Thursday, January 06, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MIKE WEATHERFORD: Holmes continues recuperation from colon cancer surgery
Holmes continues recuperation from colon cancer surgery
I'll do what my body tells me," Harrah's Las Vegas headliner Clint Holmes says of his performing plans following surgery for colon cancer.
Holmes began rehearsing again with his band on Tuesday and tentatively set his sights on reopening Monday, a week later than the schedule that was disrupted by the Dec. 23 operation, which appears to have caught the cancer early.
"As long as I can sing, I feel like I can do the show," he says. "I can mitigate the jumping around part."
The well-liked entertainer has been deluged by get-well wishes, including a giant floral arrangement that came with an Everlast boxing glove and was signed "To the Champ" from Siegfried & Roy. Holmes' stage sidekick Bill Fayne phoned the singer's hospital room to dial him into part of a just-for-fun (and previously planned) gig Fayne was doing at the Stirling Club's lounge the night of the surgery.
Originally, Holmes was to be in the unique position of singing live inside Harrah's on New Year's Eve and then hearing a recorded version of his song "L.V. (Las Vegas)" played to accompany the giant fireworks display on the Strip.
At least part of the plan came true. Holmes was invited to watch the fireworks from a 24th-floor perch at Turnberry Place while listening to the song via local TV coverage. Apparently there was some technical glitch, and only one affiliate broadcast all of the song. But it was "a real energy rush to hear it," he says. A quick rush. After that, he announced, "I have to go home now." ...
A side note on the Stirling Club: Longtime Las Vegas performer Kelly Clinton has made the clubby lounge something of an entertainer's showcase, giving performers a place to strut their stuff outside their paid gigs. Today it's Rosalind Brown from the cast of "We Will Rock You." ...
Anyone who follows the news figured the cast of "Havana Night Club" was here to stay. But now the show itself has a home for a few more months.
The Stardust has extended until April the Cuban revue that received national attention in November when 43 of its cast members filed for political asylum in the United States.
Delays in getting the cast out of Cuba kept "Havana" from performing most of its first scheduled engagement last summer. But the show returned to the Stardust in November, and saw its numbers take an upward spike, some nights averaging 650 people, during a period when many other shows were on vacation, says Terry Jenkins, director of entertainment for the Stardust's parent company, Boyd Gaming.
The revue will hold down the Stardust showroom most weeknights and then share the room with many weekend headliners, performing either before or after them. If the stage logistics of the headliners are too complicated -- as with the band Chicago or next week's return of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme -- the Cuban show will take the weekend off.
The Cuban show comes in handy for cancellations. George Carlin's well-publicized stint in rehab caused him to cancel his February engagement; "Havana" will take over those time slots.
And though negotiations apparently went down to the wire, it does look as though the Wayne Newton Theater will be occupied by one Wayne Newton when his E! reality series "The Entertainer" begins to air Jan. 23, generating national publicity for him.
A long-term contract for "The Midnight Idol" gave first dibs on the showroom's annual schedule, but Boyd officials had been negotiating dates with him since July. He now appears to be firm for Jan. 24-Feb. 13, with "Havana Night Club" following his 8 p.m. shows at 10:30 p.m. ...
More on "The Entertainer": Two of the specialty acts in "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" -- magician Nathan Burton and comedian Joe Trammel -- are telling people they expect good things from exposure on the E! show, which has been described as a fusion of "The Apprentice" and "American Idol," with Newton grooming the next Las Vegas star. Trammel, however, is probably holding his breath after similar hopes for "The Casino" didn't pan out. ...
More on the Stardust: Baseball fans won't be cross-pollinated with retro saloon singers after all. Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo is no longer on the bill with local crooner Brian Evans in Evans' self-financed Jan. 16 show at the Stardust.
Evans cited "some type of contract thing" with major league baseball, adding, "he's an athlete first and there's not much I can do." Local comedian Max Alexander replaces him on the bill. Evans opens at least the first weekend of Jay Leno's stint at The Mirage this weekend, and says "the baseball player idea is not dead." ...
More on Cuban shows: Remember that the tourist corridor briefly hosted two of them, when "Tropical Passions" played the Las Vegas Hilton last week. The show was well-received by audiences and did well enough, given its modest ticket price, for Miami producer Recaredo Gutierrez to get some meetings with other local venues. He's talking about getting a celebrity to headline and improve the marquee value.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays.
