Bally's announced late this evening that they are closing their Sports Book until at least September, possibly until the beginning of October.   According to hotel spokesperson, Deanna Pettit, remodeling is NOT the reason.

Guests visiting the 285-seat sports book are being directed to the sports book inside the neighboring Paris Las Vegas resort.  That means they are closing the Sports Book just before the Final Four games and if they stay closed until Oct. 1st, they will miss the kick-off the NFL and NCAA seasons as well as Major League Baseball pennant races.  Then we also have to factor in the Kentucky Derby as well as the Indy 500 in May.  Is this due to the downturn in the economy affecting the Strip and/or is Harrah's in rougher shape than they want us to know?

Both Bally's and Paris Las Vegas are owned by Harrah's.

And in other Las Vegas news, developer Jim Rhodes who has developed Rhodes Ranch and other master planned communities around the valley filed for bankruptcy today. 

Developer James Rhodes tonight filed a petition for bankruptcy on behalf of many of his key businesses, including Rhodes Design and Development Corp., listing $100 million to $500 million in assets and liabilities in the same range.

The developer filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, which allows the companies to continue operating while their finances are restructured.

Look for developments on both stories in the morning.

Last year, one of our most successful "Untold Stories" programs was on the history of Fremont Street.

On April 2nd, we will be have a new group of panelists covering More Fremont Street History because the history of the street is just too big to cover in one session.

I am working on putting a panel together. Paul Carson, who knows a great deal about the early history of Fremont Street will be on hand to talk about the history of the Railroad depots and the El Portal Theater.  Paul has found some great photos of the El Portal in his heyday and we will have those on display as well.

Joing Paul on the panel will be Joylin and Rick Vandenburg who had an apparel shop on Fremont Street and former musician Mark Massaglia who use to perform at the Fremont Hotel.

So check back for more updates.

One scheduling note:

Beginning April 2nd, "Untold Stories" will begin at 6:30 pm.

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

Admission is $12

The longest running show on the Las Vegas Strip came to an end last night.  We couldn't be there for the final evening but from what we here it was a rousing evening of entertainment as the curtain came down on the "Folies Bergere".  Former cast members, showgirls and specialty acts all came out to say farewell to the show that helped create the modern showgirl icon we all know so well.

Though we could not be there our good friend Mike Weatherford was and here is his story of the last evening of the "Folies":

The atmosphere onstage resembled a family reunion, albeit a family with lots of tall, glamorous women in heels.

It was the final performance of "Folies Bergere," and one that reached out beyond those who performed the last high-kicking cancan Saturday night to anyone who had been part of the show for its 49 years.

They came to say goodbye in style, from original cast members to recent hires, cheering wildly from the audience for each little bit of choreography by their younger counterparts. They were welcomed, if not into the actual performance, at least for a pre-show alumni photo and more pictures afterward on its storied Moulin Rouge set.

The curtain came down in style on the Parisian topless revue said to be the longest-running in America, one that was closing in on a Christmas day 50th anniversary when it got its pink slip two months ago. Tropicana executives decided not to reinvest in a new edition of the casino-owned revue, but they did not let their jewel go without one last chance to sparkle.

As the PA system beckoned "Folies family, come up" for a pre-show alumni photo, showgirls of all ages flowed onto the stage and packed the "golden staircase" so densely its lighted steps could no longer be seen. "Younger people up on top, please. There's a lot of us," they were coached.

"I felt so short," said comedian Russ Merlin, one of the many variety performers who worked as a specialty act over the years, after the reminder that height requirements for dancers were more stringent back in the old days.

And it was "like a big family," said Daniel Celario, half of the comedy team of Mario & Daniel (Celario), brothers who performed off and on from 1986 through 2000. "It was like going to work at the office with a lot of people you like," he said before the show, when an overhead video screen ran clips of their slapstick routine. He married a dancer, Elaine, who is now the Trop's entertainment director.

Comic juggler Michael Holly had the honor of being the last specialty act to complete a legacy that includes Lance Burton and Siegfried & Roy. "It's starting to hit me. It's a very odd feeling," he said before the show. "All the guys I know who were all the acts, they're all here."

"There's something about this show. It's the feeling we got backstage, the vibe and adrenalin with all the dancers," Daniel Celario said, that wasn't the same opening for laid-back headliners such as Kenny Rogers.

