Archive for the ‘It's The Norm’ Category

I’m sure by now you have heard the rumor that the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, on Paradise Rd., will be presenting a well known off-Broadway hit in the Shimmer Showroom? Oh, you say, you hadn’t heard that rumor? Well, then you’ll have to read on to find out exactly what, when, and who will be performing in the play.

I will not keep you all tensed up waiting to find out the name of the play: “Nunsense,” has been a tremendous hit for more than 25 years in New York, and has spawned off a number of franchises across the country since its debut on Dec. 12, 1985, in the Cherry Lane Theater. After opening it was soon moved to the Douglas Fairbanks Theater where it ran for a solid 10 years. During those 10 years it performed 3,672 performances, becoming the second longest running off-Broadway show in history (after The Fantasticks). The show also went to London in 1987, where it played in the Fortune Theatre at the West End.

The play was first conceived by Dan Groggin as a series of greeting cards (yes, Nuns offering tart remarks with a clerical slant), before becoming a play. It has also been made into two television productions, starring the late Rue McClanahan as Mother Superior.

Now just who will be performing in this laugh filled romp depicting five Nuns in Hollywood? Well, first off, will be a personal favorite of this writer and one hell-of-a-funny lady who can sing her butt off, Kelly Clinton as Sister Mary Amnesia. Joining Clinton will be Janien Valentine, who at one time worked as a featured singer with Kelly’s husband, Clint Holmes, and who is currently also featured in the production of “Peepshow” at Planet Hollywood. Valentine will continue to work in both productions, by the way.

Others cast for the 4 p.m. production, which will have a soft opening (that means no VIPs, Media or party) on Wednesday, Sept. 15, are Michelle Johnson, Diane Ellis, Kathy Arianoff and Robin Vincent.

Directing this version of “Nunsense” is Nancy Gregory (also responsible for the choreography) and the producer is Jay Harvey.

This should be a tremendous boost for the Hilton Hotel, which let “Menopause—The Musical” get away and land at the Luxor Hotel (where it is doing SRO business by the way). I predict “Nunsense” will be a huge hit, and will stay at the Hilton as long as it wants to!

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Good news for those who have been going to Bob Kephart’s Comedy Stop at the Sahara Hotel for the past year. When the Stop first arrived at the hotel, with a 9 p.m. starting time (which it was able to maintain easily), it was booked into the Congo Room upstairs near the now closed buffet. After closing the buffet, hotel management asked Kephart if he would mind moving downstairs to the 800-plus-seat showroom, with regular starting time of 9 p.m. Well, as many of our regulars learned, it was hard to predict exactly when the Comedy Stop would be ready to seat its audience, as the preceding show would consistently run over its allotted time. Well, gang, those days are gone.

Beginning this Monday, August 30, the 9 p.m. show will be on time and in a new location within the Sahara Hotel. Kephart has agreed to move to the newly renovated Casbar Lounge, Also, for the first time, 18-year olds will be allowed to attend the Comedy Stop without an accompanying adult. The room is being designed to accommodate a wee bit more than 150 in comfortable seating.

Opening the Club, in its new location, will be local favorite Cork Proctor, along with Hal Spear and the always crazy antics of Steve Shaffer. Local residents, with proof of residence, can still purchase a special ticket at the Sahara box office for $19.95 plus tax and fees. Regular ticket prices begin at $24.95 plus tax and fees.

This coming Sunday, August 29, The Corner Gallery in Boulder City will hold an Art Swap, where anyone is welcome and where you can

buy, swap, trade or sell anything art related, beginning at 10 a.m. and going until about 2 p.m. If interested in selling you can reserve a table for $10. For further information contact Chris Frausto at 702-501-9219.

This Sunday (Aug. 29) the Flamingo Library, 1401 E. Flamingo, will host the wonderful singing duo, Ron & Lisa Smith, performing their fabulous, “Back to Broadway,” starting at 2:00 p.m. Tickets at the door will cost $15.00, and I consider that a terrific bargain considering this is a top caliber presentation by two dynamic singers. We gladly recommend this show.

Well, gang, that’s about it for yet another week. I’m outa here!

Last Friday, this writer accepted an invitation from good friend, David Saxe, to visit his new theater, Saxe Theater, inside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.  The purpose was to see Saxe’s new production, “Vegas! The Show.” I took the occasion to invite two extremely good friends, who are also very knowledgeable when it comes to show business, Vera (Mrs. Robert) Goulet and original Supreme member, Mary Wilson.

