On our Las Vegas experience... A look back.

(View onto the Strip from the Bellagio, where we saw "O".)

The recent weather in New York had an unexpected impact on our audition process in Las Vegas: our casting director did not make it to casting. Her flight was canceled on Friday, then New York airports closed. The earliest flight available to her was one that left New York Saturday night, by which point we had finished our one day of casting in Las Vegas. This was a slight problem.

Luckily, David and I left New York early enough on Friday to make our way to Las Vegas. Our flight took off just as the snow/ice came down, so that we were only delayed about fifteen minutes. We arrived in Vegas safe and sound without much ado, discovered sunshine and 80 degree temperature, checked into our massive room at the Venetian, ate lunch, and made our way to the roof-top pool. There, we spent the afternoon sunning and sipping cocktails. We had no awareness of the blizzard in New York -- spring break was in the air.

Auditions on Saturday, despite our casting director’s absence, went smoothly. We found a couple of people... But we did not see any showgirl types that we had thought we’d come to Vegas to see. This was strange, since it would seem to us that leggy, blonde, big-boobed female dancers would be the order of the day in Vegas.

But so it goes.

In brief about our two days in Las Vegas:

Did we gamble? -- Yes. We spent $2. Lost $1. Won $1. That was the extent of our gambling. Looking back, we wish we’d folded when we had found ourselves, on our $1, up at $1.50. But we were greedy gamblers. Luckily, we resisted gambling addiction setting in.

Our biggest question about Vegas: Is breast augmentation mandatory in Las Vegas? I (Tomoko) felt as if I had forgotten to bring my pair of fake boobs to fully acclimatize to the general culture. (David calls them “saline stocking stuffers” and loves his alliteration in the description.)

Did we eat well? -- Lunch on Friday, to put it simply, sucked. We ate in an Italian restaurant in faux Venice, which was just odd. To be fair, our lunch choice does not reflect our best gourmet moment, as we missed the restaurant where we had intended to lunch (and booked) by about 15 minutes. We ate Friday dinner at Bouchon -- it was nice and quietly refined, although we expected more out of Thomas Keller. We wonder if these haute cuisine restaurants are not unlike the shows in Vegas -- scaled down. Broadway shows that come to Vegas, such as Mama Mia and Spamalot, necessarily get cut down from their original length to 90 minutes with no intermission (evidently due to the A.D.D. gambling culture). We began to wonder maybe this “cutting down” happened with restaurants -- one can find restaurants by Joel Robouchon, Bobby Flay, Thomas Keller, but perhaps they are not as fabulous as their counterpart restaurants would be in a city, say, like New York. On Saturday night, though, we ate at Le Cirque, and that was fabulous, if expensive.

Did we see a show? -- Yes, we saw Cirque du Soleil’s “O,” which everyone says is the BEST show in Vegas. There were certainly some gorgeous moments. David enjoyed it. Tomoko slept through half of the 90 minute show, which is never a good indication.

Did we party? -- Yes. We generally drank as much as possible while on a BUSINESS TRIP. Our biggest night turned out to be our first night in Vegas, when we went to Tao. The odd thing about Vegas is that the people -- besides us, obviously -- are extremely unattractive. It’s as if there were a high pitched call unheard by attractive people that inspires the other, less aesthetically-gifted to flock to Vegas. The ugly factor in the young people partying in Vegas worked in our advantage, however, as, when we went to Tao, we bypassed the long lines and were let in without a fuss. Tao was fun, if too crowded. We danced a bit, marveled at more fake boobs that abound the place, and then called it a night. We did not end up going out on Saturday night, as it was St. Patty’s Day and too chaotic. We made sure to raid the mini-bar in our own suite instead. That was fun.

Did David have a killer hangover that made him cranky? YES. Did Tomoko have a hangover? NO. She is a professional.

Did we get a tan? -- Tomoko has begun a healthy summer glow. David is just lucky that he is not burnt like a boiled lobster. (He continues to glow like moonshine on a summer’s night.)

How did we find the locals? -- Super duper nice. Nice people from the hotel staff to PAs for our auditions to the barista at Starbuck’s. People in Las Vegas are truly laid-back, friendly, and conversational.

In summary, we enjoyed Las Vegas. It’s an odd place, and not a place that we’d go back to for an extended stay. But this weekend was a great experience to have had, if slightly sleep-depriving.