Even though the nightly production became routine, "A fast change is still a fast change," brother Mario noted. "These kids, that's why they work so hard."

"They should have put tissues on every table," said Stephanie Jaynes, an adagio dancer turned company manager who took a maternity leave in June and would have come back "if there was still a show to come back to."

"This is their high school. This is where they grew up, a lot of them," said Rob Galaway, a reminder that, yes, a lot of men danced in the show over the years as well.

"It was a great after-school job," says Vicki Pettersson, a Las Vegas novelist who saw the revue at age 14 and went on to dance in it from 1996 to 2006. "I was tall and grew up in Las Vegas, so instead of 'You should be a model,' it was, 'You should be a showgirl.'"

Bernice McCarthy was one of the original cast members hired by producer Lou Walters and flown in from Europe on a propeller jet. The English dancer was recruited in Milan and only knew Las Vegas was "a long way away."

McCarthy ended up being the lead cancan dancer, staying with the revue until 1967. "We knew everyone everywhere we went," she recalls.

"They used to fly our costumes in on transport planes from France," recalled Joyce Grayson, a 10-year-dancer.

Anita King helped dress the dancers and kept those costumes clean from 1972 to 1980. She helped the new girls adjust to 15- to 25-pound headpieces. "They were scary. The girls had to practice forever."

The "Folies" died of slow starvation over the years, as management and ownership changes stalled major reinvestment in the production that became more and more dated in the Cirque du Soleil era.

Original dancer McCarthy said she was more surprised that "it really lasted this long" than to find out it was closing. "It needed a face lift," she said.

"They nickel and dimed it to death," Pettersson agreed.

But on Saturday, it didn't take much imagination to see the "Folies" in the sheen of an earlier era.

Even Jerry Jackson, the show's director and choreographer since 1975, refused to let things get downbeat in his pre-show remarks when he thanked "all the thousands of performers who have entertained millions of people."

"As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger," the Oklahoma native told the audience, "Giddiup cowboy, it's time to get out of Dodge."

Thanks to Mike for letting us use this piece!

This is it, the long-running, historical revue is coming to the end of the line.  The Folies Bergere closes this weekend at the Tropicana.

Our pal Mike Weatherford reports that ticket sales have been brisk in the waning days of the show's run.If you haven't ever seen the show or you want one last glimpse of old Vegas history before it's gone for good, you only have two night left and tickets are scarce.

We have a special place in our hearts here at Classic Las Vegas for this show.  Vassili Sulich, former dancer with the Folies and co-creator of the Nevada Ballet Theater, was one of our favorite interviewees.  Best of luck to all the all the guys and dolls who have danced with the Folies over the years!

As Mike says here:

Oh sure. Everyone wants to see it now.

Nostalgia and the laws of scarcity combine to make the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere" a hot ticket as the venerable showgirl revue prepares to face the final curtain Saturday.

Only 100 of about 850 seats went on sale for the final show. The rest will be an invited audience, including about 400 alumni who have been in the cast at some point in its 49 years. They will be invited beforehand to pose for an alumni photo on the stage's signature "golden staircase."

As you read this, four more "regular" shows remain, at 7:30 and 10 p.m. today and Friday; the early one today is not topless if you want to share a piece of Las Vegas history with your children.

But people haven't waited until the last minute. Monday's show was "by far the most full I've ever seen that showroom," says Tropicana spokeswoman Brittany Markarian.

Hotel officials estimate the revue will have logged more than 29,000 performances since Christmas of 1959. By contrast, the Web site for the British mystery play "The Mousetrap" cites 23,000 performances in 56 years. An Internet off-Broadway database lists 17,162 performances in the 42-year run of the off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" (it reopened in 2006 after a four-year break).

The Tropicana made no secret of closing the house-owned production to look for an outside producer who will pay rent. But in lieu of a signed contract, casino officials still have not announced what show will follow "Folies."

We have sad news to report today.  In the last two weeks we have lost two Las Vegas pioneers, Joe Thiriot and Harvey Diederich.  Joe was 102 years old when he passed away earlier this week.  He had been a teacher at the old Las Vegas High School and was quite a shutterbug.  He took pictures and slides of many of the drama classes he taught over the years as well as the changing face of Fremont Street and the Las Vegas Strip.

