John Katsilometes
Bill Fayne in his natural habitat: at the piano.
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 | 1:36 p.m.
Scott Zieger, Tina Walsh and Anthony Crivello celebrate Phantom's second anniversary at The Venetian in June 2008.
Maybe they should call it “Crazy & Stressed! The Musical.”
That’s Bill Fayne’s disposition lately. Crazy, stressed and, yes, musical.
“I love being surrounded by my wonderful, talented friends,” says Fayne, music director and co-host of “Showstoppers” at 8 p.m. Friday at LVH Theater (tickets are $25, $40 for VIP seats in the front five rows and available at the LVH box office, on the LVH website and at RagTag Entertainment. “It’s a great outlet to get everyone involved in a great show, but this is hell week.”
A creative partnership of Fayne and the remarkably productive and high-quality RagTag Entertainment production company of Las Vegas, the show features more than 100 of the city’s top artists performing a string of famous Broadway numbers. Fayne will be joined as host by Kelly Clinton Holmes and RagTag founder Andrew Wright. The event benefits Nevada Center for the Blind and Nevada Office of Veterans Services and also trumpets RagTag’s fourth anniversary.
“We’re going to have great music, from ‘Chicago’ to ‘Chorus Line,’ ” Fayne says, adding that a 15-piece orchestra will supply the music. “You’ll see some wonderful, talented people.”
A sampling: Former “Phantom -- the Las Vegas Spectacular” cast member Randal Keith, who has long portrayed Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables,” is performing a section from that musical. Former “Mamma Mia!” lead and “Phantom” cast member Tina Walsh is singing from “Sunset Boulevard.” Performers from “Jubilee!” at Bally’s will dance a tap number from “Anything Goes.” Cast members from “Vegas! the Show,” “Bite,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” “Swing City Dolls,” “Nunsense” and various Cirque du Soleil productions will sing and dance and bounce about.
There is a possibility Fayne and RagTag will team for recurring productions at LVH Theater. The hotel seems to want that.
“I am hopeful it will have a good gathering and response, and LVH wants me to do six of these next year,” Fayne says. “That’s every 2 months, and it’s a lot of work, but we love doing it.”
Like most great ideas, it doesn’t happen without that work, and Friday’s show should reflect the zeal the entertainment community in Las Vegas has for puttin’ on a show.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy