Clint Holmes and Santa Fe christen the Quantum

By John Katsilometes

Monday, Nov. 17, 2014 | 7:27 a.m.

For a weekend, Las Vegas loaned the title of Entertainment Capital of the World to the massive watercraft Quantum of the Seas.

The reason: The entertainment booked on the craft’s first U.S. voyage was a pair of Las Vegas favorites.

Clint Holmes and Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns both played the craft’s Two70 entertainment venue. The 450-capacity room is three levels and named as such for its brilliant, 270-degree views of the ocean and city skylines. On Friday, Holmes also joined Kristin Chenoweth in the ship’s christening ceremony in Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J. Holmes sang “America the Beautiful” as the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ship was formally launched.

Chenoweth sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” then ordered the bottle to be smashed against the ship by using a tablet delivered by an aerialist. Also performing in the hourlong ceremony were The Pipes and Drums of the New York Police Department's Emerald Society. (Holmes headlines at Cabaret Jazz in the Smith Center, and Chenoweth headlined New Year’s Eve at the Smith Center nearly a year ago.)

Clearly, all of this hooey was a direct rip-off of how we announce major happenings in Las Vegas and as such should be richly applauded.

Santa Fe “totally burned it up” on Saturday night, says no less an authority than Holmes, who joined the band onstage Sunday night. That’s a reunion, of sorts, as Santa Fe and bandleader Jerry Lopez backed Holmes and his music director Bill Fayne during Holmes’ residency at Harrah’s from 2000-2006.

Santa Fe is going to be featured on the liner even as they return to their usual gig Monday nights at the Lounge at the Palms (except this week, obviously, as they are returning from the voyage).

The band was recorded several months ago at UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre, as the horn section are all alumni of the UNLV Jazz Studies Program. That footage was edited for a simulated live performance to be played regularly at the Two70. The virtual-reality concert is the first of its type on any cruise liner, with the band depicted on 100-foot-wide, 20-foot-tall projection screens. The room’s floor-to-ceiling windows convert to these video panels, and when, say, Phil Wigfall plays a sax solo or Rochon Westmoreland takes over on bass, their images move to the front of the stage. It’s more than groovy. It’s hyper-groovy, a real boost to the way entertainment is presented at sea and a shot in the arm to one of the best bands in the West — and now one of the best on the water.

The Vegas vibe is already felt on Royal Caribbean’s largest craft, the Oasis, with regular appearances by showroom great Earl Turner. It reminds me of something Lon Bronson said to me a few years ago, which is that other resort destinations are tapping into Las Vegas-styled entertainment as well as Vegas itself is.

We’ve learned of how Foxwoods in Connecticut is picking over several Vegas favorites (including Criss Angel, “Legends in Concert” and Donny & Marie in December) in its entertainment venues. More often we are seeing Las Vegas entertainers use the city as a selling point and launching pad for gigs on cruise ships, or in Asia, Europe, wherever. The Vegas brand helps move tickets and enhance reputations, no question.

As it happens, one of the most influential entertainment directors in Las Vegas is part of the Royal Caribbean team. He’s one Nick Weir, who booked Holmes and Santa Fe on the new Quantum and also has immortalized the band on video. Weir is a former Las Vegas resident who has been working on the entertainment lineup for the Quantum for more than two years. The deal he signed with Santa Fe is for the band to be presented on the cruise line for 10 years.

Weir oversees a program of more than 100 shows a year on Quantum, including the latest version of “Mamma Mia!” He’s also a friend and associate of Emmy Award-winning set designer Andy Walmsley, who was aboard this past weekend’s cruise. Weir and Walmsley were regular attendees at the Santa Fe shows at the Lounge during the run-up to the production of the video footage.

After this smashing weekend, we’ll wait for the tide to come in — and for the touring troupe from Vegas to regale us of their tales from the high seas.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.