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P U B L I S H E RMichael Skenandore

E D I T O R I A LEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nicole Ely

MANAGING EDITOR Genevie Durano

SENIOR EDITORS Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman

SENIOR EDITOR, A&E Geoff Carter

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Hubble Ray Smith

SENIOR WRITER Lissa Townsend Rodgers

STAFF WRITER Emmily Bristol

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana

S E N I O R C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O RMelinda Sheckells (style)

C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O R SMichael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining),

David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

A R TCREATIVE DIRECTOR Ryan Olbrysh

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cierra Pedro

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Krystal Ramirez

V E G A S S E V E N . C O MTECHNICAL DIRECTOR Herbert Akinyele

ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Zoneil Maharaj

SENIOR WRITER, RUNREBS.COM Mike Grimala

WEB PRODUCER Jessie O’Brien

ASSISTANT WEB PRODUCER Amber Sampson

P R O D U C T I O N / D I S T R I B U T I O NDIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION Marc Barrington

ADVERTISING MANAGER Jimmy Bearse

S A L E SBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Christy Corda

DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Nicole Scherer

ACCOUNT MANAGERS Brittany Quintana, Steven Kennedy, John Tobin

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Robyn Weiss

I N T E R N SMichaela Chesin, Scott Luehring, Soni Richards

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger

PRESIDENT Michael Skenandore

VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND EVENTS Keith White

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sherwin Yumul

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Sim Salzman

CONTROLLER Jane Weigel

LAS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE | FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

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➜ IT’S ST. PATRICK’S DAY, and more than 20 adult drug court graduates sit in courtroom 16D in the Re-gional Justice Center awaiting their certifcate of completion from Judge Carolyn Ellsworth. “I have court ev-ery day, but this is one of my favorite sessions,” she says.

Drug court is a court-ordered inpa-tient and outpatient substance abuse program for nonviolent offenders meant to reduce recidivism in the criminal justice system. It is esti-mated that more than 50 percent of the 2.2 million people in U.S. prisons—the largest incarcerated population in the world—have a clinical addiction, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

“Let’s face it—the police, if we’ve proven one thing, it’s we can fll a jail,” says Capt. Andrew Walsh of Metro’s Downtown area command.

“But if the underlying cause of the crime is someone’s addiction, then what are we doing as a society to address that addiction?”

The frst Nevada Drug Court was implemented in 1993. There are cur-rently 43 specialty problem-solving courts in the state, including felony DUI courts, veterans court and juvenile drug courts, that address the root causes of addiction. Recent studies by the NADCP have proven their success. Nationally, 70 percent of people who complete drug court will never see another courtroom again. In contrast, 60-80 percent of drug abusers will commit a new crime after being released from traditional incarceration.

Ellsworth’s drug court program continues to expand. Whitney Canfeld, a drug court coordinator at the Eighth Judicial District Court, says that's because the need is there, but also because the community is seeing a change in the participants.

“People are not seeing a courtroom again after they graduate, and that’s ultimately what the goal is,” she says.

The success of drug court comes from rigorous and constant moni-toring. On average, it takes 15-18 months to complete the program, with a minimum 12 months. Treat-ment includes drug testing, coun-seling, support groups, electronic monitoring, case management and court status check reviews.

Drug courts are not only effective, but they end up saving taxpayer

money by keeping repeat offenders out of courtrooms and out of jails. According to the NADCP, anywhere from $4,000 to more than $12,000 is saved per client, not including hospi-tal costs resulting from drug abuse.

As cost-effective as drug court is, the program is not for everyone, especially frst-time drug offenders.

“Just because [someone has] a drug problem doesn’t necessarily mean they need drug court,” Canfeld says.

“You don’t want to make somebody worse by putting them in a program that is going to do them harm by sur-rounding them by career criminals [and] career substance users.”

In order to be considered for drug court, applicants must be on proba-tion so they can be supervised. They must also have an underlying sen-tence for a nonviolent crime that can be reduced or suspended. Many drug court participants have cycled in and out of the criminal justice system and racked up multiple felonies before the opportunity was given to them. But some states are now offering jail-diversion treatment opportunities at the prebooking stage of an arrest.

