They don’t have to have the highest grades, but it’s really an incentive to be in school and do your best, so that you get to be in dance class,” Kirby says of the program that, for dance’s recent rise in popularity (due to shows like “So You think You Can Dance”), attracts nearly as many boys as girls. While free after-school care certainly contributes to the demand for the program, that’s only a part of it.

“They’re really fun, upbeat, nonstop classes. You’re moving the whole time. We have ev-erything from sashays and triplets to hip hop combinations across the floor, to kicks and leaps,” says Comito, who developed the cho-reography-focused curriculum with the final performance in mind.

And for the kids, the takeaway — beyond the new moves — can be immense. In some cases, this first introduction to dance leads kids to the Las Vegas Academy, then future careers in the arts. For others, it’s even more significant. “A lot of the times, kids that are really shy or withdrawn and they’re obviously having home problems, they come out of their shell. It’s their time to be free and be themselves,” says Comito. “It’s just amazing. Teachers and principals will come to me and say, ‘Oh, my gosh, this kid is a completely different kid in this class.’”

Select Future Dance Students — about three per participating school — are offered scholar-ships to attend Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Dance Discovery classes with everything covered, from tights to shoes. Of 90 ballet students in the Dance Discovery program, those showing the most potential will win full-ride schol-arships to attend Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Academy, as did Jonas, Roorda and, of course, Triunfo. (Currently, there are 29 scholarship students training at Nevada Ballet Theatre’s


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Summerlin site.) That’s a powerful spring-board to a promising future: Jonas went on to major in dance at Las Vegas Academy and she earned a full dance scholarship to Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she began this fall. Roorda also attended Las Vegas Acad-emy, then received a dance scholarship to at-tend Southern Utah University.

As for Triunfo, her path is a little different. Upon graduating as a Future Dance scholar, Triunfo, who did homeschooling, was of-fered a trainee position with Nevada Ballet Theatre’s professional company from James Canfield, Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Di-rector. It’s the first time Canfield has offered a trainee slot — a coveted position — to a Future Dance graduate.

ConfiDenCe, fortituDe, personalityThe second time I saw Triunfo dance was last week. It was a routine company class, again in the large Studio B, and this time she, yet to turn 18, was one of the youngest in the group. Dressed in a purple leotard with a low-cut back (uniforms aren’t enforced on com-pany members the way they are on students) and working through standard floor exercises — glissades, jetés, pirouettes — Triunfo ex-uded the confidence, fortitude and abundant personality I’d remembered from years earlier. Again, her eyes shone.

So, I’m a bit mystified when we sit down

Leaping ahead: Today, Triunfo is a Nevada Ballet Theatre trainee.

to talk, to discover how shy she is. She speaks in soft tones and wears a guarded demeanor when she explains that a free ride isn’t neces-sarily an easy road. Beyond the usual challeng-es a ballerina faces, like uncooperative bodies and physical injuries, Triunfo says of her early years at the academy, “I felt very out of place. I was shy. I really didn’t speak much and I took every rule and correction very seriously. Sometimes, I think, the other girls were like, ‘What’s with her?’”

And Comito’s rules for scholars are strict: In order to maintain scholar status, a student can’t have more than three absences per year; she can’t miss any dress rehearsals or perfor-mances; she’s required to act as an ambassa-dor for the program; and once she reaches the fourth level, she must act as a teacher’s assis-tant for the younger classes.

“I never had an issue with any of the rules. They were there, so I followed them,” Triunfo says. But for several years, just getting to class was a challenge. When she was 11 years old, family problems left her without transporta-tion and the young dancer was made to travel via three city buses, for as many as four hours each day just to get to dance class.

“We moved around a lot, which was also fi-nancial. We’d get moved from public housing to public housing, so that would also change the bus routes,” Triunfo explains. “The hard-est was when I was coming from public school. From there I had to take the bus home to the bus stop by my house, and from that bus stop I had to run to catch the bus to get here, with all my school stuff and all my dance stuff.” She was 13 at the time.

Still, she insists, in her quiet voice, she nev-er once thought to give up. Her tenacity was a factor in Canfield’s decision to invite her to train with the company.

“When a young child who is devoted to dance makes the decision to follow their dream of one day dancing in a professional ballet company, they often have little under-standing of the challenges of a career of this nature,” Canfield writes to me in an email. “Yet, some find their path as an escape into a performing arts world that allows them to deal with life’s trials and tribulations and communicate with others in the most ex-traordinary way.”

His words call to mind Triunfo’s exuber-ance on stage and Comito’s description of the elementary school kids who suddenly bloom in the after-school classes, “Kids that are re-ally shy or withdrawn ... they come out of their shell. It’s their time to be free and be them-selves.”



aAlmost every show that’s been on the air for more than two seasons winds up with a Las Vegas episode. Find some pretext to pack up the cast, dump them into a car or on a plane, point them toward Sin City and let the hijinks ensue!

The dramatic possibilities inherent in gam-bling losses or wins/unplanned weddings/alcohol-induced amnesia do seem irresistible to any writer mired in the season-three narrative doldrums. Vegas-based stories are also deployed to distract from stars-on-leave or provide the momentum for a spin-off. (“Will & Grace” sent the cast to Sin City during Debra Messing’s ma-ternity leave; “Designing Women” took a private jet there to distract from the absence of Delta Burke.) But sometimes a “Vegas” episode is a little misleading. Often it’s just a soundstage in Burbank with some craps tables — “Friends” did two and a half Las Vegas episodes without set-

ting foot in Nevada. Not that going on-location assures the maximum glamorous city experi-ence: For “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” the trip to Sin City did involve footage from the Sands, but spent most of its time meandering around a faux-desert with Fred MacMurray. Here are eight television episodes that actually made something of the myth of Las Vegas.

the twilight Zone“The Fever,” SeaSon 1, epiSode 17Original airdate: January 29, 1960This episode was inspired by Rod Ser-ling’s own Vegas vacation: He decided to cel-ebrate the successful first season on his new television show with a weekend in Sin City and found himself uncomfortably enchanted by the slot machines. Here, a woman wins a trip to Las Vegas from a commercial promotion — much to the chagrin of her husband, who is violently op-posed to gambling. But when a stranger tosses hubby a coin and tells him to drop it in a slot machine, he does so … and is done for.

Everett Sloane had played important support-ing roles in “Citizen Kane” and “The Asphalt Jungle” and he makes the gambler’s compulsion believable: Pouring sweat, cranking the one-armed bandit for five hours at a stretch, bab-bling, “This machine mocks me, it teases, it beck-ons. Put in five, pay out four. Put in six, it pays out five …” His wife begs him to return to the room, but he refuses. He finally collapses and is hauled away, the gray-suited men pulling his wriggling arms, his feet scuffing across patterned carpet. Even when he’s back in his comped mini-suite, he hears it calling his name, spinning its cher-ries at him in the hotel room mirror, blinking its lights threateningly. “The Fever” wasn’t shot on location, but its visceral manifestation of one of the malevolent spirits of Las Vegas makes it fiercely accurate nonetheless.

alfreD hitChCoCk presents“The Man FroM The SouTh,” SeaSon 5, epiSode 15Original airdate: January 3, 1960You had me at “Starring Steve Mc-Queen. Guest Star, Peter Lorre.” “The Man from the South” is actually a short story by Roald Dahl that has been filmed a number of times (including a Quentin Tarantino adaptation). This first rendi-tion remains the best, largely due to McQueen in all of his youthful, dashing glory as a small-time gambler and the veteran character Lorre in portly ’n’ sinister Sidney Greenstreet mode as the man with an irresistible proposition ...

It opens with a penniless McQueen loung-ing around the bar, chatting up a pert dancer

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— played by his then-wife, Nelie Adams. Lorre strolls up, all Continental charm and gentle-men’s wagers. “I’ve always liked the informality of Vegas and you meet such interesting people,” he says, which is how Steve McQueen winds up betting his little finger against a convertible in a gorgeous mid-century suite at 8 a.m. It’s largely a character piece, Lorre’s antsy noir trickster and McQueen’s laconic ’60s hustler meeting over room-service drinks and assorted vices, along with one last memorable character adding a final twist. Still, who has not wanted to send a bellboy out for “some nails, a hammer, a length of good, strong cord and a chopping knife”?

BioniC woman “FeMboTS in laS vegaS,” SeaSon 3, epiSodeS 3-4Original airdate: September 24, 1977Well, it certainly is a great title. This is Jamie Somers’ second run-in with the dreaded fembots and there is one believ-able thing about it: Las Vegas would be the best place to hide a sexy lady robot army. The android lovelies in shimmery pantyhose and feathered hair pop up everywhere, constantly challenging our heroine — fembots are ciga-rette girls, cocktail waitresses, showgirls. Fem-bots are never housekeeping.

We do get an amusing taste of “what hap-pens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” tourist gusto; Jamie’s normally uptight boss Oscar Goldman begins letting loose like he’s Oscar Goodman, picking her up at the airport in a Cadillac boat, hooting, “Welcome to Las Vegas! I love con-vertibles!” But, hey, why not? How many guys get to take the Bionic Woman to the Casino de Paris show at the Dunes?

There’s a lot of detailed ’70s Fremont Street shots, as our heroine sashays from casino to casino in a wardrobe of culottes and big floppy hats, hot on the trail of mechanized showgirls. Naturally, this leads to some headdress-toppling, cyborg backstage catfights. Then, of course, it’s off to the mad scientist’s secret lair somewhere in the desert — because the mad scientist’s lair in the desert is almost as much of a Vegas cliché as the surprise wedding or big win.

Charlie’s angels“angelS in vegaS,” SeaSon 3, epiSode 1-2Original airdate: September 13, 1978This is probably the gold standard of Las Vegas episodes: A two-part mini-movie starring Dean Martin with Scatman Crothers as Martin’s buddy/good luck charm and Dick Sar-gent as a bad-tempered lounge singer. There’s


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even special Vegas-only credits with Jaclyn Smith high-kicking in the Folies Bergere and Cheryl Ladd in a speedboat on Lake Mead, along with classic footage of gaming tables and neon signs. Martin plays the owner of the Tropicana — back when you could win a casino in a craps game — who is, naturally, a good friend of Char-lie’s and, naturally, needs the Angels to come investigate some suspicious doings at his casino.

Kelly gets a gig as a showgirl and pretends to be a gold-digger on the make, while Chris winds up as a backup singer (she can actually sing, too: Cheryl Ladd was Melody’s voice on Josie and the Pussycats) with a full load of faux-naïveté. Both strategies provide fine cover for asking who owes who money or why that guy gets so upset whenever you mention his wife. Martin falls for “accountant” Sabrina — for those who recall her as the brain between two bombshells, it’s interesting to note that she was usually the one who motivated the romantic subplots. Also, for those who remember this as a bikini show, it’s weird to be reminded that these ladies wore more pantsuits in one episode than Hillary Clinton does in an entire administration.

the simpsons“viva ned FlanderS,” SeaSon 10, epiSode 10Original airdate: January 10, 1999Things start with a bang, specifically the implosion of Springfield’s Montgomery Burns Casino. Soon after Homer sees Ned Flan-ders getting a special price at the car wash (“How come Churchy LaFemme gets a discount?!”), he tells everyone that Ned is lying to get senior citi-zen rates, only to find out that Ned Flanders is indeed 60 years old — his youthful appearance the result of a boring, predictable existence. When Flanders realizes that his fun-free lifestyle inspires not awe at his virtue, but pity at his dull-ness, he decides to change his ways.

Ned finds the most-live-for-the-moment guy he knows and begs Homer, “Will you teach me the secret of your intoxicating lust for life?” Naturally, this leads to a Vegas road trip. The two cruise a cartoon Strip — “Okla-Homo!” at the Rivera, “Klon-Dykes” at the Snowshoe — before winding up at “Nero’s Palace.” Homer idly gambles away all their money as Ned prays for guidance to a surveillance camera, which intones, “Keep … gambling.” Things go south when the cocktail goddesses bring Ned a “White! Wine! Spritzer!” and we cut to a de-stroyed suite, golf cart crashed into the rotat-ing bed. Ned shudders awake, fully clothed, in a jacuzzi and looks at Homer, saying, “I have


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a pounding headache, my mouth tastes like vomit and I don’t remember a thing!” “Wel-come to my world,” responds Homer wearily.

Then, of course, in walk cocktail waitresses Ginger and Amber — who are now Mrs. Ned Flanders and Mrs. Homer Simpson. There’s a trip to the buffet and an attempt to ditch out, thwarted by the Moody Blues, Siegfried and Roy and the rest of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce: “Las Vegas doesn’t care for out-of-towners! Take your money and go someplace else!” If it all sounds a bit like The Hangover — down to the Mike Tyson (erm, Drederick Tatum) cameo — well, it does. With a fast pace, plenty of weird ersatz celebrity moments and references to Ralph Steadman and the Rat Pack, this is another strong contender for Best. Vegas. Episode. Ever, as Comic Book Guy would say.

X-files“Three oF a Kind,” SeaSon 6, epiSode 20Original airdate: May 2, 1999Again using the “one of our leads is missing! If we go to Vegas, no one will notice!”

ploy, this episode is marked by the absence of Agent Mulder. This episode focuses on the troi-ka of nerds known as the Lone Gunmen, who are in town trying to infiltrate the DefCon Con-vention — here that’s short for “defense con-tractor,” but wise geeks know that’s what they call the real-life Vegas hacker convention. Our heroes have also found “a place where a naked chick will teach you to shoot a machine gun.” Most of the action takes place at the Monte Car-lo and there are a lot of location shots — your standard wide sweep of the gaming floor into a high-stakes Texas Hold ’Em game, as well as a trip to the Clark County morgue.

The Lone Gunmen attempt to infiltrate a presentation on some new secret weapon and bumble into blowing their own cover. Then a mysterious hypodermic shot causes one of their comrades to throw himself under the bus — lit-erally. Is it a covert government mind-control weapon at work? But of course! After a Dun-geons & Dragons game (apparently the nerd equivalent of a wake) they lure Agent Scully to Vegas. It doesn’t take long for her to get the enigmatic hypodermic and turn into a chain-

smoking, ass-grabbing flirt holding court at a casino lounge, surrounded by besotted bureau-crats. (Still in her severe agent drag, which is too bad — what better use could there be for our tax dollars than to get Dana Scully a Versace?) “Why would the government want to turn Scully into a bimbo?” the Lone Gunmen wonder. Several per-sonality reversals, a few more secret weapons and a faked death later, they find out ...

the sopranos“Kennedy and heidi,” SeaSon 6, epiSode 18Original airdate: May 13, 2007The asbestos disposal is becoming a hassle, Junior is screwing up again, Tony and Christopher are riding around the dark north Jersey roads talking about some other bullshit and — major car accident! And Tony kills Christopher — who was seriously damaged, both physically and drug-test-wise, but it was more a murder of opportunity than a mercy killing. Tony keeps trying to convince himself and everyone around him that his nephew’s death is not a tragedy, but no one else seems to

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buy in. So, Tony decides he needs “some peace and quiet, chill out” and heads for Las Vegas.

In a scene curiously reminiscent of the show’s Jersey Turnpike opening, Tony cruises through the airport tunnel, past the Excalibur and down the Strip, sunlit hotel marquees blazing up along-side him. Soon he’s striding across the crystal ca-sino at Caesars Palace, winning at roulette, eat-ing a steak dinner. But Tony Soprano has never been much of a man for solitude, and he looks up a stripper friend of Christopher’s: Again, Tony wants to mention his death to everyone, but doesn’t want to discuss it. By way of avoidance, there’s booze and sex and, finally, peyote.

At close, a tripping Tony is sitting out in the desert, looking out on the valley, waiting for the sun to rise. Suddenly, he springs to his feet and shouts, “I GET IT!” But what does he get? It’s one of The Sopranos’ most cryptic final mo-ments, only three episodes before the final one. “Kennedy and Heidi” also earned The Sopranos its only directing Emmy. Yes, I know.

family guy“The road To laS vegaS,” SeaSon 11, epiSode 21Original airdate: May 19, 2013“The Road to …” episodes of “Family Guy” are always among viewer favorites, dis-tilling the show down to the drunken dog, the angry baby and some delightful musical num-bers. It’s surprising that it took so long for the Vegas episode to happen, though Stewie once daydreamed a trip to Vegas that goes from high-roller to slot loser, ending with a strangled showgirl and a bus to anywhere out of town, all set to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.”

In this episode, some confusion between Stewie’s teleportation machine and his time machine leads to two pairs of boy and dog on the loose in Sin City. Both keep nearly crossing paths, but are on entirely different trajectories: One pair wins “enough money to pay that Carrot Top impersonator to beat up that Rita Rudner impersonator,” the oth-er pair has nothing but bad luck. Eventually their paths cross, with some confusion about loan sharks knowing who’s who — “Tacky?! Sir, I’ll have you know I bought this suit in the lobby of a casino!” — and whether the backpack contains a juice box and crackers or ten grand. It’s not clear which casino the duos have landed in, but it does seem to be strongly reminiscent of the Bellagio, though the opportunity for a Chihuly joke is missed. (Yes, “Family Guy” left an obscure reference unturned.)


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g“God is still speaking! But are we lis-tening?”

These could easily be the words that launch a Sunday service in just about any Christian church. Today, the candles dedicated to loved ones and prayers of the sick and needy twinkle, stage left. Meanwhile, at stage right, the choir, backed by a band, keeps people on their feet. Throughout the service, the pastor preaches and directs the music — belting out a phrase or two in a rich voice, a glimpse of this very unlike-ly pastor’s former life as a self-described “Vegas showboy.” Meet Greg Davis, the openly gay pas-tor of Northwest Community Church.

And that “showboy” background comes out not only in the sometimes elaborate staging of sermons — like Easter Sunday, when the cross was draped in several dozen feet of colorful fabrics and festooned with lilies — but even in some of the simpler ser-mons filled with more everyday references he uses to drive points home. For a Father’s Day sermon, just weeks after his own father had passed away, Rev. Davis dove deeply into not only what scripture says about fatherhood, but what pop culture does as well. Images of Ward Cleaver, Mike Brady, and even Archie Bunker flashed on the screen behind Davis as he en-couraged the congregation to shout out quali-ties of each of the characters and how they relate to fatherhood.

After the service on any given Sunday, your eyes might travel around the room and really see the families gathered around the coffee

cart. Some of these families have two moms or two dads, and there are as many sporting church-logo T-shirts as there are parishio-ners wearing Human Rights Campaign gear. Cars in the parking lot are dotted with bumper stickers touting their kid’s academic achieve-ments, sporting silhouettes of athletes kicking soccer balls and promoting “NoH8.” Indeed, at this church, your stereotypical nuclear family — mommy, daddy and a baby makes three — stands out as the odd duck. Something I know from personal experience, as my family at-tends this church.

But whoever you are, Davis will find you. The reverend bounces through the crowd on Sundays seeking out the shy and the strangers — and there have been many more new faces since Davis came on at Northwest last Octo-

ber. After watching one of his sermons, which he delivers in street clothes rather than the somber collar many clergy don, you would be tempted to see only the exuberance he deliv-ers on his new stage, the pulpit.

“I don’t know that I would attribute it to him being a gay man, but his leadership style is so much more celebratory and uplifting than (more recent pastors),” says Bill Thomas, one of the original founding members of the 12-year-old church. “There’s this really grand sense of worship.”

But it is Davis’ ability to connect with people that often resonates most, as Thomas explains.

“One thing that is different is that Greg is a member of the LGBT community,” he says, noting that all of the founding members of the church were straight. “For whatever rea-

Refuge for the lostWhere do the faithful go when a church rejects gays and lesbians? Places like Northwest Community Church, where Rev. Greg Davis is building a safe harbor

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An open book: Rev. Greg Davis

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son, there is that connection that we did not have before.”

Davis says he can see it as well. “There’s a dif-ferent solidarity.”

In this space bathed in sunlight streaming through the stained glass — the picture of tradi-tion and history — some very stubborn bound-aries are being broken. And this isn’t just a Ve-gas thing. Churches and whole denominations are opening up to openly gay members, as well as church leaders. With the June 26 Supreme Court ruling dismantling a significant portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, it’s possible that there’s never been a better time for faith groups to open the doors to the LGBT people who were once rejected. Pastors such as Rev. Davis are leading the way.

From tHe Closet to tHe pulpitIt wasn’t so long ago that the mere mention of a gay faith leader — whether out or in the closet — would have been nothing short of blasphemy. And there are certainly plenty of religious spaces, Christian or any other reli-gion, who have not only hung a “Do Not Enter” sign, but that have virtually nailed the door shut. The prevailing message for much of the history of the Christian church has been pretty clear: You’re not welcome here. That message is one that many members of Northwest Com-munity Church, which shares worship space with First Christian Church in a building off Rancho Drive, have spent a lifetime trying to reconcile even as they acknowledged that they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Rev. Greg Davis is no exception.

Growing up in Oklahoma, Davis, 52, was raised Southern Baptist. By the age of 13 he re-alized two things: He wanted to devote his life to God and music ministry, and that he was gay.

“Music was a big part of my spiritual life at church,” Davis tells me when we meet for lunch a week before the Supreme Court hands down a landmark decision. “Everything I did was geared to that.”

While Davis describes his childhood in mostly idyllic ways, there were some dark mo-ments. Davis says he was sexually abused, but says when he told his parents, their support helped him move past the experience. Later on, Davis says he did his best to fit into the ste-reotype of a straight guy. He had girlfriends in high school, but they would always eventually ask him if he was gay.

“They would always question me, ‘Are you gay?’” He says, chuckling. “I was doing the good Baptist boy thing. ‘You know, a kiss leads to …’ I wasn’t trying to get away with anything like the other boys.”



By the time he was majoring in church music at Oklahoma Baptist University, he fi-nally started to reconcile with the truth about himself. Still very timid in his sexual identity, Davis ventured out to a couple of gay clubs. “I was still too scared to actually do anything, but I was curious,” Davis says. When univer-sity officials found out, Davis was threatened with expulsion. Instead, however, he was sent to reparative, or aversion, therapy and required to move back into the dorms — the all-male dorms.

“You think I’m gay and you’re forcing me to live in an all-male dormitory?” Davis says with a laugh.

On the subject of reparative therapy — popu-larly referred to as “pray the gay away” — all Davis says is that it finally stopped when he in-explicably yelled out “No!” in a crowded class-room. By this time, Davis was learning fast that his dreams of one day leading a big, Southern Baptist choir were well out of reach.

“Not wanting to be gay is huge,” he says, the smile fading from his face. “There is that thing inside you that you’re constantly fighting.” (The same week of our interview, news broke that one of the largest reparative therapy orga-nizations, Exodus International, had disband-ed its board and abruptly changed direction, with President Alan Chambers apologizing for the damage wrought by his organization.) Whatever memories or scars Davis carries from his experience, he quickly focuses back on music and ministry.

“You’d be amazed how many music leaders in the church are gay,” he says, almost conspiratori-ally. “A lot of them have really mastered how to live that lie. But if churches really started kicking out all the gays, there’d be no music leaders left!”

tHe sHowBiz ConneCtionBy the time the AIDS crisis started to hit in the early 1980s, Davis went to study mu-sic at the University of Houston. He saw the Christian-based response as not only lacking compassion, but as a sign that he needed to redirect his love of music elsewhere. “(The church’s) response to the AIDS crisis was … well, it was hateful. That’s when I decided to go into show business instead.”