Right off the bat, I’m telling you this is a fabulous production, with lots of glamour, pizzazz, singing and dancing. It has it all, believe me. If there is anything wrong with “Vegas! The Show,” it’s that David has tried to include too much in 80-minutes.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved the production. The show has listed six principal featured performers, but in this writer’s opinion, it has 26 featured performers (you have to see these fabulous 12 ladies and five guys dance) and you’ll know why I wrote what I did. There are also two specialty acts that are just marvelous. And the 11-piece band, under the direction of Jerry Lopez and musical director, Pat Caddick, is what moves this show along nice and easy—especially for the singers. A real live band. What a concept!

Reva Rice is one of three beautiful and talented singers in the production. Rice has been a featured performer on Broadway.  She arrived in Las Vegas when the Hilton Hotel booked the Broadway hit, “Starlight Express,” into its specially constructed showroom in Sept. 1993. She starred as Pearl in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical until it closed in Nov. 1997. Rice is a tremendous singer and has numerous solos throughout the show.

Trina Johnson-Finn, is a vital part of the trio of women who can sing and dance like they actually did in the early days of Las Vegas. You might remember Finn from the news, when in March, 2009, she was arrested and put in a prison in Suriname, a small country in northern part of South America. Trina was held in the prison for three months until proven innocent of posing as Toni Braxton, in a concert in the South American country. In truth, Finn was hired as a Tribute Artist, but the promoter advertised that the real Toni Braxton would be there.

The third lady in the trio is Jaime Preston, who is well known in Las Vegas, appearing in such lavish productions as “The Sirens of TI,” “Tribute,” “The Main Event,” “The Vamps,” and most recently headlined in the production of, “Las Vegas Pussycat Dolls.”

Tiger Martina, director and choreographer, has picked very possibly 12 of the finest lady dancers and five dynamic boy dancers in Las Vegas for his dance line. I’m not going to name them, but I will tell you that each of the 17 dancers work their butts off, to the intricate choreography put forth by the director. And, the costumes truly take you back to the days when Las Vegas had a bevy of beautiful dancers in just about every showroom on the Strip.

And what David Saxe has done is bring back that flavor of the good ol’ days as we, who fortunately lived here and enjoyed the performers and shows of old, remember. Those were the days of class and beauty. Like Eric Jordan Young explains in the opening segment, people used to have class when they went to see a show. Young is found sitting in the Neon Jungle (the old Neon signs that were saved and placed in a museum downtown) reminiscing about the days when gentlemen wore suits and ties in the showroom, and ladies showed up in beautiful gowns and furs. The town reeked of class in those days, beginning in the ‘50s and ending around the mid ‘80s.

Tom Lowe began his career in showbiz at the age of 18, when his band, “North and South,” hit the top 10 on the United Kingdom charts. He went on to star in numerous London West End plays, before coming to America in 2001. Lowe has a great voice and appears in one segment as Elvis. Here is where I have a problem. He is dressed in a white suit (yes, Elvis did at one time appear in white suits), but Elvis never had blond hair. In my opinion Tom should at least wear a good black wig for his Elvis bit. He honestly, looked to me more like a Pat Boone than an Elvis. This can be fixed real easy, David!

The Rat Pack is represented by Dean Martin, as portrayed by Gabriel Burrafato. Gabriel has performed on Broadway and National tours across the U.S. and Canada. EMI music has picked Burrafato to be a part of an exciting new group called, “Bellaria,” a celebration of Italian-American music. The group will debut on PBS in the fall. Gabriel also starred as Lancelot in the touring production of “Camelot.”

The two specialty acts are top notch, especially the explosive tap dancing of Sean and John Scott, who are identical twins. Joseph Gabriel is a fabulous up-close-and-personal magician who performs wondrous tricks of magic with his white doves and a fabulous parrot. More on these two performers in a later column.

Saxe told me after the show that he was still tweaking the production, along with associate producer, Rick Kaufman. I would not presume to tell these fine musicians, producers or directors what to change—but if I did, I would say look at cutting back on some of the dance numbers, to allow the historical impressions to appear more clearly.  For example, when the three girls appear on stage to portray a trio of famous ladies, who helped to make Vegas famous, Lena Horne, Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald, I had no idea who was who. I would definitely also use more of Mr. Young as a guide throughout the show. Other than that, this is a must see show for everyone, from the very young to the very old. Call the Saxe Theater for ticket prices and show times.

Well, gang, that’s about it for this week. I’m outa here!

Deana Martin fits a stage like an old leather glove fits your hand. She has so much of her father’s DNA, there’s no wonder Deana is a legend already. Dean Martin has to be beaming down on his daughter from the Gold Stage, along with her Uncle Frank and Uncle Sammy (Sinatra and Davis, Jr.). Ms. Martin has worked very hard to get to where she is today, and that’s in her book, “Memories Are Made of This.”

