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Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal COLUMN: MIKE WEATHERFORD Burton wraps up successful East Coast tour
Las Vegas magicians have always been divided into those who tour (David Copperfield, Penn & Teller) and those who stay put on the Strip with elaborate production shows (Siegfried and Roy, Lance Burton and Steve Wyrick). Burton transcended the categories last weekend, marking his first East Coast headliner dates at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the phenomenally successful Foxwoods resort-casino in Connecticut. The magician sold out all six shows at the two venues, says his publicist, Wayne Bernath. Building his name out of town comes at no small investment for Burton. He had to clone every prop for the touring production -- which has a longer running time than his Monte Carlo show -- because he had to be back in business on the Strip today. Burton also has a California presence thanks to annual dates at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, Calif. And at the end of April, the props say "Bon voyage" when Burton heads to Japan. ... The legal action against "Tease" at the Insomnia club didn't just go away, but it was postponed until Wednesday, according to Keith Cooper, the attorney for composer-performer Dailey Pike. Pike seeks an injunction against the producers of "Tease" to stop them from using a name he claims to have trademark protection for. Pike is a Los Angeles comedian who used to warm up the audience for "The Arsenio Hall Show" and served as Roseanne's sidekick and announcer during her recent stint as a daytime TV talk show host. He claims to have partnered with "Tease" producers Gary Ouellet and David Tumaroff to place his show "Gigolettes" on the Strip. When the deal fell apart, he says they went ahead with their substantially similar "Tease" without him. Now the two sides are fighting about whether Pike has legitimate claim to the title, or whether he registered it just to keep his former partners from using it. ... Friends and fans of comedian Bernie Allen, probably the oldest performer still working on the Strip, can help him celebrate his 86th birthday Monday at the Bootlegger Bistro. Allen is trying to help the homeless, so "the price of admission" is a clothing item and/or canned goods for the 2 p.m. comedy and variety show. ... Sunday's production of the four-person musical "Songs for a New World" is another effort by Forge Theatre, working under the auspices of the Golden Rainbow AIDS charity. Forge debuted about this time last year with a production of "Falsettos." The idea is to carry over the synergy that Golden Rainbow forges with the local theater community each year through its "Ribbon of Life" benefit. The belief is that at least some of the audience for that benefit will support stagings of smaller, lesser-known works. In this case, it's Jason Robert Brown's 1995 revue that touches upon a number of social issues -- including a timely tune about a mother with a son at war -- with music that covers everything from rock to gospel and funk. Tickets are $25 and $40 for VIP seating for the 2 p.m. show at the Luxor. ... The Excalibur's Minstrel Lounge will be back after an unspecified period of down time for remodeling, says Mike Hartzell, the hotel's entertainment director. The lounge will stay open without entertainment for about three weeks, then will close for the makeover, which will make it more open to casino traffic -- the opposite of the recent trend toward lounge-showroom hybrids you see at the Las Vegas Hilton, Suncoast and, most recently, the Riviera. ... Finally, forget those movies where you see Las Vegas overrun by Elvis Presley impersonators. The most exalted Las Vegas legend on the Strip these days is Sammy Davis Jr. A tribute segment in the new Gladys Knight show at the Flamingo is the fourth on the Strip by my count. Danny Gans and "The Rat Pack Is Back" offer impressions of the showman, while Knight and Clint Holmes offer their own renditions of music he made famous. (The Davis segment is not the only similarity between the two shows.) If that's not enough, on March 1 Tony Tillman brings us "Strictly Sammy" at Boulder Station, a long-form version of the Sammy role he left behind in "Rat Pack." Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Sundays and Tuesdays.
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