Hot Happenings
by Bobbie Katz

In Like Clint
Clint Holmes fans on both coasts will be delighted to hear that the talented entertainer recently inked a multimillion-dollar five-year deal with Harrah’s Las Vegas through 2006. Since he opened at the hotel in January 2000, he has quickly become one of the town’s “must-see” shows. Holmes recently found out that the musical play he wrote with musician/composer Nelson Kole is getting very close to opening at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago on its way, hopefully, to Broadway. The play is an autobiographical account of Clint’s interracial family’s quest to find its identity. Via his contract with Harrah’s, Holmes could take a year off but says he would only take a few months off to star in the play if it goes to Broadway. Holmes recently appeared at Showboat in Atlantic City.

Hold That Note
By the time you read this, world-renowned tenor Placido Domingo, who was here recently to headline Mandalay Bay’s third anniversary, will have, for the first time in his career, sung Wolf-Ferrari’s opera, Sly, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It is his 119th different role, more than any other tenor has performed in the annals of music. Domingo told me that he has now sung every role he has aspired to. Domingo is also excited about his latest 17-track CD, Quiereme Mucho, which was released on March 12. It is the seventh collaboration for Domingo with renowned arranger/producer Bebu Silvetti, and contains music from several Latin countries.

Oops, She Did It Again
When the pop superstar with the world’s most famous bellybutton, Britney Spears returned to Las Vegas over Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 and 25, this time at Mandalay Bay’s Events Center, she didn’t travel light. It took seventeen semi-trucks to transport Spears’ enormous production that incorporates more than 250 lights and lasers. The engagement marked the debut of her highly anticipated summer concert tour, Dream Within a Dream. Because she began her tour in Las Vegas, Spears came into town a week early to rehearse.

Call Her “Madam”
Another star who has always had a reputation as a sex kitten, Ann-Margret, recently made a return to Vegas after many years. She came into the Aladdin with the show The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring as the tough but loving brothel owner, Miss Mona. The show, which is her first theater role and in which she has been performing since January 2001 when it opened on Broadway, puts another feather in the singer/dancer-actress’s cap. She has come full circle from being an ingénue in Bye Bye Birdie to having an entire Chicken Ranch under her wing. On a 42-city tour with the show, Ann-Margret is traveling with husband, Roger, and their Maltese, Missy. She had to leave their six cats at home and says she misses them terribly. And for you Dirty Dancing fans Patrick Swayze will be coming to the Aladdin in December in a Broadway production.

Speaking of opera, the 18-month-old Southern Nevada Opera Association is alive and well as proven recently in a stellar performance at the Orleans. The program of pop and opera classics was presented by acclaimed lyric baritone Grant Griffin, accompanied by vocalists Patricia Welch and Jeneane Marie; directed by Grammy Award-winner Larry Hart and co-produced by Hart and Jaki Baskow. Peter Aaronsom conducted the 27-piece orchestra. What a terrific, magical show!

If You Can’t Lick ’Em, EAT’M
When the EAT’M (Emerging Artists and Technology in Music) music conference convened at the MGM Grand May 29–31, it had an increased list of participating industry pros, including Elmer Bernstein and Mick Fleetwood, founder of Fleetwood Mac. Both were chosen as Lifetime Achievement Award honorees. Fleetwood was one of a select few delivering industry perspectives to EAT’M registrants.

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