Bugatti has honor of being Riv’s ‘last voice’
Liberace opened the Riviera hotel-casino on April 20, 1955. Sixty years later, crooner George Bugatti will be last entertainer on April 25.
Liberace was making an astonishing $50,000 a week at the Riv, the equivalent of $444,000 today.
Think about that. “Who’s making $50,000 a week now?” Bugatti said.
When he received the offer, Bugatti, who performed two shows at the Riv on New Year’s Eve asked, “Who else will be performing?”
He was told: “You are going to be the last voice in this place.”
Given the rich history of the Riviera, it’s quite an honor, said Bugatti, who was among a handful of musical acts who opened Bellagio in 1998.
When Charlyne Corvino, the Riviera’s entertainment director, sent him a list of every entertainer who performed there, “I was in awe,” he said.
He starts the one-month run tonight at 9 p.m.
If plans work out, he will sing songs of the greats from each decade on closing night. During the final set at midnight, he will be surrounded by a throng of local entertainment friends.
Minutes before 1 a.m., Bugatti will sing the finale.
He has selected it, but he will keep it a secret until the end.
“I’ve got a whole list of last songs. Some are still coming in. The first one I thought of was ‘One for My Baby and One More for the Road.’ ”
He is certain “The Party’s Over” also will make the cut. And, of course, Liberace’s closer “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
The farewell song “says everything I’d like to say. It’s sensitive, it’s respectful, and it comes from the core.
“This is a song I wish I had written,” Bugatti said.
The Riviera’s doors will close May 4. The Las Vegas Convention &Visitors Authority has bought the 26-acre property for $191 million to develop a $2.3 billion Las Vegas Global Business District.
Bugatti grew up in New York City with the dream of being a classical pianist.
He was devastated when an accident in his early 20s damaged nerves in his right hand. Bugatti performed on a cruise ship to rehabilitate his hand and moved to L.A. in his mid-20s before landing a job at the Peninsula Hotel.
When Bellagio opened, he was the opening act in the Fontana Lounge for “Great American Songbook” singer and pianist Michael Feinstein and jazz guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli.
Bugatti performed at Bellagio’s Allegro Room for a year and half before landing his first headlining gig in the Copa Room at Sands Atlantic City.
Bugatti returned to Las Vegas last year after helping create and co-star in the off-Broadway show “The Wonderful Wizard of Song: the Music of Harold Arlen.”
MEDIA NOTES
College basketball’s Final Four always brings back fond moments for Dana Wagner, half of KSNV’s morning show “Wake Up With the Wagners.” He grew up in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. In his early teens, he was at a basketball camp on the Cal State-Northridge campus. “I spent the whole week there, away from my parents for the first time,” he said. One day as he’s leaving the lunch room, as the last kid to finish, he sees one of the camp’s coaches, UCLA basketball legend John Wooden in a chair, taking photos with the last of the campers. “I almost missed it. I was the last one,” he said. Wooden retired two years later, after building a dynasty. Wagner and his wife, Kim, have started negotiations on a new contract. Their contract expires in June. ...
The March 20 funeral of Marcy Humm continued a long family tradition. Father Bill Kenny, who conducted the funeral Mass, married Marcy and Tom Humm on Dec. 27, 1974. Kenny renewed the couple’s 25- and 40-year vows and baptized their three sons, Steve, Joe and Jimmy. Longtime radio executive Tom Humm said the eulogies by Steve and Joe “were all about commitment to family, friends and our community and her strong desire to live and life.”…
Dennis Silvers, host of the golf show “The 19th Hole” returns to the air Saturday at 8 a.m. on CBS Sports Radio 1140 AM.
SIGHTINGS
“Endgame,” starring Wesley Snipes as a secret agent in Las Vegas, is being filmed downtown this week. ... Former President Bill Clinton, shaking hands with Four Seasons employees while departing Wednesday. He normally stays in the Strip-front presidential suites. ... Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, dining at Sushi Roku at the Form Shops at Caesars on Wednesday. ... Planet Hollywood headliner Jeff Dunham, performing doughnuts in a 2015 Corvette Stingray at Ron Fellows Corvette Driving School at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump on Monday.
THE PUNCH LINE
“A Kentucky woman has been arrested for giving a 1-year-old child beer and rum. She broke the Kentucky rule — never mix beer and liquor.” — Conan O’Brien
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
