(An architectural planning meeting in Vegas. WENTWORTH, BRAD, and GEORGE stand around a table. On the wall is a placard: Wentworth Casinos, Las Vegas, NV. Out the window is a view of the Strip.)<\/i><\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Who\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
BRAD
We\u2019ve got Kirk Luberda. Bright young architecture student from the Midwest.<\/p>\n
GEORGE (skeptically)<\/i>
Ah. What do you think he\u2019ll try to foist on us? Mies van der Rohe? Frank Lloyd Wright?<\/p>\n
BRAD
I don\u2019t know. I think it\u2019s about time for a Chicago-themed hotel\/casino. That would be a draw. People could stay in the miniature Sears Tower. You could make a restaurant in the shape of Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n
GEORGE
Call it \u201cIvy\u2019s\u201d! Serve deep-dish pizza! Italian beef!<\/p>\n
BRAD
And that big Picasso! He could be our spokesman! Like a robot-gangster-Picasso in a fedora that would stand at the door and welcome visitors!<\/p>\n
GEORGE
And we could sell miniature brass reproductions of the Space Needle!<\/p>\n
BRAD
That\u2019s in Seattle.<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Guys, guys. This is not our job. Let\u2019s see what Mr. Luberda has to offer before we overthink this thing to death.<\/p>\n
BRAD
Mr. Luberda? Come in please.<\/p>\n
(LUBERDA enters, carrying a portfolio and a tarp-covered object, which he sets on the table.)<\/i><\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Good afternoon, gentlemen.<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Mr. Luberda. The theming of a casino is vitally important. It must be new and innovative, but classic in its execution. How well a theme taps into the zeitgeist can determine whether a casino lasts a mere year, or sticks around for a full three years.<\/p>\n
BRAD
The point is, when the building is imploded, can we look back and say, that was a gimmick we\u2019re proud of? Or will it be another \u201cBridget Jones\u2019s Pai Gow Palace\u201d?<\/p>\n
(WENTWORTH, BRAD and GEORGE shudder.)<\/i><\/p>\n
LUBERDA
I think you\u2019ll be tickled with what I\u2019ve come up with. As you can imagine, there\u2019s a soft spot in my heart for the Midwest.<\/p>\n
BRAD
I knew it!<\/p>\n
GEORGE
Will you have a Space Needle?<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Gentlemen, please. Go on.<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Well. Maybe it\u2019s best for me to just show you.
(He lifts the tarp, revealing a miniature suburban town.)<\/i>
I give you: Las Vegas Itasca!<\/p>\n
(pause)<\/i><\/p>\n
GEORGE
What does \u201cItasca\u201d mean?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
It\u2019s my hometown. It\u2019s a suburb of Chicago. That\u2019s in Illinois.<\/p>\n
(They all look over the model.)<\/i><\/p>\n
BRAD
What\u2019s this structure here?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
It\u2019s the gazebo.
(Pause. The other THREE look blankly back at him.)<\/i>
In Usher Park!<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Will people know what that is?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
They\u2019ll know it\u2019s where they cash in their chips. Beautiful, functional, and full of swans, just like the real Usher Park.<\/p>\n
BRAD
(points to a tiny human figure on the model)<\/i>
This woman here on the stage. She looks like Bonnie Raitt.<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
She is. A professional Bonnie Raitt impersonator will perform nightly.<\/p>\n
BRAD
Why is she wearing handcuffs?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Do you guys not read the news? She was arrested in Itasca in 2001 for protesting Boise Cascade\u2019s deforestation practices.<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
I don\u2019t know, Mr. Luberda. This all seems kind of esoteric.<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Is candy too esoteric for you?<\/p>\n
(LUBERDA presses a button and the roof of the miniature Bethany United Methodist Church opens, shooting out colorful boxes of Nerds, Gobstoppers, and Lik-M-Aid.)<\/i><\/p>\n
GEORGE
(gasping delightedly)<\/i>
An assortment of Willy Wonka products!<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Their factory is located in Itasca, on Norwood Avenue.<\/p>\n
GEORGE
Oh! Are all the cocktail waitresses dressed as Oompa-Loompas?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
You tell me.<\/p>\n
(LUBERDA pulls a sketch out of his portfolio featuring an orange-skinned, green-haired cocktail waitress in short white overalls. She holds a tray with a complex, striped drinking vessel with an elaborate bendy-straw sticking out of it.)<\/i><\/p>\n
WENTWORTH, BRAD, and GEORGE
Ooooh!<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
And…<\/p>\n
(LUBERDA turns the page to another drawing: a man wearing huge glasses and a beige windbreaker sits glumly at a blackjack table.)<\/i><\/p>\n
BRAD
Is that John Cusack, as he appears in the movie Grace is Gone?<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
(nodding)<\/i>
…which filmed in Itasca.<\/p>\n
GEORGE
That\u2019s the one where his wife dies in Iraq!<\/p>\n
LUBERDA
And all the dealers will be dressed like him.<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
I\u2019ll tell you what, Mr. Luberda. I\u2019m starting to take a shine to this idea. You\u2019ve got the contract.<\/p>\n
(They shake hands.)<\/i><\/p>\n
LUBERDA
Thank you sir!<\/p>\n
WENTWORTH
Thank you. Let\u2019s break ground immediately and start building Las Vegas Itasca. And we\u2019ll see how long it lasts before we have to raze it.<\/p>\n
(A miniature rumbling. Tiny flashes of light appear along the bottom of the model. It descends into tiny puffs of smoke and dust, and it is gone.)<\/i><\/p>\n
(LUBERDA shrugs comically. WENTWORTH, BRAD, and GEORGE laugh and point. Freeze-frame. Closing credits.)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(An architectural planning meeting in Vegas. WENTWORTH, BRAD, and GEORGE stand around a table. On the wall is a placard: Wentworth Casinos, Las Vegas, NV. Out the window is a view of the Strip.) WENTWORTHWho\u2019s next? BRADWe\u2019ve got Kirk Luberda. Bright young architecture student from the Midwest. GEORGE (skeptically)Ah. What do you think he\u2019ll try […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sketches","tag-dave-stinton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}