If you’ve been to a variety show in a Spiegeltent in the last decade or so, chances are you’ve been lucky enough to see a production from the cirque ensemble Spiegelworld. The organisation emerged in 2006, with their show Absinthe making a splash in a travelling Spiegeltent at Pier 17 in New York City. While…
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As a kid who grew up in the 90s – between the US and Australia – I was gifted with a potpourri of ever-evolving options to celebrate a birthday with friends. Since the 1970s, there’s been all-you-can-eat pizza places with arcades and playhouses, from Pizza Hut to Chuck-E-Cheese. In the mid-1980s, laser tag entered the…
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Though you wouldn’t immediately think of Las Vegas for its museums and galleries, the city has its fair share of high quality attractions scattered around the city. And it’s a surprising mix – who would have thought, for instance, that The Punk Rock Museum would find a home in Nevada? While some are temporary or…
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For decades now, Cirque du Soleil has been the king of the Las Vegas strip – producing almost a dozen residency shows for the city since 1993, with close to 10,000 people witnessing the Montreal company’s spectacle every night. Residency shows are typically designed for the destination, usually in a room custom built for the…
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This past July, I had the pleasure of returning to Las Vegas. But this time, the focus of the trip shifted in a surprising way: I got schooled in the history of the Las Vegas strip. This offered a new perspective of this vibrant city, learning about the glitz and glamour that gave Vegas the…
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When director Baz Halpin and executive producer Bernie Yuman approached two-time Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, I doubt they expected him to say yes to their proposal. Yuman, a Vegas veteran, was manager to Siegfried and Roy from a very young age and stuck by the legendary performers’ until their last day. He even…
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It’s always wonderful to see Australian artists getting the recognition they deserve overseas. But rarely do you expect to see Australian musicians featured in a museum in the USA. However, when The Punk Rock Museum opened in Las Vegas last April, three Australian punk bands saw themselves featured alongside the legends of the genre. Founded…
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When you think about where to get yourself some great Chinese dumplings and Dim Sum, it’s fair to say that the American desert doesn’t immediately come to mind. Nonetheless, Las Vegas in Nevada proves to hold a secret treasure trove of some of the best dumplings in North America, with plenty of options on the…
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Over the last year and a half, Canada’s Porter Airlines has been rapidly expanding its services, debuting a wide variety of new routes on the brand new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. They started flying those jets (the first in North America to do so) in February of last year. Up until that debut, the airline had…
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With the the launch of the hi-tech Sphere and a multitude of modern new experiences in Las Vegas, it may seem that the classic “Las Vegas Residency” isn’t getting the attention it once did. But the reality is, more major artists are performing in the city than ever before, each bringing in tens of millions…
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Everywhere I look, Vegas is full of Deadheads. The deathless hype that surrounds Americana icons The Grateful Dead knows no bounds. Or age. At any given moment, Las Vegas is full of just about every type of person you can think of, all of whom have descended upon this great city to let loose and…
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This week marks the end of a 18 year legacy, as the groundbreaking Cirque du Soleil production Love, celebrating the catalogue of The Beatles, closes this Saturday at The Mirage in Las Vegas. Debuting on 2nd June 2006, the show was Cirque’s first using existing IP, setting up a dream opportunity for publishers to engage…
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Lady Gaga shone this week in the eighth and presumably final iteration of her Las Vegas residency Lady Gaga: Jazz and Piano. Though garnering fame as a pop artist, Lady Gaga began her career singing jazz as a teenager, it was only a matter of time for her to produce a show like this. All…
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At the end of November last year, Korea’s large scale digital art gallery – ARTE MUSEUM – opened their first (and still only) location in North America, on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s part of a burgeoning trend of immersive experiences in the city, and sits amongst seven locations for the gallery around the world….
