The Land Of Showgirls

I'm heading to Las Vegas today for a brief vacation. I have been to Vegas a half dozen times in the past fifteen years. (Including two Ice Capades reunions that happen every five years.)

And the city is definitely not the same as my first visit ... in 1987.

I was there for two different shows' rehearsals and only one of those times included skating at a rink. No kidding, the second time, there was no ice rink in the city. Something about a roof imploding from nuclear testing out in the desert - which is probably equally as credible as the claim from the zamboni driver that the mafia had stashed dead bodies at the ice rink site before they built it, so the rink had ghosts. Mobster ghosts - those must be some of the scariest kind.

So the producer rented a dance studio for five days for us to block the show.

As you skaters know, when performing your long program out in the backyard - crossovers and spins don't translate off the ice, and double jumps (triple - for you better skaters than I) don't fare well either. Although I must say, as long as your butt doesn't hit an acorn or tree branch, falling on the grass is not so bad.

Back to my story - Well, we didn't rely much on those rehearsals, because we still had three days on the ice at the amusement park before we opened. As I recall, the skaters took long lunches at Circus Circus (the cheapest buffet in town at the time, I think) and came back with scores of stuffed animals we had won.

Speaking of cheap - back in '87 - you could get at $.99 breakfast - eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast -stacked six inches high - bottomless cup of coffee and orange juice - and it was served any time of the day or night. That came in handy with rehearsal pay at something like a whopping $150/week, which had to cover the hotel too.

Let's see what the prices are like this time ... more on Vegas when I return.