Short run acts

It’s hard to break down which hotel has the "best" venue since all the major Strip hotels have large theatres to hold concerts and boxing. You can typically find headliners at the Hard Rock Hotel, Mandalay Bay House of Blues, or MGM Theatre for starters. Toss in a call to the Las Vegas Hilton and you may get lucky enough to catch one of your favorite stars in a more intimate setting than the typical 15,000-25,000 seat "Center."

Not all the headliners are on the Strip, mind you. The Orleans Hotel and Sam’s Town are off the beaten path but tend to turn up names like Jerry Lewis, Kenny Loggins, and the Everly Brothers.

Two of the Vegas talents who fall under the classification of short-run acts are Wayne Newton and Penn & Teller. Wayne – the unofficial city icon -- can be found at (where else?) the Wayne Newton Theatre at the Stardust hotel when he’s in town. Penn & Teller home-base out of Vegas and can typically be found performing at the MGM Grand when they’re in town.

Check the Las Vegas Show Guide at the Las Vegas On Line Entertainment Guide (www.lvol.com) or Vegas.com (www.vegas.com) to see who’s in town.

Long running shows

Anything booked for more than six months is a long running act in Vegas and some are booked for decades; Lance Burton has a 20 year contract with the Monte Carlo Hotel. TWENTY YEARS! In other places, such as the MGM Grand "EFX," the show is the story, with one lead artist as replaceable as another. The trend to megashows started in the ‘90s with the dedicated theatre built by the Mirage Hotel for Cirque du Soleil’s "Mystere" and is likely capped by Cirque’s stage for "O" at the Bellagio.

For your enjoyment, a handful of shows that rank among the best that Vegas has to offer. No Sigfreid and Roy on the list.

Blue Man Group - Luxor

Now featured on Intel’s Pentium III commercials (WHORES!), Blue Man Group is an oddly appealing blend of music, modern performance art, and show. To say too much about the performance involving everything from sophisticated visual tricks to fun with Twinkies would be to spoil a show that appeals to the child in all of us. If you’ve got hardening of the arteries, don’t go, because you won’t get it, but otherwise, buy a ticket and enjoy the show.

Cirque du Soleil – Treasure Island, Bellagio

I was first introduced to Cirque at an InterOp in 1995 at the Mystere production at Treasure Island and was stunned at the mix of athleticism, music, and artistry that the French Canadian-based troupe had brought to its custom-built stage. Mystere is a circus without the animals, so the awe and spectacle is brought to life through the acrobatic and gymnastic feats of its performers.

In 1999, "O" opened at the Bellagio in another one of those too-many-millions-to-count theatres. "O" is a water show and dry stage is magically transformed into a deep pool for swimming and diving. Some of the town locals argue that Mystere is better than "O" because it doesn’t rely on the water so much. Either show is worth the money.

Lance Burton – Monte Carlo

Lance Burton is a good old boy turned world-class magician and is the same guy who keeps cropping up in television specials every couple of years making things disappear. He’s booked into the Monte Carlo for the next 20 years, which isn’t bad job security. If you had to pick a backup for Wayne Newton as unofficial city icon, I think Lance would win because of his civic involvement.

Star Trek: The Experience – Las Vegas Hilton

Paramount Pictures worked with the Hilton to build a theme bar/casino and 15 minute interactive ride based on the "Star Trek" legend. The ticketed ride has a walk through a carefully constructed hall full of "Star Trek" memorabilia before you go into the main attraction and then get deposited outside. The premise is relatively unique and makes for a good distraction.

Quark’s Bar and the Promenade area aren’t bad places to hang out, especially if you like laughing at people in funny costumes. Quark’s is available for private receptions and their catering ain’t too shabby.