“Baz” in my bonnet; Moulin Rouge back in play

Palazzo is currently hosting the second coming of Baz: Star-Crossed Love, a song-and-dance mishmash of iconic moments from such Baz Luhrmann epics as Gatsby, Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. (What, nothing from Australia? Awwwww.) There’s even a baz-picpassing nod to his first — and still best — movie, Strictly Ballroom. The good news is that Baz plays better in the reconfigured Palazzo Showroom than it did when shoehorned into Light at Mandalay Bay. The bad news is that it’s afflicted with the same heartlessness and ADHD mania as the movies themselves. For Baz’s new iteration, the showroom has been reconfigured with a multi-pronged catwalk that goes into and around the audience. More’s the pity that it’s used without much imagination. An overworked trope has one star-crossed lover, far upstage, addressing another who’s way out in the center aisle. They’re then brought together, with a long, white sheet usually involved. Another much-abused device is to have scenes from two different stories playing out simultaneously. Don’t go in expecting a linear experience.

There are are one or two standout performances, especially from Joanna Jones (Daisy Buchanan), but most of them are strenuously overworked, interchangeable Millennials. They’re required to display bottomless energy and stamina, so give them points for that. But most of the ‘acting’ is subpar to what you’d find on your average daytime soap. The costumer deserves top marks and the band an excellent job — this is one of the few Strip shows where the singers aren’t routinely drowned out. But, after 90 minutes of dry humping, it feels like much ado about nothing much.

* I don’t know how so daffy a project managed to fly under the S&G radar but Tokyo Casino, which would anchor the northwest corner of a five block-by-16 block area on the west side of Downtown, got onto the Nevada Gaming Control Board agenda. The casino itself would be modest, starting with 102 slots and subsequently adding a 400-room hotel. (Can they legally do that?) According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Tokyo Casino backers say they have “other investors looking to build a smaller boutique hotel, several Asian restaurants, a Japanese experience park and block of Japanese gardens.” We’ve got Chinatown and Korea Town. Why not Japan Town?

Well, money, for starters. The NGCB simply isn’t convinced there’s lucre — or enough of it — in the project. “I simply can’t make the call right now. I still have a lot of questions about the financing,” said Chairman A.G. Burnett, sending Tokyo Casino back for reconsideration. Added NGCB member Shawn Reid, “we have no idea where this money is coming from.” The company’s dismissive attitude toward the Control Board didn’t help. “This all seemed rushed, disjointed and injected with nonresponsiveness,” said NGCB member Terry Johnson. Considering some of the casino projects that have been green-lit despite inadequate financing, one has to praise the Control Board for its due diligence this time.

Speaking of dubious Las Vegas casino ventures, the rebirth of the Moulin Rouge took one step forward, one step back yesterday. Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez quashed receiver Kevin Hatchett‘s effort to sell the site to Moulin Rouge Holdings for $8 million (which it doesn’t have). “I’m done,” said would-be developer Boris London, whose next stop will be to get the $500,000 he put into escrow back. London has fallen out with Moulin Rouge Holdings moulinco-principal Scott Johnson, who still intends to pursue the site. However, there was a silver lining for Hatchett, who is now free to field a $9.5 million offer from out-of-town AMA Realty, whose agenda is as yet unknown. Injecting himself into the brouhaha was Assemblyman Harvey Munford, who wants the site turned into a Michael Jackson memorial, he said, lowering his voice reverently. (Well, it’s more commercial than the other ideas we’ve heard to date.) Promoting the idea of a “Soul City” on the Westside, Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce President Katherine Duncan had another, less specific notion for the old Moulin Rouge site. “We’re hoping to create a full scale afro-themed resort that will attract the international community serving as an economic engine for the entire Westside community,” she said.

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