Ellen Sterling - Page 6

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.

Jewtopia Live is a trenchant look at the culture that has grown up around Judaism in America. It opens at a Jewish singles event where we meet Chris O'Connell (Jeremy Rishe), a Christian who wants to be Jewish, marry a Jewish girl and, thus, have a wife "who cleans" and who "swallows" and whose very presence will enable him to never have to make another decision. His childhood friend Adam (Bryan Fogel) undertakes to teach him about being Jewish.

Something extraordinary happened in the showroom at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this weekend. A star was born.

At 8 pm the lights went down and, very quietly, Kris Kristofferson walked alone onto the stage of the Orleans Casino showroom. There was a black metal music stand to the right of where he stood. On it were a set list and, it seemed, a harmonica or two. He carried a guitar and a harmonica in a holder. He began to sing and, for 90 minutes or so, it was just Kris Kristofferson and his music.

Elton John has joined Celine Dion and Rod Stewart as an alternating headliner at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

The inaugural BWW Best of Las Vegas Awards brought on spirited competition and a great deal of interest. Now, the nominations for the 2011 awards are open.

Last night, Rod Stewart conquered Las Vegas. Opening a two-year run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace - where he will alternate with Céline Dion and Elton John - he had the audience of 4,100 on their feet, singing and cheering.

Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna came into the spotlight in the 60s. Accomplished writers and actors, theirs is one of the more enduring pop culture partnerships. Lovers and Other Strangers, their 1970 collaboration - first a play, then a film - told the story of their wedding in the Culture Clash of extended Italian and Jewish families.

Lots of people dismiss those singers who have been entertaining since the 1960s (or before) as 'oldies' acts, hauling out the old hits, looking old and, in all, nicely nostalgic but sort of sad. And, sometimes, that's true. But. There are also certain entertainers who vividly remind one of the golden days of vintage Las Vegas - before $2,000 bottle service in ultra lounges and celebrity DJs. There was time when entertainment in Las Vegas showrooms was special, with the with an only-in-Las-Vegas ambiance that signaled to audience members that they were in for a special, memorable evening.

On June 25, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival wrapped up its 11th annual celebration of that art form in grand style, proving that the art of cabaret is very much alive.

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival brings a vast variety of entertainment to South Australia. For proof, just look beyond the main stages in the 2,000-seat Festival Theatre and the 600+ Dunstan Playhouse, the most traditional performing spaces in the Festival Centre.