VVJan22

Arias Returns to the Stage
By: Sam Wagmeister / People & Places
The rebirth of
Las Vegas as
pandemic restrictions
wane marks the third New Beginning for
Tony Arias, the long-time singer/funnyman
who’s been delighting audiences since
arriving in town as a teen in 1985. The night
of his high school graduation party, “after
everyone went to sleep, I packed my car and
came to Vegas.”
Although he was just 17, his towering size,
“I was 6” tall at nine years old and my voice
had changed” assured locals that Arias had
reached adulthood. He quickly landed his first
job when the switchboard operator at a local
radio station, hearing his booming baritone
voice, mistakenly transferred Arias‘call to
apply for an advertising sales job instead to
the Program Director.
A week later, he was the midnight on-air
DJ. That exposure created a chain of job offers
including private parties which had been
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the roots of his professional career. “When I was eight, I was doing
weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.
I didn’t even know what they
were but the food was great.”
Arias’ music career began
early, as a pre-teen soloist
in recreation centers and
churches near his California
home. ”People saw me
everywhere.”
Las Vegas, Arias’ first
Beginning, hit an early snag.
As the fill-in ringmaster at
Circus Circus, an expletive
blurted into the microphone
when the highwire act nosedived
into the net ending
that career after six hours.
But his radio time had
opened doors to opportunity
in the casinos. He was the
slot host/announcer at the
Tropicana and Desert Inn
and official voice of the
Hilton and their commercial and in-house events.
At 18, he accepted the job as Midnight Singer at the Riviera, a 3-hour
gig following Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. “That’s where I met Tom
Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Red Buttons,” he recalls.
Without mentioning names, he says the “connected” casino bosses
“liked me because I didn’t ask questions. They told me that I could be
funny, but not too funny.”
After 25 years, Arias retired. “Cirque changed everything,” The shows
he appeared in, Jubilee, Follies and others were gone. “My form of
entertainment went out with the dinosaurs, replaced by the video game
crowd.”
A second Beginning began ten years later. Husband Scott observed,
“You need to get in front of people.”
They soon found inspiration on a cruise. While viewing on-board
entertainment, Scott commented, “You can do that.”
Returning home, Arias booked the Clark County Library Theater.
“It was like I had never left the stage.” Just months later, friend and
producer Stacey Jones had Arias booked on the luxury Azamara line.
“I was rebooked on the ship before the cruise ended.” The longtime
Strip showman took his shows to local audiences before COVID
slammed the door.
Beginning #3 is well underway, prompted by Arias’ feeling that after
a year’s lockdown, “Audiences need the human contact again.” He’s
returning to local stages, including a tribute to the legendary crooners
at the Clark County Library February 26 (Tickets TonyArias.com) and
The Vegas Voice Valentine’s Day variety show at the Starbright Theater
in Sun City Summerlin.
24
January 2022