Musical theater took him to major cities in the Midwest, including shows in Wichita, Kan-sas, Oklahoma City and Chicago. But as the ’80s drew to a close, Las Vegas came calling. On Jan. 1, 1990, Davis got a part in “Forever Plaid,” which he did for about eight years. Almost 10 years lat-er, he was hatching plans to move back to New

York City when he took over the music depart-ment at Community Lutheran Church in Octo-ber of 1999.

“I had kind of fallen in love with Las Vegas,” he says. “And then everything I had ever want-ed to do as a kid, I was getting to do (at Com-munity Lutheran).” A few months after taking on his new role at Community Lutheran, Davis was feeling another kind of love in his life. In April 2000, Davis met Freddie Harmon at a Sunday country-western dance.

“I saw him in the crowd and just as I saw him he looked up and locked eyes with me,” says Harmon, a native Nevadan and Chief Marketing Officer at the Tropicana Hotel. “As soon as I got home, I called him and left a message.”

One of the first things Harmon remembers Davis asking was whether or not he went to church. In fact, Harmon says, his family was not very religious and he would just “float through” churches of any denomination — Baptist, Mormon, what-have-you — with none of them feeling exactly right.

“It just never felt comfortable at church be-cause of my sexuality,” Harmon says. Having grown up hearing about how homosexuality was a sin left a deep impression. “That kind of resonates with a kid. I don’t think I would have felt comfortable at any church. (I learned that) church and my sexuality didn’t go to-gether.” Cut to 2000, and after a first date the day after they met, Rev. Davis has Harmon at church two days later.

“It immediately took away what I had felt before. Being with Greg made it okay,” Har-mon says.

Isn’t church an unusual second date? Harmon laughs. “I just remember loving it at church, like I had been missing it. There’d been a void.”

Filling tHe voiDPerhaps it’s that void that calls so many different types of people to the little-church-that-could on Rancho Drive, well be-fore Rev. Davis took the leadership role last fall. Even though Northwest is a United Church of Christ church, you’ll find Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and even atheists who have finally found a respite amid the stormy waters of religion. Heartbreaking stories of being kicked out of churches they loved (as well as from families they were once a part of ) abound.

Dr. Charlotte Morgan is just such a member. Raised in the evangelical Lutheran tradition in the suburbs of Minneapolis, the 53-year-old naturopathic doctor says she was a devoted Camp Fire Girl, spending summers out in the woods or paddling a canoe. Her other favorite pastime was singing in the church choir. “I al-ways loved to sing,” she recalls.

And then, in 1975, when Morgan was 15, a friend’s mom called and told her mother that her daughter had just come out as a lesbian. The friend’s mom concluded that if her daugh-ter was gay, then Morgan must be, too. She re-members her mother asking her point-blank if she was a lesbian.

“I think in 1975 I did not know about sex and sexuality. I had barely gotten my period about a year and half earlier. I told my mom, no,” Morgan pauses and adds, “I didn’t think that I was.”

But her mother thought she was lying. And that belief caused a deep rift between the two of them. “That changed our relationship forever.”

A few years later, when the choirgirl was ready to transition from the youth choir to the adult choir at church, she suddenly found her-self uninvited to participate. In fact, it turned out the invitation to leave went beyond just

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choir. At 18, Morgan was shown the exit door to the only church she had ever known, where she’d been baptized, and eventually where she’d mark the passing of each of her parents.

“It was very Midwest — you know how nobody ever talks about anything in the Mid-west,” Morgan recalls. “No one said it in so many words that I was kicked out for being gay, but the message was clear.”

When she finally did come out to her moth-er, the response was unapologetically nega-tive. Her mother suggested she go to aversion therapy, which Morgan would only agree to if her mother went to a meeting at PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays). It was a stalemate.

“My mom said, ‘Don’t tell your dad. It would kill him.’” Six months later, Morgan’s father died of a heart attack.

And with that, Morgan packed up and moved to Seattle, bidding her family and her faith good riddance. “I was done with church. I went on and lived my life.”

But as it turned out, religion was not done with Morgan just yet. In 1997, Morgan and her partner Julie Liebo were starting the two-year process to adopt the first of their two daugh-ters. Together for seven years at that point, they were discussing what they wanted for the child who was coming into their lives. To her surprise, Morgan told Liebo she wanted to have their child baptized, just as she had been as a child.

“She’s Jewish. Neither one of us had been practicing (our religions). She did not get it at all,” Morgan says. “I told her I didn’t care if it was through the Jewish faith or what. I said, ‘I so much believe in God, I don’t care what house it’s in.’”

After some discussion and an urging from Liebo’s father to “Do something!” they finally agreed. But the plan was to find a church and just do a quickie baptism and get out. Neither one had any interest in maintaining a reli-gious practice. Having newly arrived in Las Vegas in 2004, Morgan searched online for a church that was “open and affirming” – the of-ficial designation of United Church of Christ churches that welcome LGBT individuals — and found Northwest Community Church.

What started as a quickie baptism has turned into nine years with the local church and Morgan starting seminary two years ago. But while many say they feel a calling by God to go to seminary and become an official reli-gious leader, Morgan says her motivations are different. She wants to be a voice for those too

afraid to come out; she wants to be an example to straight family members who struggle with accepting a gay relative.

“I didn’t feel a calling,” she says matter-of-factly. But at her naturopathic clinic, where she guides patients to create mind, body, and spiritual connections, she says she has seen a lot of miracles. “I saw that people have better wellness when they have spiritual wellness.”

CHurCHes on tHe outs “I think the church is coming out,” Rev. Davis says.

And there seem to be people ready to find those “out” churches. According to a 2009 Barna Group survey, 60 percent of gay adults described their faith as “very important” to them, compared with 72 percent of straight adults. And 70 percent of gay people identify with America’s dominant religion, Christian-ity, compared to 85 percent of heterosexuals. It was a telling moment in July when Pope Francis said, “If a gay person is searching for God with goodwill, who am I to judge them?”

Meanwhile, other Christian denominations, like the Episcopals, have been responding with more concrete and less symbolic gestures. In June the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest denomination in that reli-gion, elected their first openly gay bishop. But it took a few years. The ELCA Lutherans voted to allow openly gay ordained ministers in 2009.

In fact, Rev. Davis told leadership at Com-munity Lutheran Church of his plans to go to seminary the day after that 2009 announce-ment. The response was that it was great news, he says, but some doubted if there could be a place for him within the Lutheran denomina-tion when he got out in three years.

“I was told that even though the vote hap-pened, it was going to take time for change to really take hold in congregations,” Davis recalls.

He was steered toward the United Church of Christ, as a religion that has a reputation for being less hostile to LGBT faith leaders. But, as Davis explains, only about 22 percent of UCC churches are open and affirming. “You have to navigate a lot of resistance.”

When he got out of seminary, he found a lot of doors, even within the United Church of Christ, to be shut tight.

Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and author of the new book God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage, knows something about that. Elected in 2003, the now-retiring bishop writes in his book about facing daily death threats in the

high-profile and precedent-setting role. And the agitation was not just from outside the church. In 2008, the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to invite Robinson to the Lambeth Conference of bishops in England. It was the first time a bishop had been excluded in such fashion in the centu-ries-old religion. He went anyway.

That same year, Robinson married his part-ner of then-21 years, Mark Andrews, after New Hampshire passed same-sex marriage rights. Robinson says he believes this was important not only because he believes in the covenant of marriage in the religious arena, but also be-cause he believes in the contract of marriage in the civil arena, a contract that confers more than 1,100 rights and privileges. He writes in his book, “Nothing in Scripture or orthodox theology precludes our opening the institu-tion of marriage to same-gender couples.” And Robinson feels strongly that the visibility of openly gay leaders in church is important.

“It matters who’s at the top, or who is in leadership positions,” the bishop says. “When there are LGBT leaders, that signals to every-one that change is happening.”

Fire in tHe BaCkyarDWith DOMA all but dismantled — one remaining component allows states to not recog-nize same-sex marriages from other states — the fight over marriage rights in the 30 states with bans may ignite anew. And it’s right here in our backyard.

A joint resolution to repeal Nevada’s de facto ban on same-sex marriage passed its first hurdle during the 2013 Legislature. State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson lobbied passionately on the floor for rights and in the process came out publicly for the first time, saying, “I’m black. I’m gay.” Mean-while, Sens. Ruben Kihuen and Justin Jones, Catholic and Mormon, respectively, ostensibly went against their religious beliefs to vote in favor of the resolution. (In order to be ratified, the resolution will have to be passed again by the 2015 Legislature and then be passed by a vote of the people in 2016.)

When I ask Bishop Robinson why so many are willing to publicly come out, so to speak, for same-sex marriage and gay rights in general, his answer is simple: What’s changed is that so many LGBT people have come out.

“Now that so many people know someone who is gay, they know those (negative stereo-types) aren’t true,” he says. “People have to come out. Harvey Milk said that coming out is the most political thing you can do. And he was right.”

And while seeing an openly gay bishop or

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profile

even an openly gay pastor at a church will no doubt cause some people to reconsider their ideas about LGBT people, Robinson says the really important thing is that it will save lives.

“The person who I’m most excited about seeing (an LGBT faith leader) is the gay kid struggling somewhere, like I was,” he says, re-ferring to growing up in Kentucky.

Freddie Harmon agrees. “I was the stereo-typical gay kid who attempted suicide. When I was in high school, I thought I was the only gay kid in my city. The only gay kid in Las Ve-gas! To have known that there were other peo-ple, and in leadership roles, that would have saved me some heartache.”

Rev. Davis finds his partner’s story to be a common one he hears from members of his church and others.

“People have been hurt. I’ve been hurt. … People are finding our church a refuge,” the reverend says. “It’s healing for people who were rejected (by religion). There are bridges out there. We don’t have to build them. But we have to find them.”

The pastor encourages people to take their stories to whatever religious institution works for them. And Davis sees hope in undoing the strict doctrine that may have hurt LGBT people in the past.

“A strict religious setting can be a kind of abuse,” the reverend says.

Crazy tHing in a Crazy townEarlier this spring, with his parents in attendance, Davis went through his official ordi-nation process in California, earning his degree and the title of reverend. It was in many ways a full-circle moment for Davis, who was happy that his parents could finally see him fulfill the calling he felt for most of his life.

“It was a wonderful experience to have them there,” Davis says, just weeks after his father passed away. “I looked out and I saw my daddy on his feet, applauding. He was so proud.”

A former “Vegas showboy” probably sounds like the last person you would think of to be a pastor at a church. And somehow, in a town like Las Vegas, it fits in its own non-conformist kind of way. Catch the YouTube video of Rev. Davis and members of the congregation doing the “Harlem (Palm Sunday) Shake” and some-how it’s less irreverent and more endearing. Indeed, Davis shrugs off the idea that being an openly gay pastor is trail-blazing in a town like Las Vegas.

“I think it’s a lot easier here,” he says. “It’s a lot different when I go to Texas or Oklahoma. People who do it in those kinds of places are a lot more brave than I am. We’re doing a crazy thing in a crazy town. It kind of fits.”

Now, on any given Sunday morning, you’ll find Rev. Davis up front and Harmon sitting in one of the back rows next to his parents, beaming at his husband at the pulpit while resting his arm on the back of his mother’s chair. As Davis likes to joke, “Freddie is the perfect pastor’s wife.”

And both of Davis’ parents were able to see their son in action at Northwest. When they came after his ordination, Davis had a talk with his father to prepare him for the church’s LGBT membership. In particular, Davis remembers be-ing worried about how his father would react to some of the transgender members. His father surprised him.

“I talked to him after church,” Davis recalls, smiling. “And he was like, ‘Oh her? Yeah, she was real nice. We had a nice long chat.’”

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To view more images from this event and others, go to www.desertcompanion.com/dcscene. To learn about upcoming Desert Companion events, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/desertcompanion or follow us on Twitter @desertcompanion.

On August 8, Desert Companion hosted its Best Doctors Issue Party at TPC Summerlin,

where we honored the 2013 Best Doctors of Southern Nevada. Best Doctor honorees and

other medical industry professionals enjoyed an evening of networking, friendly competition

on the putting greens, a silly skills test with an “Operation” game contest and great prizes.

P R O M O T I O N

best

2013DOCTORS


n e ws

r e v i e ws

i n t e rv i e ws

at f i r st b i t e

e at t h i s n ow

To view more images from this event and others, go to www.desertcompanion.com/dcscene. To learn about upcoming Desert Companion events, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/desertcompanion or follow us on Twitter @desertcompanion.

On August 8, Desert Companion hosted its Best Doctors Issue Party at TPC Summerlin,

where we honored the 2013 Best Doctors of Southern Nevada. Best Doctor honorees and

other medical industry professionals enjoyed an evening of networking, friendly competition

on the putting greens, a silly skills test with an “Operation” game contest and great prizes.

P R O M O T I O N

best

2013DOCTORS

PHOTOGRAPH BY SABIN ORR

09.2013

48 the Dish The new wave of Japanese cuisine

51 eat this now Super-sized sundae

52 at first bite Rx Boiler Room’s steampunk fare

Use your noodle: soba and tempura at I-Naba

jJapanese food in Las Vegas has been about much more than sushi for some time now. It’s more than the curious local foodie crowd that has made this discovery, too — a handful of restaurants offering multidimen-sional versions of this refined cuisine have earned national media exposure, including the still-buzzed-about Raku, which opened in 2008, and the ever-packed ramen shop Monta, born a few doors down on Spring Mountain Road in 2010.

Those two restaurants, intimate places ded-icated to the highest quality, and about a half-dozen other off-Strip Japanese joints have something in common — or rather, someone. Restaurant stylist Martin Koleff landed in Las Vegas in 2005 to develop what was then Oka-da at Steve Wynn’s eponymous luxury resort on the Strip. After that, Koleff began working with local sushi landmark Sen of Japan, which spun him toward importing talented chefs and developing and opening other Japanese eater-ies. Koleff deserves as much credit as can be given to one man for shining the spotlight on so many different delicious discoveries, types of food and ways of eating that locals may not have otherwise encountered.

His goal of exposing new elements of his na-tive cuisine has become contagious. Not only do

we have a plethora of playful izakayas (kind of the Japanese version of a tapas bar) and a wave of hip ramen shops, but there are curry houses, coffee houses, soba noodle houses, sake bars, multi-cuisine fusion experiments and much, much more. It seems as if a slightly modified, somewhat personalized, exciting new Japanese restaurant opens almost every week.

One of the most colorful examples is the highly innovative Yonaka (4983 W. Flamingo Road, 685-8358), which bills itself simply as a modern Japanese restaurant. Sparking the corner of Flamingo and Decatur in a space that was once home to a French bistro, Yonaka offers familiar fare in the form of sushi and sashimi and creative makimono rolls with cute names — the “Asian Pillow” is a spring roll of salmon, roasted beet, lettuce, shallots, sun-dried tomato, Thai chili and candied walnut, an interesting combo to be sure — but Yonaka’s

true brilliance is expressed through a variety of tapas-style small plates, served hot and cold. Seemingly simple, mouth-brightening combi-nations such as yellowtail with asparagus and tomato-ginger purée or albacore, avocado and grapefruit in a kaffir lime vinaigrette will have you wondering if you’re still eating Japanese, and ordering more and more. Add in the long list of daily special plates and Yonaka is easily a different dining experience every time.

Small plates are the specialty of the izakaya, and we’ve got tons of them. In addition to the cult favorite Raku and the similarly beloved, late-night hot spot Ichiza, consider the south-west’s great Kyara (6555 S. Jones Blvd. #120, 434-8856). Serving lunch and dinner, Kyara heaps together several different styles, so you can experiment with tons of age (deep-fried) appetizers like squid tentacles, potatoes with butter and fried chicken, itame (stir-fried) de-


t h e D i s h

Over the rainbow rollSet aside the sushi menu. The valley’s new wave of Japanese cuisine boasts rich curries, exotic tapas and deep-fried everything

By broCk raDke

Photography sabin orr

dining

Dream on a plate: The Asian Pillow at Yonaka

eat this now!Our favorite recent dishes that have

us coming back for seconds

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lights such as tofu in a savory gravy or whole squid, and kushi skewers of vegetables, chick-en thigh, pork belly or bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms. This menu is huge and these bites are small, so bring your crew and work your way through. Other favorite izakayas include Miko’s (500 E. Windmill Lane #165, 823-2779), a true neighborhood favorite in the same strip mall as Bachi Burger and Shoku Ramen-ya, and the Chinatown after-hours hangout Shuseki (5115 Spring Mountain Road

#117, 222-2321), where throngs of cool kids swill cheap Asahi and get down on potato croquettes, rice or noodle bowls, sushi specials and the addictive fried chicken nuggets known as karaage.

If you need some true soul food and it’s still too warm to slurp a steaming bowl of ramen, head to one of Spring Mountain’s curry houses. Koleff’s Curry Zen (5020 Spring Mountain Road #1, 985-1192) and the more whimsical Kaba Curry (5115 Spring Mountain Road #234, 589-0370) serve a similar menu, great dishes of white rice and dark brown, ultra-flavorful curry sauce with the added ingredients of your choosing (fried shrimp or pork or chicken cutlets, sausage, cheese, corn, all kinds of stuff ). Everyone’s Japanese curry house is personal and different, so try them both and declare your own winner.

Then there are Japanese specialty restaurants that don’t have any com-petition. Cafe de Japon (5300 Spring

Mountain Road #101, 839-8668) feels like an American ’50s diner with a Japanese twist, offering some of the best coffee in town and comfort food favorites like hamburger steaks and beef and vegetable stew over rice. Trattoria Nakamura-ya (5040 W. Spring Mountain Road #5, 251-0022) is Tokyo-style Japanese-Italian fusion, so prepare for mag-nificent pasta mash-ups like linguine in scal-lop cream sauce, spaghetti miso carbonara and the decadent, sublime uni tomato cream

Sea worthy: I-Naba’s cured mackerel over

sushi rice

Spice of life: Kaba Curry specializes in

lesser-known Japanese dishes.


dining


dining

— dishes that earned it Desert Companion’s 2012 Ethnic Restaurant of the Year. The high-energy Yu Yu (4115 Spring Mountain Road #101, 220-4223) is Las Vegas’ first and only — so far — kushi-age house, all deep-fried, all the time. Actually, there’s lots of tasty variety at Yu Yu, but there are few places where you can indulge in crispy-fried pumpkin, wild yam, bacon-wrapped mozzarella cheese, curry fla-vored lotus root, octopus tentacles and smelt.

The westside’s serene I-Naba (3210 S. Deca-tur Blvd., 220-6060) specializes in simple soba noodles and approaches all of its dishes with a Raku-like reverence. Along with the blissful noodles — served hot or cold, alone with dip-ping sauce or shotgunned by tasty toppings like eggplant and daikon — I-Naba offers tempura, irresistible wedges of lightly cured mackerel on sushi rice called battera, and soba crepes with ice cream and sweet azuki beans for dessert. Nearby, the versatile and recently renovated Shobu (3650 S. Decatur Blvd. #31, 453-3377) calls itself a sake house and houses several kara-oke rooms in case you want to imbibe and per-

form. But this kitchen pulls off everything well, from the textural pleasures of salmon skin salad to stellar house-made oshinko (pickles).

Creativity with Japanese food can be found in our massive casinos, too. The new Nobu restaurant at Caesars Palace is a notable addi-tion as it serves as a reminder of how Ameri-cans learned to eat and love Japanese cuisine, but if you’re looking for the next level, head over to Wynn’s brilliant Mizumi (Wynn Las Vegas, 248-3463). Chef Devin Hashimoto re-ally hasn’t gotten the credit he deserves for his inventive menu here, which magnificently includes smoky robotayaki skewers, teppan grill items and Korean-style bibimbap. Equally overlooked is the pitch-perfect menu at Ha-chi (Red Rock Resort, 797-7576), which now includes true Japanese wagyu beef cooked at your table on a hot rock and a killer scallop ti-radito. Perhaps because this neighborhood ca-sino is always so accommodating, people have forgotten how fun it is to eat at Hachi. Or may-be they’re still working their way through all the fantastic new Japanese restaurants spread around the valley.

itaDakimasu!

(That’s Japanese for “Let’s eat!”) Here are some other good words to know.

Karaage (kuh-rah-gay): Tiny pieces of (usually) dark meat chicken mari-nated in soy sauce, garlic and ginger, coated lightly with flour and fried until crispy, commonly found at izakayas (casual drink-and-nosh spots). Basically, this is what chicken nuggets were supposed to be.

Robata (ro-bah-tah): Traditional char-coal grill using hardwoods to impart deeply smoky flavors in skewers of meat and vegetables.

Kushiage (koo-she-ah-gay): When delicious worlds collide: deep-fried skewers of chicken, pork, seafood and vegetables, typically dipped in egg, flour and panko bread crumbs before hitting hot vegetable oil.

Soba (so-bah): Buckwheat. Synonymous with thin, slightly chewy buckwheat flour noodles, a popular fast-food op-tion in Japan served hot or cold.

Oshinko (oh-shinc-oh): Most commonly a yellow pickled radish, but sometimes used to describe any assortment of pickled vegetables (tsukemono) often served as an appetizer or with rice.

Visit us at desertcompanion.com and check out our website. Between editions of our

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and fresh perspectives from our writers.

You ReALLY LoVe ouR

MAGAZINe.Now you caN Love it

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ChRIStOpheR SMIth

eat this now!Our favorite recent dishes that have

us coming back for seconds

The TiTanic at Carmine’s An appropriate name for a dish that will sink to the bottom of your belly. The signature dessert at this Italian-American institution is basically a banana split on steroids: Hot brownies are smothered with scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge, chopped fruit and cookies. It’s sloppy, but so what? Just because it’s not polished doesn’t mean your entire table won’t polish it off. Debbie LeeCarmine’s inside the Forum shops at Caesars palaCe, CarminesnyC.Com

Bacon and egg pizza at Naked CityEnjoy your breakfast in pie form. Chunks of pancetta are rendered until crispy, white gar-lic sauce adds extra flavor, and chopped lemony greens provide relief from the generous helping of rich cheese. Tear off a chunk of the thick, chewy crust and dip it into a barely set yolk. Toast with over-easy eggs just can’t compare. DLnaked City pizza shop 3240 arville st., nakedCitylv.Com

Featuring Chef Wes Kendricks’ contemporary American cuisine includ-ing safe harbor certified fresh fish, wild game, duck, lamb, angus beef, and comfort food classics. Conve-niently located off the 215 and Warm Springs. Dinner Tuesday - Saturday 5pm until closing (around 10pm)

600 E. Warm Springs RoadLas Vegas, NV (702) 263-0034

Table 34


FOOD STYlING BY RONI FIeldS

p 52 | Desert Companion | September 2013

dining

Perhaps on his days off, Rick Moonen swaps his chef’s jack-et and toque for a tailcoat and top hat. Is there any other explanation for the pseudo-Victorian flavor of his latest project? Rx Boiler Room, which opened in early July, just might be the first gastropub in America that capitalizes on the popularity of steampunk, a subculture inspired by 19th-century science fiction.

Familiarity with the theme is irrelevant. You only need to know that ev-ery trace of Moonen’s former restaurant, RM Seafood, is gone. The interior, once clean and contemporary, is accented with reclaimed wood and indus-trial tchotchkes. Flat-screen monitors display a slideshow of robot-themed illustrations. Over by the bar, a grandiose display of beakers evokes an old laboratory. Bartenders don precious old-timey vests, while servers strap mechanical angels wings on their backs and aviator goggles on their heads.

