Review: Andrea Bell Wolff's ADVENTURES IN VEGAS at Don't Tell Mama Puts It All Out There For All To See

"How many people can say that they worked as a showgirl in Las Vegas?" So asketh Andrea Bell Wolff as she nears the end of her new show ADVENTURES IN VEGAS. The production began performances at Don't Tell Mama back in November under the title Andrea Bell Wolff's Showgirl, a title that was quickly squashed by another entity bearing the same name, necessitating a change to the current, better, and more appropriate title because the story Bell Wolff is telling is one heck of an adventure. And to answer her question: a lot of women can say that they worked as a showgirl in Las Vegas. Throughout the history of Sin City, there have been scads of scantily clad women working the stages of The Strip. Each of those women has a story to tell and this one is Andrea Bell Wolff's, and audiences have been given three chances, so far, to hear the story live.

Now, ADVENTURES IN VEGAS is being preserved as a professionally shot film, made in performance.

The original performances of Adventures in Las Vegas occurred at Don't Tell Mama at the end of 2021 when the recent Omicron resurgence was causing shows around town to cancel or postpone, when audience members (and cabaret journalists) were opting out of spending time in jam-packed nightclubs, and when establishments were making the difficult choice of closing their doors. ABW's performances of Adventures in Las Vegas did not suffer - each and everyone was sold out, and Andrea decided to schedule two more shows in January. Little did she know that the variant would continue to rage and audiences would grow increasingly self-conscious about attending cabaret productions. So the Broadway actress is using her two nights at Don't Tell Mama to rehearse and film Adventures in Vegas for posterity. Last night I was a happy guest at the dress rehearsal, and though it isn't my custom to review a rehearsal, I can certainly report back on what I saw there so that when the time comes that audiences are filling the clubs once more, club-goers can keep an eye out for encore performances, as well as the broadcast of the film.

Adventures in Vegas is a musical memoir of the time that nineteen-year-old Andrea Bell escaped the wholesome world of Thornton Wilder and Jerry Herman and was seduced by the sexy, seedy side of show business. A bit tired of Ermengarde Vandergelder (and repeated disappointments with Minnie Faye), the young ingenue accepted a gig in a Las Vegas production called The Bottoms Up Revue, and when she reached The Las Vegas Strip, a sometimes wide-eyed Andrea Bell threw her arms out and embraced, fully, the salacious and lascivious lifestyle of a showgirl. Telling the tale of her year as a broad, Bell Wolff makes use of one clever device (her actual diary from that year), a sketch-comedy actor, three stellar musicians, vintage video footage, and props (there are a LOT of props). As a result, her storytelling is rendered a musical sketch comedy with a complete arc from start to finish, and a successful club act to be enjoyed by anyone with a sense of whimsy, a sense of humor, and a sense of what it is to be a youthful person on the adventure of a lifetime.

Andrea Bell Wolff is a woman with a big personality and a big voice, both of which are present in every moment of this play with music that ranges in genre from Shaiman & Whitman to Matt Alber, from Frank Wildhorn to Tom Waits. The versatility ABW displays with her song choices is well-suited to acting skills that turn her brassy moments into surprisingly tender musical monologues that touch the heart; while specialty numbers like "Sex Education" and "Hot Dog Song" are more than authentic in the audacious Andrea's aesthetic, there is certain unanticipated pleasure in her performances of ballads by Emeli Sande ("Clown") and Whitney Houston ("Dance With Somebody"). Wolff has, clearly, worked in great detail with director Jimmy Larkin to give the program the same highs and lows one might find in the story arc of a stage play, and the duo has achieved their goal, working particularly well with Musical Director Jude Obermuller's arrangements that capture the moods to perfection. In the play, Andrea is able to recreate the innocence she embodied in, both, life and Hello, Dolly! as well as the burgeoning sexuality that was fast-tracked by a life in Vegas. She doesn't shy away from being frank with her audience, indeed embracing the vulgarity found in the life of a Bottoms Up showgirl, and while the storytelling is sexual, brazen, and gasp-inducing, it is entirely appropriate. There is no way to tell this story without the boldness of every (forgive me, Mama) dick joke and boob gag, especially since Andrea has an entire segment dedicated to that racy, raunchy, and iconic Las Vegas legend, Rusty Warren, she of Knockers Up! fame. Even the tasteless "Big Time" by Frank Wildhorn fits perfectly in this show. This is a song that disempowers anyone who sings it, a song that people should have stopped performing once the MeToo movement was started, and a song this writer has heard performed in four shows by people of varying genders since the clubs reopened. Andrea Bell Wolff's usage of the song in this show is the only time that hasn't been cringey because the lyrics are completely germane to the story being told.

And it is so well told.

Alongside her wonderful fellow actor, Elliott Litherland, Andrea creates a real-life burlesque on the Don't Tell Mama stage. It's like an episode of Laugh-In without network censors: it's funny, it's musical, it's sexy, and it's human, with Andrea bringing the story of her Las Vegas adventure back home, to the heart, at the end of the show, which is precisely what good cabaret does. It offers the audience a journey from tip to tail, and though Andrea and co. could use a few more choreography rehearsals in order to deal with the overwhelming prop situation, there is no reason why the show shouldn't re-open when audiences are fully prepared to be in the clubs once more, for a nice long run. In the meantime, hopefully, the ABW team can find some way to utilize their new film (being shot tonight before an intimate invited audience) to get the property out into the world for people to enjoy.

And enjoy it, they will.

The ADVENTURES IN VEGAS band is Sam Zerna on bass, Doug Hinrichs on percussion, and Jude Obermuller Musical Directing from the piano.

Find great shows to see at the Don't Tell Mama website HERE. Please note that Don't Tell Mama is very good at marking, on their calendar, which shows have been postponed or canceled.

Visit the Andrea Bell Wolff website HERE.

These Stephen Mosher photos have been curated to avoid sight gags and spoilers for future audiences.

To post a comment, you must register and login.