Seattle’s privately funded Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD program, was created through collaboration between law enforce-

ment, community groups and public offcials as a response. The program leverages the possibility of incarcera-tion to redirect low-level offenders into community treatment services. A 2015 evaluation determined that LEAD saved money and decreased recidivism rates, and the program has now been successfully launched in four other cities across the United States, while 17 more are in develop-ment. Many more cities are explor-ing the option.

“I don’t know that we have enough funding to actually [implement] one of these alternative-to-incarceration programs on steroids,” Walsh says.

“It takes a signifcant investment on the front end, but I think over the long term, it will have a positive ef-fect on crime and the quality of life in the community.”

Walsh recognizes the challenges of getting a program such as LEAD off the ground. On average, it costs $4 million over four years to fund a pilot program.

“What do we get out of putting young men and women in prison over and over and over again?” Walsh says. “[But] if you sent 10 people to a treatment program, how many would never come back? We don’t know. We’ve never tried.”

THU 24 Spring is in the air, and that

means baseball. UNLV Rebels

baseball, to be precise, which has been

in season for almost a month now, but

whatever. They’re taking on their intra-

state rivals from Reno at 6:05 p.m., and

if you show up in red, you get in for $4.

Go, Rebels! UNLVTickets.com.

FRI 25 If you missed Steve Jobs, the

movie, in theaters, here’s a

second chance to see it on the biggish

screen. Henderson’s Green Valley

Library is screening the biographical

drama at 2 p.m. as part of its Friday

Movie Series. HendersonLibraries.com.

SAT 26 If you think about xeriscaping

every time those sprinklers

cycle on, maybe it’s time to take action.

Spring Preserve’s Xeriscape Conversion

Series continues today at 10 a.m. The fo-

cus is the nuts and bolts of turf removal,

irrigation systems and planting. Regis-

tration required. SpringsPreserve.org.

SUN 27 Crafters, take heed: Your

show is back in town, 9 a.m.-

5 p.m., at the Silverton. It’s the Easter

edition of LV Craft Shows, and it has all

the baked goods, clothing, candles, jew-

elry, soap and other stuff you’ll need for

spring. LVCraftShows.com.

MON 28 College basketball’s newest

postseason tournament

debuts at noon at Mandalay Bay. The

Vegas 16, which attracted only eight

teams but retained the name, has quar-

terfinals today, semis tomorrow and finals

on Wednesday. MandalayBay.com.

TUE 29 If you liked Quentin Tarantino’s

The Hateful Eight, go see a

movie by Sergio Leone, the Italian direc-

tor who inspired him. With a haunting

score, wide-open vistas and Henry Fonda

playing against type as a bad guy, Once

Upon a Time in the West defines the spa-

ghetti Western. 1 p.m. at the Clark County

Library’s Main Theater. LVCCLD.org.

WED 30 The Smith Center wraps up

its four-show Family Series

with Clifford the Big Red Dog Live!,

6:30 p.m. Clifford, as you might have

guessed, is a big dog. As in huge. But he’s

really just a puppy at heart. Ask your kids;

they’ll fill you in. TheSmithCenter.com.

News, deals and a

chat with the Fremont Street

Experience's new president.THE LATEST

Seven DaysA curated guide to this week in your cityBy B O B W H I T B Y

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A Day in Drug CourtTreating addiction proves far more effective than incarceration By Jessie O'Brien

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CHARACTER STUDY

➜ “THIS IS THE HEART OF the city of Las Vegas,” says Patrick Hughes, gazing across Fremont Street. Below, tourists swing their footlong Margaritas and a busker croons Lionel Richie tunes as a pair of zipliners fy by, shrieking. It’s not just a view for the new president of the Fremont Street Ex-perience, it’s a calling. “The history and personality of this area are very impor-tant,” he says.

