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14<br />

George Wallace Has Audience<br />

in Stitches<br />

By: Dianne Davis / That’s Entertainment<br />

What do Atlanta, hemorrhoids,<br />

Bloomingdales, Jerry Seinfeld and the<br />

Bonanza Gift shop on the strip have in common?<br />

If you read the headlines then you know: George Wallace - “The New Mr.<br />

Vegas” – covers all of these topics and more in his new hilarious act in the<br />

Westgate Cabaret Showroom.<br />

George doesn’t tell jokes, he shares his attitudes toward life. He started off<br />

telling us that, “I just come out here and make up s**t.”<br />

And that’s pretty much the extent of his profanity. He doesn’t need<br />

offensive words or sexual references to make us laugh.<br />

George, a patriot who has traveled the world entertaining our troops,<br />

gets strong applause when he announces that, “I let service people in for<br />

free” Right. Then he continues that he doesn’t tell you that until you are in.<br />

He amused us with his references to stupid people. Like the guy who<br />

asked him - in Las Vegas, “Mr. Wallace, you in town?” Or try this one – The<br />

guy who said, “I met Red Foxx before he died.” Um, yea, right.<br />

To the guy from Oregon, he proclaimed, “You ain’t seen no blacks before,<br />

have you?” About politics he says… very little! George Wallace knows that<br />

you are there to be entertained, not to talk politics.<br />

He is a skilled performer in a dapper suit who connects with the audience.<br />

We saw George years ago and this act is totally different. I expect it will be<br />

different next week too.<br />

This veteran doesn’t memorize anything, he just looks at the world and<br />

finds the humor. If you love good ol’ fashion humor, visit George Wallace<br />

at the Westgate Tuesdays through Thursdays at 8 p.m.<br />

Dianne Davis is also a reporter for Sun City Anthem TV (SCA-<br />

TV) specializing in entertainment, and LV Associate Editor<br />

of lasvegassplash.com. She hikes, travels with her husband Burt,<br />

and works on her stand-up comedy.<br />

Photo courtesy: Ira Kuzma<br />

August 2018<br />

I Kissed Cindy Williams<br />

By: Sam Wagmeister / People & Places<br />

Dreams come true. It took 45 years but I<br />

finally kissed Cindy Williams!<br />

Not the Shirley Feeney Cindy Williams but the<br />

Laurie Henderson Cindy Williams. There she was, waiting for me -<br />

and the other 250 or so invited guests in the lobby before the 5,000 th<br />

performance of Menopause the Musical at Harrah’s<br />

Laurie…I mean Cindy…didn’t remember the first time we “met.”<br />

I do. August 11, 1973. I was sitting in the middle of the Old Orchard<br />

Theater in Skokie, IL - opening weekend of American Graffiti. Laurie/<br />

Cindy was up there on the screen, fresh, innocent and heartbroken<br />

believing her boyfriend was heading off to college.<br />

Today that same freshness that Williams brought to the classic film<br />

brightens the stage in her extended guest stint in the longest running<br />

musical ever to hit Las Vegas.<br />

Menopause opened in 2006 at the Las Vegas Hilton before moving<br />

to Luxor in 2010. It remained there for five years. The cast then headed<br />

to their current location.<br />

Four diverse women meet at a department store bargain bin<br />

scuffling over the goodies. Vita Drew is the hippie Earth Mother;<br />

Lori Legacy is the perky Iowa housewife; Lisa Mack depicts the highpowered<br />

professional woman and Jacquelyn Holland-Wright portrays<br />

a sexy soap star fretting over her age. Drew and Legacy have been with<br />

the cast throughout the show’s run.<br />

As they tussle for the bargain, one suffers a hot flash. The others<br />

quickly commiserate through parodies of Baby Boomer-era songs.<br />

Each of the women has a scene stealing, show-stopping solo in the<br />

charming musical. Holland-Wright titillates the audience when “We’re<br />

Havin’ a Heat Wave” becomes “I’m Havin’ A Hot Flash.”<br />

If there has been criticism, it’s been that Menopause is a “women’s’<br />

show.” Wrong! The humor is for everyone who grew up in the era<br />

when you could understand a tune’s lyrics.<br />

Williams originally joined the cast mid-2016 for a guest run.<br />

Audience demand created extended stays before other commitments<br />

took her on the road. Her return adds to the sparkle, delighting<br />

audiences.<br />

By the way, the best part of kissing Cindy - she kissed me back!

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