Wave of show closures takes out Clint Holmes’ ‘Between the Lines’

It seemed as if the year of show closings had reached its own finale earlier this week after the high-minded improv show “Shotspeare” at Planet Hollywood ended its run Monday night.

“Seems the last announced #Vegas show closing of 2016 is the improv-drinking send-up @shotspeare …” I mused Tuesday afternoon on social media.

Wrong.

Clint Holmes checked in Tuesday night with news that his “Between the Lines” autobiographical production at Palazzo is edging toward its end. final performance is set for Jan. 2. Holmes and his band were notified by BEST Agency Chief Executive Officer Ken Henderson this week that the last performance will be Jan. 2.

Sharing the theater with “BAZ — Star Crossed Love,” Holmes’ show opened July 16 with a 10 p.m., five-night-per-week schedule, which was cut to two nights per week in October. His new 7 p.m. start times were more palatable to his fans, the type who don’t want to hit the Strip for a 10 p.m. start.

But shaving a schedule from five nights to two is typically an indication a show is performing gymnastics to turn a profit.

“I am extremely proud of the show, we have achieved success creatively and we’re the highest rated show in the hotel,” Holmes said Wednesday morning, referring to customers’ online reviews of “Between the Lines.” “But the numbers just didn’t work out.” Holmes is hardly unique in closing a production in Las Vegas this year; between 25 and 30 shows have shut down on and off the Strip during a grueling 2016 in VegasVille.

The high quality of what was staged, with Holmes ably navigating through customized contemporary hits and his own originals, was not enough to keep his current show afloat.

Working with music director Christian Tamburr, Holmes expertly unspooled unique versions of “Stop This Train” by John Mayer, Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” a mini-medley of “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel and Bruno Mars, and Holmes’ own refashioned No. 2 hit from 1974, “Playground in My Mind.”

“I had the best lineup,” Holmes said. “You know the band – they can play anything. I was blessed to be onstage with that kind of talent.”

Even with the show’s end suddenly in sight, Holmes’ near-term future is already taking shape. His latest album, “Rendezvous,” is to be released Feb. 24 (the CD version has been on sale exclusively at Palazzo Theater). That release date was moved back so Grammy Awards officials could place “Rendezvous” into nomination for a 2018 award.

More than two years in the making, Holmes recorded the CD at Capitol Records with multiple Grammy Award-winning producer Gregg Field and the Count Basie Orchestra. Guest stars on the release include Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dave Koz. Holmes plans a promotional tour of radio stations in New York and Los Angeles in January, which would have wiped out most of his scheduled January dates at Palazzo Theater anyway.

“The action on the record happens when it released,” Holmes said, assessing his post-Palazzo Theater options. “I personally think, and the record producers think, it’s better to have a physical show to mix with the marketing strategy, and we are already thinking in that direction.

Holmes is also in the lineup for “The Jazz Cruise” tour of the Caribbean from Jan. 28-Feb. 4. Al Jarreau, Eliane Elias, Jimmy Cobb and Take 6 are among the dozens of jazz greats scheduled to perform on that cruise, produced by Entertainment Cruise Productions, which stages a variety of similarly themed trips.

As one of the deans of Las Vegas showmen, the 70-year-old Holmes seems likely to have many options to return to the stage – even in Las Vegas’ competitive, and fickle, ticket-buying market. Venetian/Palazzo President and Chief Operating Officer George Markantonis is a big backer of Holmes, and the hotel’s Sands Showroom could well serve as a future home to keep the BEST Agency-hotel production partnership alive.

The Sands room is known for its musical adaptability, and also offers natural cross-promotional possibilities with Human Nature’s “Jukebox” stage show.

“It’s a matter of knowing the lay of the land, and I haven’t been thinking about it too much because this just happened,” Holmes said. “But I do plan to maintain a real presence in Las Vegas and keep my visibility up. I’ll be ready for a fresh start, wherever it is. I don’t feel negative at all.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands owns and operates The Venetian, Palazzo and the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. He also hosts “Kats! On The Radio” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and appears Wednesdays at 11 a.m. with Dayna Roselli on KTNV Channel 13. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.