The Fremont Street Ex-perience turned 20 a few months ago and, coinci-dentally, it’s also the 20th anniversary of Hughes’ ar-rival in Las Vegas—and on Fremont Street. “When I moved, I had never actually been here before. I didn’t know where to stay, I didn’t know what was good or bad or ugly,” he says. “I ended up choosing a motel on Fremont Street and Ninth Street. So when I arrived that night, [I] dropped off my bags and went out and turned right on Fremont Street and walked toward this thing.” He gestures at the Viva Vision canopy.

Fittingly for a man in charge of a street flled with casinos, the Dublin-born Hughes began his career at the craps and roulette tables. “I had traveled the world working in casinos as a dealer or manager; at the age of 24, I came to Vegas and started dealing again,” he explains. Hughes closed the Desert Inn as a roulette dealer—and immediately went to open the Resort at Summerlin as a gaming manager. He became the vice president and general manager of the Cannery, an experience that he feels relates well to his current position. “Because of its iso-lation, the owners needed to put a stamp on it, and enter-tainment was their way. So we strongly promoted that as an overall entertainment venue for North Las Vegas. And we did a lot of work in the community to get people to

understand that the Cannery cares about the community. An emotional connection to the brand was created.”

Hughes hopes to create that same kind of community and connection Downtown by expanding what Fremont Street has to offer. “One of

the immediate challenges is upgrading the Viva Vision canopy itself,” he says, noting that the once cutting-edge technology is now outdated. “I’d love to see more of an in-teractive display up there.” He would also like to expand the Fremont Street Experience’s

programming. “We are music-heavy right now—I’d love to see more interactive events. But I know there have been so many events other than pure music that have been tried on the street. I need to learn what the challenges were—the suc-cesses, the failures.”

In the frst few weeks of his new gig, Hughes acknowl-edges that he has been doing a good bit of learning. “There are certain aspects and new forms of entertainment that I’d love to see,” he says, “but it’d be wrong of me to come in without learning the envi-ronment frst. … I’m not the expert by far.”

Another aspect that can pose challenges is working with the group of casinos and casino owners who make up the Fremont Street Experi-ence’s board—the Golden Nugget, the Golden Gate, The D, Binion’s and the Fremont are all seeking the same customers in the same market. Hughes acknowl-edges that “the board of directors consists of compet-itors. Yet there are specifc goals they share. That’s really the function of the Fremont Street Experience: to cre-ate and execute events that bring more bodies down to Fremont Street.”

One of his main efforts will be making sure that visitors aren’t waiting until sundown to show up on Fremont. “As you can see, foot traffc dur-ing the day is a lot less than at night. But once the lights are turned on, people come in droves. So one of our chal-lenges will be what can we do on the street to get more bodies here during the day. [It’ll be a matter of] getting the creative team together and really get those juices fowing—a bottle of whiskey usually does it,” he says, grin-ning and gesturing at a bottle of Jameson on a corner table. “Irish whiskey, of course.”

While he may still be learning the ropes of his new job, Hughes isn’t sitting on the sidelines. “There are two words I don’t like using,” he says. “One is ‘waiting’ and the other is ‘hoping,’ because if you’re waiting and hoping, nothing’s happening.” And there is a lot happening on Fremont Street. “It’s the best of the city here,” Hughes proclaims. “Come on down and join us.”

Downtown ManHow Patrick Hughes plans to revitalize the Fremont Street Experience By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

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H Crowning JewelA new night dawns for Hakkasan Group’s latest gem, set in the former Haze nightclub space

By David Morris

Your city after dark and photos from the week’s hottest parties and KimKat’s Kim Lee

NIGHTLIFE

James Algate and Derek Silberstein.

➜ WHO KNEW ARIA’S ORIGINAL

den of vice was such a diamond in the rough? After a nearly yearlong dormancy, Hakkasan Group is set to debut Jewel in the former Haze space on May 19 with a grand opening weekend lineup featuring Jamie Foxx, The Chainsmokers and Lil Jon. The group’s executive vice president of operations Derek Silberstein and vice president of music James Algate couldn’t be more amped to show Las Vegas and the world how Jewel’s technologically immersive ex-perience will differentiate itself from the company’s other gems, Hakkasan and Omnia.

