Vegas Voice 6-18 web

started producing shows for The Vegas Voice
I about 3 years ago. It’s been a true learning
experience. Just about anything that can go
wrong has.
I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Lights and sound not working,
room locked, stage not set up, band late, performers lost, no time to
sound check and… the bar out of Vodka.
No matter what the obstacle “The Show Must Go On.” And it always
does. I have learned it always works out.
After putting the first couple of shows together, Publisher Dan
realized my passion for producing quality entertainment. He gave me
(pretty much) carte blanche to put together future shows.
This includes Big Band, one-man and variety shows giving
newcomers some exposure in Vegas. I’ve produced Holiday shows
and Benefits. I’ve hosted some of the shows and had some top named
performers host as well.
I created a solo piano concert for the acclaimed Philip Fortenberry
and a Veteran’s Benefit, hosted by Bob Anderson. We had guests like
Clint Holmes, Frankie Scinta and other top performers from Vegas.
We’ve had top-notch musical directors; including Ned Mills, Bruce
Ewing, Kenny Davidsen and Grammy Award winner Gary Anderson.
We’ve had shows in every “age qualified community” plus Station
Casinos and Silverton’s Veil Pavilion. We now have a benefit coming
By: Adrea Nairne-Barrera / 60s to 60
On a different note this month, I am thinking
about this home stretch we’re running and
what is possible versus unfulfilled dreams. We all
have them and the most fortunate of us have found ways to accomplish
many of the bucket list events, while others have been shoved into a
new reality.
I mention this because I have always been a dreamer. I want to go
places, visit people, take on new challenges and even buy stuff! But I
can’t.
Life took me in directions I never considered so I spend a lot of time
recalculating my options. Sometimes I feel like the lady who lives in my
GPS system when I miss a turn.
Staying positive can be hard work when you look back at all the
things you’ve postponed or cancelled. Then you watch the news and
you’re probably lucky you didn’t take the trip to Paris or Barcelona
that week.
The world and I are on different schedules. When all my thoughts of
adventures first came to mind, no one had ever feared travel advisories
because of terrorists or drug cartels.
It’s hard for me to accept that reality today. And everything required
just a phone call and a check.
It also doesn’t make sense to me that entertainment is now about
14
My Role as Producer
By: Evan Davis / Entertainment Editor
Dreams, Progress, Reality & 2018
June 2018
up August 19th
at a new venue,
the Adelson
Campus in
Summerlin
(See page 23).
There have
been afternoon
and evening
shows held just
about every day
Randall Keith was outstanding at our Sun City
MacDonald Ranch show.
of the week over the last three years, with deadlines that are sometimes
absurd. If I have a show in June, I usually need to have it all set 3
months in advance.
The musical director must be available, and performers need to be
in town. I must coordinate them as well as making sure the sound and
lighting people are available.
Coordinating load in times (that’s when the band gets there to set
up) and set up for sound checks, and performers’ rehearsal on show
day. Who’s singing what, when and where!
There’s a lot involved, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
You can read Evan’s entertainment blog and sign up to receive
his free email weekly Calendar of Events at www.EvanDavisJazz.
com. Email him at: evan@thevegasvoice.net.
violent movies and mechanical monsters
taking over the world. I love the old TV shows
on cable when nothing was real, but it was fun
to watch. I didn’t have to be afraid the next
scene would show someone’s arm blown off.
I think it would have been OK for Lucy and Ricky to sleep in the same
bed and June Cleaver could have had a bad hair day once in a while.
Mr. Ed was, and probably still is, the smartest character on TV dispelling
his wisdom between carrots to Wilbur.
Calgon does not take me away, primarily because no one has a
bathtub anymore. The world is filled with walk-in showers made for
efficiency and speed, so you can go do a million things every day that
were never particularly important before.
I want to check my mailbox once a day rather than 50 times
electronically. If I wasn’t home, you would call me again since they
hadn’t invented answering machines.
On weekends I can go through time on the TCM channel and pretend
I don’t have a computer. And then I get a spurt of energy or curiosity
about something and I’m back in the race, on the computer looking
things up.
I wonder what Mr. Ed would say about all this progress.
Adrea Nairne-Barrera writes of celebrations, observations &
complaints of life in the 60s to being in your 60s.
FROM THE 40’S TO TODAY...
Featuring the
music of:
THE VEGAS VOICE PRESENTS THE
Ella Fitzgerald
Diana Ross
Billie Holiday
Etta James
Rosemary Clooney
Barbra Streisand
Celine Dion
Carole King
Lady Gaga
and more...
Accompanied by
Bill Fayne
TICKET HOTLINE
702 755-3799
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Ashley Fuller
Sun City
Starbright
Theatre
OF SONG
Naomi Mauro
Summerlin
Wed. June 6, 2018
Genevieve Dew
Sun City
Doors: 6:30 pm • Show: 7pm.
2
Great
Locations!
MacDonald Ranch
Sat. June 30, 2018
Tickets: $ 20.
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