Sin City’s Halloween bashes had a bit of everything
Halloween, Sin City-style, had it all, from Chris Brown channeling Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to Stratosphere headliner Claire Sinclair, who had Elvira, "Mistress of the Dark," down pat.
Brown performed an hourlong Halloween show titled "Thriller" at Drai's rooftop nightclub Saturday at The Cromwell.
During his set, the Grammy winner gave a shout-out to legendary composer Quincy Jones, who co-produced the special show with club operator Victor Drai. Jones produced Jackson's albums, including "Thriller."
Brown wore Jackson's signature white socks. Brown arrived in a werewolf headpiece similar to the one featured in the "Thriller" music video.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without Quincy Jones," Brown said. "Thank you, Quincy, for everything!"
At Light nightclub's Forbidden Ball at Mandalay Bay, rapper Ludacris was dressed as an immortal warrior from the movie "300," Scott Eastwood wore a Where's Waldo costume, and Ryan Seacrest showed up in a tuxedo for the second night in a row but wore a mask this time.
Graham Fenton, who plays Frankie Valli in "Jersey Boys" at Paris Las Vegas and his wife, Nicole Kaplan, a featured singer in "Steve Wynn's Showstoppers," dressed as characters from "Jurassic Park" at a cast party Thursday.
Hip-hop artist Flavor Flav, minus his oversized clock, showed up at Pia Zadora's show at Piero's Lounge and teamed up with Zadora on "Killing Me Softly." He wore white bloody gloves and a white outfit with red vertical stripes on the left side and fake blood splatters on the right side.
Sinclair was a dead ringer for Elvira. Sinclair entered costume contests at both the Fetish and Fantasy party at the Hard Rock and the AVN Halloween Porn Star party at the Artisan Hotel.
Christmas album done right
For four years, local composer Keith Thompson pitched "Jersey Boys" star Travis Cloer about doing a Christmas song demo.
Thompson had written an opening song for Cloer's Christmas show at The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz.
"Then with the success of the Christmas show, he said, 'Let's do a demo, and while we're at it make an album,' " Cloer recalled.
"We wanted a throwback to the old holiday specials that were on TV," said Cloer, who has been sharing the Frank Valli role since "Jersey Boys" arrived here in 2008.
"I wanted to do it right," he added, "with an orchestra, strings and a classic Christmas feeling. But I knew it would cost a big chunk of change."
They penciled out a budget early this year and decided to launch a starter project in April.
In 45 days, about $30,000 was raised, with 291 people chipping in "in one way or another," Cloer said.
Donations ranged from $10 to a five-figure gift from a female fan in Florida.
"For $10 people got a personal hug and a shoutout on Facebook," Cloer said. "Some people I met for a coffee date. Two people donated enough money that I'm going to record a song of their choice and do it a cappella and send it to them as an MP3."
The largest donor, Penny Zervos, will get to sit in the studio and watch the recording. She will get tickets to the show, get to sit in for the rehearsal and be listed in the CD jacket as an associate producer.
The album is on presale now on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon. The release date is Tuesday. Hard copies will be sold on CDBaby.com.
He’s doing his Christmas show Dec. 7, with 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. performances. His CD release party is next Monday, Nov. 9, at the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay from 6 to 9 p.m.
The scene and heard
I listed the wrong date for my next "Conversations With Norm." It is Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. on a Wednesday instead of the usual Sunday. I will be interviewing Rick Harrison of "Pawn Stars."
On this day
Nov. 2, 1948: Jimmy the Greek, a Vegas wiseguy long before he became a TV commentator, makes $170,000 on a $10,000 bet that Harry Truman would upset Thomas Dewey in the presidential election. He based his bet on the hunch that women wouldn't vote for a man with a mustache.
Sightings
Nick Jonas, with friends at Tao Asian Bisto in The Venetian before heading to Marquee at The Cosmopolitan on Saturday. … At Lavo Casino Club in the Palazzo on Saturday: Actor and rapper Bryshere "Yazz" Grey of Fox's hit show "Empire," performing his new single, "Bout 2 Blow" on Saturday. ... Jonas, taking a photo with XS nightclub DJ Ruby Rose of "Orange is the New Black" on Friday.
The punch line
"'Star Wars' creator George Lucas has gotten approval to build a 300,000-square-foot museum in Chicago. And if you think that sounds exciting, just wait until you've tried sex." — Seth Meyers
— Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. On Twitter: @Norm_Clarke.