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After an incredible 18 year run exclusively at The Mirage in Las Vegas, the Cirque Du Soleil production of The Beatles’ Love is coming to an end. So if you’ve never had a chance to see this show – which as I go on to say in the below article from 2017, is possibly the…
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Back in mid-December, the newest luxury hotel to hit the Las Vegas Strip finally enjoyed its grand opening – Fontainebleau Las Vegas. I had a chance to stay at the resort at the start of February, and got a taste of the hotel, rooms and the food and drink that’s on offer. So with 18…
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From the faux Venice canals at the The Venetian, to the awe-inspiring fountain show at the Bellagio and a sky covered by LEDs on Fremont Street, Las Vegas has long immersed its audiences. These immersive experiences run from the streets right into the bars, from sitting under a replica of the Eiffel Tower, as at…
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After five years of hype and construction, no less than 54,000 m2 of LED on its exterior, and space for some 20,000 punters, the ambitious venue known simply as Sphere opened in Las Vegas last September, immediately becoming one of the world’s most recognisable structures. As the largest spherical building in the world, enjoying an…
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With the state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas playing host to this weekend’s Super Bowl (for American Football fans) and next month’s NRL Telstra Premiership season kick off match (for Australian Football fans), “Sin City” is fast becoming America’s newest “Sports City”. But long has it been a destination for foodies, with restaurateurs from all…
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It’s been a busy few years for Universal Studios, as the theme park side of the company (Universal Parks & Resorts) continues to expand the size and scope of operations. Once just a backlot tour in Hollywood, Universal Parks can now be found in 5 cities around the world, with their latest Beijing location opening…
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Which U.S city has the best cocktail culture? That’s a bit hard to judge. Is it NYC? San Fran? Chicago? New Orleans? LA? Who knows, but one things for sure – you can’t talk about cocktails without mentioning Las Vegas. The well-heeled oasis of entertainment is often seen as the proving ground for some of…
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During these unprecedented times, when staying at home is of the utmost importance, us here at The AU Review are going to be doing everything we can to help readers live their best lives, indoors. As with many other media companies who typically focus on getting folks out and about, we’re shifting to adapt to…
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“The Biggest Little City in the World”: ambitious nickname for Reno and a loaded slogan for anyone who dares doubt the vitality of Las Vegas’ overshadowed sibling. Once the divorce capital of the USA, due to the blunt efficiency of Washoe County Courthouse, this Nevada hotspot flows with a lively cosmopolitan culture, rapidly emerging hipster…
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The status-obsessed oasis of Las Vegas’ famous Strip may be the typical picture one would get of the unique desert city, but that would be akin to a polaroid that has been violently torn down the middle. Behind the wide stretch of modern casinos and celebrity-endorsed kitchens sits Downtown Las Vegas – the city’s “old…
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Las Vegas is a complicated beast of a city if you aren’t properly organised. The often chaotic sea of neon lights and hedonism can become a blur between the whirlwind of bars, shows and high-end restaurants, but as long as you play your cards right, a weekend stomping around Vegas could very well be the…
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It’s always worth paying close attention when a Las Vegas production signs on for a substantial extension, even years after it has already been playing in the same spot. It means the show has become its own sizable piece in the endless jigsaw of culture, class and crass that is a typical night on the…
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The “hotel within a hotel” concept has been done before in Las Vegas; it didn’t work out particularly well for Marriott’s famously funky W brand – although location had a lot to do with it – but the concept has proven viable before, particularly with long-standing favourite Nobu Hotel. It’s an interesting approach to redefining…
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On Saturday 8th June 2019, Iconic chanteuse Celine Dion will finally bring her run of Las Vegas residencies to a definite close, sixteen years after she first began performing at The Colosseum. The powerhouse vocalist, now almost forty years into a storied career, is currently working her way to a historical moment for Las Vegas’…
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Back in 1998 when Maxwell released Embrya, a follow-up to seminal debut Urban Hang Suite, the famously suave purveyor of sophisticated and mature R&B (casually referred to as “Grown Folk Music”) was met with piles of critical backlash. Although the album was a success, reaching platinum status and earning the Brooklyn artist a Grammy nod,…
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The “downtown” area of Las Vegas, which is situated around the iconic Fremont Street (also known as the “classic” Las Vegas strip featuring casino-hotels like the Golden Nugget) has been undergoing quite an extensive amount of changes over the past decade. The run of old hotels and casinos are still there, some redeveloped – with…
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