Vegas

I'm back!!! We had a fantastic weekend in Vegas, and it is so hard to be back in Chicago. As with any quick weekend trip, this one had its share of ups and downs, but there were far more ups than downs (the biggest down being that I couldn't find Liza anywhere and didn't get my CD's and DVD autographed). We had an uneventful flight out of Chicago. As planned, I got to the airport first and checked both bags and went through security. My companion called at about 6:20 pm and said he was leaving work and he showed up around 7:40, giving us enough time to have dinner at Chili's in Terminal F and get back to the gate and onto the plane. The flight was smooth and on time, but once we landed, we hit several snags. There was a backup in luggage handling, so it took almost an hour to get the suitcases, and then my companion's did not come out with the rest of the Chicago group's. We went to baggage services, and it was sitting there outside the office. Apparently, his got onto an earlier flight, but not mine, which I don't understand since they were checked together. It would have been nice if they would have let us know so we wouldn't have been standing there waiting for another 20 minutes after I got mine. We then went to the cab line and waited almost another 30 minutes to get a cab, because everyone on the plane was now ahead of us in the line and McCarran has a weird cab setup, so there isn't a continuous line like at O'Hare or any of the New York airports. We finally got the cab and got to the Luxor around midnight Vegas time, which is 2 in the morning Chicago time. We again found just about everyone from the flight already in line to check in, so it took forever to get up to the desk, only to be told that there were no more non-smoking rooms even though we had requested one through Travelocity. They said they could give us one the next day, but we would have to take a smoking room for that night. They then tried to be sneaky and offered us a complimentary upgrade to a tower room to make up for the inconvenience, but we had already reserved, and paid for, a tower room, when we made the reservation, so there really wasn't anything they could give us, and I'm kind of irked that they tried to be that sneaky. It's like when you go to Hertz and they offer you an upgrade to a larger car for an extra $30 a day, you decline because you like driving smaller cars, and then they tell you that they don't have any more in the size you requested and they have to give you a larger car, but won't charge you any more for it because you had reserved a smaller car. So, we went to the room, and it REEKED. It was really awful. We called the front desk and complained vociferously, but all they would do was offer to send housekeeping up with some air freshener. We agreed to that, and it helped, but by the next morning, it reeked again, and my eyes were so bloodshot, even though we had gone right to bed and slept until almost 10:30. We woke up, got ready, and went out to explore Vegas. I have been there several times, but my companion has not, so it was nice to have someone to show around. We walked up to the MGM (going through all the resorts on the way, playing a couple dollars here and there) and hopped onto the monorail. We went up to the Sahara where I went on Speed (the ride, not the drug), and then went back to the Vegas Hilton to have lunch at Quark's, which is always a fun experience. My companion really enjoyed that, although we didn't stay to do the rest of the Star Trek Experience (even though the rides are so cool, it's kind of a waste to pay $45 to do them once, it's better to plan a whole afternoon and do them several times). He then just had to go to the Barry Manilow store, which left me feeling a little nauseous, although it's better than the Celine store, and we headed back to the Luxor to change rooms and get ready for Phantom. The new room was much better and they gave us a complimentary coupon for a 2 for 1 IMAX admission, $30 off the total bill at Fusia or the Steakhouse, and a discount on the spa services. After showering and changing, we headed to the Venetian and had time to walk around, played a couple more slots, and then went to the show. Our seats were in the second row, edge of the center section, and they were totally worth the money. That was a fantastic show. I have loved Phantom since my high school days, and it gets better every time I see it. This production really played up the gothic elements, and I really can't argue with any of the cuts or changes. As usual, the prologue and overture are really the best part, and they ramped it up. When you come in, the theatre looks like an opera house, and there are pieces of the chandelier hanging all over the theatre (for this production, they changed the chandelier to a wedding cake type design instead of the weird ark of the covenant type design of the full length show). When the main piece, on the stage starts floating up as the overture thunders, all the other pieces lit up and started circling around as the main piece worked it's way up. We had to look backwards for this, but it was still so cool, it was like a bunch of UFO's flying around the theatre and then they all came together to form the chandelier. The only other major changes were a big improvement in the mirror scene. Instead of opening the mirror like a giant medicine cabinet and walking into it, they really made it look like Christine walked through the glass. Then the chandelier fall at the end of the reprise of All I Ask Of You was eliminated (since this was a non-intermission production) and delayed, and instead as the Phantom returns to the top of the proscenium, the stage darkened and was then illuminated by a flash of lightening, and we then got an amazing on stage fireworks show celebrating the New Year, which then segued into Masquerade. The initial Don Juan rehearsal was cut completely (thank God, that being the weakest scene of the show, I always had a problem with the Phantom's music being portrayed as an Amadeus-type situation; he's such a genius the music sounds terrible and no one likes it), and Masquerade segued directly into Wishing You Were Somehow Here again, and we were so close the flames as Christine and Raoul ran off the stage seared themselves into our vision. The chandelier then fell as the Phantom and Christine ran off stage after The Point of No Return (another example of the Amadeus-style of the Phantom's music, but done with enough urgency by these two performers to really improve it), and then there was one final change, that I will leave secret, but it really ups the stakes as Raoul enters the Phantom's lair. We were close enough to see all the details of the costumes and props, which really raised my enjoyment of the show, and they improved the Phantom's makeup so that he really looked more deformed instead of just bearing an uncanny resemblance to Neelix