Hey, don't laugh! This town is actually full of culture and has a thriving arts scene. Why shouldn't it. All the performers, producers, and engineers devoted to entertainment make great consumers of art too. And while shows like (insert your favorite Cirque de Soleil show here) continue to innovate with exciting, original shows, places like London and New York devolve into recycled mass-market entertainment (Jerry Springer, the opera, Spamalot, etc....). Who exactly is the leader in cutting edge-live entertainment these days? Vegas gets my vote.....
Museums? We have the Guggenheim exhibits, currently showing an Egyptian exhibit in conjunction with the Hermitage, and don't forget The Bellagio Fine arts Museum. Less well-known are the local art museums, which house unique and interesting exhibits of their own.
An example of the local arts scene is First Fridays, where I will probably be tonight after a little Vietnamese food and Karaoke with some coworkers:
The month of May has become synonymous with gigantic First Friday, and this year the festival has practically outgrown itself. In celebration of the Centennial First Friday is actually stretching into Saturday (10am-5pm). Come down and check out the largest First Friday (and Saturday) yet. There will be 100 artist tents in the streets, live music Friday night and Saturday all day by Killian's Angels, The Nines, Lon Bronson's All Star Band, The Vista Four and more, stilt dancing, fortune tellers and a frolicking Las Vegas-style birthday bash for our fair city!
Opera is the only thing we're missing. but we do get traveling shows from time to time.....
My only beef? Why doesn't Tom Waits put on concerts here? Or some of his stage shows? I think they'd clean up!
