Ellen Sterling - Page 3

At the very beginning of 2013, the entertainment bar in Las Vegas - generally a high one - has been set especially high with the opening of Rock of Ages at the Venetian.

The debut of 'The Phat Pack' to Las Vegas this month signified a wonderful gift to the city.

Shania Twain had been absent from performing for eight years. Her return, quite appropriately in a show called Shania Twain: Still The One, came December 1 when she opened at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. There, she shares he 4,200-seat theater with Celine Dion, Elton John and Rod Stewart and, in this excellent company, her show proves equal to them all. And with a huge stage she can pretty much do as she wishes. And, it seems, she wished for a beautiful show.

Cirque du Soleil is to Las Vegas as, say, the Tour d'Effil is to Paris. Cirque shows have helped define the city since December 25, 1993, when Mystere took up permanent residence at Treasure Island. Today, Cirque shows play to about 9,000 people each night here. The latest Cirque entry is Zarkana and it is, indeed, a welcome addition to the city.

When circumstances prevent one from reviewing a show immediately after seeing it, the reviewer may scuttle the review with the thought that it's old news. That's especially true in a city like Las Vegas where there's so much entertainment that's in town for a matter of one to three days. That happened to me once and might have happened again. But this time, circumstances prevented a timely review of John Stephan and not writing about him at all would have been wrong. This guy is so good and gives the audience such a good show, he demands to be written about and, of course, seen whenever one can.

This production of 'Wicked' the Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (book) musical based on the Gregory Maguire novel of the same name is gorgeous to look at and boasts a cast of first-rate professionals. Eugene Lee's sumptuous sets and Susan Hilferty's costumes have come to Las Vegas with a road company of outstanding talent.

I first fell in love with Barbara Cook when I was a small child and was taken to see Plain and Fancy. What I remember to this day from that show is Barbara Cook coming onstage in a turquoise Lincoln Continental. The car had a black leather interior and she was dressed to match - turquoise sheath dress with black shoes, belt and hat. It was my ideal picture of what being a grown-up woman should be like (still is). Even though, I saw her many times after that and realized what a beautiful voice she possesses, that picture of her has never left my mind.

Sal Polisi will tell you he's gone from "racketeer to raconteur" and, indeed, he has. His one-man show, At The Sinatra Club, is unscripted but very, very interesting. He is, in fact, a highly skilled raconteur and he performed his show Sunday at Las Vegas' Clark County Library. The audience of 315 people was totally involved, responding to Polisi's words as if he were conversing with them individually.

I am not given to gushing but, with apologies for doing so, I am about to gush. You see, on Saturday evening, I felt very privileged. For on that night, I went to Las Vegas' gorgeous Smith Center for the Arts and saw Stephen Sondheim: A Life In The Theater, An Evening of Music and Conversation.

I once asked a friend of mine what it was like seeing a certain legendary performer in concert. Her reply was, "It was a privilege." Well, if you ask me today what it was like seeing the Oak Ridge Boys at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas this weekend, my reply would be the same. It was indeed a privilege.

Try as they might to be objective, it is the nature of the job that causes reviewers to be subjective. The response to a play, film, book or a piece of art or music is rooted in who the reviewer is. What is his or her life experience? Birthplace? Education? Etc?

His face is familiar and so are his hair and black-rimmed glasses. You've seen him on Pawn Stars, America's Got Talent, Celebracadabra and lots of other TV shows. Stick-thin with a shock of platinum blonde hair styled like brush bristles, he describes himself as what the child of Andy Warhol and Lady Gaga would look like. But Murray is much more than what you've seen on TV and what he looks like.

Like many in his audience, I didn't know what to expect when I went to see the Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour on June 2 at The Las Vegas Hotel (used to be the Las Vegas Hilton). When it ended, I felt privileged that I'd had the opportunity to be in the audience.

The best of the best in Las Vegas this summer!

No, I don't have that kind of sixth sense. And, no, I wasn't alone. There were a few hundred people sharing the experience. That's what went through my mind as I watched impressionist Rich Little perform his new show, Jimmy Stewart & Friends at The LVH (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton) on press night.

I had the good fortune to go to a great party Wednesday night. Well, it wasn't officially a party. It was, officially, the first of Santana's 31-show 2012 residency at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. (This residency extends into 2013 with those dates to be announced.)

Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth is the undisputed champ's first foray into live stage performance and, it turns out, it is funny, profane, moving and somewhat enlightening. People who see it expecting huge revelations or confessions of wrongdoing in, say, his tumultuous marriage to Robin Givens may be disappointed. But Tyson is nothing if not entertaining. He's got a great sense of humor and is pretty realistic about himself and his life.

The Jersey Boys have moved south - at least in Las Vegas, that is. The show has moved from the Palazzo Resort Hotel in Las Vegas a few blocks south to Paris Las Vegas, taking up residence in the theater the hotel refurbished when Barry Manilow opened there in March 2010.

If you come to Las Vegas looking for the mob - or if you live here and want to enhance your visit to the new Mob Museum (which visitors and tourists alike should make a point of visiting) - you should stop by the Terry Fator Theatre in the Mirage between now and next Tuesday to Chazz Palminteri is performing his solo play A Bronx Tale.

If you Google "Las Vegas entertainment" you'll get thousands of links to shows. Many of these shows claim to bring back the vintage vibe that made the city famous for its entertainment in the 60's. You'll also get lots of entertainment where people impersonate the entertainers who frequented the city then, most especially the Rat Pack. Some of these shows are fine, fun trips down memory lane. But Davi Sings Sinatra, in the Venetian Hotel and Casino showroom this weekend, is much more.