The concept may leave some guests scratching their heads. But at the core of the makeover is a universal theme in Strip dining, circa 2013. Fol-lowing in the footsteps of Gordon Ramsay and Michael Mina, Moonen is the latest marquee chef to crossover from fine dining to casual fare. (It’s the economy, stupid.) The trend suggests that caviar tastings and $50 portions of fish do not, as they say in the industry, put butts in seats — at least not as quickly as a good burger.

And the burger here is a fine one. A patty of dry-aged beef is gussied up with “999 Island” dressing, balsamic caramelized onions, and house-made pickles. Just be warned that it comes without fries. And if you want cheese with that, be prepared to spend an extra four dollars per slice. (Apparently, Moonen isn’t entirely ready to abandon his pre-dilections for high-priced food.) You could always supplement with a “flight” of onion rings. Stacked on an airplane-shaped wire display,

ClOCKwISe FROm ABOve

Rx Boiler Room’s main dining room;

bacon-wrapped bacon ’n’ egg; Rx’s

signature burger

a t f i r s t b i t e

Rx Boiler RoomBreak out your top hat and monocle. Rick Moonen shifts gears at Rx Boiler Room to full steampunk ahead

By Debbie Lee | Photography Christopher smith

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lupoitalian | mandalay bay 740.5522

they’re just the kind of gimmicky side dish that will have tourists and foodies talking. Unfortunately, our order was heavy on batter and oozed with oil.

Better to conserve carb intake for a beer or cocktail. Lead bartender Nathan Greene oversees a fantastic drink program that alone is worth a trip. How Many Licks, made with raisin-infused Hennessey and flavored with a plum-vanilla “shrub” (the fancy term for fruit vinegar), is a sweet and crisp first sip. Another favorite is the Campfire Peaches, an icy liba-tion that mixes both smoky Mezcal and tequila for a double whammy to your liver.

Diners looking for more than a bite at the bar are advised to come without vegan compan-ions. Many of the best appetizers utilize animal parts that even the average omnivore doesn’t often eat. Start with the oxtail croquettes. The tender, braised cut of meat is crumb-coated and fried until crisp. A mouth-puckering lemon aioli balances the richness. And a chicken liver pate, served in a miniature canning jar with a side of grilled toast, is the caveman’s version of smooth peanut butter. The only misstep is a thin film of port jelly, which is rubbery com-pared to the silky spread beneath it.

As far as entrées go, lamb osso buco with toasted orzo and zesty gremolata will be an ideal choice when the weather is cooler—it’s also half the price of the version served at RM Seafood. Otherwise, indulge in a generous bas-ket of fried game hen. It’s perfectly crunchy while remaining moist on the inside.

Moonen earned his reputation as a sustainable seafood advocate, so it goes without saying that the items on the “Ocean” portion of the menu — or as he describes it, “Nourishment Chart” — are also worth trying. Expect familiar classics with a twist. In the case of his shrimp and grits, the addition of Andouille sausage, roasted poblano peppers and a nap of Cajun gravy made our serv-er, a Louisiana native, rave ecstatically.

For dessert, a peach cobbler served in a coupe glass was sadly short on fruit and bis-cuit dough. And the cinnamon ice cream on top was of the Red Hot variety (pie spice cinnamon would have been preferred.) Guests can go with a safer bet, like fresh-baked cookies, or try the exotic Mahalo Matcha green tea panna cotta.

Hard to say that it’s a dish that fits with the steampunk theme, but do any of them? Not that a disconnect between food and dé-cor should discourage a visit. One could only guess that if Thomas Edison were alive today, he would enjoy his meal under the glow of his own exposed-filament light bulbs.



Is it us, or is there a little bit of cultural renaissance going on up in here? The Smith Center is hitting its stride, the downtown arts scene is sizzling with fresh energy, UNLV’s Black Mountain

Institute continues to serve up big brains and thinky discussions, and it seems there’s now a nosh festival for every food group. But for us, the strongest evidence is in the pages ahead, where we packed more than 75 must-go events this season, from concerts and plays to festivals and discussions. Hold on to this issue — and stay cultured through the end of the year. >>>


GUIDE

2013 fall

CULTURE

chantal corcoran

Scott DickenSheetS

hektor D. eSparza

matt kelemen

anDrew kiraly

Debbie lee

mike prevatt

brock raDke

liSSa townSenD roDgerS

kriSty totten

Written by


Sept. 19

Aidez-moi! LA cuisine est fou!To say that Czech composer Bo-

huslav Martinu was inspired when

he arrived in Paris in the 1920s is

a wild understatement. More ac-

curately, he was happily besieged

by new forms and ideas: jazz!

avant-garde theater! garçonnes!

Martinu himself flew into a frenzy

of creativity, penning three works

in 1927, including his last and best,

the ballet suite “La Revue de Cui-

sine.” A literal kitchen-table drama,

the ballet features common cook-

ing utensils embroiled in romantic

intrigues — pots and lids and dish-

cloths flirting, falling for each other

and, of course, fighting. Quelle

cray-cray! Musically, “La Revue” is

hardly so homely as a kitchen set-

ting suggests, as Martinu explores

the dynamics and possibilities of

jazz and popular dance. In this

performance, acclaimed Las Vegas

violinist Wei-Wei Le jazzes it up

with UNLV faculty and other guest

talent. Sounds like a recipe for a

wonderful night of music. (AK)

7:30p, $25, Doc Rando Recital Hall at UNLV

Sept. 21

Youth gone miLdDirected by Oscar Carrescia, the

young talents of the Las Vegas

Camerata Orchestra will produce

the sounds of the season — literally:

They’re performing “The Four Sea-

sons,” Vivaldi’s set of baroque violin

concertos that recall an era before

global climate change turned Earth

into wildfire hurricane soup. The

star violinists include Genevieve

Dube, spring; De Ann Letourneau,

summer; Laraine Kaizer-Viazovtsev,

autumn; and Patrick Hsieh, winter.

Keep an eye on these rising stars

— violinist and music instructor Car-

rescia has been quietly cultivating

classical talent in the valley for

more than 25 years. Our forecast:

a fine concert. (AK) 2p, $10-$12, Winchester Cultural Center

Sept. 22-23

A stArr-Y nightRingo Starr has been pretty busy

since he played in that one band

that had that hit song about want-

ing to hold your hand in a yellow

submarine or something. Ringo

Starr and His All-Starr Band is

a supergroup whose member-

ship rotates every year and has

included rock-pantheon godlets

such as Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter

and Peter Frampton (but also at

one time included Richard Marx).

This year’s incarnation features

Steve Lukather, formerly of Toto;

Richard Page of Mr. Mister; and

Todd Rundgren. Sic your ticket-

sniping bot on the Internet right

now — this is reportedly the only

U.S. stop on the band’s 2013 world

tour. (AK) 8p, $70, The Pearl in The Palms

Sept. 26-28

A nAked voxing mAtchIt was a rendition of “The 12 Days

of Christmas” to end all renditions

of “The 12 Days of Christmas”:

In 1998, a fresh-faced a cappella

group from Indiana University

turned their performance of the

holiday classic into pop culture

trail mix, mashing in everything

from “I Have a Little Dreidel” to

Toto’s “Africa.” Virtually overnight,

Straight No Chaser went from

clever college songsters to inter-

national vocal superheroes. Their

Vegas stint is more than a mere

handful of concerts; superfans

who spring for the $849 platinum

package get nothing less than

the “Chaser summit,” a three-day,

four-concert a cappella orgy, an

unrelenting and soul-consuming

immersion in all things Straight No

Chaser, including exclusive cocktail

parties with the group, buffet

passes and concert seats so close

to the stage you just might get a

quivering larynx in the face. (AK)

8p, $43.50-$93.50, The Pearl in The Palms

Oct. 5

You’re A totAL (picnic) bAsket cAseBy October, the Las Vegas Valley

has cooled down to a reason-

able 127 degrees, and that means

— the moment we’ve all been

waiting for! — it’s finally safe to

eat macaroni salad outdoors.

You know what else goes nicely

with tolerable fall weather? Jazz.

Haul your basket and blanket to

Winchester’s annual Jazz Picnic,

featuring hot local acts and cool,

macaroni salad-friendly weather.

(AK) 5p, free, Winchester Cul-tural Center back lawn

Oct. 9

Look! he just wrote Another!In the time it takes for you to read

this blurb, Conor Oberst probably

wrote seven songs. The Nebraska-

born singer/songwriter who defined

“the Omaha sound” — it’s clever! it’s

emo! you’re crying! you’re dancing!

— is renowned for being alarmingly

prolific. And restless: Oberst doesn’t


ConCERTs& Bands

Sept. 28

music of the heArt (And other orgAns)What happened to romance? It’s probably buried around

here somewhere, underneath all these sexts, naughty Snap-

chat pics and Craiglist NSA hookups. You’ll have an easier

time finding it at the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s opening night

concert of its masterworks series, “Operatic Love,” featur-

ing arias from opera masters from Puccini to Mozart, as well

as orchestral show-stoppers from Verdi and Strauss. Case

Scaglione conducts, with Suzanne Vinnik as soprano and

Cody Austin as tenor. Feel the love yet? (AK) Pre-concert conversation 6:45p, concert 7:30p, $25-$94, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Suzanne Vinnik sings in "Operatic Love."


write songs for his bands; Oberst

forms his bands to contain the

songs he continually writes. For this

concert, he’ll join The Felice Broth-

ers, whose cryptic, moody jams

sound like honky tonk songs you

hear in half-remembered dreams. In

the time it takes them to perform

this concert, Oberst will totally prob-

ably write 700 songs. (AK) 8p, $30, House of Blues at Mandalay Bay

Oct. 12

foot fetishThat quintessential silver screen

duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger

Rogers had all the right moves,

turning dance into a wordless

fantasia of infatuation and roman-

tic intoxication and *melts into

steaming love-puddle*. Inspired by

their sweet moves, in “Dancing &

Romancing,” the Las Vegas Philhar-

monic celebrates the spirit of 1930s

Broadway and Hollywood, high-

lighting the music of Irving Berlin,

Cole Porter and George Gershwin.

(AK) 7:30p, $25-$94, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Oct. 12

cALL it gYpsYcoreBefore they became the darlings of

transcontinentalist hipsters, Gogol

Bordello got their start playing

gypsy tunes at Russian weddings.

It’s an apt beginning for a band

whose raucous, exuberant spirit is

preoccupied with new beginnings

and raw possibilities. Not that this

is the kind of band you want to

cerebralize about — rather, a Gogol

Bordello show puts other body

parts to work: legs and feet, hips

and torsos — all that’s needed for

a night of frenzied gypsy-punk

flamenco-moshing. (AK) 8p, $25, The Boulevard Pool at The Cos-mopolitan

Oct. 13

[initiAte grobAnite Love protocoL]For all his mainstream appeal and

blockbuster success, it might be

easy to write off Josh Groban as

another entry in the classipop

warbler category — that is, if the

critics themselves didn’t find so

much to like in his voice, variously

described — self-deprecatingly by

Groban himself — as a “tenor in

training” or a “baritone with some

high notes up my sleeve.” Critics

admire his power and restraint;

Grobanites, as they’re called, like

the way their hearts slow-motion

explode into pink butterfly candy

confetti when he sings to them,

“In my eyes you do no wrong / I’ve

loved you for so long.” *heartflut-

ter* (AK) 8p, $57.50-$107.50, MGM Grand Garden Arena

Oct. 21

theY write music for entire pLAnetsKronos: It’s no coincidence the

name sounds both mighty and

mysterious. This is no staid little

string quartet mincing around with

“Ave Maria.” The Grammy-winning

Kronos Quartet doesn’t so much

play music as perform moving,

evocative soundscapes in collabo-

ration with many world-renowned

composers — and by commission

from some unlikely institutions,

such as NASA, which commis-

sioned Kronos’ 2002 “Sun Rings,”

nothing less than a deeply rousing

ode to humanity on planet Earth.

On this night, they’ll premiere new

work from Philip Glass, as well as

work from Laurie Anderson, Bryce

Dessner of The National and com-

poser Clint Mansell. (AK) 7:30p, $26-$125, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Oct. 23

one jAzzY LAdies’ nightHere’s a ladies night that doesn’t

involve appletinis and guys in Ed

Hardy shirts flogging your psyche

with rancid pick-up lines: “Ladies

of Jazz” showcases the contribu-

tions that women have made to

the genre, featuring 2011 Grammy’s

“Best New Artist” Esperanza Spald-

ing, Grammy-winning drummer

Terri Lyne Carrington, first place

Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition

winner Gretchen Parlato, composer

and educator Gerri Allen and sax

star Tia Fuller. Leading all this talent

is Dee Dee Bridgewater, three-time

Grammy winner and a vocal jazz

powerhouse. (AK) 7:30p, $26-$99, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Smith Centerthe Smith center’s fall season glitters with a

surplus of broadway divas. Full productions

include the nun-tastic Sister act and the

showstopper-packed evita. in concert, betty

buckley will perform her “vixens of broadway”

program featuring highlights from her multi-

decade career, while six-time tony award-winner

audra mcDonald will give a concert of standards

and showtunes accompanied by a jazz ensemble.

before such sophisticated performance, perhaps

something slightly exotic, a little spicy? Lola’s (241

w. charleston blvd., 227-5652) in holsum lofts

serves up cajun classics such as broiled oysters

and shrimp remoulade, with outdoor dining an

option on temperate autumn evenings. mundo

(495 S. grand central parkway, 270-4400) puts

a little more uptown in its downtown setting and

their menu of slicked-up mexican dishes goes

down smooth with a mojito or capirinha. after the

show, discuss the high notes over a cocktail at

golden nugget’s H2o at the tank (129 Fremont

St., 385-7111). you can recline on a chaise and look

up at the stars while ignoring the sharks circling

below — in appropriately diva-ish fashion. (ltr)

Make a night of it!

For a post-Smith nosh, consider the Latin fusion cuisine of Mundo.


Having read that music lessons support a child’s aptitude

for math and science, Mrs. Haduong en-rolled each of her children in music les-sons at a young age. But she never meant to start her third child, Nikita, on the vio-lin as early as two and a half — that was Nikita’s own doing.

Jealous of her older brother’s violin lessons, the young Nikita hid an extra violin in the trunk of the family car. Once she’d ar-rived at her brother’s music lesson, she would have an instrument to offer the teacher and could not be denied a class. The plan worked. Nikita’s been studying violin ever since. It is this intelligence and determination that makes Nikita the exceptional talent she is at 18 years old.

“When she decides what she wants to do, she has a lot of willpower and a lot of discipline,” says Wei-Wei Le, an assistant professor at UNLV’s music department and Nikita’s violin teacher for the last six years. Le knows well how arduous and tedious it can be — partic-ularly for a teenager. “We basically lock our-

selves into a small room and stay there doing really boring things, for hours,” says Le, who marvels at Nikita’s commitment — four hours each day, every day, since she was 11.

“The violin is kind of like a sanctuary,” says Nikita, “as well as the tool for me to be able to express myself in a manner that I find satisfy-ing.” So, when practicing feels like a chore, she focuses on the end result: the poignant music.

Speaking of results, her work ethic is obvious-ly paying off. Not only has she performed on From the Top, a nonprofit radio show celebrat-ing youth in music. She’s also been a finalist several times for the Music Teachers National Association Performance, and she’s won near-

ly every major local competition several times, including the Las Vegas Philharmonic Young Concerto Competition in 2009 and 2011. Her prize: a chance to perform with the symphony at its Youth Concert Series.

“She’s the coolest cat I have ever seen perform, anywhere,” says Connie Beisner Warling, the philharmonic’s education director. “She had nerves of steel at the age of 14.”

Even Le is impressed by her student’s stage composure: “She’s never scared of performing in front of people. If anything, she’s quite the opposite. That kind of excitement that she gets from performing really almost makes her play even better.”

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Oct. 27-28

it’s not A festivAL, it’s A mothershipSniff, sniff. All we ever wanted

was a Coachella-type music

festival to call our own. Vegoose

was a blast — don’t deny it,

we saw you rockin’ out in your

possibly ironic Daisy Dukes to

Buckethead in 2006! — but alas,

all good things, etc. Now comes

Life is Beautiful, a music festival

so polished, postured, styled

and coiffed, you’d think it was an

elaborate Apple ad. With mother-

ship headliners like The Killers

and Beck, superchefs like Hubert

Keller and Tom Colicchio — not

to mention an entire spinoff

universe of bonus events and

pop-ups — Life Is Beautiful looks

to be muscling into the Las Vegas

culturescape as a kind of institu-

tional banner event that marks a

maturing city. Our widdle city is

all grown up! (AK) Start times vary, $159.50-349.50, downtown Las Vegas, lifeisbeautifulfesti-val.com

nOv. 2

weLL, Aren’t You just mr. popuLAritY?If there’s anyone perfectly suited to

conduct a pops concert, it’s Peter

Nero. The Philadelphia Inquirer

doesn’t call him “the perfect pop

conductor” for nothing. Known for

his populist musical taste, prodigious

energy and clean, brisk piano at-

tack, Nero conducts the UNLV Jazz

Symphony Orchestra in a celebra-

tion of Gershwin melodies, including

— what else? — “Someone to Watch

Over Me” and excerpts from Porgy

and Bess. (AK) 8p, $25-$75, UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall

nOv. 3

hopefuLLY, there Are strings AttAchedWant to raise a few bucks for the

strings program at CSN? Yeah, it

gets kind of awkward for students,

sawing away at cardboard “violins.”

You can kick down some funds at

the CSN Chamber Music Concert,

which doubles as a fundraiser for

the strings program, ensuring future

students aren’t just playing air cello.

(AK) 2p, $5-$8, Recital Hall Room 1430, CSN’s Cheyenne Campus

nOv. 11

You’LL never be so hAppY to be so sAdFado is Portugal’s national export.

It’s not a physical commodity, but

if it were, it would likely take the

form of bricks of stormy, histrionic

sadness wrapped in tempestuous

weeping. Fado is Portugal’s version

of the blues — but it’s more ac-

curately described as blues-coated

blues with a little blues icing on top.

Fado artist Mariza has developed

her own modern interpretation to

the timeless musical form, and in

the process she’s become Portugal’s

fado ambassador to the world, mak-

ing people around the globe cry and

punch the air with their tear-stained

fists. Bring Kleenex. A pallet of it.

(AK) 8p, $26-$125, Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center

nOv. 17

AmericA: the encore!Geez, if this show were any more

quintessentially American, it would

come with free apple pie-flavored

copies of the Declaration of

Independence. The Boston Pops

Esplanade Orchestra — known to

us freedom-lovers as “America’s

Orchestra” — will celebrate every-

thing from Copland to Ellington

to Queen. (Okay, so Queen wasn’t

American. Nobody’s perfect!) (AK)

5p, $39-$149, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

nOv. 18

oLd bLuesmAn, meet Young whippersnApper bLues girLBlues is like dirt: This gritty, ordinary

stuff is the soil from which so much

of American music has grown,

from rock ’n’ roll to jazz to hip-hop.

(Where the hell dubstep came from,

we have no clue.)Two generations

of blues talent share the stage at

this special event: Grammy-winning

singer/guitarist Keb Mo, and ac-

claimed vocalist Shemekia Cope-

land. Keb Mo is considered a living

link to the Delta blues tradition that

birthed generations of American

music; Shemekia Copeland is known

for her voice that’s both potent

and poignant. (AK) 7:30p, $26-$99, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

nOv. 19

cLAssicAL guitAr coming on Like A cometA talent such as 25-year-old Mak

Grgic is cometary: It shows itself

only once in a long while, and when

it does, it’s something to behold. The

Slovenian classical guitarist is not the

“I don’t get nervous on stage,” says Nikita, “possibly because I’m having too much fun just falling into the music.”

It’s her music lessons that set the other-wise self-assured young woman on edge; she doesn’t like to disappoint: “Right now, and probably for the past who-knows-how-long, and probably for the next who-knows-how-long, I’m struggling to feel natural with the violin, to be able to utilize it as an extension of myself, instead of this awkward piece of wood that’s under my chin,” she says.

Nikita’s newest mentor, Professor Alexander Kerr of Jacobs School of Music at Indiana Uni-versity in Bloomington, Ind. — where Nikita has recently been awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious music conservatory — isn’t near-ly as concerned: “She has a very good ear, she is incredibly bright, and she’s tenacious — and those things you can’t teach. Hands, how to deal with the violin — that I can teach,” says Kerr.

As well as majoring in music at Indiana University, Nikita also means to major in math. Mom’s plan worked — and then some. — Chantal Corcoran

The Killers headline the Life Is Beautiful festival.


type of wunderkind you might think

— not hot-fingered, blazing, seem-

ingly effortless or virtuosic. Rather,

what’s remarkable about his youth

is the age of his playing: the depth

and sensitivity of his interpretations

of classical works are hallmarks of

a much older soul. (AK) $40, 8p, UNLV’s Doc Rando Recital Hall

nOv. 23

he is michAeL bubLé, And he owns Your souLOkay, so the critics bat Michael

Bublé around like a cat toy: He’s

philandering-free Rat Pack, Sinatra-

lite, a fast-food crooner with extra

cheese. Let the critics snark and

wail. Because eventually, even the

most iron-hearted, scissor-clawed

scribes succumb to the Canadian

singer’s schtick — which is all the

more powerful for being so un-

schticky: An easygoing charm that

says, hey, Michael Bublé’s just trying

his pipes out on some classic songs

and not at all taking this stuff too

seriously so just relax and enjoy

mmkay? Now let him hug you. (AK)

8p, $62.50-$118, MGM Grand Arena

nOv. 23

the sound of ’murricA!The Las Vegas Philharmonic marks

the 50th anniversary of the assas-

sination of President John F. Ken-

nedy — and honors Nevada service

men and women — in “Love of

Country,” a rousing concert of

potent, muscular works, including

Beethoven’s formidable Third Sym-

phony, as well as works by Ameri-

can composers Leonard Bernstein,

George Walker and Peter Lieber-

son. 7:30p, $25-$94, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

thrOugh December

the uLtimAte jAm sessionSounds like an urban legend:

Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis,

Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins got

together for an epic, one-night

jam session in December 1956?

Yeah, right. We bet Bigfoot was

there, too, and a UFO filled with

chupacabras. But it’s true: These

four explosive talents gathered at

Sun Records in Memphis on Dec.

