You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
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!