M Resort performer Mark O’Toole no stranger to reinvention
A good love song never goes out of style.
That’s what Mark O’Toole realized in 2009 when he had to reinvent himself and his act after recovering from a cancer that doctors told him he wouldn’t survive.
"For two years, I was in and out of the hospital and getting chemotherapy. I had a lot of time to think about what I would do with my life if God gave me another chance," O’Toole says. "So I went back and did the standards."
It turned out to be a great move for his career.
O’Toole has performed at the M Resort, 12300 Las Vegas Blvd. South, for just over a year. He plays from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 3:30 to 7: 30 p.m. Sundays in the resort’s Ravello Lounge. There is a two drink minimum, and drinks cost about $5, he says.
O’Toole’s one-man show is aimed at an audience that appreciates the music of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Nat King Cole and Barry Manilow, among others.
"It’s a very, very laid-back show. I try to make everybody feel like they’re in my living room," he says. "At the end of the show, I meet everybody and give them a hug to welcome them … and thank them for coming."
In his 20-year career in Las Vegas, O’Toole has reinvented his act a few times.
After being named "Star Search" vocalist champion in 1994, he went country. When country died out, he put together a baby boomer band. That lasted about six years, until 2007, when he felt a bump under his chin. That bump was lymphoma.
Though his prognosis was originally dire, O’Toole responded well to treatment. He has been cancer-free for three years. Since then, he has not only reinvented his act and returned to performing, O’Toole has also recorded a CD, "The Crooner." It is scheduled to be released in six weeks. And he’s developed a new way of approaching life.
"I look at life a lot differently," he says. "I’m doing wonderful. A lot of my supporters who have been following me through the years, they have just been by my side. It’s amazing."
For more information, visit O’Toole’s website at markotoolemusic.com.
— By Sonya Padgett