4, 1956 for a night of fresh, free-

wheeling rock ’n’ roll. In its best

moments, “Million Dollar Quar-

tet” is more like a channeling than

a mere re-enactment; the stagey

moments and sometimes-corny

life-lesson speeches give way

(as they should) to renditions of

“Great Balls of Fire,” “Blue Suede

Shoes” and “Folsom Prison Blues”

that have a looseness and reckless

energy that turn a good stage

show into a great concert. (AK)

Mon and Thu, 5:30 and 8p; Tue, Wed, Fri and Sun, 7p, $60.50-$84.70, Harrah’s Showroom in Harrah’s Las Vegas

Dec. 7

whAt is A sugAr pLum, AnYwAY?When you’re done shopping for

gift cards and gorging yourself

on cocktail wieners at the office

party, take some time to celebrate

the holiday in the proper spirit:

with a Santa’s sackful of holiday

music in your face. This year’s

“We Love the Holidays!” concert

by the Las Vegas Philharmonic

features samplings from holiday

classics such as Humperdinck’s

“Hansel & Gretel” and the musi-

cal score of Tchaikovsky’s “The

Nutcracker.” And be sure to stick

around for the rousing audience

sing-along, a tradition right up

there with the awkward thank-you

to mom for that purple checkered

sweater. (AK) 2p and 7:30p, $25-$94, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Dec. 11

onLY thing missing: the 7-up guYAh, the unmistakable sound of a

steel drum band: palm trees drip-

ping day-glo tropical ice cream

and toucans in festive straw hats

sipping umbrella drinks. Get a taste

of summer delight in the midst of

our hard, bitter “winter” with CSN’s

Calypso Coyote Steel Drum Band

and the Wednesday Night Jazz

Band, as they break out contempo-

rary and classic tunes. (AK) 7:30p, $5-$8, Nicholas J. Horn Theatre at CSN Cheyenne Campus

Dec. 30

pLeAse don’t bring up tuskFleetwood Mac isn’t a band; it must

be a collective musical compul-

sion. What else would hold a band

together through drug drama, finan-

cial turmoil, hook-ups, affairs, break-

ups, wild success, commercial failure

and countless rock ’n’ roll capers to

be one of our enduring, steadfast

rhinos of rock? Best of all, this tour’s

lineup includes the Rumours-era

lineup that created that drama

machine — and such timeless music,

too: Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buck-

ingham, Mick Fleetwood and John

McVie. (AK) 8p, $99.50-$224.50, MGM Grand Garden Arena

Summerlingood luck finding an all-encompassing festival as tailor-made

for its community as the two-day Summerlin art Festival, slated

to return to Summerlin centre community park in mid-october.

Sifting through the creations of dozens of artists and craftspeople

— and snapping instagrams of amazing sidewalk chalkage — works

up an appetite that mere festival food can’t satiate. if you’ve got

little ones to tow, stage a pre-emptive hunger strike with Sunday

brunch at Dom Demarco’s (9785 w. charleston blvd., 570-7000).

Snack on meatball benedict while the kids relish the concept of

pizza for breakfast. if it’s an artsy date weekend, plan where you’ll

hang your new painting over glasses of red and samplings from

one of the city’s best cheese programs at Vintner Grill (10100 w. charleston blvd. #150, 214-5590). (br)

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thrOugh Sept. 20

not so LoonY ’toonsMore than one artist references

comic style or iconography in

his or her work. Here’s why Las

Vegan Michael Ogilvie does it —

or, rather, not why he does: “I do

not make it for catharsis,” he says,

“but rather to explore the very

nature of that innocence,” that is,

the innocence we associate with

reading comics as children.

Back when we read them for

the sheer joy of it, before

they accrued pop-cultural

associations, fanboy cred and

economic significance. The work

he showcases in his solo show

The End of the Rainbow — which

he calls “viciously cute visual

poetry for the connoisseur of

fanatical conjecture” — probes

the links between memory

and pleasure, the better to

understand how one influences

the other. (SD) Free, CSN Artspace Gallery

thrOugh Sept. 27

once upon A time in the westWhat does “rural” mean now?

An idealized Western landscape

undulating around … a server

farm? Cattle lowing within a

cowpie’s throw of tract houses?

A quaint ranching town with a

big-box store and the second

homes of wealthy out-of-staters?

Into this rapidly complexifying

place comes a loose group

of artists examining rural life

in the new West: the tension

between the modern region and

the mythic one; the conflicted

relationships between rural,

suburban and urban; the overlay

of new economies on a place

once devoted mostly to ranches

and mines. Post Rural examines

a timely topic no matter how far

you live from the nearest cow.

(SD) Reception 6p Sept. 27, free, CSN Fine Arts Gallery

OngOing

freAkY first fridAYsThe blatantly unthemed milling-

about that so many of us

remember from First Fridays

past appears to be giving way,

at least some months, to a more

theme-driven milling-about.

August’s event, you’ll recall —

either because you were there

or because your social media

blew up with it — adopted a

whimsical “winter wonderland”

motif, complete with a tromp l’oeil

ice-scape painted on the street

and real penguins. First Friday

mullahs are rather tight-lipped

about upcoming themes, not

wanting to commit too early. But

we’ve heard tell of a “tribal fusion”

thing for September — perhaps

something about celebrating

your roots? And there’s a good

chance that October’s FF will be

devoted to books, a fine lead-in

to the Vegas Valley Book Festival

a month later. Kept creative — a

“companions in the desert”

concept sounds great to us! —

these themes just might give First

Friday the renewed community

momentum its organizers are

seeking. (SD) Free, Arts District, firstfridaylasvegas.com

thrOugh Oct. 4

eYes in the skiesIt’s a distinctly 21st century

question: How does the world

look through the eye of a drone?

More precisely, what are the moral,

political, spiritual and emotional

consequences of making life-

and-death decisions from such a

lofty, distant viewpoint? (For one

thing, we know some of the pilots,

stationed at nearby Creech Air

Force Base, have suffered post-

traumatic stress disorder.) And

is there a way of making art that

grapples with this new way of

seeing? Such were the questions

cycling though Christopher

Tsouras’ imagination as the College

of Southern Nevada art professor

photographed the local landscapes

that became the stripped-down

images of technological modernity

in Drone Series. (SD) Free, Winchester Cultural Center

aRT& ExHiBiTs

Anthony Bondi's collage work recalls old Vegas.

September-December

the mAn comes (bAck) AroundWhether you’re a Vegas old-timer wondering, What’s Anthony Bondi

been up to lately?, or a newcomer wondering, Who?, your question

will be answered by a pair of exhibits this fall. What the venerable but

rarely exhibited artist has been doing will be made clear Sept. 5-28,

when RTZ Gallery shows his recent digital photos (paired with shots

by Ginger Bruner in a show titled Suspicious Evidence). “This is the

first time I have shown this work,” says Bondi, who’s lately spent much

of his energy making interactive pieces for Burning Man. That’ll be

followed in November with Neon Metropolis, a Sin City Gallery display

(Oct. 31-Dec. 23) of the ’90s-era collages with which he cemented his

rep as a Founding Father of local art. The first show proves he didn’t

stop creating art a decade ago; the second, that he didn’t just start,

either. (SD) Free, RTZ Gallery, Sin City Gallery


in January, a young Las Vegas artist named Lauren Adkins married a cardboard cutout

of a dreamy Twilight vampire — ac-tual chapel and ceremony, real well-wishers and reception — and called it art. Now: Does that make you go, Hmm …, the ellipsis suggesting an openness to such a nontraditional idea of art? Or did you go, WTF?, because, you know, WTF?

Adkins’ project, “Love Is Overtak-ing Me” (her graduate thesis at UNLV, by the way) was about sever-al things: the contested nature of fe-male fandom, the allure of romantic escapism, the grip that pop culture has on our lives. But before you got to all that, it posed, for many, a more fundamental challenge: Can you ac-cept this as art?

After all, there is art we all recognize as art: painting, drawing, sculpture. We may dis-like individual examples, but the argument isn’t about their standing, only their quality. However, Adkins, 25, a bit introverted, quite unprepared for the international media spot-light, shot past those disciplines (“I can paint and draw; I just don’t enjoy it”) toward a style of performance in which the boundaries be-tween art and other possibilities — hype, high-concept ruse, eccentric behavior — are more permeable. Marrying a cardboard Edward Cullen: How many people are going to under-stand that?

“I’m probably a person who didn’t fully under-stand what I was doing,” Adkins says, lightly but not kidding, leaning forward in her chair at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Maryland Parkway. It’s the response of an artist com-mitted to an exploratory frame of mind — that is, committed to remaining vulnerable in the pursuit of new ideas rather than neatly settling into a style. “If I knew exactly what I wanted to say,” she allows, “I guess it wouldn’t be art, right?”

To be clear, Adkins knew what she wanted her performance to do: examine female fandom through the phenomenon of Twilight. Partly because she’s not done working with femi-

nism, pop culture and romance, and partly be-cause she’s a stone Twihard herself. She’s seen how fanboys, that vast nerdocracy that gave us The Avengers, endless iterations of Star Trek and Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern tights, rebuffed Twilight fans because they were mostly women. She’s also seen how important it is to real women, no less valuable in identity-formation than Star Wars or the Yankees are to guys.

“It was actually quite brilliant,” says UNLV women’s studies professor Lynn Comella, who was on Adkins’ thesis committee. “I mean, what better way to showcase just how power-ful the narrative of happily ever after is than to

Lauren aDKInSBeneath a cardboard facade, this conceptual artist explores romance, pop culture and feminism

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Sept. 5-28

pAper, cutNothing we say about Tennessee

artist Charles Clary’s work

can quite match his own

description of what they are

(“strange landmasses”) and what

they do: They “contaminate and

infect the surfaces they inhabit,

transforming the space into

something suitable for their

gestation.” And, as is so often

true of the viral forms they

evoke, Clary’s works, seen up

close, are quite beautiful. Gently

and meticulously carved from

layers of colored paper, they are

both almost familiar and not-

quite otherworldly, gorgeously

ambiguous. (SD) Free, Brett Wesley Gallery

Sept. 5-28

be Your own pom-pomA young man in a sweater

festooned with purple streamers

walks to the sideline of an empty

stadium. He begins plucking the

plastic fronds until his sweater

has been denuded; this takes a

while. He then arranges them

into two piles, manages to grip

one pile in each hand — they

are now pom-poms — and, after

facing the absent crowd, he

leaves. That’s the action in “I Am

My Own Cheerleader,” a video

by artist J. Casey Doyle that

gives his witty exhibit — which

is about gender roles, sexuality

and transformation — its title.

(SD) Reception 6p, Sept. 13, Contemporary Arts Center

Sept. 5-28

Living in their mAteriAL worLdArtist JW Caldwell has brought

together five Las Vegas artists

who push the materiality of their

work well beyond traditional

limits. Chris Bauder forms paint

into objects. Justin Favela creates

pieces from cardboard, among

the least permanent materials

imaginable. Brent Sommerhauser’s

sculptures defy easy description in

summaries like this. Together, the

works in Indelicate demand that

we be open to new ideas about

what art is — and what it isn’t.

(SD) Free, Reception 6p, Sept. 5, Contemporary Arts Center

Sept. 12-NOv. 7

theY were into deAth before zombies were cooLIf Hispanic culture seems to be

having a moment — after Hispanic

voters seriously moved the needle

in last year’s election; with progress

seemingly possible on immigration

— here’s a show to remind us that

there’s more to this culture than

its recent political dimension. The

Hispanic-American Heritage Exhibit

will present some artists you may

recognize (Justin Favela, Alexander

Huerta) along with talents you’ll

now remember, all exploring the

iconography of the annual Day

of the Dead. Other artists include

Theresa Lucero, Sophia McMahan,

Javier Sanchez and Sandra Ward.

(SD) Reception 3-5p, Sept. 12, free, City Hall Chamber Gallery

Sept. 18-NOv. 30

kids’ stuff isn’t just kids’ stuffThere’s more to illustrating books

for children than creating cute,

anthropomorphic animals that know

how to count. (Although that’s a

good start.) Along with the obvious

task of educating young readers,

these images bear a quieter, long-

term burden: They are the beginning

of a child’s visual education. So it’s a

good thing for our future aesthetics

when this vital work is created

by quality artists, such as those

featured in Imaginings Through

Illustrations: Work by Children’s

Book Illustrators. We’re talking

about Jorge Betancourt-Polanco,

Elisha Cooper, Adam Gustavson,

Bethanie Murguia, Kip Noschese and

Joseph Watson. (SD) Free, Historic Fifth Street School

Oct. 3-26

fAce the fAcePortraits have been squared within

traditional frames since before Mona

Lisa forced a smile — so long, in

fact, it might seem there’s no other

way to depict human features.

But painter Kevin Chupik’s new

work in “head • space” pushes

decisively against this rectangular

oppressiveness. By painting

portraits on curved, bowed, oddly

shaped panels, he reinvigorates the

picture plane, pushing it out of its

marry a fictional character who is the object of desire for so many young women?”

Much of the press she got didn’t see it that way. Especially in Europe, the media tended not to explain that this was an art project, in-stead presenting Adkins as a daft Twilight fan engaged in a bizarre, narcissistic stunt. “I was getting more the kind of criticism that celeb-rities get,” she says. “People calling me crazy, people calling me ugly.” Sure, the vitriol neatly illuminated aspects of her project, but for a young woman who calls this “the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” it also stung.

“I like the idea that it challenged a lot of peo-ple’s belief about what art is,” Adkins says now. “Even if those arguments are never very fun, I think it’s essential to keep the dialogue go-ing about what art is.” This makes her worth watching, here in a city where feminism, es-capism, pop culture and romance are so entic-ingly up for grabs.

Adkins is spending her post-Cullen downtime focusing on photography, video and writing. She’s continually adding to “The Look,” a video compilation of moments from popular movies in which a woman trembles as the man she loves is about to reveal his feelings. (See www.laurenadkins.com.) Eventually, she’ll be game for another big, splashy project. “As long as I’m honest about what I’m doing,” she says, “and as long as I put myself out there — I think vulnerability is really important to me as an artist — then I feel like I’ve gotten some-where.” — Scott Dickensheets

Kevin Chupik breaks the traditional painting frame in "head • space."


historical flatness and into a new

sense of dimension. The image is

suddenly more than just a plain old

face. “Each composition then exists

as a shape within other shapes,” he

says. “Each portrait is imbued with

a dynamic presence.” (SD) Free, Brett Wesley Gallery

Oct. 3-25

our trAsh, ourseLvesWe are a messy people, we

Americans, and plenty of artists

have turned our trash against

us, often in found-art critiques

of our wasteful consumerism.

Considerably fewer of them have

taken the path that Kentucky

artist Tom Pfannerstill has in his

From the Street series (a sequel

to his 2010 show in the same

gallery). He’s carved and painted

wooden replicas of tossed-away

detritus he’s found on the streets,

tromp l’oeil depictions that serve

simultaneously as art, sociology

and an anthropology of our junk.

Seductive as art, quietly shaming

as reminders of our wasteful ways.

(SD) Free, Trifecta Gallery

Oct. 3-Dec. 28

now You see itLinda Alterwitz is a Las

Vegas art photographer who

often composites medical

images with other styles

of photography to explore

realities that are hidden from

plain sight. Ruth Thomas is a

British printmaker who works

bits of nature — grasses,

worm casings — into her

prints, to explore realities that

are hidden from plain sight.

The two exhibited together

decades ago, as students,

and now, as established

artists, they’re together again

in From Vegas to Wales.

Alterwitz’s work in particular

can be a visually haunting

excursion into the overlap

between art and science.

That’s as good a reason as

any to rediscover this often-

overlooked gallery. (SD)

Reception 6-8p, Oct. 24, free, Charleston Heights Arts Center

18b Arts DistrictSome people hit the arts District in the

afternoon for the furniture stores and art

galleries; others head to the neighborhood

for gallery openings and preview thursday/

First Friday. During the day, peruse the

dice chandeliers at retro vegas, the 45s at

armstrong’s collectibles or admire an art show

at galleries from alios to rtz. afterward, have

a grilled cheese or jumbo omelet at tiffany’s Café (1700 S. las vegas blvd., 444-4459),

where the lunch counter is still Formica-topped

and true outsider art still hangs on the walls.

(Feel free to check out the artisanal beer

selection at the adjacent white cross market.)

or hit longtime hangout Casa Don Juan (1204

S. main St., 384-8070) for enchiladas, chicken

mole and margaritas. in the evening hours,

many of the local bars are extensions of the

neighborhood’s galleries, with artwork as part

of the décor. velveteen rabbit (1218 S. main

St., 685-9645) specializes in carefully crafted

cocktails with unusual ingredients, such as curry

bitters and herb-infused bourbon. artifice (1025 1st St., 489-6339) is a laid-back space

enlivened by DJs, musicians and other types of

performance. (ltr)

Make a night of it!

Linda Alterwitz's visually haunting work explores art and science.


Oct. 4-NOv. 30

ALso home to the swAmp thingIf you haven’t been out there,

you may think of the Las Vegas

Wash — if you think of it at all

— as a trickle of runoff water

and treated effluent burbling

toward Lake Mead. So consider

“Sunset, Telephone Line Road,” a

photograph from Fred Sigman’s

series Bottomlands: Photographs

of the Las Vegas Wash. Across

the bottom is a wide flow of

water that looks almost alien in

the desert we know. Across the

middle: a band of green lushness

straight out of a Southern

landscape. Only the desert sky

looks familiar. In other words,

there’s a whole different world

hidden in our own backyard, one

that Sigman has been shooting

for four decades. (SD) Free, Nevada Humanities Program Gallery in Art Square

Oct. 25-NOv. 25

i dunno, this Looks kindA sketchYFinished art is great, but

unfinished art has its moments,

too. Sketches, notes, early

revisions — the backstage stuff

you don’t often get to see can

shed revealing light on the

creative process. That’s what

promises to be compelling about

From Alamogordo to Las Vegas:

Behind the Scenes of Tales From

Last Vegas. Through concept

designs and script pages, the

homegrown creators of Tales

From Last Vegas, an adventure

comic commemorating the sixth

annual Vegas Valley Comic Book

Festival, show how the project

came together. (SD) Free, Alternate Reality Comics, 4111 S. Maryland Parkway, alternaterealitycomics.com

nOv. 1-28

verse-cAse scenArioWith the exhibit Poetry in Clay,

artists Thomas Bumblauskas,

John Gregg, Peter Jakubowski

and Marc Rosenthal have set

themselves a challenging

and ambitious goal: render in

ceramics the inspirations of their

favorite poets. Think about that

for a minute. Not only must they

extract some definable meaning

from works by such writers as

Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis

Carroll, and John Keats — and

keep in mind that poetry, by its

nature, resists easy meanings

— they also must render it

visually. But not just visually; in

three dimensions. No getting

away with a surreal doodle on

a sheet of paper. This promises

to be an interesting cross-genre

experiment. (SD) Free, Clay Arts Vegas, 1511 S. Main St., clayartsvegas.com

nOv. 1-29

wAit for it …Philip Denker is an artist of

patience. Perhaps he’s plugging

tens of thousands of pipe-cleaners

into tiny holes to create a spazzy

replica of casino carpeting, as

he did for a memorable show

last year; perhaps he’s making

drawings of an OCD-like density;

or, as in the eight large pieces in

this new show, Over and Under,

perhaps Denker’s repeatedly

stacking and slicing plastic

sheets until he’s arrived at one

of his dizzying patterns. Always,

the effort required and tedium

endured is part of the work and

its meaning. Thankfully, they’re

much easier to look at. (SD) Free, Trifecta Gallery

Dec. 7-JaN. 25

vegAs vALLeY of the doLLsDon’t let a sold-out Bruno Mars

concert fool you. While every

big-time show by a minority

performer on the Strip moves

Vegas another centimeter away

from its segregated “Mississippi of

the West” era, it also tempts us to

forget that grim reality. A fine and

necessary reminder arrives this fall

in Reflections of the Ebony Guys,

Dolls & Techs, a batch of historical

photos that show us some of the

minority dancers and behind-the-

scenes technicians who worked

on the Strip when it was, sadly,

much more black and white. (SD)

Reception 2p, Jan. 25, free, West Las Vegas Arts Center

Sept. 20-29

the dogs thAt go boomThe title “Dog Explosion”

isn’t some kind of oblique,

overreaching metaphor — the

title of UNLV film professor Sean

Clark’s dark comedy refers to an

actual exploding dog that kicks

off this work with a literal bang. In

a small town in rural Mississippi,

three slacker siblings must deal

not only with said exploded dog

— from a comically mishandled

attempt at euthanasia — but with

the death of their mother. As they

confront the question of what

to do — both with her body and

with their newfound freedom —

they’ll wrestle with some tough

existential dilemmas, and, like

proper slackers, consume all the

donuts and beer required to fuel

their decisions. (AK) Sept. 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 8p; Sept. 22, 29, 2p, $10-$15, UNLV’s Black Box Theatre

Oct. 6 & 13

A moving performAnceBetween training, rehearsals and

performances — not to mention

keeping those Olympian bod-

ies in flawless shape — you’d

think the fleet-footed talents at

Nevada Ballet Theatre and Cirque

du Soleil would have little time

for anything else in their sched-

ules besides sleep. In fact, many

of those dancers and acrobats

choreograph their own pieces in

their free time, and the annual “A

Choreographers’ Showcase” is

where they get to show off this

side of their dance talent. From

classic showcases of balletic poise

to experimental mind- and body-

benders, “A Choreographers’

Showcase” reveals the creative

minds behind these constantly

moving bodies. (AK) $25-$45, 1p, Mystère Theatre at Treasure Island, nevadaballet.com

THEaTRE& danCE

Historic photos of Las Vegas' minority entertainers are on display in Reflections of the Ebony Guys, Dolls and Techs at the West Las Vegas Arts Center.


somEwhere in the warehouse wastelands near the inter-section of Valley View and

Desert Inn, there’s a black box that’s help-ing to change the landscape of filmmak-ing in Las Vegas. The Indie Film Factory is large enough to fit a car in, with a green screen fastened to its far wall. There’s a makeup mirror framed by round bulbs on one side, and large set flats with their scen-ery sides facing the opposite wall. It brings to mind studios from the formative years of cinema: Thomas Edison’s Black Maria, Georg-es Méliès’ glassed enclosure outside of Paris.

Kelly Schwarze likes the Méliès comparison. “His was the first real big kind of studio in Eu-rope,” he says. “And he was doing crazy stuff, things that no one had ever seen before. There’s a bit of that here at the Indie Film Factory.”

What Schwarze, his wife Charisma and their partners have developed since founding Indie Film Factory in 2011 is an easily accessible and affordable facility for both aspiring and profes-sional filmmakers to use or attend workshops. It’s also where Schwarze and company handle commercial and corporate assignments as

ProWerks, and filmed scenes for his latest film, Territory 8.

The conspiracy thriller was the opening se-lection of the Vegas Independent Film Fes-tival in May. V.I.F.F. director Derek Stone-barger sees Schwarze as the backbone of the local industry. A recent Sunday evening found Stonebarger opening his downtown lounge Atomic Liquors so a crew could shoot a scene from a short film there. “These are all people who worked on the Kelly film (Territory 8),” he says. “There’s something else happening like this every day, and Kelly is like the father of a lot of it, of stuff that really gets done. He started the Indie Film Factory; people uti-lize that. All this equipment, all this stuff, is

somehow tied to Kelly and his company. He’s a big part of independent film in Vegas.”

Schwarze gravitated towards animation and looked into attending prestigious schools, but once he saw the price tag, he opted for a dif-ferent route. He studied animation at UNLV in the late ’90s, then became a volunteer with CineVegas. His fate was sealed after he stum-bled across a set while running an errand for the film festival. He asked a guy with a walkie-talkie how he could get a job there, which led to a gig as a production assistant on the Warner Bros. television series The Strip (1999-2000).

