Las Vegas Shows Reviews

by Lincoln Hudson

Still going after a quarter of a century on the Las Vegas Strip is the ultimate tribute spectacular called Legends In Concert! This nostalgic piece of what used to be called classic Vegas rotates it’s stars every three months thus serving up a regular and diverse diet of both comedic and musical impressionist headliners. Currently appearing on the bill according to Marcel Forestieri who plays Jay Leno is the creme de la creme of the musical tribute world. Naturally one would always prefer to see the actual legends themselves but should either death or retirement be the Artists problem or instead the publics purse strings be too tight then there is always the next best thing available. And at the Imperial Palace they are currently serving up the next best thing in the form of the impressionist worlds version of Donna Summer, Justin Timberlake, Ann Margret, Madonna and Elvis Presley.

Kicking off the show is Marva Scott’s rather muted and detached Donna Summer who for if it hadn’t have been for the fact that the real Donna Summer was projected on video screens at either side of the stage I would not have had a clue who the Artist was actually playing. Beautiful though her singing voice is I can’t help thinking that what is missing from Ms Scott’s portrayal of Donna Summer is any of the charisma that has actually made the original singer a star. In fact if there is one criticism to be made of the artists as a whole (with the exception of Lori Russo who plays Ann Margret) it is the fact that while they might look and sound like the people they are playing they unfortunately lack star status.

But what proves a legend to be a legend is the fact that there are people and performers out there in the entertainment world who want to earn a living portraying you.

Marcel Forestieri’s Jay Leno is certainly good enough to fill in the gaps between acts but I still yearn for the day when someone might step up to the plate and perhaps give us a Bill Maher, a Steven Colbert or even Heaven forbid a Bill O’Reilly!

Next up was Scott Jordan’s Justin Timberlake who’s confidence certainly grew with each song but dressed in a fully white suite and hat from head to toe he looked more like Gregory Peck from the movie The Boys From Brazil than an actual teen rock star. Again following the rather passive and bored Marva Scott seemed another Artist who at first seemed almost fatally unaware that he had an audience to perform to. Never the less he was a marked improvement on Donna Summer.

Following Timberlake the stage finally came alive with the titanic performance of Lori Russo who beautifully played with style, charisma and passion the 1960′s movie legend Ann Margret. Here was finally an Artist who quite literally mirrored the very star who was being projected on the video screens and who also threw absolutely everything of her unique talent into the fifteen minutes that was her spot in the show. If there is any reason at all to stump up the cash to see this show then I would say that it should be to see this wonderful old school and old style Vegas Artist give her all in front of the Legends In Concert Band. Clearly Lori Russo is an Artist who just loves to perform for her audience and with her great voice, great charm, great personality, great talent and great timing I could only wonder as to why someone somewhere has not already either booked her to support an actual star or instead given her her own show and a Viva Las Vegas Orchestra! Yes the star and saving grace of the show was indeed Lori Russo with her beautiful and generous tribute to the legend Ann Margret.

Coty Alexander with a rather predictable portrayal of Madonna, which only proves my opinion that the real Madonna is such an enigma that no one can ever come close to portraying anything other than caricature of the real woman. Like a Virgin wasn’t the highlight of the show. However… you probably didn’t go to Legends just to see Madonna.

It wasn’t until the very end that of course the show gave us The King! Interestingly enough even though Matt Lewis’s portrayal of the young Elvis sounded good it did however leave him looking insecure and awkward. I can only imagine that this is because he was having to play the character of Elvis without the fluff and nonsense that much later on became the cliche that Elvis himself felt difficult to live up to. In fact Lewis didn’t actually hit the spot and get into his stride until he himself had his own Elvis caricature to hide behind. That said the stage was happily revisited by Lori Russo who did an Elvis and Margret duet which left me with no doubt that the evening itself belonged to the stronger artists out of the group who were both Matt Lewis and Lori Russo.

Clearly this show has merit and is much loved by it’s audience otherwise it would not have survived the 25 years that it has been at the Imperial Palace. However if there is one thing that I managed to take away from the evening it was the fact that thanks to the performances of Lewis and Russo I was left with no doubt as to why the 20th Century will quite rightly go down in history as The Century Of America.