from Star Trek Voyager. The only downside was that this fantastic production left me even more pissed off about the movie, but what can you do? My companion loved it just as much and really wants to go back and see it again, which he never does. I can't wait, and I think next time I'll try to sit more in the middle of the theatre so we can get the full chandelier effect without having to turn around and crane our necks, and hopefully we'll get Brent Barrett as the Phantom (we had Anthony Crivello, and while he's not Brent, he was fantastic himself). After the show we watched the volcano at the Mirage and then went to Red Square at Mandalay Bay for dinner, which was fantastic. I highly recommend the Siberian Forest martini, and the pan seared duck breast was excellent. My only regret was that I couldn't finish the phenomenally rich chocolate mouse and had to leave about half of it behind. By that time we were dragging and went back to the room and fell asleep. We woke up earlier the next day and went to the Pharaoh's Feast breakfast buffet, which led to the next down part of the trip. The buffet was good at the time, but a couple hours later, the omelet I had really did not agree with my stomach and I didn't feel too good for most of the afternoon. After the buffet, we went to the IMAX and saw the Mysteries of the Nile film, which was awesome. It was 55 minutes, but it went by so fast. We both really enjoyed it. We then went back out to explore more of the resorts (I've been in all of them before, but my companion hadn't and wanted to see as many as he could). We took the monorail to the Imperial Palace, and started to work our way back from there. It was in the palace that my stomach first started bothering me and I kind of hurried the trip along a little faster than either of us would have liked, but then he started not feeling so well himself (he also had an omelet), so after a couple hours (going through Caesar's and the Bellagio), we were glad to get back to the room and take a nap. He felt better when he woke up, but I didn't, although thankfully not worse either, so he went to dinner at Fusia by himself, to use the $30 credit, and while I'm sad I wasn't able to go, it was probably for the best, Asian food is not what you want to put in an upset stomach. I was feeling better by the time he got back, and we changed, and it was time for the big event. Ms. Minnelli was AWESOME. Our seats were better than I expected (it turned out we were in the first row behind the sound booth, so we were able to remain seated and had a clear view of the stage), although the audience was a real freak show. People were yelling to her, requesting songs (which she did a great job of politely refusing: "I just turned 61, I'm already losing my mind, I don't have to sing it"!!!), and getting bitchy whenever anyone tried to leave the aisle to go use the bathroom or get a drink and then come back. Some woman behind us got the people next to her thrown out, although it did seem like they were high and they were being disruptive. However, the focus was on Liza. She looked fantastic (she claimed she's lost 31 pounds on Jenny Craig), and while her voice isn't what it used to be, she sounded much better than she did on the 2001 Liza's Back CD. She opened with I Can See Clearly Now and then went into Old Friend. After a couple more up-tempo numbers, she pulled out a chair and settled into the best song of the night, "You've Let Yourself Go." She then did Sarah Lee, which was a great surprise, and then belted out What Did I Have (That I Don't Have) before taking her first leave of the stage. I can see why people are always thinking she's drunk, she has such a unique personality that bubbles out in her own unique ways, but it definitely did not seem like she was anything other than pure talent. We then got the guest performer, Teri White, who wasn't bad at all, and then Liza came back and spent most of the second act in a tribute to Kay Thompson, her godmother (and MGM master orchestrator, songwriter, and actress), who she is planning on starring in a TV biopic about. She did several songs Kay is known for and was backed by the actors who will play the Williams brothers (Kay's nightclub backup act). While I wasn't familiar with most of the songs, Liza won me over. This woman meant a lot to her (it sounds like she was more of a mother to her than Judy was), and if she wanted to use this concert to tell us about her, I was going right there with her. After the Kay tribute, she wrapped up with And The World Goes Round and New York, New York, and then did her standard a cappella rendition of I'll Be Seeing You for her encore, bringing the audience to its feet with all three numbers. It wasn't until we were leaving that I realized she hadn't done a single thing from Cabaret, and you know what? It didn't matter at all. She gave a thrilling concert, that was totally worth the entire trip, and that I will remember for the rest of my life. She may not have as much as she used to, but she's still got more than enough. I then picked up a snack since I was finally starving and we headed back to the room to get packed up since we had a very early flight. We got to McCarran around 8:00 am, and it's a good thing we did. It took us almost an hour to get through security. That airport has the worst setup and it's only about 10 years old. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. The security guards were all foul tempered, as I'm sure most of the passengers were after having to stand in line that long so early in the morning, and I'm sure a lot of them expressed their feelings going through security. The guard in one of the lines was yelling to people going through that he didn't want to hear anymore about it, which really is not professional. If they don't want to hear anymore about it, they need to come up with a better setup. Granted, the airport was built in the 90's, before anyone could foresee what a pain in the ass air travel was about to become, but all the other airports in the country have adapted more or less, it's insane that McCarran hasn't. So, we made it to the gate with only about 20 minutes to spare before our 9:20 flight, and I was even more glad that we checked in so early. The flight before us had been cancelled (the weather in Chicago was awful), so our flight was totally full with a long line of people on standby. We took off about 25 minutes late and were then held over Peoria for about half an hour before getting clearance to land. We arrived about an hour later than scheduled, but we got our luggage very quickly, and were first in line at the cab stand, so we were back home around 5. It was a very quick, and exhausting weekend, but so much fun. I can't wait to go back to Vegas again soon, and hopefully this will not be the last chance I will have had to see Liza. I will travel to wherever she is to see her again any time.