“I was seeing all of the faculties of production at its most glamorous.” Schwarze recalls. “You

W a T C Hones to

Kelly ScHwarzEThis young filmmaker takes on everything from sci-fi to satire — and his Indie Film Factory inspires a budding scene

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Oct. 11-13

sucker punched bY drAmAThe bonds of family and friends are

one thing — but sometimes shared

drama forges stronger ties. Dennis

Bush’s “Below the Belt” is about

a neighborhood tragedy that ties

together the lives of 10 people —

people with their own histories,

motives and pasts that are slowly

revealed in a surprising conclu-

sion. (AK) Free, Oct. 11-12, 7:30p; Oct. 13, 2p, BackStage Theatre at CSN’s Cheyenne Campus

Oct. 11-27

no! no gifts! pLeAse! noooo!Boarding-house owners Meg and

Petey Boles want to throw a nice

birthday party for their tenant

Stanley Webber. Of course, this being

a Harold Pinter play, “The Birthday

Party” quickly spirals into a dark

whirlpool of menace, violence and

horrific nonsense, as two thugs look-

ing for Webber subject the ex-piano

player to a cryptic and brutal inter-

rogation that drives Webber to the

brink of insanity. In its 1958 London

debut, “The Birthday Party” certainly

inspired a violent reaction in critics,

who were baffled and enraged by

the play’s cruelty and darkness — the

qualities that today have enshrined it

as an absurdist classic. Erik Amblad

directs Cockroach Theatre’s produc-

tion. (AK) Oct. 11, 12, 17-19, 24-26, 8p; Oct. 13, 20, 27, 2p, $16-$20, Art Square, cockroachtheatre.com

Oct. 11

no, this is the LA vidA LocAAmerican Place Theatre inspires kids

to enrich their lives with literature

by bringing famous works to life on

stage, from Richard Wright’s Black

Boy to contemporary works such

as Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous

Life of Oscar Wao. In this produc-

tion, American Place puts on a pro-

duction of Jeanette Walls’ The Glass

Castle, a memoir of growing up in

a household run by an eccentric

dad and unpredictable, artsy mom.

How eccentric and unpredictable?

Think starving broke-ass nomad

painter drunk on-the-run thieving

crazy flake freak clan. Jeanette Walls

not only lived to tell the tale, but

she tells it with deep affection and

gratitude for this most unusual up-

bringing. American Place Theatre’s

production features 60 minutes of

verbatim performance from Walls’

powerful memoir. (AK) 7:30p, $10-$15, Historic Fifth Street School, artslasvegas.org

Oct. 18-19

dAnce, mYthicAL goAt-mAn, dAnce!Talk about interdepartmental col-

laboration: UNLV’s Department of

Dance and the UNLV Symphony

Orchestra are joining up to create

some beautiful music — and dance

— together. For their annual Fall

Dance Concert, they’ll perform

“Rite of Spring” and a reconstruc-

tion of Vaslav Nijinsky’s “Afternoon

of a Faun” — considered one of the

first modern ballets, and certainly

one of the first that cast fauns in

a positive role, after years of be-

ing typecast as thugs, pimps and

drunks. (AK) Oct. 18, 8p; Oct. 19, 2p and 8p, price TBA, UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall

nOv. 1-2

mAgic swAns > unicornsFor all the gauzy, swoony charm

of Tchaikovsky’s more popular

works, such as Swan Lake and

Sleeping Beauty, you’d think the

Russian composer spent his days

bemusedly cloudwalking among

pink-winged cherubs. In fact, the

closeted and conflicted Tchai-

kovsky lived a life of psychological

torment over his sexuality. It makes

Odette of Swan Lake and Aurora of

Sleeping Beauty — and the musical

score that animates them — that

much more poignant. Nevada Bal-

let Theatre will celebrate his legacy

with not only fine dance, but lavish

scenery and costumes as well in

their performances of Swan Lake

Act II and Sleeping Beauty Act III.

(AK) $35-$128, 7:30p, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

nOv. 8-17

the originAL LAdies who LunchWhen it debuted in 1936, “The Wom-

en” took many by surprise with its

sharp social satire — and some of its

unusual theatrical conventions. The

fact alone that it has an all-female

cast — men are off-stage, only talked

about (and sometimes ridiculed and

criticized) — turned heads, as did

its clear-eyed commentary on the

straitened societal roles of women.

Times have changed since then, but

perhaps not as much as we like to

think. Clare Boothe Luce’s seminal

play still raises trenchant questions

about gender roles, sexism and

self-determination; Rhonda Carlson

directs this classic. (AK) Nov. 8, 9, 15, 16, 7:30p; Nov. 10, 17, 2p. $10-$12, Nicholas J. Horn Theatre on CSN’s Cheyenne campus

nOv. 8-16

Queue up the existentiAL drAmAThe next time you’re being shoved,

jostled and bumped in line, here’s

a comfortable thought: It’s more

than a line, it’s a test of your soul.

Playwright Israel Horovitz’s “The

Line” weaves a tale of envy and

desire from the most ordinary of

situations: People waiting in line for

an event. As the line grows and the

crowd thickens, people began to lie,

cheat, cut and shove their way for a

spot at the front, revealing human-

ity at its most petty and small-

hearted. Original title: “Walmart

on Black Friday.” (AK) Nov. 8, 9, 8p, UNLV’s Black Box Theatre; Nov. 9, 10, 2p, UNLV’s Black Box Theatre; Nov. 15, 16, Cockroach Theatre in Art Square

had production, wardrobe and casting. You had celebrities. I was on Fremont Street, and they were doing a scene where a car pulled up and they had a foot chase and guns shooting. I was standing behind ropes right next to the di-rector, and I was watching the director – ‘Cut! Reset! Go again!’ – and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

Schwarze set about making his debut fea-ture, Poking the Eye of the Storm, not long after that. He turned to crime for his soph-omore effort, The S.I.N., admittedly over-reached with a film he’s trying to forget titled The Indie-Pendant, then got his groove back with a comedy about race called You People. He’s also made an Emmy-nominated documentary about his veteran father, Dad’s Vietnam, and plans to make a documentary about Vegas entertainers sooner than later. But first, Territory 8 is getting one more round of editing before he takes it to the fes-tival circuit.

“He makes good stuff. It’s a lifelong passion,” says Stonebarger. “I think he represents Vegas Indie film real well. I think that there’ll be big-ger and hopefully more films.” — Matt Kelemen

Sarah Franek in The Glass Castle


Dec. 6-22

eww, You hAve A crush on A deAd person?Jeff Chalk, the most popular boy

in the small town of Clear Creek,

has disappeared. Who’s going

to find him? Certainly the four

girls who have crushes on Chalk

can help — that is, if they don’t

combust in the flames of their

own rivalries, jealousies, secrets

and betrayals. But “The Chalk

Boy” is about much more than

catty teen girls and romantic

competition; part dark satire, part

mystery, Joshua Conkel’s play —

here directed by Troy Heard for

Cockroach Theatre — peels back

the veneer of quaint small-town

life and exposes the psychodrama

seething underneath. (AK) Dec. 6, 7, 12-14, 19-21, 8p; Dec. 8, 15, 22, 2p, $16-$20, Cockroach Theatre in Art Square

Dec. 14-22

bigger nuts, more crAckingLast year, Nevada Ballet Theatre

debuted its Nutcracker 2.0 in its

new home at The Smith Cen-

ter. Perhaps it’s natural matu-

rity, perhaps it’s Artistic Director

James Canfield hitting his stride,

or perhaps it’s the inspiring new

space, but Nevada Ballet Theatre

seems to have noticeably stepped

up its game. The dancing of

The Nutcracker last year was as

crisp and fine as ever, but the

sets — whimsy writ large, at once

playful and polished — truly took

this holiday classic into yuletide

overdrive. In its new home, The

Nutcracker is a tradition that is

sure to become a Smith Center

holiday institution. (AK) Dec. 14, 15, 18-22, 7:30p; Dec. 15, 21, 22, 2p, $52-$178, Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center

Sept. 17

“corporAtions Are peopLe, mY friend!” *gAgging seLf*How better to celebrate the

Constitution than to question

the rights it gave us? Meta, huh?

In 1787, a task force of Founding

Fathers (Madison, Hamilton,

Washington and other ’ons) got

together to sign the Constitution,

the framework of American

government that dictates what

We The People can and cannot

do. Fast forward two centuries

and corporations are people, too.

But are they really, and do they

have the same First Amendment

rights? According the Supreme

Court circa 2010 — and one-

time Republican presidential

candidate Mitt Romney, who

dropped the infamous quote

above — the answer is yes. In

“Are Corporations People?,”

UCLA professor Adam Winkler

will deconstruct Citizens United

v. F.E.C., compare “corporate

personhood” to other corporate

constitutional rights (yes, there’s

more than one), and show where

the reform movement fails. (KT) 7:30p, free, UNLV’s Barrick Museum Auditorium

Sept. 24

foreign territorY mAde fAmiLiArYou might say longtime UNLV

writing professor and associate

director of the Black Mountain

Institute Richard Wiley has a mind

that wanders — to places like

Korea, Japan, Nigeria and Kenya,

which is just a sampling of where

his ambitious, searching but finely

tuned novels are set. His latest

novel, The Book of Important

Moments, doesn’t take place in a

far-flung country, but it’s troubled

territory to be sure: Mother-to-be

Ruth Rhodes faces the man who

raped her years earlier, while her

LiTERaTURE& idEas

Dec. 6-15

ghost of christmAs AwesomeYou know the story: Scrooge is Tweeting up a storm about “OMG Xmas is lame!” and “Santa = govt

LIE!” and “I luv reindeer ... steak! lolz” until he’s convinced by a trio of terrifying specters to stop being

such a troll and get in the #xmasspirit already. In the hands of the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre,

“Scrooge, The Musical” is an upbeat and holiday-affirming treat for all ages and faiths, even the

stubbornly Santa-agnostic. (AK) Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 7p; Dec. 8, 14, 15, 2p, $5, Charleston Heights Arts Center, artslasvegas.org

"Scrooge the Musical"


husband copes with the murder of

his own mother. He’ll read excerpts

from his upcoming novel and

answer questions. (AK), 7p, free UNLV’s Greenspun Hall

Sept. 26

prY mY “cAtcher in the rYe” from mY coLd, deAd hAndWhy ban books? Well, otherwise,

how are you going to know what

the good stuff is? Ba-dum-bum!

Seriously, while we all like to

think we live in a free and open

society — Tumblr porn and

snarky blogs for all! — there are,

surprisingly, still attempts to

censor books in the 21st century.

In the Vegas Valley Book Festival

and ACLU’s “Uncensored Voices,”

local literati will celebrate free

speech by reading from popular

banned titles. Afterwards, in a

discussion moderated by Review-

Journal political columnist Steve

Sebelius, they’ll talk about the

power of ideas — and the perils of

censorship. (AK) 7p, free, Clark County Library

Sept. 28

A short poemDear Poetry,

There was

a time

when

I

didn’t

understand you.

But now I know

you’re just a story

with different spacing.

Celebrate written, spoken and

illustrated poetry with Gretchen

Henderson, an accomplished

San Franciscan who has held

fellowships at Harvard and

MIT, and writes poetry, literary

criticism and fiction. With local

poets Mick Axelrod, Shaun

Christensen and Jamison

Crabtree, Tara Phillips, Joan

Robinson and others, the Vegas

Valley Poetry Celebration will

feature poetry long and short,

famous and obscure — whether

or not you understand it. (KT) 7p, free, Fifth Street School

Oct. 8

i’m not A zombie, but i totALLY wAnt this brAinWhen Albert Einstein, the world’s

favorite crazy-haired genius, died

in 1955, his body was cremated, but

his brain was preserved. Thomas

Harvey, the pathologist who

performed the autopsy, removed

it, photographed it and divided it

into 240 pieces, which Harvey kept

and shared with his fellow doctor

friends. Einstein’s remains vanished

for some years until 1978 when

journalist Steven Levy, now known

for co-authoring “Freakonomics,”

tracked down the missing lobes.

All along they’d been bobbing

in mason jars in Harvey’s home

office in Wichita, Kansas. In 2010,

three years after Harvey’s death,

his family donated a file of never-

before-seen photos to the National

Museum of Health and Medicine.

In “The Amazing Saga of Albert

Einstein’s Brain,” evolutionary

anthropologist Dean Falk recounts

the travels of Einstein’s brain and

reveals surprising recent findings.

(KT) 7:30p, free, Barrick Museum Auditorium at UNLV

Oct. 12

A storY of empowerment And intrigueHistory has a habit of telling his

story. Now’s a chance to hear her

story. From My Haley, the wife of

Alex Haley, who in 1977 published

Roots: The Saga of an American

Family, comes this historical

narrative about a seamstress slave

who exposes her owner to empower

herself. Roots, which was later

adapted as a TV series, tells the

story of an 18th-century African boy

who is captured and forced into

slavery in the states. The Treason of

College of Southern NevadacSn’s fall season of theatre, music and

dance events at the north las vegas

campus culminates with an evening of

themed chamber music in november

to raise funds for the school’s strings

program followed by the presentation

of “the women,” the great

Depression-era social satire, at the

horn theatre, featuring an all-female

cast of 35. if these entertainments

from bygone eras put you in a

throwback mood, consider cruising

las vegas boulevard to old reliable

Jerry’s nugget (1821 las vegas blvd.

n., 399-3000) where prime rib, fried

shrimp, chocolate éclairs and other

vintage vegas eats await. (br)

Make a night of it!

Jerry's Nugget's chocolate éclair


Space caDEtS aVThis innovative duo enriches local theater and turns nightlife spots into sensory playgrounds

WE’RE inside the Loman household — that sti-fling box of middle-

class dreams gone sour in Arthur Mill-er’s Death of a Salesman. And then we’re not. What happened? The physical set inside Art Square Theatre never budges, but with technology and sound cues delicately segueing projected images of patterned wallpaper, then silhouetted tree branches upon it, we move in and out of the home without a single awk-ward, lights-out transition.

The men behind the projector and other tech are Benton Cordor and Brett Bolton. The late-April opening of the revamped Death of a Salesman wasn’t just a statement-making season finale by Cockroach Theatre. It was also the official introduction of Space Cadets AV, Cordor and Bolton’s new creative audio/visual service part-nership that aims to create multi-sensory instal-lations. Their images sense, feed off and contrib-ute to the energy in their host room — imagine a screensaver with a mind of its own, or a wall portal to paranormal reverie.

Death of a Salesman director Troy Heard dreamt of incorporating the technology into his then-gestating production. So Cockroach Artistic Di-rector Erik Amblad summoned his friend Bolton, who brought along Cordor, to meet Heard. “From that time on, we were like third graders bringing their toys to the playground — the pos-sibilities were limitless,” says Heard, whose con-ceptual images provided a springboard for the duo to enliven a spare physical set. “The script’s final scene calls for a graveside funeral. With just a little projection magic and well-designed sound, they created a cold, wet day that elevated the emotional impact through the roof. ... Our next collaboration can’t come soon enough.”

He’ll have to join the queue. Though Space Cadets AV is a newer venture, Bolton and Cordor have significant network of creative pals and corporate clients have them busy working on projects, most of which they can’t reveal just yet. One they can share involves local filmmakers Jerry and Mike Thompson’s next feature-length movie, Popovich and the Voice of the Fabled American West, for which they are sound designers. And after a suc-cessful party installation at Ghostbar, they’re eagerly pitching ideas to various nightclubs, ideal settings for the duo to VJ (imagine Skril-lex and David Fincher ruling over the same booth, synchronizing tunes and video clips in

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Mary Louvestre relates the journey

of a Southern spy who traveled 200

miles in winter of 1862 to inform the

Union Secretary of the Navy about

her owner’s plans for the ironclad

CSS Virginia ship. Sometimes you

have to risk your life to save it, and

this is a moving reminder from one-

half of a powerful literary couple.

My Haley will read an excerpt and

discuss her work. (KT) 2p, free, West Las Vegas Arts Center

Oct. 15

three generAtions of writers — togetherThe worlds conjured by George

Saunders — sometimes bleak,

sometimes absurd, sometimes

dystopian, but always ringing with

comic truth — strike so closely at

the anxieties of the modern age,

you sometimes have to remind

yourself you're reading fiction. In

"Three Generations of American

Writers," he'll join two UNLV

professors: Douglas Unger taught

Saunders, and Maile Chapman

studied under him. Douglas Unger’s

five books include Leaving the

Land, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Maile

Chapman is the author of Your

Presence is Requested at Suvanto, a

finalist for the Guardian First Book

Award. (AK) 7p, free, Student Union theater at UNLV

Oct. 15

You don’t know where thAt wAter’s been!If you were desperate, you’d

probably drink dirty water — or Red

Bull for that matter. But what if you

didn’t have to be desperate? What

if guzzling former sewer gunk was

totally safe? Surprise: Lots of us

already are. In the West, wastewater

has many uses — agriculture,

irrigation, industrial cooling, natural

habitat restoration — and now,

UNLV prof Daniel Gerrity wants

to make it safe to drink. The civil

and environmental engineering

expert has a plan for Las Vegas

that won’t leave a bad taste in your

mouth, which he’ll discuss in “How

Thirsty Are You? Quenching the

World’s Thirst with Wastewater.”

(KT) 7:30p, free, Barrick Museum Auditorium at UNLV

Oct. 29

wiLd boYs And bAd dAdsWhen Justin Torres debuted “We

the Animals,” in 2011, Esquire

Magazine called it the best

book of the year so far. It was

September. The novella skews

autobiographical, tracking the wild,

unstructured lives of three young

brothers living in upstate New York

with their abusive Puerto Rican

father and timid white mother. In

simple, lyrical language, Torres

follows the boys from childhood

to late adolescence, noting

the widening gap between the

sensitive main character and his

reckless siblings, until finally their

differences come to an explosive

head. Torres will speak as part of

the Black Mountain Institute and

Nevada Humanities Emerging

Writers Series. (KT) 7p, free, Greenspun Hall Auditorium at UNLV

Oct. 30

books! ideAs! LiterAture! fun!Bibliophiles cannot live on food

and prose alone. Oh wait, yes

they can. Since it was established

in 2002, the Vegas Valley Book

Festival has brought in big literary

names such as John Irving, E.L.

Doctorow, Neil Gaiman and

Jennifer Egan, and this year will

be no different. Lovers of the

written word will enjoy four days of

readings, discussion panels, writers

workshops and a mini-food fest,

typically featuring small bites from

local high-end restaurants. Keynote

speakers are Catherine Coulter,

author of “Devil’s Embrace” and

71 other works, Luis Alberto Urrea,

author of Pulitzer finalist “Devil’s

Highway,” and Walter Dean Meyers,

national ambassador for young

people’s literature, whose speech

will confirm what we know to

be true: Reading is not optional.

(KT) Through Nov. 2, free, Clark County Library and Fifth Street School, vegasvalleybookfestival.com

nOv. 2

from dirt street to puLitzer finAListFrom a Tijuana landfill to

teaching fellowship at Harvard

University, Luis Alberto Urrea

has seen a lot. Born in Tijuana,

Mexico, to a Mexican father and

American mother, Urrea was

raised in San Diego and educated

at the University of California

San Diego and University of

Colorado Boulder. In his Vegas

Valley Book Festival keynote,

“Universal Border: From Tijuana

to the World,” Urrea will tell of his

humble beginnings living on a dirt

street to becoming a Pulitzer Prize

finalist for The Devil’s Highway

in 2004. Though much of his

work is set in the Southwest, near

the Mexico border, Urrea says,

“Borders don’t interest me. I’m

really in the business of building

bridges.” (KT) 5p, free, Fifth Street School

real time) or act as ADD-addled interior dec-orators transmitting various “patch” screens that mutate along with key shifts in the dance anthems and the motion of the revelers.

If projection-mapping sounds complicated, it is. At downtown bar Velveteen Rabbit, it takes four different apps and programs to bring Space Cadets’ digital tapestries to life. While Bolton, a business major, taught himself via online fo-rums — “There’s a great community online who are happy to share what they’ve figured out, and let everyone else take that knowledge and use it for whatever, maybe expand upon it,” says Cordor, learning the art form himself — it still requires a considerable technical pedigree to suss it all out. The app mastery. The computer coding. The trial-and-error mixing and match-ing of programs and hardware.

But when Cordor and Bolton sit back at Velve-teen Rabbit and watch patrons “play” with the duo’s wall wonderland, you can see the payoff of all that brain strain — and the promise of ingenuity to come. “It’s all my favorite things rolled into one, with my best friend,” says Bolton. “So, it’s nice.” — Mike Prevatt

Justin Torres

Sept. 21

something tAstY brewing downtownWhether you like to gnaw on a

thick, chocolatey stout, sip a crisp

lager or nip at a fizzy fruit beer

that you’d swear was champagne

if you didn’t know any better, the

Downtown Brew Festival has a

beer for every palate. What did

you say? “I don’t drink beer”?

Trust us — the new wave of beer

festivals will open the eyes of even

the most ardent oenophile loath

to venture too far from his go-to

pinot. Sip and swirl — and make

some room in your wine cellar for

some new company. Meanwhile,

veteran beer drinkers who think

they’ve tasted it all will enjoy some

unique one-off batches cooked up

by the Nevada Craft Brewers Asso-

ciation — think of them as pop-up

beers with personalities and flavors

all their own. (AK) 6p, $35-$65, Clark County Amphitheater, downtownbrewfestival.com

Sept. 28

moon-gAzing And mooncAke-grAzingHeld on the full moon closest to

the autumnal equinox, the Asian

Harvest Moon Festival is tradition-

ally a time to give thanks for a

plentiful harvest. But for desert-

dwellers whose bounty is likely to

come from the Smith’s produce

department, there is still plenty to

celebrate — like the end of a swel-

tering summer. Join like-minded

locals at the Springs Preserve to

honor this popular Asian holiday.

The event includes food stalls,

traditional dance performances

and a children’s lantern parade.

And don’t forget to try a moon-

cake — the iconic Chinese pastry is

an acquired taste, but no festival is

complete without it. (DL) 10a-5p, $9.95/free for members, Springs Preserve

Oct. 4-6

meet the rock stArs of Your mouthJust a few years ago, Vegas was

the place you’d come to drink

daiquiri through an IV while play-

ing Deuces Wild video poker for 74

hours straight. How times change:

Now we’re the place where you

can eat a dollop of a celebrichef’s

molecular pork belly foam for $37.

Indeed, chefs are the rock stars of

the new Vegas, and their foodie

groupies will be out in force at the

Food & Wine All-Star Weekend at

the Aria, Bellagio and MGM Grand.

With personal multi-course meals

prepped by marquee names (Joël

Robuchon! Shawn McClain!) live

cooking demos and more tastings

than you have taste buds, the

Food & Wine All-Star weekend will

provide you with envy-inspiring In-

stagram fodder for years to come.

(AK) Times vary, $195-$595, Aria, Bellagio, MGM Grand, mgmre-sorts.com/foodandwine


FEsTivaLsFamiLy & Food

University Districtunlv Film Department aces Sean clark and

Francisco menendez have created the original

production “Dog explosion,” for your viewing

and thinking pleasure, a dark comedy set in rural

missouri surrounding a family crisis, doughnuts,

beer, a dog and some dynamite. it plays at the

black box theatre Sept. 20-29, and the

(4700 S. maryland parkway, 597-9702) is the

best place to get in the right mindset. it’s dark,

it’s funny, and there’s a chance you might find a

beer that tastes like doughnuts and/or dynamite.

if your head is still spinning after the show, un-

confuse it with some tasty fusion at 28Go (4632

S. maryland parkway, 895-9899), a tasty, trippy

amalgam of asian cuisines. (br)

Make a night of it!