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by Denise Almas

Crude, crass, and utterly amazing easily describes the laugh out loud performance of Anthony Cools, hypnotist and comedian extraordinaire. The Anthony Cools Experience is a tremendous exercise in what can happen when you give someone else power over your mind, pushing you to do things you probably would not consider.

As you enter the theater, you pass a sign stating that you are waiving any rights to what happens in the theater and that the Anthony Cools Experience has the right to videotape and sell what happens during the show. At the start of the show, a little white rabbit greets the audience with warnings about the
vulgar language and acts that will be performed; however, the rabbit does issue caveats regarding specific words that may not be uttered. This bunny sets the few lines that Cools will not cross.

After establishing the boundaries, Cools first asks for volunteers as he does not hypnotize anyone who does not want to be. However, after the five minutes it takes to put his volunteers in a trance, he takes those people off the stage who did not fall into a hypnotic state and replaces them with audience members who did. Warning: Do NOT fall asleep if you do not want to be a volunteer replacement!

After collecting all of his volunteers, Cools begins to hypnotize them to do both simple and completely bizarre acts. At the simplest, he hypnotized one lady to forget her name. With a completely blank stare on her face, “Nikki” did not even know her name when Cools directly said it to her.

Another volunteer was hypnotized to believe that every time he heard Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” that behind was burning and the only way to put it out was to scoot his bottom along the stage. Of course, when hypnotizing this person, Cools used the least proper words possible in order to rouse the audience, intensifying the laughter and energy of the show.

Anthony Cools has always been fascinated with the paranormal, specifically hypnosis, and began performing in 1994. He advises the audience that historically people thought you could only be hypnotized if you were not very smart. Instead, he says the more intelligent you are, the easier it is to hypnotize you. According to Cools, the sharper you are, the more able you are to focus and visualize, allowing yourself to become vulnerable to the hypnotic state.

Volunteering at the Anthony Cools Experience is what makes the show. Every night is different as every audience is different. So, you are guaranteed a fresh show as no one can predict how the volunteers will react to the hypnosis. The only predictable part of this show is that Cools is a tremendous talent who is not afraid to push the envelope. Indeed, if you are not prepared to see, hear, and speak “evil”, then you will not enjoy the “experience”. Instead, if you are open-minded and enjoy outrageous shows performed by someone who has mastered an art, this show tickles the funny bone and hits the jackpot.

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by Erika Bayer-Polak

Dreams can often be ethereal and elusive, and “Le Rêve” is no different.

Watching “Le Rêve” is in essence watching someone else’s dream, which is represented through a bed that floats away in the beginning of the show. Nonetheless, if most people’s dreams mirrored the spectacles and intricacies in “Le Rêve” it would be baffling if anyone would ever want to be awake!

The Wynn Theater, which is home to “Le Rêve,” is in and of itself an act. The round and tiered theater is drenched in rich colors and fabrics and eludes a sense of comfort and tastefulness. But the eye catcher is the center, the stage, if you will, which is water. Not water as in a small pool, but entirely consisting of water. However, all of the action is not in the water alone, quite a few of the intrepid acts also take place in the air.

While it is daunting to describe the show, it contains a profusion of acrobats, synchronized swimming, diving, dancing and music, which runs the gamut of operatic pieces to more contemporary, yet soothing compositions. The show’s creator, Franco Dragone, presents the audience with a truly mesmerizing display of the cast’s acrobatic and human aerobatic talents.

The main character, the woman who is dreaming, encounters an assortment of characters ranging from a Zeus-like ruler to a jester to her beloved to a devilish nymph to comedic-relief angels. There certainly is not a shortage of charismatic characters, even if most of them do not speak.

“Le Rêve” is surreal and possibly avant-garde but not in the sense that only a select few would be able to enjoy it. The show surely offers some form of delight for every type of audience member; it is not so eccentric that one cannot enjoy the seemingly uncomplicated aesthetics and synchronization which without doubt took the cast years to master.

“Le Rêve” offers a fantastical visual and audible dream for all to envisage, and having the chance to be a part of a dream of another is too rare of an opportunity to bypass, especially in a theater which can produce rain storms and platforms which magically rise out of the water.

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