How did Aria come to be the ideal

setting for Jewel?

A LG AT E: This was part of the Light Group acquisition. There was already a design in place that Aria and MGM Resorts had signed off on. Going through the designs, we thought we could probably do something a bit more outside the box and a little more developed from what they [had] on the table. We toured [MGM Resorts’] design team around Omnia after open-ing and [gathered] the Rockwell Group, Audio Tech and numer-ous other consultants that had just come off working together very successfully [at Omnia]. We said, “We’d like to present [MGM Resorts] with what we believe would be the best nightclub within the four walls that we were given.” They were very keen on letting us do that, and it really grew from there. We went through a number of approval processes and ultimately came up with a design that’s now in construction. It’s going to be an amazing venue, not only for Las Vegas, but certainly for Aria, which will give it a destination venue that it hasn’t had since the previous club closed. We’re all very excited about opening it in mid-May.

SI L BER ST EI N: Aria is also at the forefront of MGM Resorts’ port-folio. They’ve had a big transi-tion over the last 18 to 24 months in their food and beverage program with new restaurants such as Carbone, Javier’s and Herringbone. Jewel will more than complement their strategy.

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Both the nightclub and the casino have symmetry in terms of target audience and clientele they are both looking to pursue. Obviously, we have a history with MGM Resorts, and they appreci-ate the standard that we’ve set. They realized that with the existing Light Group design, they needed to step up their game to have something that was on even par with the rest of the casino and be able to attract the customer, the audience that we both desire.

Will any elements of Haze remain?

A LG AT E: We basically demolished the entire venue, down to the concrete and columns. Certain aspects of the venue will be in the same place—[spe-cifcally], the restrooms and bar loca-tions. But anyone looking at the new Jewel will not believe that it has any sort of similarity to Haze or believe that it’s the same venue. It’s a com-plete re-ft from top to bottom. We’ve increased the occupancy, so the club is actually bigger now. The design is a complete 180 [degrees] from what the original Haze concept was.

Can you walk me through the venue? What

design facets will stand out at Jewel?

A LG AT E: The nightlife experience starts right at the top of the escala-tors, and the energy starts building as you come down the escalators into the pit in front of the club. The club has a unique façade, with LEDs on

the front and lots of mirrors to refect light. As soon as you enter into the club itself, a unique staircase is fully encrusted in LEDs. That will create a different experience for every person. We can change [the look] throughout the night, and if you visit on a Friday night and come back on Saturday, you will experience a com-pletely different [club].

The VIP table customers will have an exclusive entrance, which Haze didn’t have. We’re really blowing up the whole entry experience, which certainly wasn’t very good. Then, as you start to walk into the space, there are two distinct levels. On the dance floor level, there is a square dance floor surrounded by a horse-

shoe of banquettes.We’re also not going with the tra-

ditional format of an LED screen be-hind the DJ. [The walls and lighting] will rotate 360 degrees. One minute it will look like an LED screen, the next minute it will look like lighting. The second-foor mezzanine level will have strips of LEDs that create a truly special effect on the ceiling. There’s nothing moving or kinetic like we have at Omnia, but there’s a lot of LED that will be able to create shapes, looks and ambiences throughout the night. Everything rotates around the dance foor.

What will be the programming focus?

A LG AT E: The word that sums up the

strategy is diversity. We don’t want to pigeonhole the venue into being a specifc club with a brand of music or a style of music. While we’re certainly going to book some of the bigger electronic acts, we are also going to book live performers and have some celebrity hosts.

Will Jewel’s talent portfolio be separate from

that at Hakkasan and Omnia?

A LG AT E: Probably 80 percent is going to be unique to Jewel, but then the re-maining 20 percent will be other tal-ent that we have within our portfolio.

Is there any concern that you might be

competing with yourself? How will you

distinguish Jewel from your other venues?