Asian Harvest Moon Festival at the Springs Preserve

28GO's blue crabcake sliders


Oct. 4-6

fortune fAvors the foodiesSip on sake, nosh on noodles, and

rub elbows with today’s brightest

culinary stars at the LUCKYRICE

Festival. The annual outdoor food

festival, now in its second year, fea-

tures inventive Asian-inspired cui-

sine prepared and presented by a

diverse lineup of top chefs. Expect

a mix of local favorites (Fukuburger,

Wicked Spoon, Raku) and high-

profile talent (Pichet Ong, Todd

English, and “Top Chef” season

10 winner Kristen Kish.) The event

offers all of the gustatory pleasures

of an open-air market in Asia, minus

the discomfort of eating from a

street curb. (DL) 8p, $88, Boule-vard Pool at The Cosmopolitan

Oct. 5

sAY “prost!” And chug A bock or threeYou don’t need to hail from Munich

or drink doppelbock — heck, you

don’t even need to know what

doppelbock is — to celebrate

Oktoberfest. The Original German-

American Social Club of Nevada

invites locals of every background

to its condensed, family-friendly

version of the world-famous fes-

tival. Traditional German fare will

be served, and children’s activi-

ties will keep the little ones busy

while you sample ice-cold brews.

If you’ve had one too many mugs,

help yourself to a second serving

of bratwurst — folk dancing by

the Las Vegas Bavarian Dancers

and musical performances by Sal-

zburger Echo and master yodeler

Kerry Christensen will keep you

entertained until you’re ready to

drive. (DL) 2-9p, free, Centennial Plaza at the Historic Fifth Street School

Oct. 5

hic! keep sipping for A cureWhat better way to do a good

deed than through philanthropic

alcohol consumption? In honor of

Breast Cancer Awareness Month,

the Springs Preserve hosts its 4th

annual Grapes & Hops Festival.

Sample an assortment of wines

and unique beers, enjoy live music

from The Buster Kings, and dig

into gourmet bites courtesy of El

Segundo Sol, Stripburger, Mon Ami

Gabi and P.F. Chang’s. Once you

feel the buzz, do some impulse

shopping via a silent auction. Don’t

worry, your purchases will be justi-

fied — funds raised support Par for

the Cure, a non-profit organiza-

tion dedicated to breast cancer

research. (DL) 5-9p, $40-$50, Springs Preserve

Oct. 11-13

sAturdAY knight feverSpit-shine your leather boots and

dry clean your wool cloaks, because

the Age of Chivalry Renaissance

Festival is back to take over (the

finally renovated) Sunset Park for

an entire weekend. Now in its 20th

year, the event features historical

re-enactments, stage performances,

jousting tournaments, and artisan

demonstrations. Mayhap thou shalt

learn a few medieval phrases before

attending, but total immersion is

not required. Festivalgoers who are

uninterested in nitpicking the his-

torical authenticity of it all can just

take pleasure in gnawing on turkey

drumsticks and listening to local

bands. (DL) Oct. 11, 12, 10a-10p; Oct. 13, 10a-4p, $10-$25, Sunset Park, lvrenfair.com

Oct. 11-27

it’s Like A hALLoween dress reheArsALWhy limit Halloween to a single

day? For three weekends lead-

ing up to the official holiday,

the Springs Preserve hosts its

annual Haunted Harvest. Expect a

haunted house, carnival games and

a petting zoo. There’ll be candy

too, of course. But if the kids take

more than their fair share of Kit

Kats, encourage them to stop by

the donation station — members

of Operation Gratitude will be on

hand to collect extra sweets and

thank you notes for our troops

overseas. (DL) Oct. 11, 13, 18-20, 25-27, 5p, $5-$8, Springs Preserve

Oct. 27

ALL cAndY, no creepY oLd hermit housesInstead of knocking on your

neighbors’ doors for candy this

year — how many Snickers do you

really need? — dress the kids in their

costumes and head over to Tivoli

Village in Summerlin for Cox Treat

Oct 12-13

mAsters of Art tAke over A mAster-pLAnned communitYDowntown Vegas is not the only local destination for getting a dose of culture. At the 19th

annual Summerlin Art Festival, scores of artists and craftsmen from all over the Southwest

flock to the suburbs to showcase original paintings, sculptures, glasswork, pottery and more.

Visitors who are inspired to unleash their own inner Rembrandts are encouraged to sign up for

the popular chalk art competition; for $5, amateurs can contribute a non-juried masterpiece.

Those who are less inclined to leave their artistic mark on the sidewalk can keep busy with

children’s activities, live music and ice-carving demonstrations. (DL) 9a-5p, free, Summerlin Centre Community Park, summerlin.com

Chalk artists take to the sidewalk at the Summerlin

Art Festival.


Peter BaStIEnWhether he’s doing a remixed BLT or a Tree of Life sandwich, this chef is mixing up the menu

FoR many people, going vegan is motivated by a passion for animal rights, better health

or saving the earth. For Peter Bastien, executive chef of Bronze Café at The Center, making some of the valley’s best-tasting and most satisfying vegan and vegetarian food is the result of nei-ther fad nor philosophical perspective. Rather, it’s the natural outcome of his upbringing. Bastien grew up in Seventh-day Adventist churches and schools, and was thus introduced early on to vegetar-ian food. “They weren’t very strict about it, but they did encourage a plant-based diet,” he says. “So I picked up eating legumes and beans, and learned how to combine my grains and nuts so I was getting the proper combina-tions of amino acids.” Those self-taught Veg-gie 101 lessons paid off. Today, at the Bronze Café (401 S. Maryland Parkway, 202-3100), his inspired culinary creations are quickly becom-ing a favorite of area tastemakers and trend-setters of the new downtown.

“It’s not a fetish or a trend for him,” says David Mozes, Bastien’s longtime partner and general manager of Bronze Café. “But it is an interesting way to set himself apart as a chef.

How can he make plant-based foods amazing and so good that you don’t even miss meat?”

Take Bastien’s seitan — a wheat-derived protein that serves as a meat substitute. Made from wheat gluten, it takes on texture not unlike chicken when cooked. Bastien’s homemade seitan is far and away the best I’ve ever had. He flavors the protein with garlic, onions, cumin, cilantro and a sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. To achieve the right density and texture, he steams the seitan, then cools it before chopping it into bite-sized cubes. This isn’t a concoction he found in a hipster vegan cookbook; Bastien’s recipe has

humble origins. “We had it every Saturday after the Sabbath,” he says. “We would have a potluck and whoever was cooking would always bring this dish with seitan. I grew up eating it not knowing what it was until I had it as an adult.” After years of experimentation, the seitan he now serves was developed at the kitchen of Bronze Café. For fans of more traditional faux meats, he’s also got killer tofu hot dogs and soy breakfast sausages.

To be sure, there’s more than just inventive vegan dishes at Bronze Café. The eatery offers chicken, turkey and bacon on its menu to account for what they call “inter-eaters”:

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Streets. The outdoor mall will play

host to a spooky but safe Halloween

fantasyland, replete with free candy,

games and prizes. Entertainment

comes in the form of face-painters,

stilt-walkers and, perhaps scariest of

all, balloon artists. Food stalls and a

DJ will also be available. Note: Most

of the swag at this event is only

available to costumed children up to

10 years old (sorry dad, you’ll have

to get your face painted somewhere

else.) (DL) 3-6p, free, Tivoli Village

nOv. 9

A festivAL for food-Loving fAmiLiesShortly before the fresh52 farm-

ers market goes on hiatus for the

winter, it hosts its annual Harvest

Festival at Tivoli Village. All of the

usual farmers and vendors will be

in attendance, but be sure to bring

the kids along for pumpkin-carv-

ing, face-painting, and a petting

zoo. If Junior has a big appetite,

permissive parents and unusual

career aspirations, he can even

enter the pie-eating competi-

tion. For the grown-ups, there

are beer tastings (and cider for

teetotalers), chef demos and

live music. Consider it your last

chance for outdoor fun before

winter hibernation. (DL) 8a-4p, free, fresh52 at Tivoli Village

nOv. 17

A dog dAY in Autumn (LiterALLY)Just like humans, dogs need to

mix up their fitness routine ev-

ery once in a while. Keep things

interesting by bringing Fido to

Tails & Trails, a day dedicated to

canines at the Springs Preserve.

The event features over three

miles of hiking trails for you and

your furry friend to explore.

It’s an excellent opportunity

to enjoy the fresh air and mild

weather while it lasts — plus it’ll

provide the two of you a chance

to sniff out other animal lovers

and pets. (DL) 10a-4p, free, Springs Preserve

vegans and vegetarians who go out to eat with meat-eaters. They didn’t want to leave anyone out, so they made certain any meat on the menu would sate even the most discerning carnivore’s palate. Bastien’s version of the BLT is appropriately named the LGBTQ: lettuce, greens, maple-glazed bacon, tomato and “q-cumber.” “It has oven-cooked strips of bacon and is made with a bacon jam cooked down with onions, garlic, herbs and spices,” he says. “We purée that and use it as a spread. It’s a bacon sandwich with bacon in every bite.” (Don’t worry, meatless ones: They’re hoping to develop a vegan version soon.)

For sweets, the café has a full range of both vegan and non-vegan baked goods as well as a variety of gluten-free, raw vegan “cheese” cakes every bit as indulgent in taste and texture as their dairy counterparts. Its beverage program includes cold-brewed iced coffee and blended drinks with ingredients such as pure matcha (powdered green tea), maca (Peruvian root) powder and chia seed.

“If you can come up with something that tastes good and is good for you, then why not?” Bastien says. “Isn’t that what everybody wants?” — Hektor D. Esparza

venue indexArt Square

1025 S. 1st St.,

483-8844,

artsquarelv.com

Brett Wesley Gallery

1112 S. Casino Cen-

ter Blvd., 433-4433,

brettwesleygallery.com

Charleston Heights

Arts Center

800 Brush St.,

229-6383,

artslasvegas.org

City Hall

Chamber Gallery

2nd floor of City Hall,

495 S. Main St.

Clark County

Amphitheater

500 S. Grand Central

Parkway, 455-8200

Clark County Library

1401 E. Flamingo Road,

507-3400, lvccld.org

Cockroach Theatre

(at Art Square)

1025 S. 1st St.,

cockroachtheatre.com

Contemporary

Arts Center

(in the Arts Factory)

107 E. Charleston Blvd.

#120, 382-3886,

lasvegascac.org

CSN Cheyenne Campus

(Artspace Gallery, Fine

Arts Gallery, BackStage

Theatre, Nicholas J. Horn

Theatre)

3200 E. Cheyenne Ave.,

North Las Vegas, 651-

4000

Fifth Street School

401 S. Fourth St.,

229-6469

The Palms

4321 W. Flamingo Road,

942-7777

RTZvegas

(at Art Square)

1017 S. First St. #195,

592-2164, rtzvegas.com

Sin City Gallery


107 E. Charleston Blvd.

#100, 608-2461,

sincitygallery.com

The Smith Center for the

Performing Arts

361 Symphony Park Ave.,

749-2012,

thesmithcenter.com

Springs Preserve

333 S. Valley View Blvd.,

822-7700,

springspreserve.org

Summerlin Centre Com-

munity Park

800 S. Town Center Drive

Sunset Park

2601 E. Sunset Road

Tivoli Village

440 S. Rampart Blvd.

570-7400 tivolivillagelv.com

Trifecta Gallery


107 E. Charleston Blvd.,

366-7001,

trifectagallery.com

UNLV

(Artemus Ham Hall, Barrick

Museum Auditorium, Black

Box Theatre, Doc Rando

Recital Hall, Greenspun Hall

Auditorium, Student Union

ballroom)

4505 S. Maryland

Parkway, 895-3011

West Las Vegas

Arts Center

947 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

229-4800

Winchester Cultural

Center

3130 McLeod Drive,

455-7340

Tivoli Village's Harvest Festival

Bag lunches and math homework — it’s yet another back-to-school season. Or is it? This fall, prep-school style gets a punky edge as the kids move to the head of the class


OliverPaul Smith Junior slim-fit shirt with calendar print, $42-$48

Paul Smith Junior V-neck cardigan, $56-$62paul smith in Crystals at CityCenter

Tayla JOJunior Gaultier sleeveless red/green/white dress, $61-$68Junior Gaultier long-sleeve shirt, $33-$36melijoe.com

aislinnJunior Gaultier short-sleeve dress, $92-$107Junior Gaultier black- and white-striped tights, $23-$26melijoe.com

Making gRaDEthe


sTellaJunior Gaultier sleeveless dress with pleated skirt, $92-$107melijoe.com

JaelynnRalph Lauren blouse, $85Burberry dress, $95neiman marcus in the Fashion show mall

adenAppaman Thompson cardigan, $71Appaman flannel shirt, $53appaman.com


gRaDEphotographer RobeRt John Kley

stylist ChRistie MoelleRhair and make-up stephanie aguilaR

stylist assistant saRah ann MilleRmodels aden, aisl inn, stella,

oliveR, Jaelynn and tayla Jo


Tayla JOJunior Gaultier dress with side zippers, $88

Junior Gaultier checked zipper jacket, $61-$68melijoe.com

Cherokee cream tights, $5target stores or target.com

Chasing Fireflies brown leather embroidered boots, $88chasing-fireflies.com

oliverAppaman varsity jacket, $93

Appaman skinny twill pant, $49

Appaman baseball Henley shirt, $40appaman.com

aDenRalph Lauren striped shirt, $65

Ralph Lauren green tie, $49.50

Ralph Lauren pants, $39.50Neiman Marcus in the Fashion Show Mall

TOPMAN suspenders, $12

TOPMAN hat, $25TOPMAN in the Fashion Show Mall

aislinnStella Blu hearts T-shirt, $25stellabluclothing.com

Circo for Target black leggings with jewelry, $7

Play glasses, $6Target stores or target.com

Dr. Martens hot pink lamper boot, $75Journeys Kidz in the Meadows Mall


80 | Desert Companion

oliverPaul Smith Junior Dodger

blue print shirt, $54-$59

Paul Smith Junior V-neck cardigan, $56-$62

Paul Smith at Crystals in CityCenter

stellaGaultier Junior short

puffed check skirt, $61-$68

Gaultier Junior classic long arm T-shirt, $55-$61

Gaultier Junior classic suit jacket, $107-$122

melijoe.com

JaelynnRalph Lauren blouse, $85

Burberry dress, $95Neiman Marcus in the Fashion Show Mall

Sarah-Jayne Brooke boot, $34.99Journeys Kidz in the Meadows Mall

aDenCirco for Target blue striped T-shirt, $6Target stores or target.com


Appaman flannel shirt, $53appaman.com

aDenBurberry wool jacket, $450


Paul Smith Junior EPIC graphic sweatshirt, $45-$51Paul Smith at Crystals in CityCenter

TOMS green cordones, $42toms.com

oliverAppaman puffy vest, $71

Appaman skinny twill pants, $49appaman.com

Paul Smith Junior long-sleeve T-shirt, $42-$48Paul Smith at Crystals in CityCenter

aislinnJunior Gaultier black cardigan, $52-$58

Junior Gaultier shirt with necklace print, $26-$29

Junior Gaultier pleated skirt, $52-$58melijoe.com

Xhilaration glitter belt, $10Target stores or Target.com

Sarah-Jayne camper boot, $34.99Journeys Kidz in the Meadows Mall

stellaAppaman plaid skirt, $47

Appaman prom gathered T-shirt, $38

Appaman pep rally cardigan, $71appaman.com

LAMO Footwear “sequin girl” bootie, $44lamofootwear.com

JaelynnCherokee knit blazer, $16.99

Circo for Target leggings, $7Target stores or target.com

Stella Blue pink T-shirt, $25stellabluclothing.com

P.S. from Aeropostale sparkle rucksack, $59.50Meadows Mall and Galleria Mall

Sarah-Jayne Brooke boot, $34.99Journeys Kidz in the Meadows Mall



aislinnAppaman pep rally cardigan, $71

Appaman plaid skirt, $47appaman.com

Circo for Target play glasses, $6target stores or target.com

Gaultier Junior front-checked T-shirt, $33-$36melijoe.com

sTellaChasing Fireflies French terry blazer, $48

Chasing Fireflies plaid skirt, $38

Chasing Fireflies cotton T-shirt, $24chasing-fireflies.com

Xhilaration glitter belt, $10target stores or target.com

Victoria’s Secret • G by Guess •

Sep

ho

ra • Coach •

• New

York &

Co

mp

any • Kiehl’s • • Boutique Talulah • Vince Camuto •

Michael K

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in • Rich & Skinny • Buckle

MAC • bebe

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erican Eagle Outfitters

Juicy Couture • BCBGMAXAZARIA • Forever 21 • Express

Renovation Complete This FallA new Galleria at Sunset. A new experience. A destination whose time has come.

Sunset & Stephanie I 702-434-0202 I galleriaatsunset.com

RedefiningDestination

OpeningSeptember

84 | Desert Companion | SEPTTEMBER 2013

Paul Smith wool beanie, $165Paul Smith at Crystals in CityCenter

Bally lamb nappa blouson, price on requestBally at Crystals in CityCenter


lifeplushTHE

Soft and Structured StyleS warm up thiS fall’S lookS

photographer Jerry Metellusstylist Christie Moeller

hair and make-up shaun saunders model daylee, enVy Model ManageMent


TOPSHOP knit pom-pom beanie, $22

TOPSHOP in the Fashion Show Mall

BCBGeneration pullover, $44Macy’s in the

Fashion Show Mall

BCBGMAXAZRIA Mia printed maxi dress, $268

BCBGMAXAZRIA in Town Square


Shiraz wool ribbed hat, $85DKNY in the Forum Shops at Caesars

Donna Karan flannel wool convertible drape front jacket, $1,695Donna Karan at Crystals in CityCenter

BCBGMAXAZARIA poet blouse, $178

BCBGMAXAZARIA in Town Square


TOPSHOP slouch beanie, $22

TOPSHOP in the Fashion Show Mall

BCBGeneration mini-cowl, $38Macy’s in the

Fashion Show Mall

Paul Smith Paul X sweater, $255

Paul Smith at Crystals in CityCenter


BCBGeneration twist slouch hat, $24

BCBGeneration illusion striped glove, $28bcbgeneration.com

BCBGeneration cotton blouse, $65

BCBGeneration yellow silk blouse, $65Macy’s in the Fashion Show Mall

BCBGMAXAZRIA Addison blouse, $138BCBGMAXAZRIA in Town Square

Join us for a fun and eye-opening interview with Cirque du Soleil on the stage at the Summerlin Art Festival. Come out early to interact with the Cirque du Soleil lively brand

ambassadors who will mingle with the crowd.

OctOber 12, 20133 p.m. at Summerlin Centre Community Park

Artist’s rendering. Card not available.

Your card gets you intowhatever you’re into.

Free with Museums on Us®

Just show your Bank of America® or Merrill Lynch® credit or debit card atmore than 150 participating museums nationwide on the first weekend of

every month for free admission to art, science, history.Whatever it is you’re into, it’s on us.

Participating museums in Las Vegas:Children’s DISCOVERY Museum

Las Vegas Natural History MuseumSprings Preserve

Visit bankofamerica.com/art to sign up for monthly email or text reminders.

Offer valid the first full weekend (Sat. and Sun.) of the month. Photo ID and any valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card must be presented. One free general admission limitedto cardholder at participating institution. Excludes fundraising events, special exhibitions and ticketed shows. Not to be combined with other offers.Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Credit card programs are issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Museums on Us, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and the Bank of America logoare registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. © 2013 Bank of America SPN-100-AD | 2.2013 | AR1C767C

Artist’s rendering. Card not available.

Your card gets you intowhatever you’re into.

Free with Museums on Us®

Just show your Bank of America® or Merrill Lynch® credit or debit card atmore than 150 participating museums nationwide on the first weekend of

every month for free admission to art, science, history.Whatever it is you’re into, it’s on us.

Participating museums in Las Vegas:Children’s DISCOVERY Museum

Las Vegas Natural History MuseumSprings Preserve

Visit bankofamerica.com/art to sign up for monthly email or text reminders.

Offer valid the first full weekend (Sat. and Sun.) of the month. Photo ID and any valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card must be presented. One free general admission limitedto cardholder at participating institution. Excludes fundraising events, special exhibitions and ticketed shows. Not to be combined with other offers.Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Credit card programs are issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Museums on Us, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and the Bank of America logoare registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. © 2013 Bank of America SPN-100-AD | 2.2013 | AR1C767C


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M u s e u M s | G A L L e R I e s | A R t F e s t I v A L s

one artsy summerYOUR GUIDE TO AREA MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND ART FESTIVALS

MuseuMsThe Las Vegas NaTuraL hisTory MuseuMThe Las Vegas Natural History Museum has been dedicated to educating children, adults and families in the natural sciences, both past and present and to providing a unique, educational resource in our Southern Nevada community.

Recently, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum achieved accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. Only five museums in Nevada are currently accredited, and of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, just 6% are accredited.

The accreditation award validates two decades of work and provides significant credibility as the Museum and its Board of Directors plan for its future. Through its interactive exhibits, educational programs, and the preservation of its collections, the Museum strives to instill an understanding and appreciation of the world’s wildlife, ecosystems and cultures.

900 Las Vegas Blvd., North, Las Vegas, NV. Admission includes access to the entire Museum. $10 for adults $8 for students, seniors and military, $5 for children

Las Vegas natural History museum

Discovery Children's museum

Bellagio Gallery of Fine art

Zion national Park Plein air Invitational

national atomic testing museum

Painting by Coyote Gulch art Village

artist Jeff Ham


DisCoVery ChiLDreN’s MuseuMThe DISCOVERY Children’s Museum addresses its core educational areas of science, art and culture and early childhood development with 26,000 square feet of interactive hands-on core exhibits. With featured traveling exhibitions, daily programs, demonstrations and activities, and special events and collaborative cultural programming for all occasions, it all adds up to an exciting family outing with lots of informal learning opportunities.

The museum features nine permanent exhibits encompassing three floors. Each exhibit is designed to educate and enthrall visitors, and there is something for every interest and every age group.

The DISCOVERY Children’s Museum, 360 Promenade Pl., Las Vegas, NV. Admission is $12 per person for ages 1 to 99. Yearly memberships are available. September 3 through May 31, 2014 museum hours are Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. For more information visit DISCOVERY KidsLV.org. 702-382-3445

NaTioNaL aToMiC TesTiNg MuseuMTravelers to Las Vegas rarely think of the history of “Sin City,” and if they do, it is the mob and gambling that come to mind. But Las Vegas is also an Atomic City. Since 1951, over 1,000 atomic bombs have been exploded less than 65 miles from the lights of the Strip.

The Museum has many unusual oversized artifacts that help illustrate the story of our nation’s atomic testing program and its contribution to winning the Cold War. These include the B-53 bomb — the largest in our arsenal — and the uncommon “Jewel rack,” a diagnostic underground test rack rarely seen by the general public. Air samplers, bomb relays, cultural artifacts with the iconic mushroom cloud, and numerous Civil Defense-related items round out the displays and help clarify a story that weaves science and technology with Cold War history.

Complementing the Museum’s exhibits is an unexpected touch – original art. Different artists are showcased throughout the year with their interpretation of our atomic past. Pop-up exhibits, which include everything from children’s interpretation of Mars habitats to unusual radiation items, are often on display. The Museum’s award-winning temporary

exhibit – Area 51: Myth or Reality – is a matchless experience that tells the story of the most secret place in America.

