In this mimicry, secret’s in the source

It’s one of the perks of the job when Dion and her manager-husband are producing your show.

“At one point she started to coach me and said, ‘You know Veronic, don’t forget to have your fist on your heart,’ ” she recalls. “It’s a funny gesture you need to have when you impersonate Celine. You need to do that.”

The Canadian singing impressionist’s “Veronic Voices,” (pronounced “Ver-o-neeq”) will share the Bally’s showroom with “Jubilee!” for a summer engagement that runs June 20 through Aug. 31.

The Angelils are co-producers with AEG Live, which also helms Dion’s show at Caesars Palace. It’s not coincidental that Veronic’s run will mostly coincide with Dion’s summer residency June 4 through Aug. 31.

Veronic opened some dates of Dion’s “Taking Chances” arena tour in 2008. In an odd twist of Vegas coincidence, she opened the dates in French-speaking markets while Golden Nugget headliner Gordie Brown opened in the English-speaking cities.

In Canada, Veronic is better known as a judge on the French version of “X Factor,” as well as her two albums and stage work in French versions of “Grease” and “Chicago.”

But the arena tour sealed her fate as an impressionist. “I was crossing over,” she explains. “I was still doing albums but I was wondering if I could still do a career out of my impressions. When the opportunity came to do the opening act, it was clear for me this was a sign.”

If you don’t count lip-syncing drag queens, Veronic definitely enters a male-dominated profession. A few women have taken a stab at the genre in Las Vegas, but tend to do it more as just part of an act, such as Jasmine Trias with the Society of Seven.

Veronic says it’s hard to explain the lack of competition. Perhaps it traces back to “male comedians doing impressions in their act. But yes, I have a whole field to myself, a whole highway,” she says with a chuckle.

However, there won’t be a lot of wigs, costume changes, or even comedy in her impressions of female icons such as Cher, Madonna, Carole King, Adele, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston. Some of the mannerisms will provoke laughter, “but I don’t cross that line where I want to make fun of them.”

Angelil and Dion previously backed a showcase by another Canadian impressionist, Andre-Philippe Gagnon, at The Venetian in 1999 and 2000. “She’s involved in the process,” Veronic says of Dion. “She asks me a lot of questions … What will be this section in the show? She’s very interested.”

Veronic will perform Thursdays through Saturdays. “Jubilee!” is closed on Fridays, and will cut one of its two performances on Thursdays and Saturdays starting May 11. …

If “Centerfolds” and “Magic” don’t sound like something you would normally put together, well then you just haven’t been in Las Vegas long enough. At least not long enough to remember the topless “Showgirls of Magic” in the ’90s.

But “Centerfolds of Magic” opens May 1 as an 11 p.m. late show at the Plaza, meaning “Raack N Roll” won’t be the only downtown topless show, and Adam London not the only magician.

“Centerfolds” stars Taya Parker, the Penthouse model best known for the Bret Michaels dating reality show “Rock of Love.” She also starred in the short-lived “Striptease” at the Sahara in 2010.

This one is co-produced by John Lewis, whose previous turn at producing topless magic ended very badly. He tried to make a star of his girlfriend, who performed as Scarlett, in “Abracasexy” at the Riviera in 2009.

She was later arrested for assaulting him, and litigation ensued.

Lewis has been shopping this new show for two years, after seeing Parker in “Striptease.” “She’s very comfortable onstage,” he says, and will share the performance of illusions with four other women.

Lewis promises something “sexy and unusual, different than a standard magic show.” It will have whips, bondage and even … zombies! …

Monti Rock III is only a zombie in a loose sense of the definition, noting that he was near death in a local hospital a year ago this week. But the man about town lived to sport his leopard prints another day, and he celebrates his resurrection on Saturday by hosting “The Australian Bee Gees Show” at Excalibur.

Rock was in the original “Fever” movie, and if you don’t remember him from the Johnny Carson days you might recall his 1974 hit “Get Dancin’,” as Disco Tex (and the Sex-O-Lettes). …

Kevin Burke surrenders the one-man comedy monologue “Defending the Caveman” to Chris Allen on May 14. Even though it’s only one day after Burke’s last show, it’s a day that will make a difference. New props, lighting and video will arrive with Allen in a fresh look at the work overseen by director Isaac Lamb.

Locals who would prefer one more chance to catch Burke — likely the only guy they’ve seen do the show here in town — can get two tickets for $50 for the remainder of his run.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at
mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.