Thursday, September 02, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MIKE WEATHERFORD: 'Angels' make room for 'Forever Plaid' at Gold Coast
The "Honky Tonk Angels" are easing out of the Gold Coast after seven years to make way for the return of "Forever Plaid."
The Gold Coast's 400-seat showroom will go without a ticketed production until "Angels" makes its final stand with a Christmas edition starting on or around Dec. 12.
Mike Growney, the Gold Coast's general manager, said a contract is not yet final for "Plaid," but the casino has agreed on the major points of a deal with New York producer Richard Martini. The theatrical tribute to '50s vocal groups played the Flamingo for six years, before it was replaced by The Second City comedy troupe in early 2001.
The two sides are still talking about how to give "Plaid" a weekly schedule of six-to-eight shows while saving the late slot on weekends for the hugely popular Latin Breeze salsa band.
Dinner and show packages with casino restaurants should help "Plaid" generate the same kind of locals traffic that "Angels" enjoyed, though Growney acknowledges Martini faces a challenge in drawing tourists to the off-Strip property at 4000 W. Flamingo Road.
The country tribute "Angels" had been at the Gold Coast since early 2000. It was an offshoot of a Patsy Cline tribute that producer Sharon Haynes first brought to the showroom in early 1998.
"The numbers just kept steadily dropping since the first of the year," Growney says. "We kept hoping it would do better because she (Haynes) is part of the family."
When this year's edition of "Angels" had trouble meeting its nightly mark of 200 paid tickets, Haynes and the casino experimented with similar tribute shows booked for six-week runs. The first one, "Outlaws, Cowboys & Men in Black" met the 200 quota for four of the six weeks, Haynes says.
But for the second one, "Rockin' & Romancin', " Haynes says she was overruled on creative decisions by Growney and Coast Casinos entertainment director David Glenn. With so many cooks in the kitchen, she says she had trouble fitting the acts together into a common format.
Haynes and fellow "Angels" Corrie Sachs and Lori Legacy are providing dinner entertainment for the "Grubstake Jamboree" at the Westward Ho on Wednesdays and Saturdays through Nov. 13.
The part-time schedule will "allow us time that we've never seemed to have in the past to do our own country music album," Haynes says. The three already have recorded a Christmas album and plan to take more steps "to get outside of all the costumes and wigs and perform and tour as a trio (that will be) its own entity."
Sounds promising, and maybe a couple of years overdue. ...
Harrah's magician Mac King should get a huge boost nationally from a Kentucky Fried Chicken promotion, provided young diners make the connection from his cartoon visage to the real MacCoy.
During a three-month window, KFC's "Laptop Pack" kids' meals will find King's "Magic in a Minute" artwork on the box. It's a tie-in to King's new syndicated Sunday newspaper strip, which so far is limited to Seattle and Las Vegas for its major markets.
Nonetheless, KFC officials were familiar with King from his trade show work for them. King's cousin Bill does the artwork for both the strip and the chicken boxes. The comedy magician says he "just freaked out" when he first saw the in-store standups for the kids' meals, though he's worried his cartoon sidekick monkey will push him aside as the breakout star. ...
The Dick Clark-sanctioned "Rock, Roll & Remember" was originally announced for this month at dowtown's Plaza, but now joins the MGM Grand's Cirque du Soleil opus and the Rio's "Erocktica" on the list of 2004 shows pushed to 2005. Renovations to the Plaza's 1971-era showroom are taking longer than expected. ...
Impressionist Gordie Brown will pick up a second show on Fridays, Saturdays and Tuesdays after "Spirit of the Dance" leaves the Golden Nugget on Oct. 7. Whatever problems "Spirit" had, the 5:30 p.m. time slot wasn't one of them. Hotel officials say the "happy hour" idea "turned out to be a wonderful timeslot" and may even have helped the show counts.
Benedict's Garden Bistro, 1916 Village Center Circle, will stage an off-Strip tribute to Frank Sinatra and company next Wednesday. "The New Rat Pack & Friends Dinner Show," features Ryan Baker as Frank, Herb Rawlings as Sammy and Randy Martin as Dean. Tickets for the 6:30 p.m. dinner show are $44.95.
After that, "we'll let the neighborhood tell us how often they want to see it," restaurant owner Pat Marcy says of the tentative plan to stage the dinner show once a month or more.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays.