SI L BER ST EI N: That’s the million-dol-lar question, and we’ve already proved that we can do that with our program-ming. Between Omnia opening and Hakkasan, we had our most success-ful year in 2015, and that was with our two venues each running three, four, fve nights a week. Jewel adds to our portfolio, supports it. Jewel will be different from Omnia in the way that Omnia is different from Hak-kasan. Jewel is a one-room venue. It’s more intimate. It’s certainly smaller in capacity. It’s in a fantastic hotel, which has been crying out for a late-night venue for the last 18 months since Haze closed. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t confdent.

From top: Jewel’s LED-encrusted staircase; the

club’s main room.

PARTIES

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HAKKASANMGM Grand

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March 24 Lil Jon spins

March 25 The Chainsmokers spin

March 26 DVBBS spin

PARTIES

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

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March 25 David Guetta spins

March 26 Zedd spins

March 27 SKAM Sundays with DJ Five

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NEW ORDER MAKES A KILLER APPEARANCEThe Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan, March 21

“He’s upstaging me,” Bernard Sumner jokingly

protested when the Killers' lead singer Brandon

Flowers joined New Order onstage for sharp, dy-

namic versions of “Crystal” and “Love Vigilantes.”

Flowers grinned bashfully at the cheering crowd,

and it was easy to pick up on what he was feeling

in that moment: Holy shit, I’m onstage with New

Order. The legendary Manchester band, performing

at the summit of its abilities, was in no danger of

being upstaged by anyone.

Ripping through a set of eminently danceable

songs, New Order ably demonstrated why half

the indie rock/dance bands working today—yes,

especially the Killers—owe them an enormous debt.

From the first notes of breathless disco stomper

“Singularity” through a warm, show-ending take on

“Superheated”—one that brought Flowers back to

the stage—New Order kept the energy level so high

that the ground underneath us literally moved; the

general admission crowd danced so hard that the

floor of the Chelsea vibrated underneath our feet.

It’s difficult to pick out a highlight. Classics such

as “Ceremony,” “Temptation” and “Bizarre Love

Triangle” were faithfully delivered. The band dug

deep to produce such deep cuts as “Your Silent

Face” and “Waiting for the Sirens' Call.” And the

penultimate one-two punch of “Love Will Tear Us

Apart” and “Blue Monday” was worth the price of

admission by itself. Sumner was in terrific voice,

the band played to perfection, and the lighting and

video were stunning. It was as close to an ideal

show as New Order could have hoped to deliver.

No wonder Flowers was thrilled to get such a good,

up-close view of it. ★★★★★ –Geoff Carter

CONCERT

[ TELEVISION ]

PEAK PEE-WEE➜ Want to feel old, Generation X? Pee-wee

Herman’s television show Pee-wee’s Play-

house ended in 1990. His feature film debut,

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, was released in

summer 1985. And do you remember the

bit at the end of Big Adventure, where a

45-year-old James Brolin played Pee-wee

in a movie within a movie? Well, James’

son, Josh, just turned 48. Happy birthday,

Josh ... and Generation X, you’re welcome.

Luckily, the character of Pee-wee—

played, as ever, by Paul Reubens—exists

outside of time; he seemed to come to us

from an alternate-universe 1950s, where

Captain Kangaroo was president. And the

new made-for-Netflix movie Pee-wee’s Big

Holiday proves that the idea of Pee-wee

is timeless, too. It’s terrifically enjoyable

from start to finish—whimsical, deftly

paced and laugh-out-loud funny. And

while Pee-wee isn’t quite as energetic or

boyish as he was in his heyday (Reubens

is 63), it hardly matters in the context of

Big Holiday. This is a movie that could

have come out in 1986—or in 1956, for that

matter, during peak Kangaroo.

I’m loath to give away much of the

plot or the jokes, seeing as the joy of the

film lies in discovering these things for

yourself. (Also because, just as it was in

1985, the plot doesn’t much matter; the

genius of Pee-wee’s humor is almost

entirely situational.) I will say that Joe

Manganiello—whose appearance in a

small town compels Pee-wee to take the

film’s titular vacay—has never been more

likable than he is here, and that Reubens

gives a committed comic performance.

