Dozens of Vegas entertainers turn out for St. Baldrick’s show

I didn’t expect to talk of the Community Animal Hospital at Tuscany Suites’ Copa Room on Sunday night. But somehow, seeing all the members of Las Vegas’ entertainment community reminded me of my dad’s veterinary clinic in Pocatello, Idaho.

As I told a room filled with our entertainment family, I grew up in that community. And also in another lovely community, Chico, Calif. When I was just about 13, Dad sold off his pet hospital l in Pocatello (on 12th and Oak, across from Mel’s Conoco service station) to buy an almond orchard near Chico. These were the family businesses.

I’ve grown to appreciate the simplicity of how we named those businesses. Community Animal Hospital informed everyone in town what was up. What is it? A hospital. Who does it serve? The community’s animals.

We called our orchard River View Farms. Why? Because it was a farm alongside the Sacramento River. There was no effort be cute, to use a backward R or a lowercase “nutland” as the name. It still makes me nuts when some groovy operator opens a place in Vegas, then forces the community to figure out what is is. Just tell us. We can take it.

Anyway, band leader Kenny Davidsen and the team at Tuscany staged a fundraiser for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, as usual pegged to my birthday, called “Life In The Fast Lane” and, yes, all about vehicular transportation. St. Baldrick’s co-founder and community leader Brian McMullan spoke eloquently of the loss he and his wife, Lynn, suffered in 1997 when their daughter, Kyra, died of a brain tumor. She was 2 1/2 years old.

The McMullans, who own McMullan’s Irish Pub on West Tropicana Avenue, turned that tragedy into the spark that is the Las Vegas St. Baldrick’s effort. Three years ago, the McMullans established Team Kyra for their annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation Shave event at the pub.

Brian McMullan said near the top of the show, “When you lose a child at 2 1/2 years old and people say there will come a time when you will have closure, let me tell you there is never closure. Time is the great healer, but there is never closure.”

This year, the couple is moving the date to September, having moved last year’s event from March to that month because of COVID. This year’s Nine Fine Irishmen/New York-New York shaving event is March 19. Yours truly will be shaved down for the 11th time (missing last year) on March 1o, at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, to promote the New York-New York event and also to raise money once more for the cause.

That is what Sunday was all about, to reunite at the Copa Room and generate support for the cause and celebrated the return of Davidsen’s “Playlist” shows in that showroom. It was the first “Playlist”-formatted showcase since we convened in March 2020.

A staggering collection of singers braved the traffic jam created by the Rock and Roll Marathon (and yes, organizers of that event, we’re coming after you for donation to Baldrick’s). Those who performed were, in loose order:

Alli Starr (the former Matt Goss backing singer who performs a great Whitney Houston tribute), Vincent John (the artist formerly known as “Vin A.” Adinolfi from Bronx Wanderers), Al Bernstein (the boxing broadcast legend and member of 167 halls of fame), Krystal Goddard (the terrific country singer from The Ruckus and a La Casa Cigar performer on alternate Tuesdays), Eric Sean (a Tuscany Piazza Lounge frequenter who spent more than a decade at Bellagio’s Fontana Room with the Dian Diaz band), John Di Domenico (the acclaimed Trump impressionist and comic actor who just passed 6 six million followers on TikTok), Bucky Heard (a bonafide Righteous Brother, currently headlining at South Point Showroom), Jimmy Denning (a Tenors of Rock rocker), Anne Martinez (“Baz,” Red Penny Arcade, “Fantasy” and a marvelous entertainment pro), Tymara Walker (a Chaka Khan backing singer developing the musical “The Rocking Chair,” with Donte Miller, founder of Hearts Productions in Las Vegas), Elisa Furr (the amazing Celine Dion in “Legendary Divas” at the Tropicana), Kelly Vohnn (who kills as Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton, among others, and in her own voice), David Tatlock (the soul behind the great Soul Juice Band), Christina Balonek (the comic sidekick of Tape Face at Harrah’s), Nieve Malandra (who graces several swanky scenes, including Todd English’s Olives at the Virgin and Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas), Sandy Knights (most recently a regular headliner at Capo’s Restaurant and Speakeasy on West Sahara Avenue), Cian Coey (late of Meat Loaf’s residency at Planet Hollywood and currently the female lead in Starship featuring Mickey Thomas), Noybel Gorgoy (Delilah’s, and also the “makeup artist” a couple weeks ago on “I Can See Your Voice” on Fox), Janae Longo (the superb Adele in “Legendary Divas”), Jaime Lynch (in Zowie Bowie’s shows on the Fremont Street Experience), Zowie Bowie himself (Chris Phillips, who can still do the high-leg kick even though we are the same age), Elyzabeth Diaga (from the powerhouse “Queens of Rock” show at Mosaic On The Strip, currently on pause), Stephanie Sanchez, (nine years with “Fantasy,” and now an entertainment exec with MGM Resorts International), Paige Strafella (a regular backing vocalist at Mondays Dark at The Space), Colin Cahill (from the rock-cover band Original Chaos, and also Blue Jackson in “Atomic Saloon Show”), Ashley Fuller (the Wednesday headliner at Tuscany’s Piazza Lounge, and also a regular at Delilah), and the irrepressible Enoch Augustus Scott (“Zombie Burlesque” at V Theater at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood).

That might be the longest paragraph in Kats! history.

What else … Ah, the band. Comic/songwriting great Dennis Blair, drumming sensation David Ramirez, wicked guitarist Tasos Peltekis; and a dynamite horn section (a Baldrick’s party first!) of Kevin Mullinax, Mat Schumer and Andy Cresap. Jumping in to jam was the massively talented guitarist Erik Himel of “27,” which is in talks to regroup after performing last year at 24 Oxford at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas; and powerhouse drummer George Bryant of the Zowie Bowie band .

And! The esteemed Jerry Jones of vocal group Fifth Avenue sang backup and also emceed much of the night. This is because Davidsen selfishly allowed his voice to go out after singing like 96 songs last week between Don’t Tell Mama and Piazza Lounge.

We pulled in $3,000 total, by the show’s 1 a.m. conclusion (and you can still donate through the campaign at StBaldricks.org). That includes online donations and the bucket pass by Danielle Lewis, daughter of Jerry Lewis, who memorably reminded me he’d raised $2 billion for the MDA. “That’s billion, with a ‘B!’” So we borrow some Lewis philanthropic mojo in these shows.

By the end, we were just collectively exhausted, As Vincent John said afterward as we loped toward Pub 365, it felt as if the city finally opened up once more to the Vegas entertainment family. I don’t know, we’ve had some seriously great hangs at so many venues over the past few months. But it was a late night, and great night, for the community.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.