The evening this writer caught her SRO performance at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino (Saturday, July 24), really turned out to be a very special night. Vera (Mrs. Robert) Goulet along with Peter and Barbara Justl, Nancy Barr and this writer, arrived just as the show was to begin.

Vince Falcone, “Conductor to the Stars,” had assembled a super fine band for the two night engagement: Joe Lano, guitar; Mike Mechem, drums; Bob Sachs, bass; and Dale Rampton, percussions. Of course, Deana sang a bunch of her dad’s hits, such as “Everybody Loves Somebody,” “That’s Amore,” “Sway,” “Somebody Loves You,” and “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head!” But what turned a fabulous performance into a Super Duper Fantastic evening (it can only happen in Las Vegas) was who Ms. Martin’s husband, John Griffeth, had waiting behind a door, which had been conveniently placed on stage.

The first knock (remember the door on the Dean Martin Television Show) came about midway through the 90-minute show. Deana walked over and opened the door (just like her father used to do) and out walked Frankie Randall, who was a long time friend of her father and especially Mr. Sinatra. After a brief chat, the two friends (they also perform together in a group called “That’s Italian,” which features Randall, Martin, Julius La Rosa, Pete Barbutti, and sometimes Dick Contino) did a duet of, “It Had to be You.” It was beautiful!

The second knock at the door followed about 10 minutes later. Ms. Martin dutifully opened the door, and who was there, why Lena Prima, daughter of the legendary Louis Prima, who the Rat Pack (remember them?) used to watch while in Vegas a long time ago. A short talk about some favorite memories, the two ladies did a duet of Prima’s hit, “That Old Black Magic.” Well, let me tell you, it was a definite moment in time.

Ms. Martin returned to continue her show as planned, when there came a third knock at the door. And guess who was there this time? Well, like I said, it could only happen in Las Vegas, out stepped two guys who sorta grew up with Deana (well, at least with her younger brother, Dean Paul), Desi Arnaz, Jr and Billy Hinsche. Hinsche and Arnaz were two members of a very famous Rock Band during the mid ‘60s called, “Dino, Desi and Billy.” Dino, of course, was Dean Paul Martin, who was killed in an airplane accident in 1987. The three, Deana, Desi and Billy, managed to get through a very special song, “Memories Are Made of This.” It was once again an extremely beautiful moment in time, and one the 400 plus members of the audience will never forget. And, which probably, will never happen again. Four wonderful people, who all had a strong connection to a very special man, Mr. Dean Martin and his family, were together once again on a stage. What more could you ask for?

There was also about a 10-minute film showing rare photographs and such of Dean Martin and family, playing together and performing as a family. The entire evening was so darn special. And then we all joined to wish Deana’s son, Mickey, happy birthday at a small after the show gathering.

I was going to review Ms. Martin’s book in this column, but I feel I can hold on to that for a couple of weeks. I will tell you, however, I started the book (given to me by the author) on I believe Tuesday afternoon and didn’t want to set it down, but I had to go to bed, and finished all 289 pages the following morning. She tells a fascinating story.

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I can’t wait until Sept. 3, when two of my favorite entertainers return to the Red Rock Resort. Of course I speak of Zowie Bowie, which is fronted by Chris Philips, and the beautiful Marley Taylor. They do everything and do it well, starting with hip-hop to the Big Band era (which is my personal favorite, and especially when they do the Frank Sinatra music). The group will be appearing in the Rock Lounge every Friday.

“I know I Came in Here for Something,” billed as a middle age musical, and bound to be a very funny musical, will be presented in the Anthem Theater this Sunday, August 8. It’ll feature Vic Moea, Susan Haller, Tom Dyer and Jeaneane Marie singing about 20 plus songs. Musical director is Laurence Sobel and it’s produced by Gateway Arts Foundation and Carole Altman. Sounds to me like a fun show, and if my very special friend, Ms. Marie, is in it, then that’s good enough for me to recommend it!

The Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo, will be holding the Second Annual Family Day, this Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. This year it’s titled, “Journey Through Japan,” and they will be commemorating the 65^th Anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which brought the end to World War II. Last year more than 400 attended the event.

Well, gang, that’s about it for another week. I’m outa here!

Was invited by long-time friend, Ms. Lorraine Hunt-Bono, to attend her husband, Dennis’, taping of his nationally syndicated radio show at the South Point Hotel & Casino on Thursday afternoon (last week). Bono’s special guests were Deana Martin, who I had interviewed earlier in the week, Ron Crews, Eddie Mekka and Mrs. Bono.

One does not turn down the former Lt. Governor of our state. Besides I wanted to see Deana in action. I was joined in the booth by fellow scribe, Jackie Brett, Annette Falcone (wife of conductor Vince Falcone) and Nancy Barr’s grandson, Devon Barr, who was visiting his very proud grandmother for the week.

