Thursday, December 23, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MIKE WEATHERFORD: Frankie Valli works toward extended run at Las Vegas Hilton
CORRECTION -- 12/24/04 -- The name of the hotel where Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are expected to perform for about 12 weeks next year was incorrect in the Thursday Living section. The hotel is the Flamingo Las Vegas.
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons will spend more time on the Strip next year, performing about 12 weeks in the Flamingo's showroom when Gladys Knight isn't there.
Knight isn't expected to sign up for another year after her three-year contract at the Flamingo expires in October, says Chip Lightman, the artist manager who first put Knight together with the Flamingo and now is behind the deal with Valli.
"It's a good test for him," Lightman says. "(Valli) really wants to come here and make it a home."
Caesars Entertainment would not confirm the deal earlier this week; Valli's gigs contractually cannot be advertised until his last shows at The Orleans are completed Jan. 27-30. ...
The reality show craze has filtered into New Year's Eve festivities here.
If you're Green Valley Ranch, why pay for pricey stars when your own staff gets approached for autographs? General manager Joe Hasson has a hard time walking through the casino without getting hit up by viewers of the Discovery Channel series.
The "American Casino" New Year's party puts fans in touch with their favorite casino employees, who would probably have to work that night anyway. The party's name, "JC2K" is an inside reference to marketing manager David deMontmollin's bachelor pad.
Ryan Starr of "American Idol" and "The Surreal Life" fame has one degree of separation from Las Vegas, thanks to being teamed with Charo on the latter show.
She is billed as the host of a New Year's party in the Risque nightclub at Paris Las Vegas. ...
More Vegas/New Year's ties. Regis Philbin is subbing for Dick Clark on ABC-TV's "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005" while the 75-year-old Clark recovers from a mild stroke.
Philbin will sing at the Golden Nugget Jan. 14 and 15. A few blocks away at the Plaza, there is still an oldies revue in the works based on Clark's musical archives. Plaza staffers say the show is less affected by Clark's stroke than by delays in remodeling the showroom. ...
The Cubans are dueling, sort of. Joining the Stardust's much-publicized "Havana Nightclub," for a few days anyway, is "Tropical Passions" at the Las Vegas Hilton Dec. 29-Jan. 1.
Unlike "Havana," this one doesn't purport to have an all-Cuban cast, but uses the nightclub format of the 1950s to pay homage to stars such as Peggy Lee, Josephine Baker and Elvis Presley.
The show's musical ensemble, the Tropicana All Stars Orchestra, formed last year to re-create the heyday of the Cuban big band, particularly its biggest star, Benny Moré. Many of the band members performed with Moré.
The show is staged by Miami producer Recaredo Gutierrez and choreographed by Jesus Sanfield of Las Vegas. ...
Impressionist Rich Little recently filed a lawsuit in District Court claiming Gary Adamski, Ruth Miller and Cris-Mar Designs conspired with his former personal assistant, Barbara Frankel, to overcharge him for more than $78,000 worth of interior design work in 2002 and
2003. ...
Finally, I can't think of any other movie whose box office performance will be so closely watched by a Las Vegas casino. "The Phantom of the Opera" opened Wednesday; now ticket-buyers can decide if they agree with the generally negative advance buzz and mixed reviews.
The Venetian and Clear Channel Entertainment obviously would like to see a "Chicago"-like reception for the movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to help pave the way for the Las Vegas sit-down of "Phantom," due in 2006.
"People want to experience a film they like on the stage. In other words, they think that theater is seeing a movie they like live," notes "Forbidden Vegas" creator Gerard Alessandrini of Broadway's relationship with Hollywood. "It really has added to the run of `Chicago,' and you can feel it."
But even if the movie is a flop, the musical has managed quite fine without one all these many years.
With a running time of 143 minutes, the movie won't be a road map, as many assumed, for how the producers will cut down the musical for Las Vegas.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays.
