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/577402
PHOTOGRAPHY BY AL POWERS (WOODROW); RAY ALAMO (HARD ROCK, RUSS); JEFF GALE AND JEFF CRAWFORD (KASKADE) CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Striking a pose with Alia Sky at Aid for AIDS of Nevada's 29th annual Black & White Party at The Joint at Hard Rock; celebrating the opening of the gorgeous new Wynn Collection with Wynn's senior vice president of retail, Hedy Woodrow, who curated it; my friend Patrick Duffy and I toasted artist J.K. Russ, whose work graced our summer art cover; Kaskade snapped a quick photo with me at his cover shoot. EVERY GOOD STORY HAS A BACKSTORY. For instance, before he opened his new hotel in 2005, Steve Wynn had planned to name it Le Rêve (French for "the dream") after the Picasso painting he owned. An agency he'd hired recommended that he brand it with his own last name. Not entirely convinced, he turned to friends like Steven Spielberg for a second opinion. "It's not a bad name," Wynn recalls Spielberg remind- ing him. "Your name isn't Lose." My appreciation of a good backstory was fully satisfi ed during the making of this issue of Vegas, since I was able to be behind the scenes more than usual. In our cover story, for instance, you see Kaskade meticulously swathed in gorgeous clothes and his own sangfroid. What you don't see: our stylist, Olwen Zarlengo, hauling in approximately 800 items of clothing and shoes (exaggera- tion? Hard to say!). Nor do you see me chew- ing my fi ngernails to the quick as Kaskade spontaneously hopped onto a precipitous rail to use as a balance beam for the sake of a single shot. I'm told it's considered poor form to let your cover star fall off a house. The relaxed shots of fi ve groundbreak- ing chefs in our Vegas Aces feature belie the fact that we asked them to meet us only hours after they fi nished their own dinner services. They gamely let us dress them up and then talk their ears off long before they would normally have had their morning coffee. Meanwhile, the uncomplaining staff at Glutton, where we shot the piece, dodged our cameras and clothing racks to set up for the day. Of course, complex logistics, planning, and snafu-busting go into producing every issue of Vegas. Behind every book are the people who set up shoots, map out the issue, keep us running on time, and make sure the magazines get where they're supposed to go—many of whom could have a bright future in international diplomacy or hostage negotiation. And to them I give a big thank you. I hope you love the stories in Vegas as much as I love our backstory. Follow me on Twitter at @andreabennett1 and on vegasmagazine.com. ANDR EA BENNETT 30 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM LETTER from the Editor-in-Chief