Columnist Joe Delaney: New Year’s Eve performances on Strip can be affordable

Joe Delaney

Thursday, Aug. 5, 1999 | 9:03 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@vegas.com.

Master magician Lance Burton's New Year's Eve prices at the Monte Carlo will be a comparatively modest $59.95 for the mezzanine and main floor and $54.95 for balcony seating. Both prices will be tax inclusive. ... Burton will be on hiatus from Sept. 6-21. ... When he returns, the current $39.95 and $34.95 prices will be raised to $44.95 and $39.95, respectively. ... The LV Hilton will also have seats priced under $100 for Pat Benatar on New Year's Eve.

Most New Year's Eve 1999 room and show prices will be quite high, with Barbra Streisand tickets reportedly commanding a top price of $2,500. ... Bette Midler will have a $500 top for her Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 performances in the Mandalay Bay Events Center. ... We doubt there will be empty seats at either venue.

Don't look for show prices to come down as we enter the new millennium. ... Showrooms at most major hotels are now profit centers or at least breaking even. ... If you'll pay it, they'll charge it.

Big Band news

Big Band sounds seem to be doing better with Buddy Greco and wife Lezlie Anders and her orchestra returning for an evening of good music for good listening and dancing Friday night at the Flamingo Hilton. ... Gene White and his orchestra did well the past two Fridays. ... Greco and Anders started this series on July 16; it should be continued.

The band of Johnny Seaton will be performing 11 a.m.-2:15 p.m. in the MGM Grand's Showbar Lounge though Saturday; performances are complimentary. ... Seaton is best known for his stage role as Pharoah, the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Friday night treat: The Las Vegas All-Star High School Jazz Band in concert at 8 p.m., Hills Park in Summerlin, admission is free, picnickers are welcome. ... The seventh annual Las Vegas Music Festival continues through Aug. 14. ... Call 229-6211 for tickets and information.

More jazz notes

Joe Darro and Allyn Gamble hold forth in Ruth's Chris West, Tuesdays through Saturdays; Mike Beisner and Terry James are there on Sundays. ... Beisner, his trio and James play Friday and Saturday evenings (Chicago's Cactus Bar). ... Mike Breene, Bob Badgley and Santo Savino are at the Santa Fe, Wednesday through Saturday evenings.

Mondays belong to Don Menza's Big Band (Riviera), and Friday and Saturday late nights there, it's Lon Bronson's Big Band.

Bronson and his 12 rock-hard players also back the Desert Inn's "The Rat Pack Is Back" show with near perfection, Tuesdays through Sundays. ... Bronson, et al, are another eloquent argument for live music everywhere.

More local events

Sax man Boney James plays Boulder Station, 7 and 9 p.m. Friday. ... Palace Station goes British with Davy Jones, 9 p.m. Friday, and Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits, 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday. ... Portable and Liar's, Inc. are two of the bands performing, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at MGM Grand Adventures, with beer tasting for those 21 years of age or older, starting at 3 p.m.

Theatre Las Vegas presents "Give Me Gershwin," Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Pahrump Valley Winery. ... Myron Heaton serves as musical director for the 12-person cast. ... "Put On A Hat, Too" is a vaudeville musical with a cast of 25, produced by the Nevada Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, 7 p.m. Saturday in the Sun City Summerlin Starbright Theatre.

Dick Wilson ("Mr. Whipple") and performer-singer-coach David London are special guest performers. ... Performances will also be given Aug. 20, Civic Center Amphitheater in Henderson, and Aug. 27-28 in CCSN's Nicholas Horn Theatre.

Star-policy rundown

It's George Carlin, 10 p.m. (Bally's); Motown Legends (Caesars Palace); Patsy Cline Tribute (Gold Coast); Clint Holmes (Golden Nugget); Bill Acosta (Luxor); Jackie Mason (MGM Grand); Siegfried & Roy (Mirage); Lance Burton (Monte Carlo); Smothers Brothers (Orleans); and Danny Gans (Rio). ... More stars: Marilu Henner, Stephanie Pope, Ben Vereen, Marcia Lewis and Ernie Sabella in "Chicago" (Mandalay Bay) and Tommy Tune starring in "EFX" (MGM Grand).

Marv Koral All-Stars, featuring trombone legend Carl Fontana will play at the Wild Oats Market, Lake Mead Boulevard and Tenaya Way, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. ... Give what you can to the Sun Summer Camp Fund; send every child possible to camp this year. ... See you Friday.