Rickles had no answer for Frank Marino’s showgirl triumph
The Kats! Bureau at this writing is Chill Bar & Frozen Cocktails near the entrance of Tropicana Theater. On the schedule today and tonight is a full run of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the theater, a House Seats Presents production benefiting HIV/AIDS support organization Golden Rainbow, and George Strait’s show at T-Mobile Arena.
Worth noting: The “Superstar” show has sold out, moving about 1,050 tickets in a room that tops out at 1,100.
More from this scene, and others:
DRAG OF AN OUTCOME
Memories of Don Rickles have continued to pour in from the Strip and elsewhere.
Frank Marino of “Divas Las Vegas,” the dean (or dean-ette) of Strip headliners, met Rickles when Marino arrived on the strip in 1986 to headline “An Evening At La Cage” at the Riviera. The two met again, unexpectedly, as Rickles co-hosted a “Showgirl of the Year” contest with Vicki Lawrence at the old Desert Inn. The event was broadcast on her TV talk show, “Vicki!” in the early 1990s.
Marino, in full showgirl regalia, actually won the contest.
“I won the contest, and Don asked me my name and I said, ‘Frank Marino!’ and he went, ‘What!’ ” Marino recalled. “He had no idea it was me. I was the only one in drag. He couldn’t believe it. All he could do was laugh.”
Rickles couldn’t muster a single insult, one of the few times on his career he was left without a zinger.
Marino often uses put-downs in his Joan Rivers role, taking a lead from Rickles.
“What I loved about Don is that he did his comedy routine, he insulted everybody, but by the end of the show everybody loved him,” Marino said. “That’s how he went out, too.”
DUNES AND DON
Bob Anderson, who held forth at the Top of the Dunes for a decade beginning in the mid-1970s, first encountered Rickles during a midnight show around 1976. Anderson’s singing impressionist show was a hot destination in those days, and one night he was joined by a celeb sampling of Tony Bennett, Steve Rossi, Jack Jones, John Byner and Ann-Margret.
“I was singing something like, ‘What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?’ and here comes Rickles,” Anderson said. “He walked onstage, takes the mic out of my hand and says, ‘Sit down, you’re going to learn something. He just took over, tore the place apart. That was Don.”
ROCK HALL AT HARD ROCK
The crew at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel is smiling after Journey’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday night, joining Yes and Pearl Jam as those honored.
Journey is returning to the hotel for nine shows from May 3-May 20, those shows locked in months before the Rock Hall nod, which can only help boost ticket sales.
On Friday night, Steve Perry showed up at the ceremony for an onstage reunion and caused a ripple across social media. Perry did not sing, but did call out to current singer Arnel Pineda, saying, “I must give a complete shout out to someone who sings his heart out every night, and it’s Arnel Pineda.”
Pineda will be the singer during Journey’s run at Hard Rock. The current lineup, all of whom were inducted Friday night, features guitarist Neal Schon, drummer Steve Smith, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and bassist Ross Valory.
DOLYNIUK SOARS
We were a long way from Railhead at Boulder Station on Friday night. That’s the off-strip showroom Brody Dolyniuk played in the early heyday of classic rock band he founded two decades ago, Yellow Brick Road. In those days, the staging for Dolyniuk and the boys was a series of colored lights pointed at the stage for a gathering of about 150.
Friday’s show at the Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall, which drew a couple thousand full-throated rock fans was an end-to-end treatment of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” The production featured a vast wall of cardboard bricks (or, boxes) covering nearly the entire width of the stage.
That setting was built, and ultimately deconstructed, through the 2 1/2-hour odyssey (including an intermission). Dolyniuk and his backing band and guest singers soared through “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2,” “Run Like Hell” and “Comfortably Numb.” The advanced look and sound of that show was the latest evidence that Dolyniuk, highly regarded around Las Vegas before heading to Southern California a few years ago, was a talent who could handle a grand stage.
Dolyniuk is set to perform July at Rock Lounge at Red Rock Resort with his ZUSA Led Zeppelin show, but will certainly sweep in before then. He still has to scoop up, and store, a bunch of boxes.
CHANGE THAT ORDER
Important for those who are setting a place to meet for dinner at Planet Hollywood: Gordon Ramsay’s BurGR restaurant at Planet Hollywood is now being called, simply, Gordon Ramsay Burger. Easier to digest, that name.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