The National Atomic Testing Museum, in Nevada, is conveniently located a short walk from the Strip at 755 East Flamingo Road. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. For more information call 702-794-5151 or visit our website at NationalAtomicTestingMuseum.org. $20 for adults 18+, $17 for seniors and youths 7-17. $6 for children 6 and under.

The Mob MuseuMLocated in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, The Mob Museum showcases both sides of the

notorious battle between organized crime and law enforcement.

With engaging exhibits, high-tech theater presentations and more than 600 artifacts, The Mob Museum houses the largest collection of Mob and related law enforcement memorabilia under one roof. You can finally discover the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave, Las Vegas NV, 702-229-2734, Themobmuseum.org. Sun-Thurs 10am-7pm Fri-Sat 10am-8pm, Adults 18+ $19.95, Children 5-17 $13.95, NV Residents with state ID $10

The NeoN MuseuMFounded in 1996, the Neon Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic and cultural enrichment. In addition to an approximately two-acre Neon Museum campus, which includes the outdoor exhibition space known as the Neon Boneyard, the museum also encompasses a visitors’ center housed inside the

former La Concha Motel lobby, as well as 15 restored signs installed as public art throughout downtown Las Vegas.

Both the Neon Boneyard and the La Concha Visitors Center are located at 770 Las Vegas Blvd. North in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.NeonMuseum.org or call 702-387-6366. $18 general admission, $12 with a Nevada ID, free for children 6 and under.

GalleriesbeLLagio gaLLery of fiNe arTNow on view at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art (BGFA), Warhol Out West features the most extensive collection of the legendary pop artist’s artwork ever exhibited in Las Vegas. Showcasing nearly 60 paintings, prints, sculptures, film and more, Warhol Out West is a collaboration between BGFA and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA. Docent tours are available daily at 2 p.m. and are included with the price of admission. On the second Wednesday of each

MuseuMs oN us®Through baNk of aMeriCa's MuseuMs oN us® program, you can visit more than 150 of the most popular cultural institutions in the United States free of charge on the first full weekend of every month. To enjoy this benefit you must be a Bank of America and Merrill Lynch card customer. Present your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card to any particiapting museum with your photo ID and you will receive on free admission to that museum. For more information and to find a list of participating museums please visit, Bankofamerica.com/arts/MOu. Bank of America is one of the world’s leading corporate supporters of the arts, partnering with thou-sands of arts organizations worldwide to unite diverse communities and cultures.

free aDMissioN?Through baNk of aMeriCa's MuseuMs oN us® program, you can visit more than 150 of the most popular cultural institu-tions in the United States free of charge on the first full weekend of every month. To enjoy this benefit you must be a Bank of America and Merrill Lynch card customer. Present your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card to any particiapting

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Discovery Children's museum's Waterworld exhibit

Neon Museum's Visitors center inside the former La Concha motel lobby

free aDMissioN?Through baNk of aMeriCa's MuseuMs oN us® program, you can visit more than 150 of the most popular cultural institu-tions in the United States free of charge on the first full weekend of every month. To enjoy this benefit you must be a Bank of America and Merrill Lynch card customer. Present your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card to any particiapting

$3 Off 702.414.9000 venetian.com

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Present this coupon at the Imagine Exhibitions Gallery to redeem. Good for up to 4 regular adult admissions. Not to be combined with any other discount or offer. Promo Code: DESERT

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month, join BGFA Executive Director Tarissa Tiberti and Master Sommelier Jason Smith for Art & Wine: A Perfect Pairing, where artwork from the current exhibition is skillfully paired with selections from Bellagio’s wine cellar.

3600 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89109, 702-693-7871. $16 General Admission, $13 Seniors, $13 Nevada Residents valid Nevada ID, $11 Students, Teachers, Military with valid ID, Free Children 12 and under.

Mark VraNesh sTuDioReturning to Southern Nevada after a few years in San Miguel de Allende has infused Mark Vranesh’s art with the colors and flavors of colonial Mexico. Vranesh’s artwork has gained international exposure through this historic community of artists and writers. His mixed media style incorporates watercolors and acrylics with collage elements of handmade paper and natural fibers.

Influenced by his love for the Southwestern United States, Vranesh has revived his images of petroglyphs and landscapes in his unique approach to painting. After establishing his work throughout California with galleries in Coronado and Del Mar, Vranesh returned to Las Vegas in the mid-80s and now shares time between his Las Vegas and Sedona studios, he can often be found painting “plein air” at his traveling easel.

Along with his prolific art career that has spanned more than three decades, Vranesh has been the show promoter for art festivals in

the Las Vegas Valley for nearly 20 years. This experience has given him the opportunity to help new artists find their dreams, just as he has.

Information at www.vegasartwalk.com, 702-245-6077, Markvranesh.com

CoyoTe guLCh arT ViLLage (iViNs, uTah)Only a short jaunt west of St. George Utah and nestled beneath the majestic red rock cliffs, you’ll discover the Coyote Gulch Art Village. At the heart of the Kayenta Community, the art village is a growing enclave of art galleries, art studios, unique shopping experiences, casual dining, and outdoor theater and music. With beautiful scen-ery, amazing art, fun shops, and delicious food, the Coyote Gulch Art Village is a great place to spend an hour or even a whole day.

The Coyote Gulch Art Village is open daily to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dinner is available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. 875 Coyote Gulch Court, Ivins UT 84738, 435-674-2306

50 greaTesT PhoTograPhs of NaTioNaL geograPhiCSince opening its doors in 2012, Imagine Exhibitions Gallery has captivated Las Vegas with its enticing exhibitions. In February 2013, it welcomed 50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic, an in-depth exploration of National Geographic’s most celebrated photos from its 125-year-old history.

50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic has taken thousands of guests to all corners of the globe, including the freezing temperatures of the arctic, the hot sands of the Kalahari Desert, underneath the Amazon River and even a foam party in Ibiza.

In addition to seeing the photographs as they appeared in the magazine, visitors to 50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic learn the stories behind the photos and more about the photographers themselves.

At 6,800 square feet, Imagine Exhibitions Gallery is an ideal venue for hosting private events and cocktail receptions in a unique and compelling environment for up to 300 guests, any time of year. It also serves as an exhilarating field trip destination for local schools and universities, giving students the opportunity to step out of the classroom and into the world of National Geographic.

“50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic” will be on display through January 2014 and is open Sunday through Thursday from

9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., last ticket sold at 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., last ticket sold at 8 p.m. General admission $18; students with a valid ID, Nevada residents, military, and seniors $15; children 12 and under enjoy free admission when accompanied by a paying adult; additional children $14. Taxes and fees not included. Venetian.com 702-414-9000

art FestivalsbouLDer CiTy arT iN The ParkThe Southwest’s largest juried outdoor art festival is a time-honored Boulder City tradition. For many Southern Nevadans, a treasured indication that Fall is officially on the way appears as temperatures start to lower, days get a bit shorter and the beloved Boulder City Art in the Park makes its appearance the first

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so, you waNT To sTarT a CoLLeCTioN...MiCheLe C QuiNN fiNe arT aDVisory, LLC (MCQ)How much do you know about fine art and collecting?

Art is personal and emotional. You can collect with your eye, your heart, your gut, your wallet, or any combination of these things. It can take years to cultivate an aesthetic and a deep understanding of the market. But the reality is, most people don’t have the time, and they need help figuring out what to buy. But there is no reason to go at it alone. With more than 20 years of experience in fine art consulting, handling and collection management, MCQ is here to help. Whether you're an avid collector, a novice, or anything in between, MCQ will assist in guiding you through all the facets that go along with art collecting .

Under MCQ's advisement, clients have purchased and commissioned works by James Turrell and Jenny Holzer, collected paintings and drawings by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst, and sculptures by John Mc-Cracken, Jaume Plensa, Paul McCarthy and Marc Quinn, among others.

Owning a collection is one thing. Managing it is an art form unto itself. MCQ provides compre-hensive archiving of fine art collections through an industry-standard, database-management software system. So when the time comes to sell from your collection or buy from someone else’s, there’s virtually nothing to it.

For more information on MCQ's portfolio of work, please visit: www.mcqfineart.com.

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Bellagio Gallery of Fine art's Warhol Out West

Coyote Gulch art Village

50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic

July 27, 2013 - December 3, 2013

DiscoveryKidsLV.org | 702.382.3445

weekend of October. Not only is it an art lover's dream come true, it’s the 51st anniversary of this signature fund-raising event by the Boulder City Hospital Foundation, with all proceeds going directly to the hospital, underlining its mission to provide the community with quality health care close to home.

The annual event, which draws up to 100,000 visitors, is composed of a varied and exciting range of artists, craftsmen, culinary delights and live entertainment. It is widely recognized as the largest outdoor juried art festival in the Southwest! This year’s event features hundreds of artisans spread throughout the heart of Boulder city amongst its four beautiful parks.

As one of the city’s largest events, Art in the Park wouldn’t be successful without the combined efforts of members of our communities.

Fine and traditional art, fine and traditional crafts can all be found at this spectacular event. Art in the Park always features a variety of food choices from hot dogs, hamburgers, roasted corn on the cob, barbecue sandwiches, Italian, Mexican, Greek, Thai and Chinese fare. And then the desserts and treats… funnel cakes, kettle corn, roasted nuts, fruity bars, frozen treats and more.

Entertainment is a standard at Art in the Park. While strolling the parks and viewing artist works, guests are welcomed to relax in the shade at Bicentennial Park with refreshments while enjoying the stage entertainment from Boulder City’s traditional gazebo setting.

Since the inception of the festival, every talented artist has donated one original piece to the Art in the Park raffle. That tradition continues today, making every raffle prize a “hot treasure!” Raffle tickets are available at the event booth at the west end of Bicentennial Park.

For more information about Art in the Park or Boulder City Hospital please visit www.bouldercityhospital.org. To learn how you can support our community hospital; please contact the Boulder City Hospital Foundation at 702- 293-0214.

arT iN kayeNTa fesTiVaL The Coyote Gulch Art Village will be hosting the 14th Annual Art In Kayenta Festival on October 11th, 12th, and 13th from the hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The art festival will feature many artists from around the country,

including nationally renowned and resident Coyote Gulch Art Village artists Edward Hlavka and Jeff Ham.

Edward Hlavka, a sculpturist whose work resides in the Smithsonian and Statuary Hall, and Jeff Ham, a painter who has been featured in American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, Sedona Magazine and Southwest Art Magazine, will be competing in the Art in Kayenta Quick Draw event where Edward, Jeff and other profes-sional artists will create an original piece of art in just 90 minutes. The pieces will then be sold in a live auction at the commencement of the Quick Draw Event. Edward Hlavka has a studio located in the Coyote Gulch Art Village where he creates his master pieces and also teaches sculpturing classes to beginner and advanced students. Jeff Ham also has a studio in The Coyote Gulch Art Village where people can see him create his paintings which use raw, bright, and explosive colors to create magical works of art.

The Art In Kayenta Festival gives people a unique opportunity to experience the Coyote Gulch Art Village, the Kayenta Community, and Southern Utah as a whole. Come out to shop at the galleries, eat great food, and enjoy a great day for the whole family.

875 Coyote Gulch Court, Ivins UT 84738, 435-674-2306

ZioN NaTioNaL Park fifTh aNNuaL PLeiN air iNViTaTioNaLFor hundreds of years, people have been trying to communicate what Zion Canyon means to them with symbols on rock, words on paper, and images on canvas.

Today, we continue to celebrate the importance of original art in the history of Zion with the annual Zion National Park Plein Air Art Invitational. The Zion National Park Foundation will host the fifth annual event, November 4-11, 2013, by hosting 24 of the country’s finest landscape artists for a week of painting and teaching in the park. The artists will paint plein air (on location) throughout the week in many of the same locations that iconic artists such as Thomas Moran painted when this landscaped was first exposed to the American public. Park visitors during the week will have many unique opportunities to witness great artists at work in the park, as well as attend daily painting demonstrations and lectures.

Details at www.zionpark.org and 800-635-3959


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The Watchman in Dazzling Light With an Agate Sky by Buffalo Kaplinski 30 x 40, acrylic on canvas

Cody DeLongDennis Farris Linda Glover Gooch Bruce GomezGeorge HandrahanSteven Hill

Mitch BairdDoug BraithwaiteJohn CoganMichelle CondratBill CramerStephen C. Datz

J. Brad HoltHai-Ou HouDonal JolleyBuffalo KaplinskiGreg LaRockRoland Lee

Peter NisbetRachel PettitSpike RessDave SantillanesGregory StocksSuze Woolf

Zion National Park Foundationwww.zionpark.org

Free Artist Demonstrations - Free Evening Lectures - Peak Autumn Color - Buyer’s Preview Gala Artists Appreciation Brunch - Public Wet Paint Sale, November 9 - 11 - Proceeds Benefit Zion Youth Programs

November 4 - 11, 2013 Zion National Park, Utah


Held OverBy

POPulardemand

755 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada702-794-5124 NationalAtomicTestingMuseum.org

CaleNDar OF eveNts area 51: Myth or reality - Now open!The National atomic Testing Museum, 755 E Flamingo Rd Las Vegas, NV 89119, 794-5151www.Nationalatomictestingmuseum.org.Learn about the most secret place in America. The first-ever exhibit on Area 51 will explore the real truth, the real programs and address the secrecy that surrounds the base at Groom Lake. But what about the aliens? The Mothership? The Secret Underground Tunnels?

art & Wine: a Perfect Pairingbellagio art gallery, 3600 S Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109, 693-78715:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 2013 Event Dates:* September 11, October 9, December 11 For tickets please visit the BGFA ticket counter or call 877.957.9777, $30 for members, $38 for non-members. *Art & Wine will be dark in November 2013 and January 2014.

art in kayenta festival kayenta Coyote gulch art Village, 875 Coyote Gulch Court, Ivins UT 84738, 435-674-2306Friday-Sunday October 11, 12, 13; 10a-5pm

art walk Produced by Mark Vranesh studiooctober 19 – 20, anthem highlands, Albertson’s Shopping Center, 2810 – 2929 Bicentennial Pkwy, Hendersonoctober 25 – 26, boca fashion Park, Rampart at W. Charleston, Las VegasNovember 2 – 3, Trails Village Center, 1970 Village Center Circle, Summerlin

boulder City arts – 51st annual art in the Park october 5 & 6, 2013 – 9am-5pm 401 California Ave., Boulder City, NV 89005, 293-0214. Free.

Desert Companion on Tour with Cirque du soleil at summer art festivalsaturday 3 pm, october 12, Summerlin Centre Community Park, 1800 S. Town Square Dr., Las Vegas 89135. desertcompanion.comFree and Open to the Public

Dinosaur Mummy Csi: Cretaceous science investigation Las Vegas Natural history Museum, 900 Las Vegas Blvd N., Las Vegas, NV 89101, 384-3466, LVNHM.org This exhibit showcases the science and technol-ogy used to unlock the secrets of the world’s most preserved dinosaur in the flesh, the Dinosaur Mummy, Leonardo! The 23-foot-long plant-eater from the late Cretaceous period was naturally mummified before it was turned into a fossil. This exhibit reveals some never-before-seen images of the dinosaur mummy as we tell the story of the ground-breaking research conducted on this amazing fossil.other permanent exhibits include: Treasures of Egypt, Engelstad Family Prehistoric Life GalleryInternational Wildlife Gallery, Las Vegas Found-ers’ African Galleries, E. L. Wiegand Foundation, Wild Nevada Gallery, Marine Life Gallery, MGM/MIRAGE Young Scientist Center

experience NanoDiscovery Children’s Museum, 360 Promenade Pl, Las Vegas, NV 89107, 702-382-3445 Discoverykidslv.org Imagine and Discover a World You Can’t See! Mini Exhibition July 27, 2013 through December 3, 2013

Zion National Park fifth annual Plein air invitationalSchedule of Events: November 5 - Tuesday

7:00 p.m. – Lecture: Michelle Haas The Role of Art in Landscape Conservation

November 6 - wednesday 7:00 p.m. – Lecture: Rebecca Fogg Zion Artist-in-Residence

November 7 - Thursday 7:00 p.m. Lecture: Polly Schaafsma Prehistoric Art

November 8 - friday 7:00 p.m. Invitation-only Art Patrons Preview and Purchase Awards presentation

November 9 - saturday 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Zion Nature Center Public Wet Paint Exhibit & Sale

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Boulder City Hospital Foundation Presents the 51st Annual

ART IN THE PARKOCTOBER 5-6 / 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Boulder City, Nevada

Hundreds of Fine Art, Fine Craft & Traditional Craft Artists

FREE Admission!

Benefiting Boulder City Hospital

For more information maps and directions, please visit:

www.artinthepark.org or call: 702-293-0214

Featured Artist – Ora Tamir Booths 199 & 200

...Only 6% of the nation’s museums are accredited with the American Alliance of Museums?

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum is honored to be newly accredited.

CoMe expLore witH us.

DID YOU KNOW...

Location 900 n. Las Vegas Blvd., n. Las Vegas, nV

Cross streets are Las Vegas Blvd. and Washington, adjacent to Cashman Center

Hours Daily from 9:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.

Open at 12:00 P.M. New Year’s Day and Easter Closed Christmas and Thanksgiving Day


Zion National Park fifth annual Plein air invitational (continued)

11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Zion Lodge - Paint Out 2:00 p.m. Paint Out Sale11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Silent Auction5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Springdale Main Street Gallery Art Walk 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Canyon Community Center Zion Through a Different Lens

November 10 – sunday9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Zion Nature Center Artist Quick Finish Painting9:00 a.m. – Noon Zion Nature Center Public Wet Paint Exhibit & Sale

November 11 – Monday9:00 a.m. – Noon Zion Nature Center Public Wet Paint Exhibit & Sale

have a healthy Day! 3rd annual Children’s health and wellness fair!Discovery Children’s Museum, 360 Promenade Pl, Las Vegas, NV 89107, 702-382-3445 Discoverykidslv.org Saturday, September 14, 2013 10:00 AMTraveling Featured Exhibit

summerlin art festivalsaturday & sunday 9 am – 5 pm, october 12 – 13,Summerlin Centre Community Park, 1800 S. Town Square Dr., Las Vegas 89135 / summerlin.com

Our spices have their own unique holistic

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aiding in cell turnover, improved appetite, alleviating fatigue, and acting as an

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5020 #1 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, NV, 89146

WE LOVE SPICES

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AURA PHOTOGRAPHYMake your next event Ultra-Modern and Revolutionary!

Featuring Aura Photographs withPersonalized Interpretations and Color Charts for each person. Make your next event an occasion your guests will remember!

Booking Events for Fall & Holiday Events Corporate Events • Fund Raisers • Trade Shows Parties • Birthdays • Graduations • ReunionsRestaurants • Clubs • Coffee HousesEntertainment for All Special Occasions

CONTACT GARY AT AURA IMAGING PHOTOGRAPHY

Office/Fax 702-487-5223 • email: [email protected]

Fun with fall planting! Join us as horticulturist expert Norm Schilling shares expert tips on seasonal

gardening, yard care and how to prune like a pro.

For more inFormation, visit us online at WWW.desertcompanion.com/dcontour

Plant World Nursery 5301 West Charleston Boulevard Las Vegas, NV 89146

September 21, 2013 9:30 a.m. at plant world

Mark Vranesh Studio presents

Art Walk

October 19-20 Anthem Highlands Albertsons Shopping Center

2810-2929 Bicentennial Pkwy in Henderson

October 25-26-27 Boca Fashion Park Rampart at W. Charleston in Las Vegas

November 2-3 Trails Village Center

1970 Village Center Circle in Summerlin

www.vegasartwalk.com

For information,

702.245.6077

BMW MotorradUSA

Motorcyclessince 1923

6675 South Tenaya Way • www.bmwoflasvegas.com

Call 702.454.6269 to schedule your reservation. See store for details.

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Tivoli Village 420 S. Rampart Suite 180, Las Vegas, NV, (702) 433-1233

JAZZLIVE TUESDAYS

5PM-8PM

OUTDOORS ON THE PATIO

2 0 1 3 – 2 0 1 4 s e a s o n

p u r e . p o w e r f u l . a r t s .

La Revue de CuisineThursday, September 19, 2013 • 7:30 p.m.$25

Hungarian State Folk EnsembleGypsy RomanceThursday, September 26, 2013 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

Fry Street QuartetTuesday, October 22, 2013 • 7:30 p.m.$25

Peter Nerowith the UNLV Jazz Symphony OrchestraThe Gershwin ProjectSaturday, November 2, 2013 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

Mak GrgicTuesday, November 19, 2013 • 8 p.m.$40

Axiom BrassThursday, January 30, 2014 • 7:30 p.m.$25

Moscow Festival BalletCinderellaSaturday, February 1, 2014 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

Duo Siqueira LimaSaturday, February 15, 2014 • 8 p.m.$40

Three Times FourThursday, February 20, 2014 • 7:30 p.m.$25

Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight!Saturday, February 22, 2014 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

Repertory Dance Theatre“Elements”Saturday, March 8, 2014 • 8 p.m.$15 - $30

Haifa Symphony Orchestra of IsraelThursday, March 13, 2014 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

VIDA Guitar QuartetThursday, April 10, 2014 • 8 p.m.$40

The Rippingtons featuring Russ FreemanSaturday, April 26, 2014 • 8 p.m.$25 - $40 - $55 - $75

(702) 895-2787pac.unlv.edu

A R T

M U S I C

T H E AT E R

DA N C E

FA M I LY

A R T S + E N T E R TA I N M E N T


09.2013

Want your event in our calendar? Submit your event with a brief description to [email protected].

Carol Burnett was a true

comedic trailblazer, proving

that ladies could turn us into

quivering puddles of laugh-

ter as effectively as any one

of those hairy oafish man-

persons. In this special eve-

ning, she’ll reflect upon her

career in a freestyle Q&A

with the audience — much

like she began each episode

of her beloved “Carol

Burnett Show.” “Laughter

and Reflection with Carol

Burnett” is 8p Sept. 29 at

Reynolds Hall in The Smith

Center. Tickets $39-$129.

Info: thesmithcenter.com

There’ll be love in the air — literally

— at the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s

“Operatic Love” concert: tenor

Cody Austin and soprano Suzanne

Vinnik (pictured) will perform op-

era arias and duets in overtures by

stalwarts Puccini, Verdi and Mozart.

“Operatic Love” is 7:30p Sept. 28 in

Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center,

with a pre-concert conversation at

6:45p. Tickets $25-$94.

Info: lvphil.org

Consider the humble chair. For most of us, it’s

a plush pedestal for our lazy-butt, Netflix-

based lifestyles, a mere booty receptacle for

office work and web-surfing. But in the eyes

of artist Brian Zimmerman, the chair is a me-

dium for trenchant social commentary on our

health and body issues. Sit on that! “Greasing

the Skids” is on exhibit at The Clark County

Government Center Rotunda Gallery through

Sept. 27, with a reception and artist talk

6p Sept. 27

5take

Every so often, UNLV culls its best jazz students in an ar-

cane ritual called “Dark Harvest: The Musical Soul-Reapen-

ing.” Okay, it’s actually called the UNLV Jazz Concert

Series, but you get the idea. The college’s finest musi-

cians take you through a swingin’ set of jazz classics and

contemporary tunes. The UNLV Jazz Ensemble performs

7p Oct. 9 at the Clark County Library’s main theater. Free.

