{"id":3400,"date":"2010-06-02T11:41:48","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T19:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=3400"},"modified":"2020-12-17T06:48:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T14:48:08","slug":"rearranging-the-deck-chairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/rearranging-the-deck-chairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Rearranging the deck chairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although bankruptcy at the Riviera<\/strong> is more a matter of “when” than “if,” the only casino in town with three CEOs hasn’t stopped trying on the entertainment front:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In a town that has Frank Caliendo<\/strong><\/a> and Terry Fator<\/strong><\/a>, any impressionist is battling for distant third place. (Very<\/em> distant. Like, you know how far away Neptune<\/strong> is? Yeah, about that distant.) This does not stop Mr. London’s publicists from making some brassy claims …<\/p>\n

“Among the ‘ICONS’ that are part of London’s fascinating repertoire are Elvis Presley<\/strong>, Neil Diamond<\/strong> <\/em>[hey, the Riv used to have one of those], Billy Joel<\/strong>, Tina Turner<\/strong>, Ray Charles<\/strong>, Sammy Davis, Jr<\/strong>., Rod Stewart<\/strong>, Michael Jackson<\/strong>, Macy Gray<\/strong>, Tony Bennett<\/strong>, David Cassidy<\/strong>, Dean Martin<\/strong>, David Ruffin<\/strong> and Eddie Kendricks<\/strong> of The Temptations<\/strong>, Smokey Robinson<\/strong>, Freddy Mercury<\/strong>\/Queen<\/strong>, Barry Manilow<\/strong>, Elton John<\/strong>, Joe Cocker<\/strong>, Bruce Springsteen<\/strong>, Dire Straits<\/strong>, Eric Clapton<\/strong>, Jim Morrison<\/strong> of the Doors<\/strong>, ZZ Top<\/strong>, David Bowie<\/strong>, Axl Rose<\/strong>, Neil Young<\/strong>, Gordon Lightfoot<\/strong>, Bob Dylan<\/strong>, Robin Gibb<\/strong> of The Bee Gees<\/strong>, Johnny Cash<\/strong>, Waylon Jennings<\/strong>, Garth Brooks<\/strong>, Randy Travis<\/strong>, Kenny Rogers<\/strong>, Willie Nelson<\/strong>, Julio Iglesias<\/strong>, Tom Jones<\/strong>, Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/strong>, Ozzy Osbourne<\/strong>, Kermit The Frog<\/strong>, James Bond<\/strong> (Sean Connery<\/strong> version*), Austin Powers<\/strong> and the ‘Phantom of the Opera<\/strong>.’<\/em>”<\/p>\n

(* — And there I was expecting an imitation of the George Lazenby<\/strong> version. Who doesn’t?)<\/p>\n

Whew! Not even Danny Gans<\/strong> at his most egocentric was that all-encompassing. (At least London doesn’t promise any George Burns<\/strong> or H. Ross Perot<\/strong> imitation.) Also, I’m foxed by how the title part in Phantom of the Opera<\/em><\/a> counts as an “impersonation,” as the role’s been played by everyone from Michael Crawford<\/strong> to Robert Guillaume<\/strong> — who I’m told was extremely good in it. Perhaps London could ape the Venetian<\/strong>‘s Phantom-in-residence, Anthony Crivello<\/strong>, whose gnarled, set-in-cement vocal mannerisms are ripe for imitation. As for Mr. London’s resum\u00e9, I’m not sure I’d want to remind people that I was in an exceptionally forgettable film<\/a> called The Dukes<\/em>. (I’ve got a DVD copy, if anybody wants it.)<\/p>\n

But what worked for 2.5 years at Harrah’s Reno<\/strong> ought to be good for a few months at the Riv, right? Or is that an excessively optimistic forecast?<\/p>\n

Further down the Strip<\/strong>, “comic singing impressionist” Larry G. Jones<\/strong> has finally made it to a good neighborhood, soon to drop anchor at Planet Hollywood<\/strong>‘s Harmon Theatre<\/strong> after playing the likes of Fitzgeralds<\/strong> and Royal Resort<\/strong>. Getting out of third- and fourth-rate casinos<\/a> doesn’t necessarily mean Mr. Jones has landed in clover. Shows at the Harmon are prone to short lifespans. We wish him the best of luck in a venue that could use some.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although bankruptcy at the Riviera is more a matter of “when” than “if,” the only casino in town with three CEOs hasn’t stopped trying on the entertainment front: In a town that has Frank Caliendo and Terry Fator, any impressionist … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28,83,51,4,7,10,6,79,12,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3400"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28941,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3400\/revisions\/28941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}