Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2009 (21. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2009-10-06 / 42. szám

Ghosts of the Titanic, Phantom at the Venetian, Colorful Costumes on the Strip I HaíJowccft In Las Vegas BY SUSAN JANCSO Halloween is always a fun time wherever you are in America, and it is especially true for Las Vegas. We Hungarians concentrate more on remembering our loved ones who are no longer with us, lighting a candle for the dear departed. All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead mean more to us than Halloween, which actually doesn’t even exist in Europe. But here people wear all kinds of costumes, hats and body paint with gusto, sometimes scary but mostly just colorful masks and identities. If you need to escape from troubled waters at home, Vegas is the place to go, and Halloween is the time. This year, for instance, the TITANIC Artifact Exhibition inside the Luxor Hotel Casino put on a number of “Ghost Stories from the Titanic” tours. Guests were all handed a ticket at the entrance, which turned out really meaningful át the end. Following the guide, they could look at the pictures of the passengers and crew, see how people traveled in first class on the Titanic which represented the height of luxury at the time, look at personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the ship itself - sometimes weighing several tons - salvaged from the wreck. You can hear about the “Lady in Black” who is often seen on the Grand Staircase, crying for her friend. See Frederick Fleet, the Titanic’s look-out who should have seen the iceberg coming. If you concentrate on his eyes, he seems to be looking back directly at you. The unfortunate man did survive the tragedy but always felt responsible for it. Hear about Morgan Robertson, who wrote a fictitous tale in 1898, 14 years before the sinking of Titanic, about a ship named Titan, which collide with an iceberg. Some of the uncanny similarities between the imaginary and the true story are the month (April), the length of the ship (Titanic 882.5 feet, Titan 800 feet), and the number of passengers on board (Titanic 2,200; Titan 2000). You can touch an iceberg, walk on the ship’s deck under the stars, and have your picture taken on the Grand Staircase. What is most impressive, if you have seen the movie, looking at the hundred-year-old photograps, you can almost recognize some of the crew and passengers. At the end of the tour, you get to discover your identity on the back of your ticket, and find out whether you lived or died as a passenger on the Titanic. Another “must see” at any time but particularly at Halloween is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s PHANTOM of the Opera recreated in a shorter, 95-minute version, in a theater built especially for this purpose at the Venetian. Called simply PHANTOM, it takes your breath away with its spectacular - shall we say SPOOK-tacular? - special effects, while retaining all the ever­green musical numbers from the original. The director, Hal Prince calls it “The Phantom of the Opera as you’ve never seen it before”. And some 100 million of you have seen it - at one point in 14 pro­ductions running simultaneously. So, when the oppor­tunity to bring a 95-minute version of The Phantom of the Opera to Las Vegas, arguably the entertainment capital of the world, presented itself, it was more than tempting, it was the invitation you couldn’t refuse.” He also describes some of the “perks” of going to see the original site, the Paris Opera. “The most dramatic was a trip to Paris, during which I visited the famous lake in the depths of the Opera House (five floors below the stage), and climbed to the pinnacle of the roof (five floors above), where one of our scenes takes place. There is no path going there, no handrails to hang onto, you simply scramble behind a nimble-footed Paris Opera House engineer. The wind is blowing, you don’t look down, and when you get to the top, with one foot perched on either side, you look across to the people on top of the Eiffel Tower, and below to the gridlock in the Place de l’Opera. The story “has the power to move hearts of stone” lisite, performed by accomplished stars such as Anthony Crivello (Phantom) of Broadway fame, Andrew Ragone (Raoul) and Kristi Holden (Christine). And the spe­cial effects are really special. Phantom and the other actors keep popping up here and there and everywhere - now on a bridge above the stage, next in one of the booths of the balcony, and even above your head on the chandelier. Because, believe it or not, you are sitting in the Paris Opera, and you will see the chandelier fall, and live to tell about it... And when it’s all over, you can stroll along the Las Vegas Strip and do some major people-watching. Observe the large number of Doctors and Nurses (why do they say Nevada has a problem with health care?), of Cooks and Chambermaids, of Princes and Paupers, and many-many Ghosts and Pirates. Some just put on a strange hat or glasses with large and fancy frames. Others, especially little and big girls, go for butter­fly or angel wings, which can be quite a hindrance at the bar or the slot machines. Yet others completely bare their bodies and enjoy the many requests to be taken a picture of - or with... The month of November is grim and weighs heavy on the soul, mostly because of the weather in most of the world, but if you have been to Las Vegas for Halloween, the memory will carry you through the dark days until Thanksgiving, Hanukka and Christmas. Through the whole year in fact. Titanic Pictures courtesy of Kirvin Doak Communications “Baby Cow”, the Pirate, and Ladies in Hats (Photos by Susan Jancso) DUNA Travel ' 8530 Holloway Dr. If 102 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 Spa, Hotel foglalások, Kocsi bérlés Kedvezményes repülőjegy árak LAX-BUD-LAX $535.-tői +Tax +Fee Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 _____________1-888-532-0168_________________ in -iiii — — > ■■.'■'■I* American ^ i # « "9 É Hungarian Journal 2009. november 6. ^0

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