Friday, September 10, 2004 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

'Ovation' Stands Again

The variety show, which opened at the Desert Passage mall last year, reopens today at the Lady Luck

Magician Jason Byrne is among the Las Vegas-based variety performers who are grateful for a resurgence of variety shows that enable them to work near home. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Like many a newcomer to Las Vegas, Cees Dekok and Cathy Perquin realized the dream of home ownership here 2 1/2 years ago.

"For the first time in 15 years, we actually had our own place," Dekok recalls.

Their story differs from most other residents in how the two pay their mortgage: performing an aerial ballet above the heads of showgoers.

With today's scheduled reopening of the variety revue "Ovation" at the Lady Luck, Cees & Cathy, as they are sometimes billed, are in the company of many Las Vegas-based specialty performers who have enjoyed the chance to work close to home the past couple of years -- while trying not to get used to it.

In the short term, the Dutch-born Cees & Cathy (pronounced "Case" and "Katie") have the windfall of being in two shows. They plan to perform their established "Aerial Expressions" routine in "Ovation." Finishing midway through the 9 p.m. revue will give them time to rush to the Stratosphere before they're due onstage in the 10:30 p.m. "Bite," where their acrobatics are altered to fit a vampire theme.

Next month might be different, if only because "Ovation" producer John Stuart plans to rotate acts. "Nothing is a guarantee in this town anymore, unless you work for Cirque (du Soleil)," notes Dekok.

Magician Jason Byrne and stage assistant Brandy Lee also "settled our feet into some nice real estate" after moving back from Los Angeles two years ago.

"I love these variety shows," Byrne says. "It's definitely very pure. It's simple."

Though he'd love to enjoy star billing like his inspiration, Monte Carlo headliner Lance Burton, he realizes that would take "a lot of money and a lot of time by a lot of people," including an outside director and choreographer.

A variety show offers a guaranteed paycheck and "a lot less headaches," Byrne says.

For the performer, anyway.

"Ovation" has taken a winding road since it debuted at the Aladdin's Desert Passage mall last year. It was originally co-produced by Stuart and David Saxe, creator of "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show."

When the two parted company early this year, Stuart helmed "Ovation" on his own. But in late April, The Venetian closed the room that hosted "V." Saxe acquired the Desert Passage venue on a lease-purchase plan, evicting "Ovation."

Stuart, who founded "Legends in Concert," now controls the Lady Luck room, which has been dormant since a Motown-themed show played there early last year. Possibly the city's oldest "temporary" building, the dome-shaped venue -- officially known as a "sprung structure" -- sat idle until the hotel changed hands and the new owners (Andrew Donner, Keith Grossman and Robert O'Neil) decided to keep it.

Stuart says more than $350,000 has been spent on new light and sound equipment, as well as a new fiber-optic curtain. The hotel chipped in to recarpet and repaint the room. The producer also hopes to divert traffic downtown by knocking the advertised price of $34.95 down with the choice of either a hotel buffet or $10 rebate.

The new "Ovation" features other veterans of either "V" or the Desert Pasage run: comedy magician Fielding West, the juggling Apollo Brothers (Marco-Polo and Carlos Martinez) and Tino Ferreira, who balances on a stack of cylindrical columns. They will be spelled by musical segments from two alternating sibling acts, the Knudsen Brothers and the Stinson Brothers.

Dekok and Perquin met 15 years ago when they toured in the same dance revue. Five years ago, a producer for cruise ships asked them to consider putting together a flying act that would combine his gymnastics background with her ballet training.

The duo bought their house in 2002, while working in Charo's "Bravo" revue. Before, "whatever could not fit in four suitcases could not come," he says. "That was our life. Four suitcases."

Byrne comes to work with eight birds, including a blue and gold macaw. He was inspired to use the feathered assistants at age 18 while watching Burton on a Siegfried & Roy TV special.

"(Burton) wasn't the first to use birds either," he adds. "Really, what you can bring to magic is the approach and style," he says. "It becomes about presentation. Just like dance."

If the Las Vegas variety shows continue to dig in as a niche, their one-at-a-time presentation is what Byrne would like to improve. "It would be nice to collaborate on the transitions," as he has seen in the ensemble feel of European variety shows. "It's fun to mingle with all these other acts."