The show started promptly with host, Dennis Bono, singing “If I should Lose You,” followed by Lorraine belting out a very special “How About You,” which included some very unique words.  Next up was Deana who sang her dad’s famous hit, and one she has practically made her own, “Somebody Loves You.”

The difference between the Dennis Bono Show and Toast of the Town at Sam’s Town is that Dennis sits down with each guest, and they have a casual conversation—I find this very charming and Bono is so good at doing the interviews (discussions).  Deana talked easily about her famous father, Dean Martin and Uncle Frank (Sinatra). Deana returned to center stage and closed out her portion of the show with, “Everybody Loves Somebody.”

Eddie Mekka, who gained fame as Carmine on the Laverne & Shirley Show in the ‘70s, sang “Luck Be a Lady Tonight.” During Mekka’s conversation with Dennis, it was learned that he had just finished a tour with “Fiddler on the Roof,” and was preparing for a 35 week tour of “Grease.”

Bono closed out the show with a very beautiful ‘Always On My Mind.” The Dennis Bono Show tapes every Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in the beautiful South Point showroom. The show is free to the public, with club members getting first dibs on seating. The afternoon we attended, it was SRO.

When Robert Goulet was first at the Dunes Hotel (where the Bellagio now stands) in 1982, he would rotate his opening acts just about every week or two. He loved the comedians who used to work the Catskills. As he often said, “Normie, they paid their dues and learned all the tricks of how to read an audience. You can’t go wrong with a Catskill comedian—they are the best!”

One of those comedians was a young man named Sal Richards, who had been hired by Arthur Shenker, owner of the Dunes Hotel, to work at the “Top of the Dunes”—a super nightclub that overlooked the Las Vegas Strip. Goulet, his wife Vera, and this writer would find our way to the “Top” just about every night, following Robert’s second show (in those days the stars performed two shows every night). Eventually, we convinced Mr. Shenker to allow Richards to open for Robert in the Dunes Showroom. We had a lot of fun with Sal, including walking through the audience and dropping serving trays to having someone paging Sal from the audience. Whatever we could do to get a laugh we did it! And Richards loved it.

Why am I mentioning the above? Simple! I just finished reading Sal’s book, “Behind the Laughter, Hidden Tears,” which is one of the easiest books I’ve ever read. It took me about five hours to read the 159 pages, packed with quick little stories of his career and life. It quickly takes you through all the foibles of being an entertainer—the loss of his son, his bout with drinking and fighting with various people, who could’ve made him disappear. He admits to a lot of faults, but the one thing consistent in the book is: Richards tells ya the truth from beginning to end. He may have left out a couple of issues, but very little is missing.

You can purchase “Behind the Laughter, Hidden Tears,” on Amazon. It’s a great read!

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Speaking of Lorraine Hunt-Bono, she was informed that the August issue of “Playboy’s Guide to America’s Greatest Bars,” has named her establishment, The Bootlegger Bistro on Las Vegas Blvd. South, as Playboy’s Best Bar in Las Vegas. Between the original Bootlegger on Eastern at Tropicana, and its present location, the Bootlegger has been in operation a total of 36 years. Some more good news: If you are looking for a location to hold a company party, a wedding reception or any type of event from 20 to 400 people, the Bootlegger now has the perfect venue. Give them a call. And, if you are an event planner (and there’s a lot of them in Las Vegas) then you should take a look at what they have to offer. You will be amazed! Call (702) 736-4939 for more information.

Just a reminder that Jay White, who without question is the best Neil Diamond impressionist in the business today, will be at the Suncoast Casino Showroom this Saturday and Sunday, July 31-August 1, with a 7:30 p.m. show. Tickets start at $29.95 plus tax and fees. I’ll see ya there!

Got a note from former Las Vegas resident, and a fabulous entertainer, Loretta Holloway, informing me about the television series she is starring in, “The Bishop’s House,” which has received great revues in the markets where its been seen. She also reports she’ll be leaving for Shanghai, China, August 17 for an extended tour.  Oh, yeah, she still radiates the beauty and charm that made her so popular when she lived and worked in Las Vegas. Loretta also worked at the “Top of the Dunes.”

Another quick reminder: Ron and Lisa Smith will be at the Starbright Theater in Summerlin this Saturday night (July31) with their show, “Back to Broadway.” Showtime is 7:00 p.m. with tickets priced at $15 for residents, and $18 for non-residents.

Well, gang, next week I’ll give you a complete rundown on the great show I saw last weekend at the Suncoast, starring Deana Martin. It was fabulous! And, I’ll also do a review of her book, which is a great read.

That’s it for another week. I’m outta here!