Las Vegas entertainment icon stepping down after 61-year career

Tony Orlando took a call from an old friend Wednesday.

“He said, ‘How could you retire? You’re younger than me by two years!’” Orlando says of his chat with Wayne Newton. “I said, ‘Wayne, it’s time. It’s just time for me.’”

The two friends of 62 years share the same April 3 birthday, though Newton is two years older, 81 to Orlando’s 79. Newton is still piloting his own show at the Flamingo.

But Orlando, the man who sang “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” insists he is tying a bow on his remarkable six-decade entertainment career. He’s closing out his run in Las Vegas at the South Point Showroom at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Orlando’s final performance, ever, is set for March 22, at the Mohegan Sun’s 10,000-seat amphitheater. That venue staging the closing of Orlando’s career is in Connecticut, where he has performed some 65 shows.

But the ’70s hitmaker and (for a hot minute) TV star has developed a strong bond with Las Vegas dating to 1973. He and Engelbert Humperdinck swapped headlining dates at the Riviera and Las Vegas Hilton in those days, ensuring that both hotels were packed during their performances.

Orlando all also served as Jerry Lewis’s co-host for the Labor Day Telethon for 33 years. Though not intended, Lewis factored in a life-altering event for Orlando and Newton.

A friendship mended

The two superstars had famously feuded in the days they co-leased the Talk of the T.O.W.N. Theatre in Branson in the late-1990s. The dispute sparked crisscrossing lawsuits, eventually settled out of court.

There was fallout. Newton and Orlando, who met 60 years ago at the Copacabana in New York City, did not speak to each other for nearly 20 years. But Lewis invited both showmen to the Las Vegas premiere of his final film, “Max Rose,” at Regal Village Square Cinemas in September 2016.

Newton found Orlando at the screening.

“He comes walking over, and at that time we were not talking to each other,” Orlando recalled. “He says, ‘Tony?’ And I looked up and said, ‘Yeah, Wayne?’ and he goes, ‘I’ve missed you.’ And I said, ‘I’ve missed you, too. Let’s put this behind us.’ It was a moment I’ll cherish forever.”

The Gaughan option

Orlando’s longest professional tenure in Vegas has been with Michael Gaughan, owner of South Point, starting with Gaughan’s days as operator of the Orleans hotel-casino.

Orlando has worked with Gaughan for 25 years, first headlining Orleans Showroom, then at South Point.

“Michael is quite a guy, a total gentleman,” Orlando said. “Everybody at South Point, from the maids that change your bed to the guy behind the gaming tables, love this guy, and I do, too. He’s always been great to me.”

Great is right. Orlando had been headlining in Branson when he re-entered the Las Vegas market. He might have been toiling in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest those days, with no ongoing relationship with a Vegas property and no takers for his long-absent production.

“When I left Branson, nobody wanted to book me because they thought, ‘Well, we don’t know how you’re gonna draw because you’ve been in Branson for eight years,” Orlando said. “But not Michael Gaughan. Not only did he book me, he let me do four weeks of my Christmas show here in town.”

Audiences changing

Orlando still draws from his 1970s heyday, when he was the front man for Tony Orlando and Dawn trio, with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson. Under the title Dawn, Orlando registered a surprise hit in 1971 with the No. 3 “Candida.” The act then scored three Billboard No. 1 singles between 1971-75, “Knock Three Times,” “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” and “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You).”

The group earned Grammy nod for best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus for “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” which was also nominated for song of the year.

Orlando at one point had a No. 1 single and also a top-20 network prime-time series, the “Tony Orlando and Dawn” variety hour.

There were few bigger stars in the entertainment industry in the mid-1970s than Orlando, who still sells out his tour dates.

But this is not the same experience for the headliner. Travel is more taxing. The demo that appreciates his peak popularity is only dwindling.

“The audiences have changed since the pandemic. People don’t want to go to shows,” Orlando said. “I don’t want to be in a position, even though we’re selling out, of losing that demographic. The crowds are getting a little older. But I’m still performing 2 1/2 hours, and I want to go out while we are still on top.”

Orlando wants to unplug, for a time, and focus on writing projects he’s sidelined over the years.

“I’ve always loved to write, and there’s a writing side to me that I’ve never been able to enjoy,” Orlando said. “I’ve written three scripts, hopefully I can sell to a film company. If they don’t, I’ve enjoyed it.”

He also plans to publish a novel based on his career.

“I want to finish up a book on all these experiences I’ve had,” said Orlando, with just three Vegas shows left. “They are really quite overwhelming.”

Cool Hang Alert

The Laura Shaffer Quartet, starring the popular Las Vegas cabaret singer, plays Maxan Jazz from 7-10 p.m. Thursday at Maxan Jazz. Bill Zappia, John Belzaguy and Boris Shapiro back Shaffer in this showcase. A $25 F&B minimum per person. Go to maxanjazz.com for intel.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.