O’Hurley savors being the king

There's no red carpet when a show closes. On Sunday night, with little fanfare, "Monty Python's Spamalot" ended after 14 months at Wynn Las Vegas, not because people stopped paying to see the musical, but to make way for the hotel's next act, Danny Gans.

The finale was a funny 90 minutes, led by John O'Hurley as King Arthur. For his curtain call with 20 performers, O'Hurley walked to center stage with his 18-month-old son, Will, who wore mini-me kingly attire. He asked Will to remember the standing ovation.

"You saw your father at his happiest," father told son.

Las Vegas loses extremely talented people with the sad closing. Many cast members plan to return to New York. Erica Ash, who played the Lady of the Lake, has signed up for Fox's "MADtv," as noted by TV critic Chris Lawrence on our Vegas Voice blog.

O'Hurley goes back to L.A. with his wife, Lisa, and child, having added a Vegas king to his resume of J. Peterman on "Seinfeld," a fleet-footed winner of "Dancing with the Stars," and the host of "Family Feud."

In his 11/2 years in Vegas, O'Hurley proved a gold standard. He donated time to charities, such as hosting Las Vegas' annual shelter-dog shows. Wherever I saw him elsewhere, at cooking events, red carpets and promotions for "Spamalot," he was always the most generous, level-headed and gracious celebrity in the room.

While he and I chatted over the weekend, O'Hurley most wanted to say how grateful he was to Steve and Elaine Wynn, his cast mates, and Wynn workers and tourists who would wave to his son as they would walk through the hotel.

"I've never seen a sense of community like I have with this cast. It's far beyond any cast I've ever been a part of," he said. "I've never even seen it in a stage production."

How did it compare to "Seinfeld"?

"We had a great time on ('Seinfeld'), but you never got the sense that everyone would bat for the other person. It was a tight group on 'Seinfeld.' But this is a funnier cast" offstage.

He will grieve leaving Las Vegas, especially when he thinks about how Wynn workers exalted his son as, he jokes, "the hood ornament" of the Wynn.

"He high-fives the dealers. And as we walk through to get to the car, all play stops. And all the dealers wave to him, and all the players turn around and look at him," O'Hurley says. "How do you replicate that experience anywhere in the world?"

Does O'Hurley have any parting advice for Vegas?

"As much as I love the elegance of Vegas, my only disappointment is that the clubs are becoming more important than entertainment," he says. "They make money, but they don't contribute to the culture of Vegas. And I think Vegas could have a culture.

"I'd like to see Vegas as a talent-driven city rather than as a place to pose," he says. "We don't need another" Los Angeles.

It doesn't contribute much to the city to lure people into maxing out their credit cards to reserve a $2,000 club sofa and spend $400 on a bottle of booze, he says.

"And it killed the evening shows for 'Spamalot,' because everyone was standing in line for two hours" waiting to get into clubs.

On the other hand, he says he was enriched by all the elegance of Vegas.

"Everybody talks about Vegas as Sin City," he says. "We had an elegant time here.

"I think you would find more couples coming to Vegas if you promoted the elegance. You can't find another hotel in the country that has figured everything out that they have" at the Wynn, he says.

Besides, every celebrity chef in New York City has a restaurant here.

"You don't have to be me to get a restaurant. In L.A., I have to get a press agent to get a reservation," he says.

But in Vegas, everyone has access.

"Why appeal to 25-year-olds? They don't have the money," he says. "You can't depend on young kids to come out here and keep this going. It's just not going to happen. ... Vegas is about high-end elegance."

O'Hurley is working on a piano album due in the fall. He's wrapping up "Family Feud" this year, touring with "Spamalot" next year, and plans to revisit "Dancing with the Stars."

"They keep calling for me to come back. I will come back," he says. "I will go back with Charlotte, my dancer."

He's taking Will fishing in a few weeks, at a mile-long Vermont pond he just bought.

"All my life, I've wanted one thing, and that's a fishing lake. And I bought a lake in Vermont," he says. "I bought him a SpongeBob fishing kit."

O'Hurley has written two books about dogs, and is writing two new books. One is a fleshed-out version of a J. Peterman speech he does for corporate gigs and kids. Another is on customer service. (He owns a communications firm.)

O'Hurley will be here all this week. Offstage. With his family. They plan to see shows by Wayne Brady and other friends that he previously was too busy to see. Then it's back to Hollywood.

"And the next chapter of our life begins."

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or delfman@reviewjournal.com. His VegasLand blog is at reviewjournal.com/elfman.