This is the Pee-wee comeback we Gen

X types have been awaiting for nearly 30

years, and it's all we could have hoped for.

Now all we need is a new Goonies movie

from Josh Brolin, and we can move into

our golden years feeling a small degree of

closure. ★★★★✩ –Geoff Carter

Pee-wee rolls deep.

➜ THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS ROCK

’n’ roll anymore. Sure, there’s glam, grunge, alternative, arena, emo, experimental—all of the hundreds of subgenres it’s been Balkanized into. But the rock ’n’ roll that embraced every style from funk to country and every misft from stoner to nerd? It died with the Replacements.

The Replacements were a band that almost made it big in the ’80s, but never quite got to stadium size thanks to a mixture of bad breaks, bad tim-ing and plenty of self-sabotage. It’s a compelling tale, and Bob Mehr does it justice in Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements (Da Capo Press, $27.50), a 400+ page account of the band’s birth, bloom, rise and… wait, how did we get down here?!

As Black Francis of the Pixies says, “Dean Martin had swagger, the Rolling Stones had swagger … the Replace-ments had swagger.” They also had Paul Westerberg, a gifted songwriter who could put the deft wordplay and incisive observations of a short story inside the thumping, reeling rhythm of a booze-sodden rock song. Oh, yes, the booze—that’s the other thing that made the Replacements unlike other bands. Theirs was a level of liquor consumption that would make Keith Richards seem like a sorority girl clutching her frst wine cooler.

The drinking of the Replacements’ rock-star run does lead to some good stories. The boys play their early gigs at “sober house” parties in Minnesota—until somebody notices that the guitars have pot leaves painted on them, and the band is shitfaced. Gene Simmons wanders into a CBGB’s gig and the band jams on an inebriated version of KISS’ “Black Diamond” until he fees. They go on Saturday Night Live, get drunk with host Harry Dean Stanton and wind up staggering and cursing through their set with guitarist Bob Stinson in drag—getting themselves dropped from War-ner Bros and banned from 30 Rock.

But the Replacements’ story starts and ends at the bottom of the bottle. Mehr documents the members’ backgrounds—all of them came from families troubled by alcoholism and/or mental illness. Founder and gui-tarist Bob Stinson fghts both and gets fred from the band. Drummer Chris Mars fees to save what’s left of his sanity. And Westerberg eventu-ally white-knuckles, cold-turkeys himself straight. Then there’s Tommy Stinson, “a 12-year-old who played guitar like a motherfucker” under his brother’s tutelage. He supplies many of Trouble Boys’ lighter moments, as

the kid who spent his sophomore year of high school playing club gigs and being fawned over by groupies or the adult who, when Bob Dylan drops by the recording studio for a cold one, shouts, “Hey fucker, that beer’s two bucks!” at Mr. Tambourine Man.

The Replacements were a band that not only embraced contradiction, but also seemed incapable of exist-ing without it. Their gigs were sharp, impassioned and life-changing or surly, passive-aggressive shitshows. They were geniuses on the edge of international stardom or they were incompetent born losers. They were a bunch of goofy Midwestern boys or they were a gang of arrogant assholes. This push-pull also characterizes their career: Throughout Trouble Boys, Westerberg constantly frets about why the Replacements aren’t super-star chart-toppers—but consistently piss off audiences, insult other musi-cians, alienate executives and make sure every step forward is followed by at least one step back.

While the Replacements may never have had platinum records or private jets, their infuence lingers. Everyone from Glen Campbell to Lorde, Wilco to Green Day has covered the Re-placements’ songs. Westerberg never wrote “the hit” he always wished for, but tunes like the punk anthem “Bas-tards of Young,” the pop gem “Kiss Me on the Bus,” and the acoustic mel-ancholy of “Here Comes a Regular” gave fans not just a song for a sum-mer, but a soundtrack for their lives, and Trouble Boys supplies the story behind every note. ★★★★✩

HERE COMES TROUBLEThe story of the Replacements gets a clear,

mostly sober telling By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

BOOKS

M A R K E T P L A C E

M A R K E T P L A C E

M A R K E T P L A C E

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What can we expect at your appearance in the Venetian?

