PodKats! Las Vegas Entertainment

My guest on this episode of PodKats! is the founder of Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, Mr. Scott Bradlee himself. The show has opened its residency at 1Oak Nightclub at the Mirage. The show runs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. PMJ, as it is known, is an artistic time machine. The band re-imagines popular music into vintage genres. Including swing, Motown, doo-wop, and jazz. The music is from artists ranging from Lady Gaga to Adele, The Strokes to Katy Perry and the White Stripes. Jaclyn McSpadden, Aaron Turner, and Janien Valentine are among the Vegas performers in the show.

My guest on this episode of PodKats! is TV and stage performer Craig Ferguson. He left his late-night talk show in December 2014 after a decade on CBS. Ferguson set ratings records and earned a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting for his interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As the host of “Celebrity Name Game,” Ferguson was awarded the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host two years in a row. He is at Green Valley Ranch Resort at 8 p.m. Friday.

Our guest this week on PodKats! is a column favorite and a dear friend. Comic actor Brad Garrett, who runs Brad Garrett’s comedy club at the MGM Grand! Garrett has performed on the Strip since the 1980s, as an opening act for such legends as Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra. Of course, he was a co-star with Ray Romano in the long-running sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” and more recently on ABC’s “Single Parents.” Garrett is closing in on his 5th anniversary at the club in the hotel’s underground promenade, as he says accurately, right next to the pretzel stand.

Our guest this week on PodKats! is supermodel Christie Brinkley. She is starring as Roxie Hart in the national tour of “Chicago” at The Venetian Theater from April 10-14. She talks about how she first performed the role on Broadway, her memories of Las Vegas, her fitness program and how she wound up as a boxing photographer and correspondent. Starting with the 1980 Muhammad Ali-Larry Holmes title bout at Caesars Palace.

Our guests on PodKats! No. 19 are artists who appreciate classic contemporary music. Earth Wind & Fire is onstage for 6 shows at Venetian Theater. Founding member and bassist Verdine White talks of his longevity, on and off the stage, and what inspired him to play the bass. AND, a good friend of the Kats! Column for years, Yellow Brick Road founder Brody Dolyniuk is back in town.

I am on the prowl, indeed! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, appropriately enough. Find it on page 3A every day online all the time. My guest on this episode of PodKats! is the great Dana Carvey, appearing Friday and Saturday night at the Mirage, along with Ray Romano in the hotel’s Aces of Comedy Series. Carvey is famous as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” and spinoff film “Wayne’s World.” He performs many impressions, including both presidents Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. He is also working on an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez impression.

I am on the prowl, indeed! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, appropriately enough. Find it on page 3A every day online all the time. Our guests on this episode of PodKats! are performers involved in shows where there is a lot of disrobing. Up first is Vinny Guadagnino, famous as a cast member of “Jersey Shore” who is guest-starring in “Chippendales” at the Rio from April 26th through May 26th. And, the Naked Magicians, who are really magicians and are almost entirely naked, are in residency at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at the MGM Grand.

I am on the prowl, indeed! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, appropriately enough. Find it on page 3A every day online all the time. Our guests on this episode of PodKats are members of the cast of Ester Goldberg’s Totally Outrageous Brunch, which is opening this month at The Sayers Club at SLS Las Vegas. The adult variety show will perform at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Airington portrays Ester, a funny and foul-mouthed redhead of a certain age. The show is loaded with talented Las Vegas performers. In this roundtable discussion at the Sayers Club, we are joined by cast members Anne Martinez, Sarah Hester Ross and music director Aaron Fuller, and also co-producers Steve Wilson and Kevin Beebee.

I am on the prowl, indeed! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, appropriately enough. Find it on page 3A every day online all the time. Our guest on this episode of PodKats is Ice Cube, who is headlining House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. He is a trailblazer among rap artists who broke in the 1980s with NWA. He’s an accomplished actor in such movies as “Boyz in the Hood!” “Friday” and “Barbershop.” He’s also the CEO of his own basketball league, the Big 3. Cube talks about his upcoming show at House of Blues, his political views, his sports endeavors. Including his interest in the Las Vegas Raiders and the possibility of a headlining residency on the Strip.

I am on the prowl, indeed, as theme song indicates! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, appropriately enough. Find it on page 3A every day online all the time. The scene is hop-hop-hopping folks. On this episode of PodKats!, we catch up with Westgate Las Vegas Superbook Vice President Jay Kornegay, Smith Center for the Performing Arts President Myron Martin, and New York-New York entertainment executive AND former “Fantasy” singer Stephanie Sanchez.

The scene never stops, folks, and this week I was ignited by Cameron Hughes! He’s known as the igniter! And he is the guy who works the crowd during breaks in the action at Vegas Golden Knights games at T-Mobile Arena. I also caught up with Mike Hammer, the acerbic comic magician at Four Queens; and Kenny Davidsen of Don’t Tell Mama in downtown Las Vegas who is also the bandleader at Tuscany Suites.

I am on the prowl, once more! Welcome to PodKats! This is Kats, John Katsilometes, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. My column is called Kats!, fittingly enough, on page 3A every day online all the time. I met up with rock legends ZZ Top. I also Chat with another Rock legend Carlos Santana of House of Blues at the children’s book charity Spread the Word Nevada. I reconnected with magician Xavier Mortimer, who is opening a new headling show at Windows Showroom. AND I spent time backstage with Gina Katon and Marc Jordan of Little Miss Nasty, the adult rock/burlesque show at Hooters Hotel Casino! Let’s hit it

Derek Stevens, who, along with his brother Greg, have announced the name of the resort they are building on Fremont Street. The hotel-casino is scheduled to open in December 2020. If you follow the Kats! Column, you know that Derek is the bold overlord of The D Las Vegas and Golden Gate. His company also operates the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, the site of the naming-announcement party on January 10th. Derek explains this name inspired by Las Vegas history and its pioneers, and also talks of the great sports book and Garage Mahal, and how he will always be on the casino floor chatting up customers.

The Righteous Brothers, they are righteous, Bill Medley and Bucky Heard. The act has performed a residency at Harrah's since 2015 and the residency is ongoing until 2019. Lets Hit It!

Mark Shunock, is the proprietor of the Space and founder of Monday’s Dark. He also played Lonny in Rock of Ages at Venetian and the Rio. Since then, the Space has become a community destination, and Monday’s Dark is a popular music production and fund-raising effort that was launched in December 2013. Shunock is also an arena emcee for the Vegas Golden Knights and has also emceed for Top Rank Boxing. As always, we have a lot happening on the scene this week, as I sat with Mark Shunock of the Space, former Jersey Boys cast member Travis Cloer, and Amy Saunders, the star of Miss Behave Game Show at Bally’s.