He attended the annual all school High School Reunions for Las Vegas High and was always surrounded by well wishers and friends.  Back in 2005 when I was doing the video oral histories, Donna and Gail Andress suggested that Joe should be interviewed.  We called him up and arranged a time.  For two hours he talked to us about his life and his accomplishments.  When the interview was over, he drove home.  He was 98 years old at the time and still as sharp as a tack.

From today's Las Vegas Review Journal:

Thiriot Elementary School teachers believe the arts are useful in teaching core subjects like math and science, such as having dances to demonstrate the principles of density.

By coincidence, the school's namesake, Joseph E. Thiriot, who died Sunday at age 102, was involved in the performing arts, teaching drama, public speaking and chorus at Las Vegas High School for 28 years.

Thiriot also directed community plays and was a founding member of the Las Vegas Little Theatre. As a musician and artist, he played the banjo and piano and made jewelry from his gem collection.

"He was a great role model for us," said Patricia Schmidt, principal of the school, 5700 W. Harmon Ave., near Jones Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

The school opened in 2005. Thiriot frequently attended its music programs and plays.

"He was a big believer in children," Schmidt said. "It wasn't riches that he was after. It was giving of himself."

Alice Waite said her father's philosophy of teaching was to make it fun so his students would "learn without realizing they were learning."

She said her dad "loved life" and always kept busy. "He didn't stop driving until he was 100," Waite said.

Thiriot is survived by his three children, Alice Waite, Jeannetta Peterson, and Jon Thiriot; 14 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

Services are planned for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 221 S. Lorenzi St.

Palm Mortuary, 1325 Main St., is handling arrangements. The family is asking that donations be made to the school.

Harvey Diederich came to Las Vegas in the post war years and was instrumental in helping to not only put the Las Vegas Strip on the map but he helped turn the town into America's Playground.  He was a publicist who worked, in those early days, with some of the best photographers of the Las Vegas News Bureau.  He was good friends with Don English and they often worked together on ideas for cheesecake photographs of showgirls in skimpy outfits or swim suits posing for pictures with the hotels always featured prominently in the background.

He and Don used to attend the Old Timers Media Luncheon and that is where I met both of them back in 2002.  This wonderful group of photographers, publicists, journalists and former news men and women as well as  performers meet each month to share stories, tall tales and remenince about the old days.  I was fortunate to interview both Don and Harvey in 2003.  They attended the premiere of "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" (where they were both featured) at the CineVegas Film Festival in June 2005.

We lost Don back in 2006 and his death was a blow to Harvey.  Harvey had lost his wife and when he lost his good friend, it hit him hard.  He still tried to attend the montly luncheons but we saw him less as grew frailer.

Harvey's spirit lives on though, in the photographs he collaborated on and in the publicity he churned out that made Las Vegas sound like an oasis in the desert that just had to be visited.  They were a dynamic group of men and women who helped sell Las Vegas to the nation and to the world.  We won't see the likes of them again.

HARVEY DIEDERICH A light goes out in the City of Lights. No one will notice, as they travel through the morass of the neon that has helped make our city famous worldwide, that one our brightest lights has gone out. Harvey Diederich, chosen as one of the "Hundred Most Influential Las Vegans" has left us after 89 years on this Earth.

Harvey was one of the original strip publicists who began in the 1950's to spread the word the world over about a sleepy little desert town that would someday play host to celebrities, movie stars and some of the most famous guest in the world. A mentor to so many, who came after him, Harvey, along with men like Herb McDonald, Al Freeman and Don English gave Las Vegas its image. Organizations like the Las Vegas News Bureau and the Las Vegas Convention Authority received their impetus from the unusual adroit mind of Harvey D.

In fact it was said, many times by many people, that Harvey could see the future of Southern Nevada. Harvey was working in the ski resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho in the early 50's when Herb McDonald contacted him about a job opening at the Last Frontier in Las Vegas. Harvey interviewed and was hired by General Manager Bob Cannon. Over the next 35 years, the Sahara, Tropicana, and the original MGM Grand Hotel were just a few of the mega properties whose image he polished. Harvey and his wife Joan, who preceded him in death, raised five children, Mick, Terre, Guy, Gaye and Darrilyn; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren, all of whom mourn his loss.

Harvey's modesty prevents us from full disclosure of his contributions, it is enough to say that he will be sorely missed. There was a memorial service on Sunday, March 22, Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Donations can be made in Harvey's name to New Hope Hospice Foundation.