Well, I don’t know. Generally, questions and an-swers—you talk about your life, you talk about what you went through, about the business, about many things, you know. This is the frst time that I do it, so I don’t really know.

It’s something that in Italy we are not familiar with. We never do this kind of thing. So when I heard it for

the frst time from a friend of mine, I said, “What are you doing? Are you making a flm?” He said, “No, I’m doing questions and answers.” I said, “What is that? The title of your next flm?” He said, “No: Question and answer means question and answer.” “Yes, but where do you do that?” He said, “On the stage.” Then I said, “No, that’s not for me because when I see the stage, I really tremble, I can’t, I don’t know.”

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Sophia LorenThe legendary Italian actress talks about traveling in America, her favorite

movie role and being directed by her son By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

What made you change

your mind?

So these questions and answers started to work a little bit in my mind. I thought, if everybody does it, I can do it, too. But there’s a stage and I know when I see a stage, I don’t like it very much because I get a little bit shy in the beginning. So I was talking to myself, just to convince myself that maybe, if I was asked to do it, I could.

So one day my agent called me and he said, “Would you do a ques-tion and answer?” and I said, “A-ha! Now my time comes.” So I said, “Yes. Once.” He said, “No, more than that.” He gave me the number and I said, “OK, let’s do it, let’s see what happens.” We could have fun, we can travel a lot, I can see a little bit of Amer-ica, of which I have seen very little, because I was al-ways in the movie studios, but outside—no. Now I am waiting to see and to feel how my reaction is going to be—which I think it’s go-ing to be fne. I hope so.

So it’ll be a chance not just

to perform, but to travel?

I’ve been working very hard all around the world, especially in Italy doing many flms, many things. I’ve seen many hotels, but I haven’t seen America very much or other places in the world. Sometimes I have to take a vacation and go see the things I’ve really looked forward to seeing. Like Brazil—the music in Brazil, which I adore. Many, many things—the beach, wonderful sea. And now that I have my chil-dren, my grandchildren, I am going to enjoy it that much more. Unfortu-nately Carlo, my husband, is not with me anymore, but we will talk about him a lot and he is always with us anyway.

You recently did a film,

Human Voice, based on

Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine.

Your son directed it. What

was it like having your son be

the boss?

It’s a wonderful short story. It’s a beautiful mas-terpiece and I’ve always wanted to do it. We had the opportunity to buy the rights, so we did it and I’m very happy about the result. The relationship

on the set when you’re working with your son, it’s a little bit edgy some-times. But it’s a question of getting accustomed and [not] thinking that he’s your son: Just pre-tend that he’s your direc-tor and you’re two profes-sionals and everything goes absolutely great.

Do you have a favorite out

of the films you’ve done?

Well … it’s not easy. But I got an Oscar for Two Women, so I could say Two Women. That’s a wonder-ful story about war, about a mother and a daughter. It was an amazing story, written by a wonderful writer named Alberto Moravia who’s not with us anymore.

Most movies about war are

about soldiers and heroics.

Two Women was about how

war affects ordinary people.

Do you think it’s important to

tell that side?

War was war. In Italy that war, it destroyed every-thing. It was terrible—rape and guns. It was a page of history, which is good if a writer like Moravia writes it, with his skill, with his emotions. If you don’t portray these kinds of things on the screen, what do you portray—silly things? Yes, you can have fun doing comedy, too. But if you want to leave an important message about life, about war, you have to cope with these kinds of stories, which are real and at the same time very moving and very dramat-ic. An actress should be able to do many kinds of things: You do Two Women and then you do House-boat. You should be able to do everything.

Your life has been so full—

is there anything you still

want to do?

Every day I hope that there’s something inter-esting I want to do. I like to work, I like to achieve things. And I dream a lot also. I am a dreamer, so who knows?

AN EVENING WITH

SOPHIA LOREN

March 26, 8 p.m.,

$55-$150, Venetian

Theatre, Venetian.com.