Mike Tyson wants to take Vegas show to Broadway

 

Mike Tyson on Broadway? New York theater critics had better keep their ears protected if they're thinking of panning the athlete who once took a bite out of Evander Holyfield's right ear.

The former boxing champion wants to take his one-man Las Vegas show to New York, according to a report from TMZ. The solo show, which is set to run April 13-18  at the MGM Grand, is titled "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth -- Live on Stage."

Tyson reportedly wants to take the show on tour after the Vegas run, culminating with a New York engagement. The show is an autobiographical account of the athlete's life in and out of the boxing ring. Tyson is being directed by Randy Johnson, creator of "Elvis the Concert" and "One Night With Janis Joplin." The play is co-written by Johnson and Tyson's wife, Kiki.

Since retiring from boxing in 2006, Tyson has had ample practice playing himself. He appeared in the highly successful comedy "The Hangover" and its sequel, and was the subject of James Toback's documentary "Tyson." (He also played himself in Toback's hip-hop drama "Black and White.")

Most recently, Tyson practiced his live-performance skills during the recent Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.

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-- David Ng

Photo: Mike Tyson. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Mike Tyson to debut onstage in one-man Vegas show about himself

Mike Tyson is ready for his close-up as a stage performer, starring in a one-man show about himself set to premiere with a six-night shakedown run next month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth -- Live on Stage" will run April 13-18 in the 740-seat Hollywood Theatre, offering the man himself telling what it's like to have been feared, reviled and pitied in a career that may be boxing's answer to Sophocles' "Oedipus" cycle.

The director and co-writer (with Tyson's wife, Kiki), is L.A.-based playwright Randy Johnson, creator of "Elvis the Concert" and "One Night With Janis Joplin."

Tyson has already won acclaim for telling his own story on screen in "Tyson," the 2009 documentary by James Toback (pictured with Tyson).

In it, as Times film critic Kenneth Turan wrote, virtually the only voice heard was that of the fallen champ, "holding you spellbound with his thoughts on his past. The result is as gripping as a title fight and as mesmerizing as a conversation with a cobra. You may not be happy with everything said, but you will not be bored."

Johnson said Friday that he avoided seeing "Tyson," opting instead to spend many hours talking with his subject, then crafting a script and a sequence that he said will allow for a written question or two from the audience.

Video and live music will augment the evening. "It's a theater piece, not a lecture, but a real one-man show," Johnson said, along the lines of stage monologue evenings such as Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" and William Shatner's "Shatner's World: We All Just Live In It."

'Phantom of the Opera' to close in Las Vegas

 

Cue the organ one final time. "Phantom -- The Vegas Spectacular," the truncated version of the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical playing at the Venetian, has set a closing date of Sept. 2.

The Las Vegas production originally opened in 2006. The show runs a casino-friendly 95 minutes, versus the full-length Broadway version at the Majestic Theatre that runs two and a half hours, with an intermission. (Both versions are staged by Hal Prince.) By the time it closes, the Vegas "Phantom" will have had 2,691 performances, producers said.

The Broadway production, which opened in 1988, is expected to reach 10,000 performances in February.

The September closing of the Vegas "Phantom" means that there will be only one production of the musical still running in the U.S. -- the Broadway version at the Majestic Theatre. The last U.S. touring production concluded its run in 2010.

Lloyd Webber said in a statement: "The Las Vegas production of Phantom took all of the classic elements of the show and added unique aspects that created a whole new experience... It enjoyed remarkable success in Las Vegas, was enjoyed by millions of fans and proved that a timeless love story told in a fantastic theater will always be in vogue."

The Vegas "Phantom" is staged at the Venetian in a theater built to resemble the Paris Opera House where the musical is set. The show features all of the Lloyd Webber songs from the original musical but with an abridged storyline.

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Photo: A scene from "Phantom" in Las Vegas, with Sierra Boggess and Brent Barrett. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Monster Mash: 9/11 museum stalls; Frank Gehry center advances

Delayed: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the planned Sept. 11 museum has ground to a halt because of a financial dispute, and there is now no possibility it will open on time next year. (Associated Press)

Fundraising: A board of directors has been named for the Frank Gehry-designed performing-arts center planned for the World Trade Center site in New York. (Wall Street Journal)

Busted: A French graffiti artist has been arrested on suspicion of tagging subway trains in New York. (New York Daily News)

Circle is closed: The Las Vegas run of the stage musical "The Lion King" at Mandalay Bay Theatre is scheduled to play its final performance Friday. (Playbill)

Not giving up: Andrew Lloyd Webber has expressed a wish to take "Love Never Dies," the sequel to "Phantom of the Opera," on tour in Canada. (Sydney Morning Herald)

But worried: Lloyd Webber says London's Olympic Games will force most of the capital's theaters to close for the summer. (Associated Press)

Leadership role: Conductor James Conlon, who serves as music director of L.A. Opera, has been named an honorary board member of the Great Artists Series in Florida. (Miami Herald)

Embezzlement?: A former director of the Lewis County Historical Museum in Washington is suspected of stealing funds from the organization. (Seattle Times)

Passing: James Rizzi, a New York-born and based pop artist best known for his playful and childlike three-dimensional sculptures, has died at 61.

Also in the L.A. Times: An Art Center alumnus says he created the stylized flower that is the Tournament of Roses' logo.

-- David Ng

Photo: Visitors walk around the site of the former World Trade Center in New York. Credit: Mark Lennihan / Associated Press

New painting commissioned by Steve Wynn to be unveiled at Gehry-designed Cleveland Clinic

The Frank Gehry-designed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is about to get a new tenant -- a new large-scale painting by Pop artist James Rosenquist that was commissioned by Steve Wynn.

The painting is entitled “Cervello Spazio Cosmico,” which means “outer brain space” in Italian. The oil-on-canvas painting stands 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and will be displayed in the Keep Memory Alive Event Center. Officials are expected to unveil the painting on Saturday at a gathering of donors and other VIP's.

Rosenquist is one of the key artists of the Pop-art movement. His career spans nearly 50 years, and his work has been featured at top museums around the world.

Wynn may want to consider keeping his elbows away from the new Rosenquist painting. In 2006, the casino mogul accidently damaged one of his own Picasso paintings, "Le Rêve," when his elbow passed through the masterpiece.

The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health opened earlier this year and is Gehry's first building in Las Vegas. (Times architect critic Christopher Hawthorne wrote a review of the building just before it opened.)

-- David Ng

Photo: The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Credit: Isaac Brekken / For The Times

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Mob Museum in Las Vegas commemorates Kefauver Hearings

In the popular imagination, Las Vegas and the mob are joined at the hip. Their shared history is a point of fascination for many, thanks in no small part to movies such as "The Godfather," "Bugsy" and "Casino," which mythologized the role of organized crime in the city's creation and rise to glory.

On Monday, the Mob Museum in Vegas is paying tribute to one chapter in the city's history that proved crucial for its future as the gaming capital of the world. On this day 60 years ago, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, led by U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver, held the seventh in a series of 14 nationwide hearings. Known as the "Kefauver Hearings," the sessions were intended to investigate activities that took place across state lines. On Nov.15, 1950, the hearing was held in Las Vegas.

The hearing took place on the second floor of the city's U.S. Post Office and Court House building. The hearings, which were broadcast on television, found that mob activity around the country was pervasive and lucrative. As a result, many states passed anti-gambling laws and started cracking down on organized crime.

The museum said that the outcome of the Kefauver Committee hearings ironically helped to cement the city's position as a gaming hub, as many exiled gambling operators moved to Nevada, which was the only state where gambling was then legal.

The museum is merely calling attention to Monday's anniversary; though it has long been in the works, it is scheduled to open its doors in the fall of 2011. The museum -- whose formal title is the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement -- will occupy the space where the Kefauver hearings took place in Vegas. The building was dedicated on Nov. 27, 1933 as the city’s first federal building, according to the museum.

-- David Ng

Photo: the Las Vegas strip. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

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Monster Mash: 'The Lion King' sets closing date in Las Vegas; fake Andrew Wyeth painting seized

Circle of life: The Las Vegas production of "The Lion King" is set to close on Dec. 30, 2011, after being extended by 14 months. (Playbill)

Fake: A watercolor believed to be by Andrew Wyeth was found to be a forgery before it hit the auction block, federal authorities announced this week. (CNN)

Vanity project: Entertainer Wayne Newton's plan to build a museum and give tours of his Las Vegas-area home has hit a snag after local officials turned down his application. (Las Vegas Sun)

Moving forward: South Africa's Cape Town Opera has turned down an appeal from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to call off a tour of Israel. (BBC News)

Resignation: Phoenix Symphony President Maryellen Gleason has resigned to take a post as head of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. (Arizona Republic)

On view: Marc Chagall's "America Windows" has returned to the Art Institute of Chicago after five years out of sight. (Chicago Tribune)

Against the odds: A young opera singer performs on stage after recovering from a double lung transplant. (ABC News)

Final note: The Colonial Symphony of Morristown in New Jersey has announced it is closing due to financial difficulties. (Newark Star-Ledger)

And in the L.A. Times: L.A.-area museums are courting entertainment-industry players, but Hollywood's support of the arts may not run deep; architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne reviews the new L.A. Museum of the Holocaust; the Valley Performing Arts Center sets a gala opening for Jan. 29.

