Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/486631
ANDR EA BENNETT Follow me on Twitter at @andreabennett1 and on vegasmagazine.com. I LOVE A WITTY LAS VEGAS TAKEDOWN, especially when it is lovingly rendered—or just really funny. It shouldn't surprise you that, as one of the city's official cheerleaders, I enjoy this kind of thing. After all, most Las Vegans don't actually believe we're strolling St. Mark's Square or dining in the Eiffel Tower. Although I do sometimes wonder why we placed that cool decora- tive dam so far away from the Strip. One of my favorites is from a book by the city of West Holly wood's late urba n desig ner John Cha se. I n his Glitter Stucco & Dumpster Diving: Reflections on Building Production in the Vernacular City, from 2000, he included a 1997 study of Las Vegas architecture and urbanism that he wrote with Frances Anderton. "While [the] Caesars casino/ hotel complex looks like a women's pr ison in Tehran from outside by daylight, inside it is the ultimate Vegas casino…. Hotelman Jay Sarno's Caesars was and is, in the best 1960s sense of the word, a camp master- piece, a knowing parodic send-up of the impossibility of really theming a modern hotel on ancient classic lines," they wrote. "The irony is that spiritually, of all the Vegas hotels, it probably rea lly is t he hotel t hat a licent ious Roman of imperial vintage would feel right at home in." Las Vegas offers some adva nt ages t hat ot her cit ies ca n't —l i ke respite f rom t he bu rden of you r ea r nest endeavors for a weekend. Leave your composting to its ow n dev ices. For heaven's sa ke, go watch a raunchy sock-puppet show in a Spiegeltent or something. Of course, I'm happiest when I read fantastic mocker- ies that are really out of date. For instance, the windowless, low-ceilinged casinos with no clocks and obscured exits in Chase's book predate the brightly skylit windows at Wynn and even the lush conservatory of Bellagio, which opened a year after their piece was published. And as you'll see in the pages of this issue, bet ween g rowing k itchen ga rdens for element a r y schools a nd sav ing sophist icated pa lates f rom unsust a inable f ish, we're involved in plenty of earnest endeavors of our own. Just don't ask us to remove our new wa x f ig ure of Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball. Some things are sacred. LEFT: My husband, Reid Gardner, joined me in honoring entertainment icon Debbie Allen and watching the incredible dance performances at Nevada Ballet Theatre's star-studded Black & White Ball at Aria. Special thanks to Mulberry, which dressed me in this exclusive-to-Vegas, Swarovski crystal–studded dress and bag, and to Platinum Entourage, for my hair and makeup. RIGHT: With Elizabeth Blau and chef Kim Canteenwalla at the opening of their terrific new Andiron Steak & Sea in Downtown Summerlin. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRAD SWONETZ (RESSLER) // this issue // ON MY R ADAR 1. Ever wonder what Vegas would look like after the apoca- lypse? As interpreted by Smith & Cult, it's a wearable nail shade of holographic lavender glitter. squaresalon.com 2. I've been betrayed by the recipe-changing Cadbury, so I'm jumping ship to these Melt Away Eggs by local Sweet Ruby Jane Confections. sweetrubyjane.com 3. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh described my friend Charles Ressler as "a unicorn and a fl ying monkey... underneath a rainbow of energy." I won't miss his one-night show, Brave, at the Smith Center on April 2. smithcenter.com 1 3 2 22 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM LETTER from the Editor-in-Chief