Long before the office of president devolved into being

an elaborately coiffed figurehead for powerful megacor-

porate interests, there were presidents like Andrew Jack-

son: ardently populist, brutally decisive and an unapolo-

getic demagogue. Got a problem with that? HE JUST

CHALLENGED YOUR FACE TO A DUEL. Satirical rock

musical “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” is performed

8p Sept. 13-28 and 2p Sept. 22 at Onyx Theatre, 953 E.

Sahara Ave. #16 in Commercial Center. Tickets $25. Info:

onyxtheatre.com

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106 | DESERT COMPANION | SEPTEMBER 2013

ART GEOGRAPHICAL DIVIDES: FINDING COMMON GROUNDThrough Sept. 9, by appointment only. This

is one of several exhibits that are part of the

Nevada Arts Council-Nevada Touring Initia-

tive/Touring Exhibit Program and features 16

artists who were asked to explore the geo-

graphical and cultural differences in Nevada,

if such differences truly exist. The assembly

of printmakers – eight from the north, eight

from the south – produced two prints from

each collaboration. Free. Historic Fifth Street

School, Mayor’s Gallery, artslasvegas.org

NEXT EXIT: ROUTE 66Through Sept. 15. Explore how local artists

have interpreted this icon of the American

Auto Age using a variety of media and tech-

niques. Featuring artists include Su Limbert,

Todd Miller, Andreana Donahue, Justin Favela

and JW Caldwell. Free with general admis-

sion. Springs Preserve, springspreserve.org

POST RURALThrough Sept. 27, Mon-Fri 9a-4p; Sat. 10a-

2p. Artist reception Sept. 27, 6-8p. While

mounting an exhibition at the University of

Montana, the artists within this exhibition

were struck by a sympathetic resonance

between ideas, concerns and interests. Dur-

ing the ensuing discussion, it was noted that

none of the group were from Montana, but

all shared the experience of living in the rural

West, where the signs, symbols and meta-

phors are not completely their own. Free.

CSN Fine Arts Gallery, csn.edu/artgallery

DOROTHY AND HERBERT VOGEL COLLECTIONThrough Sept. 28, Mon-Fri 9a-5p; Sat 12-

5p. In 2010, UNLV was the recipient of 50

contemporary works from the celebrated

collectors Dorothy and Herb Vogel. The

Vogel Collection has been characterized as

unique among collections of contemporary

art, both for the character and breadth of

the objects and for the individuals who

created it. Suggested donation: $5 adults;

$2 children. UNLV Barrick Museum,

barrickmuseum.unlv.edu

LARGER THAN LIFEThrough Sept. 28. Through this series of

digitally manipulated photographs, photog-

raphy duo Francis George and Francis R.

Baytana introduce us to a glamorous giant

as she observes her strange new world of

urban metropolis and iconic local land-

marks. The concept has an otherworldly

feel and lives up to Las Vegas’ reputation

of excess and overindulgence. Free. Brett

Wesley Gallery, 1112 S. Casino Center Blvd.,

brettwesleygallery.com

ART IN MOTION: THE KINETIC WIND ART OF MARK WHITEThrough Sept. 30. Mark White’s kinetic wind

sculptures were designed to encourage self-


reflection. They are precisely balanced to re-

spond to the lightest of breezes, yet strong

enough to withstand 100 mph winds. Free

with general admission. Springs Preserve

SCULPTURAL PATTERNS: LIFE, NATURE, AND REFLECTIONS FROM THE WORLD WE LIVE INThrough Nov. 14, Mon-Thu 7a-5:30p. Artist

Bobbie Ann Howell worked with a variety of

materials to create designs and patterns that

emerge in a layering of forms, shapes and

colors. This exhibition features patterns and

designs created from observations in nature

and the Nevada landscape. Free. Las Vegas

City Hall Grand Gallery, artslasvegas.org

FIRST FRIDAYSept. 6 & Oct. 4, 5-11p. Celebrate Downtown

Las Vegas’ unique brand of arts and culture

with exhibits, open galleries, live music and

DJs, food trucks, vendor booths and special

activities for the kids. Free. Arts District; hub

at Casino Center Blvd. between Colorado St.

and California St., firstfridaylasvegas.com

DANCE TREY MCINTYRE PROJECTSept. 20, 7:30p. Can dance heal and enlight-

en? An innovative slant on the ballet genre

infusing its classical inheritance with fresh-

ness, vitality and depth, McIntyre explores

not only Americana but the whole of the

human condition, taking on themes such

as religion, superstition, family and love.

Tickets start at $29. Reynolds Hall at

The Smith Center, thesmithcenter.com

TAPS, TUNES AND TALL TALESSept. 21, 3 & 7p; Sept. 22, 3p. Broadway’s

tallest tapper, Tommy Tune, takes to the

world’s smallest stage, dancing, singing and

tale-telling through 50 years of big-time

showmanship on only four square feet.

Tickets start at $39. Cabaret Jazz at


MUSIC GRITS AND GLAMOURSept. 7, 7:30p. Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan

are veteran recording artists and performers

who grace the country format with style,

flair and undeniable talent. Tickets start

at $29. Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center,

thesmithcenter.com

UNLV JAZZ CONCERT SERIES: THE JOE WILLIAMS EVERY DAY FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP SEXTETSept. 11, 7p. This series highlights the best

student musicians from UNLV’s Jazz Studies

Program. Free. Jewel Box Theater, Clark

County Library, lvccld.org

ARTURO SANDOVALSept. 13, 7p; Sept. 14, 3 & 7p. One of the

most dynamic and vivacious live perform-

ers of our time, nine-time Grammy winner

The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, October 16-20

Continuing the 30 year tradition of PGA TOUR golf in Las Vegas,

NV and now a FedExCup® event, awarding full FedExCup points,

The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will bring some of the

top PGA TOUR professionals to compete at TPC Summerlin.

JOIN US OCTOBER 17 AT 6 P.M FOR AN EVENING OF GREAT COMPANY, HORS D’OEUVRES, COCKTAILS AND A FANTASTIC VIEW.

Visit our website for more information about the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. www.shrinershospitalsopen.com

Desert Companion and Nevada Public Radio is proud to partner with Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the Howard Hughes Corporation & Robert Mondavi Winery for the Cor-

porate Kick Off Reception on The Hill at TCP Summerlin. Help us honor the sponsors who

have made a significant commitment to support the tournament and most importantly, to

Shriners Hospitals for Children. Space is Limited RSVP at [email protected]

Please park at Suncoast Casino; 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas NV 89145. Complimentary shuttles will bring guests to the course from there. Prohibited items: cameras, camera bags, backpacks, and large purses (bags no larger than 6”x6”x6”)

SPONSORED BY


Arturo Sandoval brings his group to Cabaret

Jazz, featuring original compositions by

Sandoval, as well as a tribute to the late, great

Dizzy Gillespie. Tickets start at $42. Cabaret

Jazz at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter.com

BROADWAY AND BEYONDSept. 15, 2p. Enjoy classic Broadway hits from

the great singers of our time, including Liza

Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland,

as well as modern favorites. Vocalist Zipporah

Peddle and guest vocalists George Demott of

Poperazzi and Briana Shaw Rossi of Cirque du

Soleil’s “Zarkana” will be backed by some of

the top musicians in Las Vegas. $12 residents,

$15 non-residents. Starbright Theatre, suncity-

summerlin.com/starbrighttheatre.htm

STEVE MARCH-TORMÉSept. 27-28, 7p. Sensational vocalist Steve

March-Tormé, backed by a great jazz trio,

presents ballads and up-tempo songs from

the Great American Songbook mixed with his

own tunes. March-Tormé covers stories and

anecdotes about his life and relationship with

his father, Mel Tormé, and stepfather, actor Hal

March. Tickets start at $36. Cabaret Jazz at


GRIMM’S FAIRYTALE TOURSept. 27, 8p. With his soulful voice, Mississippi-

bred Michael Grimm charmed millions of view-

ers as a contestant on “America’s Got Talent,”

parlaying his substantial singer-songwriter

appeal into a first-place finish and million-dol-

lar prize. Tickets start at $25. Sunset Station

Casino, sunsetstation.com

BRAZILIAN JAZZ SENSATION PATTY ASCHERSept. 28, 7p. Ascher’s sultry jazz voice gar-

nered industry attention on the east coast,

now she is labeled the next big Las Vegas

singing sensation. Spend an evening with a

brilliant three-piece band, Rio Carnivale danc-

ers and special guest star performers. $15 resi-

dents, $18 non-residents. Starbright Theatre,

suncity-summerlin.com/starbrighttheatre.htm

CELEBRATE HARMONY - THE SILVER STATESMEN CHORUSOct. 5, 2p. Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of

the Barbershop Harmony Society with Ne-

vada’s own – including the largest a cappella

chorus in the state! With popular music

from the past and present, both your grand-

parents and your kids will enjoy the shows.

$15. Desert Spring United Methodist Church,

120 N. Pavilion Center Drive.

silverstatesmenbarbershopchorus.com

THEATER THE WIZARD OF OZSept. 10-13, 7:30p; Sept. 14-15, 2 & 7:30p.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production is an

enchanting adaptation of the all-time classic

reconceived for the stage. As the characters

try to obtain their hearts’ desires, you will redis-

cover the real story of Oz. Tickets start at $26.

Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmithcen-

ter.com

DRIVING MISS DAISYSept. 22, 7:30p. Clarence Gilyard, best known as

the co-star of television’s “Matlock” and “Walk-

er Texas Ranger,” stars in Alfred Uhry’s 1988 Pu-

litzer Prize winner. The play is a warm-hearted,

humorous and affecting study of the unlikely

relationship between an aging, crotchety white

Southern lady and a proud, soft-spoken black

man. Tickets start at $24. Reynolds Hall at The

Smith Center, thesmithcenter.com

LAS VEGAS IMPROVISATIONAL PLAYERSSept. 28, 7p. When’s the last time you laughed

until you cried? Clean-burning, completely kid-safe

fun for the whole family! Every song and scene is

created on the spot using suggestions from the

audience. Come early for Name That Tune. $10 at

the door, kids free. American Heritage Academy,

6126 South Sandhill Road, lvimprov.com(866) 321-4953 • tuacahn.org E x p e c t t h e U n f o r g e t t a b l e

TONY Award Winner for Best Musical on Broadway! Now thru Oct 22

© Disney

A SupercalifragilisticTuacahn PremiereNow - Oct 25

“Millie cast provides a roaring good time”- The Spectrum

U.S. Regional PremiereNow - Oct 24

“Starlight Express is fun, beautiful to watch…”

- Salt Lake Tribune

“It’s crisp, colorful and well done”

- Deseret News

Laura Taylor as Millie, John Preator as Jimmie

Tuacahn Amphitheatre is surrounded by the red cliffs of Southern Utah, just two short hours from Las Vegas

Steven M. G

oldsmith as Rusty

Mindy Sm

oot Robbins as Mary Poppins


The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, October 16-20

Continuing the 30 year tradition of PGA TOUR golf in Las Vegas,

NV and now a FedExCup® event, awarding full FedExCup points,

The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will bring some of the

top PGA TOUR professionals to compete at TPC Summerlin.

JOIN US OCTOBER 17 AT 6 P.M FOR AN EVENING OF GREAT COMPANY, HORS D’OEUVRES, COCKTAILS AND A FANTASTIC VIEW.

Visit our website for more information about the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. www.shrinershospitalsopen.com

Desert Companion and Nevada Public Radio is proud to partner with Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the Howard Hughes Corporation & Robert Mondavi Winery for the Cor-

porate Kick Off Reception on The Hill at TCP Summerlin. Help us honor the sponsors who

have made a significant commitment to support the tournament and most importantly, to

Shriners Hospitals for Children. Space is Limited RSVP at [email protected]

Please park at Suncoast Casino; 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas NV 89145. Complimentary shuttles will bring guests to the course from there. Prohibited items: cameras, camera bags, backpacks, and large purses (bags no larger than 6”x6”x6”)

SPONSORED BY



LECTURES, SPEAKERS AND PANELS AN EVENING WITH FORMER GOVERNOR BOB MILLER: SON OF A GAMBLING MANSept. 5, 7p. Former Nevada Governor Bob

Miller and Steve Sebelius, Las Vegas Review-

Journal political columnist, sit down to discuss

Miller’s early life in Chicago to his reign as

longest-serving governor in Nevada history.

Free. Main Theater, Clark County Library,

lvccld.org

MARGINAL WORKERS: THE POLITICS OF WORKPLACE REFORMSept. 5, 7:30p. How do workers organize

to improve the laws that are supposed to

protect them? In this lecture, author and

professor Ruben J. Garcia examines current

legislative efforts for labor law, immigration

law and equal pay reform. He then suggests

ways that the law might be reframed to

improve workplace protections. Free.

Barrick Museum Auditorium at UNLV,

liberalarts.unlv.edu/forum

CREATE ALTERNATIVE SPACESSept. 19, 6-8p. Explore the idea of Alternative

Exhibition Spaces; how art can be installed

and viewed outside of the traditional white-

cube. Come listen, respond, discuss and get

your thoughts heard. Light refreshments will

be served. The Contemporary Arts Center,

lasvegascac.org

ALAN ALDA: THINGS I OVERHEARD WHILE TALKING TO MYSELFSept. 24, 7:30p. Having survived a near-death

experience on a mountaintop in Chile and

wanting to squeeze the most juice out of

his second chance at life, he listens again to

advice he’s heard himself giving young people

over the years and spins a story that holds

on to laughter as it plunges down a few blind

alleys – toward a surprising conclusion. Tickets

start at $29. Reynolds Hall at The Smith Cen-

ter, thesmithcenter.com

CHASING BUTTERFLIES: ENDEMIC BUTTERFLIES OF THE SPRING MOUNTAIN RANGESept. 25, 7:30p. Surrounded on all sides by the

Mohave Desert, the Spring Mountains provide

the only remaining refuge to a variety of en-

demic species. These include a number of

rare butterflies existing nowhere else in the

world. The impact of this year’s Carpenter

Canyon Fire will also be discussed. Free.

Barrick Museum Auditorium at UNLV,

liberalarts.unlv.edu/forum

UNCENSORED VOICES: CELEBRATING THE FREEDOM TO READSept. 26, 7p. In recognition of Banned Books

Week, this event is a celebration of words

and ideas as well as a call to action for

anyone who cares about free speech. The

evening will be moderated by Las Vegas

Review-Journal political columnist, Steve

Sebelius, and will feature dramatic readings

and a moderated debate. Free. Main Theater,

Clark County Library, lvccld.org

FAMILY & FESTIVALS MOB-CON 2013Sept. 7-8, all day. Fascinated with the mob?

Wonder what it might be like to rub elbows

with loan sharks or hit men? Meet some of

the players at this one-of-a-kind event, Vegas

style! $195, $230 at the door. Palace Station

Hotel & Casino, mob-con.net

RTC VIVA BIKE VEGAS 2013 GRAN FONDO PINARELLOSept. 21, start time 6a. Registration is open for

the sixth annual RTC Viva Bike Vegas, the non-

competitive ride that takes you through the

Strip and Red Rock Canyon. Choose between

103, 60 or 17-mile courses. After the ride,

meet at Town Square for a celebration that

includes live entertainment and a children’s

bicycle rodeo. Proceeds benefit local charities.

$85 early registration, $65 jerseys. Timing

chips available. Town Square Las Vegas,

vivabikevegas.com

GREEK FOOD FESTIVALSept. 27-28, 3p-11p. Two full days of Greek

dancing, Greek music, Greek food and exciting

events, including a children’s area. Listen to

live music by Olympians and Etho Ellas while

you browse the booths of clothing, jewelry, art

and hand-crafted pastries. $6, children 12 and

under and military families with ID free.

St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox

Church, 5300 S El Camino Road,

lasvegasgreekfestival.com

LV INTERNATIONAL SCOUTING MEMORABILIA EXCHANGE & SHOWSept. 27, noon-9p; Sept. 28, 8a-6p. Explore

the vast history of Scouting through its

memorabilia, while benefitting the Las Vegas

International Scouting Museum. Free. Palace

Station Hotel Casino Salon A/B, worldscout-

ingmuseum.org

FUNDRAISERS FLAVORS OF THE HEARTSept. 7, 7p. Meet this year’s celebrity Heart Chef,

Anthony Vidal of Hash House A Go Go, at this

multicultural culinary event that benefits the

American Heart Association. Enjoy the silent

auction, live music and food and wine tasting.

$75, multiple ticket discounts available. World

Market Center, flavorsoftheheart.com

DIAMOND DIGSept. 19, 5-7p. Mine for diamonds with other

lucky “diggers” and you may win the grand

prize of a diamond pendant necklace worth

more than $1,600! Proceeds go to Dress for

Success Southern Nevada. Free to attend,

“digs” may be purchased at event. Dress for

Success Henderson Store, 10400 S. Eastern

Ave., dressforsuccesssouthernnevada.org

WE JUST MADE 10: A DECADE OF MUSICAL MEMORIESSept. 21, 5p. The Las Vegas Philharmonic Guild

commemorates their 10th Anniversary with a

Gala looking back at the history of the Guild

and classic Las Vegas. The evening includes

a special pre-event VIP cocktail party with a

musical tribute to Frank Sinatra followed by

a champagne reception with a silent auction

and a fabulous dinner dance featuring the

Las Vegas Good Fellas and a live auction.

Tickets start at $115, Riviera hotel-casino,

lasvegasguild.com

UNITEDHEALTHCARE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION THIRD ANNUAL TEDDY BEAR 5K RUN AND ONE MILE WALKSept. 28, 6:30a. Participants can register

individually or in teams of five or more. $30

for the 5K, $25 for the walk, kids 6-12 $15 for

either event. Registrants get T-shirts and

swag! Tivoli Village, active.com/5k-race/las-

vegas-nv/teddy-bear-run-at-tivoli-village-2013

3RD ANNUAL “THIS ONE’S FOR THE BOYS!” PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS WALK/RUNSept. 28, 8:30a. Get in shape for either the 2

mile walk or 3 mile run benefiting 21st Century

C.A.R.E. Foundation and UsTOO Prostate

Cancer Support Group, two non-profit groups

dedicated to cancer patients in Southern Ne-

vada. $25 online, $30 at event. UNLV Campus-

Myron Patridge Track and Field Stadium,

21stCenturyCare.org

DUCKS UNLIMITED ANNUAL WATERFOWL BANQUETOct. 3, 5:00p. Support the Las Vegas chapter

of Ducks Unlimited in their wetlands conserva-

tion mission. This evening of fun and fundrais-

ing includes dinner, live and silent auctions

and raffled prizes. $100 singles, $160 couples,

$50 children under 18, $1500 corporate tables.

Red Rock Country Club, nv.ducks.org

CASA FOUNDATION 23RD ANNUAL RECOGNITION GALAOct. 5, 5p. The Court Appointed Special Advo-

cate (CASA) Program advocates for abused

and neglected children. This gala celebrates

the best of the best. All proceeds go to meet

unpaid special requests made by children in

foster care in Las Vegas. $200 each or $1800

for table of 10. The Venetian Hotel, casalasve-

gas.org

SMILES FOR SURVIVORS THIRD ANNUAL BLOW OUT BREAST CANCER EVENTOct. 5, 7P. Featuring a variety of beauty in-

spired treats, fun-filled auction items, inspired

survivor spotlights, fine food, cocktails and

the who’s who of Las Vegas and Summerlin

society. All funds will go to the Smiles for

Survivors awareness campaigns and patient

treatments. $Square Colour Salon & Spa in

Summerlin, 1225 S. Fort Apache Road, smiles-

forsurvivors.org

oOn January 1, I’ll have been out of a Nevada business euphemistically called “the gaming industry” for five years. I am not retired, mind you. Today I teach English at Desert Rose Adult High School. But this five-year mark moves me to reflect on how I was ever inspired to become a blackjack dealer in the first place. It’s simple: It was seeing The Card Artist.

It all began in the mid-’60s when I was downtown one night at a previous incarna-tion of the Golden Nugget, watching a single-deck dealer do his thing on a blackjack table. I had quickly gone belly-up that particular night at the tables, so I strolled around the busy casino, watching the action and the movie-set crowd.

I forget his name-tag name; it’s not impor-tant. To me he was a sudden vision, a casino apotheosis that I hadn’t ever achieved gam-bling. He was young as I was, mid-twenties somewhere. The Card Artist was perfectly groomed, his hair slicked down and shim-mering. He wore an expensive white-on-white shirt with monogrammed cuffs. His right pinkie displayed a diamond ring. His watch was thin and gold and win-win. The dealing tie was customized and the apron was Nugget issue. His nails gleamed, manicured to a T.

And the cards. The way he handled the cards. His shuffle was speedy and proficient as he gripped the front edges of the evenly divided deck with his thumbs and fast-fed them together in an audible ripple. The card cut was presented before the chosen player, performed, stacked and picked up, and the top card flipped to the bottom of the deck faster than an eye could spy. The Card Artist then passed his right hand, palm down, in an arcing, skim-ming sweep around the table, professionally commanding, “All bets down.”

The delivery blew my mind. Then The Card Artist propelled the cards from his hands like hot-rod birds coming in for a perfect landing in front of each betting base on the blackjack layout.

So it was that Golden Nugget evening where I had busted out as a player myself — but saw the person I wanted to be. It was my career epiphany. The Card Artist ran the game, rode the herd, roped the players into line who weren’t following rules or paying attention or holding up the action, which, of course, in any casino, is the main attraction. As old-timer bosses would say back in that day, The Card Artist got the hands out. He made money for the house and himself, carrying on casual conversation and trading jokes with the gamblers — but he was always in control, always moving the game along.

It would be a few more years before I actually became a dealer myself. I dealt to addicts, degenerates, convention junkies, boxers (Sugar Ray Leon-ard), quarterbacks (Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills), regular joes and schleps

and pimps, hookers and lookers, priests and rabbis, bookies and rookies, hecklers and homeless pissing off their last street corner-begged bread, and to off-duty dealers from other clubs trying to catch the impossible run, the incredible streak, the astronomical score that would close the store and, suddenly flush with cash, they could scream “Never more!”

But, intermittently, magic would happen on a game when the cards rounded the bases like beautiful bullets and my schtick made the table play-ers ignite into hilarity — and, momentarily, life’s ingrained vulgarity waned and I was an escape artist like The Card Artist, a stand-up comedian work-ing the audience while they were correspondingly playing with me.

The Card Artist was my distant muse, my catalyst, my mentor, the roots of my casino rodeo days. The tie he wore that seminal night at the Nugget was one of those two-cord, pull-tight doodads with a glittering golden steer head emblem. When the next dealer came to relieve The Card Artist for his break, The Card Artist meticulously spread the deck like miniature newspa-pers coming off some phantasmagoric press, clapped his hands and turned them palm up to show he wasn’t squirreling cash, thanked the players, and walked away from the pit with his shirt pocket jammed with tip chips and silver dollars. Watching him do his casino stage exit, I couldn’t help noticing his multicolored alligator cowboy boots, the toes embossed silver, reflecting the blaze of the Golden Nugget chandeliers above.

Mike Newman dealt blackjack for 40 years before becoming an English teacher.

112 | Desert Companion | JANUARY 2013

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Remembering The Card ArtistBy mike newman

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Desert Companion - September 2013