Friday, November 21, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOW REVIEW: Variety acts in Aladdin's 'Ovation' are hit-or-miss

Some performances are truly impressive, while others age show aimed at younger crowd

Comedian and emcee Mark Kornhauser performs as Little Mack in "Ovation." Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Producer David Saxe had such a good idea last year, he copied it himself instead of waiting for someone else to come and do it for him.

The simple idea of making a whole show of the "front of curtain" variety acts -- the ones that traditionally spell the big production numbers in old-fashioned casino revues -- resulted in "V -- The Ultimate Variety" show, now into its second year at The Venetian.

The new proprietors of the failed Sevilla nightclub in the Aladdin's Desert Passage mall thought "V" would be a good vehicle to relaunch the property as a theater. Saxe and co-producer John Stuart convinced them instead there was room to clone the format without moving "V" to the struggling mall.

For the most part, they're right. The new show, "Ovation" in the renamed Ovation Theatre proves there are plenty of impressive variety acts to go around. Two of this show's best are the youngest in a line of veteran family acts: Balancing act Tino Ferreira and Anthony Gatto, who grew up as a child juggling sensation while working for Saxe's sister, "Melinda -- First Lady of Magic."

"Ovation" is comparably priced to "V" (the $76.94 dinner package with Lombardi's in the Aladdin arguably is even a better value than "V"), but sometimes comes off as a poor cousin. It either proves "V" was a happy accident, or that there's more to the formula than simply throwing a bunch of acts together willy-nilly. Striking the right balance is trickier than it looks.

"Ovation" makes a halfhearted effort to be slightly hipper than "V" and skew toward a younger demographic. But there's no sustained commitment to this and the results are a bit confused.

The idea of a "V"-for-the-"Blue Man Group" crowd is literalized by an opening burst of tribal drumming and rapid-fire visual imagery on overhead screens by artistic director Doug DeForest.

The energy is sustained, to a degree, by a hip-hop dance trio called All That, and by single-named Christopher, dancing with one of those always-amusing rigs in which parallel bars synchronize four lifesized puppets; the Village People in this case.

But then comes comedian-host Mark Kornhouser, a journeyman casino comic and veteran of several Northern Nevada revues. His low-key delivery and a bit where he supposedly has instant recall of ZIP codes suddenly shifts the tone from the 18-to-35 demographic to the 35-to-50 crowd.

This schizophrenia is compounded by the occasional use of veteran ventriloquist Sammy King as a "swing" performer on the 14-shows-per-week schedule. King and his durable parrot puppet Francisco age the show even more.

It's not to say that young comedians couldn't learn a few things about expert timing from King. It's more to suggest this might be the show where young comedians and ventriloquists should get a shot instead.

A revue more committed to a unified style could also could seize the opportunity to update the music and visuals for aerialists Cees & Cathy (Dekok), holdovers from Charo's "Bravo" revue in the same room. Nonetheless, they're a perfect act to maximize the drama of the two-story venue.

At least the other acts span the generations. Magician Jason Byrne offers timeless sleight of hand, while Ferreira brings the time line as far as the "Tron" era with Day-Glo costumes for him and assistant Kathleen as he balances on stacks of boxes, boards and cylindrical tubes.

Gatto's dizzying flurry of pins and rings also accent the vertical space on a modest stage that otherwise makes the nightclub setting of "V" seem lavish by comparison.

The trade-off is that audiences are closer to the action in theater seats installed on the flat floor. But even at its lowest point -- for me, that would be Kornhouser's "Little Mac" bit, where he creates a midget character by putting his hands into clown shoes -- "Ovation" taps into a charming little secret.

It's the secret of how people love being entertained by the skills of other people, and one that a lot of our other high-technology diversions seem to forget.