Ellen Sterling - Page 6

Jason Alexander is a gifted actor. His impressive theater resume includes a Tony for Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Max in the LA production of The Producers, serving as the director of several shows. Of course we know him Seinfeld and other TV gigs. In The Donnie Clay Experience, now at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Alexander is a motivational speaker, encouraging his audience to live better his way.

She is one of those rare people who is known by first name only. And that's because beginning when she was just 19, Liza (Minnelli) has dazzled audiences around the world and in every medium. This week, her latest work - the DVD/BluRay recording of her Tony-winning show Liza's At the Palace became available.

Tuesday was another of MGM Mirage's days to show off their new City Center complex. But the day's main attraction was Viva Elvis, the new Cirque du Soleil offering in the Aria Hotel and Casino. This show follows in the spirit of Love, Cirque's Beatles piece and was, those at the press conference today said, three years in the making.

Here in Las Vegas there seems to be a cultural imperative to categorize everything. The shows, restaurants, shops, etc., that win the daily paper's annual 'Best of Las Vegas' votes tout their wins by putting the daily paper's logo on their billboards, windows and, in fact, any place where it might be seen. I don't know what it means to the bottom line or prestige or anything. But they make a big deal out of it.

On Friday music took a giant step forward in Las Vegas as two legends took their places on the local landscape. The afternoon featured a small press conference with Garth Brooks (left) and the evening the opening of BB King's at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

There are lots of impersonators floating around Las Vegas, but too many of them just do spot-on impersonations and let it go at that. Frank Caliendo is different. His impersonations are not only spot-on, but content of each bit is important and they are flat-out funny.

Las Vegas is a city of hyperbole. Everything is billed as an 'experience,' a 'spectacular.' Even a waterfall in a hotel isn't a plain old waterfall, it's a 'water feature.' And, of course, there are performers whose shows are called 'special' because their engagement here may be limited or, perhaps, they're here for a cause.

Wayne Newton first came to Las Vegas on the bus from Arizona as a 17 year-old in 1959. In the 50 years since, he's become as much a part of the city as, say, Broadway is part of New York. Performing here over the years, Newton earned the sobriquet 'Mr. Las Vegas' and has served as a representative of his adopted home in many arenas. But, the largest of those arenas is, of course, entertainment.

Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale has been extended at The Venetian Resort and Casino through October 24. It was originally supposed to run only through October 18.

America's Got Talent is, for the uninitiated, an old-fashioned talent show played out from tryout to triumph in fromt of millions of people on their local NBC TV stations.

With Steve Wynn scheduled to make the announcement this afternoon in Las Vegas, Garth Brooks beat him to the punch in Nashville.

Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale has been extended at The Venetian Resort and Casino through October 24. It was originally supposed to run only through October 18.

Still feeling the glow of the sheer theatricality and wonder of Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale, it was with a vague, amorphous dread that I took the 150-or-so mile drive from Las Vegas to Tuacahn (www.tuacahn.com) in St. George, UT, to see a production of Annie. And, now, I am basking in 'the glow of the sheer theatricality and wonder' of that production.

We me a lot of people last night. There were Rudy Ice, Eddie Mush, Frankie Coffeecake, Jo-Jo the Whale, Jimmy 10-to-2 and Harry Wheeeee-ah. (That last word is an attempt to replicate the sound of someone preparing to lob a loogie out his window.) Yes, there was a crowd that, in the end numbered 18. But three of them were more important than the others: Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri, his father Lorenzo and Sonny, the local capo di tutti capi -the neighborhood crime boss. Of course 'we' (the audience at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas) didn't actually 'meet' all these people.

If you live in Las Vegas and want Broadway, just get tickets to Jersey Boys or The Lion King. If you want to see Broadway better than it is on Broadway, you can see Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular. For the 'only in Las Vegas' type of show, there are any of the five Cirque du Soleil productions.

Phantom Fan Week: I'll resist the temptation to write 'Phantom Phans' but, in truth, even though I am very used to fans, I've never seen anything quite like this. The deal was that fans of Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular (the very aptly named version of the show at The Venetian) could come to Las Vegas and get total immersion in their favorite entertainment. There were behind-the-scenes tours, meet-and-greets with key people in the production, a masquerade ball, dinner with the producers and a farewell brunch. It was three days that fans of anything or anyone - show, actor, singer, sports team - would love. I was fortunate to attend five of the events and, herewith, my report.

The Cannery Casiono group here in Las Vegas knows its audience. Hence, entertainment at its three casinos ? The Cannery, the Eastside Cannery and the Rampart ? caters to that audience. They are mostly locals and, according to Entertainment Director Kathy Spehar, 'they are mostly Baby Boomers' who, apparently enjoy the likes of Felix Cavaliere's Rascals (note: they are no longer billed as the 'Young' Rascals), Tommy James & The Shondells, Little Anthony and the Imperials and this afternoon at 4 pm, Petula Clark at the Rampart Casino.

As an eight year-old in New Jersey, Faugno fell in love with musical theater. when he injured himself playing sports he made the decision to give up sports and study dance and theater. Blessed with understanding parents and outstanding teachers, Faugno (that's pronounced 'Fawn-Yo') got his first part at the age of 12 in The Will Rogers Follies on Broadway. He played Judd Hirsch's son in the Herb Gardner play Conversations With My Father and has appeared in regional theater across the USA. At the moment, he's a Las Vegas Strip fixture playing Frankie Valli in the terrific Jersey Boys.

Wayne Brady has had his own show at The Venetian since 2007 and today celebrated an extension of his contract there through 2010 and the announcement of his hosting gig on the new daytime version of Let's Make A Deal which debuts on CBS-TV October 5.

There is no arguing whatsoever that Rodney Carrington is a very funny guy. Even if you, personally, don't like his humor, millions of people do, so he cannot be accused of not being funny. But, in reviewing him at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre, I had to suspend my general antipathy for what many people think of as 'red state' wit. And, in so doing, I can tell you wholeheartedly that Carrington is, indeed, capable of making just about anyone laugh.