-- David Ng

Photo credit: Disney Theatrical Group

Twyla Tharp taking Sinatra musical to Las Vegas

First it was called "Come Fly With Me." Then it changed to "Come Fly Away." Its latest title is "Sinatra Dance with Me."

Whatever its name, Twyla Tharp's musical-dance celebration of Frank Sinatra is intended to be a high-energy crowd pleaser for fans of Old Blue Eyes. Its latest incarnation is set to open at the Wynn Las Vegas on Dec. 11 for a limited run through Jan. 29.

A spokeswoman for Wynn Las Vegas said that "Sinatra Dance With Me" is a shortened version of the Broadway production "Come Fly Away," which opened in March at the Marquis Theatre and closed in September. The total running time is expected to be 80 minutes without intermission, versus the Broadway running time of about two hours with an intermission.

The Vegas version is expected to be "very similar" in content to the Broadway production, said the spokeswoman. In addition, Tharp has added new moments for the Vegas version, which will be staged at the resort's Encore Theater.

The spokeswoman said the latest title change for the show is intended to help distinguish the Vegas version from the one that ran on Broadway.

The musical had its world premiere in Atlanta at the Alliance Theatre in 2009 under the title "Come Fly With Me." The show, choreographed and directed by Tharp, features dancers performing to the vocals of Sinatra and accompanied by a live band. The Broadway version was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Tharp's choreography.

Performances in Vegas will take place  7:30 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays through Jan. 29. The resort said that it will be selling approximately 1,000 tickets for each performance.

-- David Ng

Photo: a scene from the Atlanta production of "Come Fly With Me" in 2009. Credit: Greg Mooney

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Monster Mash: Fans say goodbye to Liberace Museum; Colorado town makes amends with artist

Saying farewell: Fans gathered to bid goodbye to the Liberace Museum, which closed its doors on Sunday. (Las Vegas Weekly)

Making amends: Artist Enrique Chagoya will create a new work for a church in Loveland, Colo., the town that saw a bitter fight over the artist's work "The Misadventures of Romantic Cannibals." (The Coloradoan)

Shuttered: The Theaters at 45 Bleecker Street -- an off-Broadway space in New York -- has closed due to a dispute between the landlord and the theater producers. (New York Times)

Day of rest: The National Museum of American Jewish History faces a dilemma over whether its new building should remain open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Star presence: Richard Dreyfuss will star in an off-Broadway production of the new play "Imagining Heschel," at the Cherry Lane Theatre. (Playbill)

Precarious situation: The Chelsea Art Museum in New York faces closure after a lender has taken over the deed of the building where the museum resides. (Wall Street Journal)

And in the L.A. Times: Theater critic Charles McNulty reviews Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Broad Stage.

-- David Ng

Photo: Lynn Musselman leads a tour at the Liberace Museum in 2008. Credit: Isaac Brekken / Los Angeles Times

'America's Got Talent': Jackie Evancho loses to Michael Grimm but wins a duet with her idol

We don't usually watch infomercials unless Billy Mays or the SlapChop guy are involved but we made an exception Wednesday for the finale of this season's "America's Got Talent."

Stretched agonizingly over two hours, we endured random guest acts (the Goo Goo Dolls are still a thing?) ridiculously lame product placements and a number by the "AGT All-Stars" (read: rejects) to find out that soul singer Michael Grimm squeaked past fan favorite Jackie Evancho to snag the $1-million prize.

But first came the most shameless advertisements -- the finalists' duets. This was a chance for the Final Four to sing with their heroes, as long as their hero was tying to resuscitate a career or had a new disc to shill. Grimm looks up to Jewel?  Seriously?

It has been a long time since we have encountered a production so utterly pointless. NBC's show is constantly being billed as live, as if crazy things could happen at anytime, but all the action is so tightly scripted that it is impossible not to suspect that every possibly spontaneous turn is designed to manipulate. Piers Morgan's buzzing of Prince Poppycock on Tuesday night, for instance. (Poppycock was the first to go on the finale.)

She might not have won, but Jackie did something on the show that no one else did: She was real. She was genuinely excited to meet Sarah Brightman and over the moon at being able to sing with her. Winning a contest is a worthy but abstract goal, especially for a child. Meeting a hero is tangible and it was a pleasure to watch Jackie realize that dream.

In a previous post, Culture Monster poked fun at Jackie copying the "wandering hands mean I'm emoting" technique from the Brightman playbook but they were so sweet together our heart burst to only two sizes too small.