I have not been idle!
In the Las Vegas Art Museum (West Sahara) at the public library, one of the world's most famous portraits is on display. It is the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington. It is huge, historic and very different than what you see on the dollar bill. The painting is in Las Vegas on loan until October 27th and ours is one of only seven cities where it will appear. There are lots of other nice works in the Gallery, which has housed some nice stuff in its brief existence, not the least of which were Chihuly, Rembrandt, and Chagal.
Went to LA last weekend, one of my last trips there; I just can't handle the traffic anymore.
Disneyland has a baby brother adjacent to the original and among its many attractions is a beautiful 4,000-seat theatre. Headlining for a short period is "BLAST!" What could this be, you ask? Quite simply it is an art taken to the next step, featuring great creativity and skill with horns and drums. We saw it twice, which is good especially when you are on a free ride. BLAST! will appear at the Aladdin, in Las Vegas, this fall in expanded segments. This 45-minute show had all the accoutrements of top Las Vegas showrooms: sound, choreography, light, production, costumes and talent. It's a great opportunity for the culture-starved, like myself, to see new ideas and creative production themes with this wonderful young talent. AN A+, 100 all the way.
I saw the new movie Road to Perdition on its opening day; Tom Hanks is truly one of the greatest actors of all time. He is believable, passionate and awe-inspiring. A supporting cast headed by Paul Newman doesn't hurt, but who would have ever thought that Paul Newman would not get top billing? Academy Award lighting and production for director Sam Mendes (yet another delightful young talent). 97 A+ for the movie.
The purpose of our trip was the 2002 Pageant of the Masters, The Festival of the Arts. What is this? It truly is a visual feast. It is hard to describe, but this perfect 4000 seat outdoor theatre takes classical images and frames them on stage, then backs up the theme with orchestra and narration. Most of the characters are real actors "frozen" in time. Think of "American Gothic," "Iwo Jima," or "Whistler's Mother" enlarged and produced in real-life still-form. There are lots of classical images and paintings reproduced: "Athena," "Superman," "Lincoln," "Grant Wood," and the "Viet Nam War Memorial" on this year's program. "The Last Supper" is their traditional closer. What a production deal this is! This is the 70th anniversary of the show with "Heroes and Heroines" as the theme for 2002. It displays nightly in the summer for about 90 shows at $40, and a nice art festival accompanies the show on the theatre grounds. This is the second trip here for me, but almost worth fighting the traffic. It's in Laguna Hills. A++ 102 for this baby.
Lawrence Welk lives! Well, his retirement center and showroom does anyway. Would you think that there would be real rain in their production of "Singing in the Rain"? Not me! Wrong, Gene Kelly breath! What a delight this was: retirement community patrons and bused-in retirees from nearby communities support this playhouse which does quality work with quality talent. Not a great stage, and only 300 seats, but first-class talent. Anybody trying this show has Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds to measure up to and that's a standard and a half to challenge. All of these young actors were first-class professionals working a tough crowd and they did a nice job. 96 and A.
Highlighting my California swing is Le Corsaire. This is one of the world's great ballets containing what the pre-show lecture called the two greatest dancers in the world, Julio Bocca and Nina Ananiashvili. Whether they were the greatest or not I don't know, but I can tell you they were damn good and I really enjoyed them. This ballet was in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for five performances from the American Ballet Theatre. This was big league stuff, 3 acts, full production with orchestra in a Hall of Fame setting. Kevin McKenzie is the artistic director, so it don't get no better than this. At 11pm Saturday night I took highway 110 out of downtown LA and there was 5 stopped lanes for 25 miles, truly unbelievable.
Finally, we have "Honky Tonk Angels," a country music show with three female impersonators. It runs 6 nights a week at the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
It is impossible to overcome a 15-minute delay on the start, but after that it was a pretty damn good show. It plays to a small theatre in a busy casino, about 200 on Friday night when we attended. The cost is $15 and $20 for dinner and the show, just a hell of a deal.
There was no lack of talent or effort in what we saw, as all three ladies were top talents, personable, and sincere in their portrayals. Lori Legacy opened with a ventriloquist song and shtick (which was way too short), and impersonated Tammy Wynette (also a way-too-short medley segment). Sharon Haynes and Corrie Sachs did the Judds, but I am not familiar with any of their music; same for Reba McIntyre which was done by Corrie. Although I did not know the singer or the music, Sachs made it entertaining. Haynes did Patsy Cline which she has been doing a long time. She is sort of the lead of the group, all of which worked the audience cleverly. Dolly Parton is still one of my hero's in life for her talent and personality; she was impersonated by Legacy, who is probably the most talented of the group.
This show has been running awhile and it is a great value. The ladies all have talent, they all did a little history, and were backed up by the perfect 5-piece country band. Perfect in the sense that they were not overbearing, too loud, or off key (they also had great shirts). The McGuire sisters closed the show and here lies a songbook & history in itself; great music and, for these three that can sing, it was nice albeit too short and without my favorite "Picnic." Lastly, the performers greeted the audience after the show, which is a nice touch.
It is only fair to deduct a point a minute for being late: that's minus 15, and a real score of 81, B-. If they could have started on time then it's almost an A+. I am sure most nights they are close, but I can only score the night I see.
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