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March 28, 2024

‘Georgia on My Mind’ deserves a full house, but will it get one?

‘Georgia on My Mind’ and Nnenna Freelon

John Katsilometes

Sax great Kirk Whalum, Nnenna Freelon and Clint Holmes rehearse “Georgia on My Mind” at Venetian Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in Las Vegas.

Updated Monday, Sept. 22, 2014 | 11:23 a.m.

‘Georgia on My Mind’ at Venetian

Singers Nnenna Freelon, Clint Holmes and a Take 6 member perform as The Venetian Las Vegas announces the engagement of Launch slideshow »

Clint Holmes at ‘Georgia on My Mind’ Tribute

Clint Holmes with Kirk Whalum on sax in “Georgia on My Mind: A Tribute to Ray Charles” on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, at Reynolds Hall in the Smith Center. Launch slideshow »
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Nnenna Freelon and Clint Holmes rehearse "Georgia on My Mind" at Venetian Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in Las Vegas.

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Nnenna Freelon, Clint Holmes and members of Take 6 are shown in front of the LED screen of Ray Charles album covers during rehearsals of "Georgia on My Mind" at Venetian Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in Las Vegas.

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The image of Ray Charles looms over Nnenna Freelon, Clint Holmes and members of Take 6 during rehearsals of "Georgia on My Mind" at Venetian Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in Las Vegas.

The tune begs attention: “Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma” is the title. It was a hit in 1971 for Melanie Safka and covered expertly by Ray Charles a year later.

The performers onstage at Venetian Theater are sprinting through that Charles version. There are eight singers in all, and they are performing vocal acrobatics, climbing atop one anther in a sort of musical pyramid.

“Look what they done, Ma! Look at it! Oh, no! Yeah! Hello, Mamma! That’s all right! Listen, Mamma! Ray! What’s the matter! Oh, Lord, Lord!” the voices crisscross, insistently and in high volume, while the bodies bend and twist.

The sound of those singers is fueled by the band behind, and the artists turn to one another as if carrying on an animated conversation rather than singing a song in the Charles tribute show “Georgia on My Mind” at the Venetian. The performance is to evoke not just the music but passion of Charles, and in that regard these singers won't fall short.

The show opened for previews Thursday, night and celebrates its grand opening Tuesday at the theater conceived and built for “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular.” The show runs Tuesdays through Saturdays through Oct. 29.

The ticket prices are in line with the talent assembled: $82.50, $99, $121, $148.50 and $258.50 (call the Venetian at (702) 414-9000 or click on the Venetian website). Producers have authorized a quirky ticket offer, as anyone with the name “Georgia” is offered a complimentary ticket to any show, a way to create a measure of conversation about the production.

This is certainly a big room, at 1,800 seats, and it is a daunting task to fill that theater in this city’s uncertain ticket-buying climate.

But this is a big, ambitious, supremely talented and experienced production produced by Larry Rosen, the “R” of groundbreaking jazz music label GRP Records (the first label to issue all of its music digitally mastered). Rosen sought out many of the performers — and all of the singers — for a version of the show that has played Atlanta, Orlando and Miami.

“Georgia on My Mind” filled Reynolds Hall in March, and — by happy coincidence — Venetian reps were in the audience that night. They soon contacted Rosen about bringing that show to the Venetian, which had a set of open dates in the fall in a room that has been occupied by star headliners (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) and limited-engagement touring productions (“Priscilla Queen of the Desert") since “Phantom” closed two years ago.

With the show in place, it’s time to move tickets. Many factors play into filling the Venetian for this show:

The Ray Charles factor: Begin there as Charles is the rare artist who has touched fans (and artists) who favor rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues, country, gospel, jazz … essentially every major music genre of Charles’ area was covered by him during his remarkable career.

“There are many generations who are familiar with Ray Charles, and he had so much going against him — being from the South during segregation, blindness at a time when blindness was considered a handicap you could not overcome, and he turned that all around,” says Nnenna Freelon, one of the “Georgia” singers.

“But there is now a younger generation who has never had a chance to experience him live, and we are bringing it to a place where they can like it. There is a real appeal from a person who took a painful situation and brought joy to millions.”

As Take 6 founder Claude McKnight (who is the older brother of R&B star Brian McKnight) says, “What you hear and what you see in these performances is that Ray Charles was genuine. He was a genuine artist and a genuine spirit, and that’s why his music reached so many people. He was always himself no matter what he was singing.”

Charles’ familiar songs in the production include “I Got a Woman,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “What’d I Say” and, of course, “Georgia” and “America the Beautiful.” In the March performance at Reynolds Hall, the audience was floored by each rendition.

The artistic credibility factor: Already noted are the singers, but sax master Kirk Whalum also is at the front of the production. The bandleader is Dave Loeb, UNLV’s jazz studies department director who has built his program into one of the best in the country and supplies the music for “Family Guy,” among other projects. Also on keys is Jeffrey Neiman, Clint Holmes’ musical director and arranger for their shows at Cabaret Jazz, which are updated each month.

The backing band, dubbed the Las Vegas All-Star Band, is driven by a rhythm section of bassist Bob Sachs, drummer Jess Gopen and guitarist Tony “The Great” Drake. All are highly proficient, experienced players. The band is filled out by the best of the best in Loeb’s UNLV program, and for good measure the Las Vegas Mass Choir adds a blanket of harmony atop the music mix.

The Clint Holmes factor: Yes, he is invaluable to the show’s artistic cred, but Holmes also is important as the performer in the show who owns an extensive history as Las Vegas headliner. His reach among locals is an important facet of luring fans to the theater. He has a deep affection for Charles, able to pay tribute without delivering a rote impression, and it helps that Holmes, too, has a vocal dexterity that is ideal in summoning Charles’ greatest hits.

The technology factor: This is a show that uses LED screen images effectively as a montage of Charles’ face peers down toward the performers. A giant, stage-wide shot of all of his album covers are shown, too.

The word-of-mouth factor: It is an inescapable reality that “Georgia on My Mind” will need positive buzz in town to draw a healthy audience. A comparison would be William Shakespeare’s “Tempest” at the temporary, tented facility in Symphony Park at the Smith Center.

That show was far from sold out as it opened its monthlong run, but as reports of its high quality wound around the market, it blossomed into a box office success, selling out every performance (Smith Center officials even ran out of programs near the end of the run).

“Georgia on My Mind” will need such positive accounts from audience members, and through reviews run in mass and social media, to grow ticket sales.

Say this for the show, already: It is delivering a top-level production. It is a showcase of terrific performers honoring one of the all-time greats. Whether an audience will consistently turn out to experience “Georgia on My Mind” is a question to be answered in four weeks’ time.

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

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