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Police arrest two costumed action figures in Hollywood.

Costumed action figures brawl on Hollywood street

Andrew Blankstein, Robert J. Lopez Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, February 3, 2012 - 11:12am

LOS ANGELES -- A brawl between several people dressed as action figures erupted in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday evening, resulting in a Jack Sparrow character being pepper-sprayed by an attacker, police said.

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Vegas street performers battle police, hotels

Ashley Powers Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, October 31, 2011 - 5:19pm

LAS VEGAS -- Score one for the Las Vegas Strip's ersatz Chewbaccas and Michael Jacksons.

In recent years, Las Vegas Boulevard has grown packed with costumed characters who pose for photos and tips. Some are refugees from Hollywood, where a police crackdown resulted in the arrests of an Elmo, a Freddy Krueger and a Mr. Incredible, among others.

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Chris Gardener, a Michael Jackson impersonator, Tony Gallardo, an Elvis impersonator, center, and Robrigo Gonzalez, also an Elvis impersonator, right, perform on Las Vegas Blvd. in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 27, 2011. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Las Vegas Strip sidewalks becoming a stage

Ashley Powers Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, August 24, 2011 - 9:41am

LAS VEGAS -- The Michael Jackson dance-alike toiled for three hours to prepare for his performance: arching his eyebrows, reshaping his nose with tape, airbrushing his skin to King of Pop perfection.

He wriggled into a black military jacket and black floodwater pants that mirrored the singer's style, down to the bunched white socks.

He headed to his usual haunt on Las Vegas Boulevard: outside gilded Planet Hollywood, near the busy crosswalk to fountain-fronted Bellagio. Atop a stool, he balanced a black fedora and a single glittering glove.

Then Jalles Franca chitchatted with out-of-towners and mugged for photos in the kind of heat that stings the skin. For hours, he experienced the ecstasy and indignity that come with turning the sidewalk into a stage.

In recent years, Franca and dozens of other starry-eyed showmen have tested the core mythology of Las Vegas on its bustling Strip -- that with moxie (and perhaps some sparkling apparel), anyone can transform himself into a moneymaker. Or an entertainer.

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