Columnist Joe Delaney: Gearing for Christmas cheer, New Year’s celebration

Joe Delaney

Thursday, Dec. 23, 1999 | 9:25 a.m.

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

The day before the day before Christmas, our 78th, and our 34th with the Sun. ... Daughter Kathleen came over last Sunday and decorated the tree, something she has done since childhood. ... Her mother is her assistant and father is barred from the living room until the tree is complete except for one last item, a 45-year-old large round red ornament.

This chore is saved for last so father can have the honor of completing her artistic handiwork, after which the lights are lit. ... The custom back East in New York City, before I moved to Las Vegas permanently in 1962, was to open all presents on Christmas morning.

When Roberta and I were married in 1964, I learned that the custom in the West was to open presents on Christmas Eve so we had to compromise. ... Presents are opened on Christmas Eve with one small item saved for Christmas morning. ... It was the best I could do.

Christmas day

Brad, Scott and Kathleen will be with us Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. ... All are well and doing well. ... Daughter Megan, her husband, Dennis, and our granddaughter, Caitlin, plus son, Shay (Seamus), will celebrate back East, spending much time with us on the phone. ... They will be visiting in March for a week or so.

Megan graduates with a degree in marketing next May and proud father will be present for the occasion, giving me two spring visits with Caitlin, our first grandchild. ... This is an update for readers, viewers and listeners over the past 37 years in Las Vegas.

The Delaneys hope that your Christmas is even nicer than you had hoped for and that the new millennium will get off to a fault-free flying start for everyone. ... We would like to see a return to the basic niceties, courtesy and caring for one another.

Back to business

Danny Gans closes out a hugely successful run at the Rio this evening. ... He is scheduled for a New Year's Eve performance at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss., then a late February or early March opening in his own theater being built at the Mirage. ... "Enter The Night" will call it a day at the Stardust on Monday after nine fine years.

Wayne Newton will perform in the newly renamed Wayne Newton Theatre at the Stardust, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. ... Newton starts his long-term contract with the Stardust on Jan. 24.

Clint Holmes will take over the Harrah's hotel showroom in mid-January, which means there are only a few more opportunities to see "Spellbound" (Harrah's); "Imagine" (Luxor) and "Enter The Night" (Stardust). ... "Imagine" will be succeeded by the Blue Man Group at the Luxor in late February. ... The times they are a-changing.

Star-policy rundown

It's Bob Anderson (Desert Inn); Rodney Dangerfield plus Tommy Tune starring in "EFX" (MGM Grand); Louie Anderson (Monte Carlo); Justin Tranz's "Hip-nosis" (O'Shea's); and impressionist Andre-Phillippe Gagnon (Venetian). ... Buddy Greco, Lezlie Anders and their Big Band Friday nights are off at the Flamingo Hilton the next two Fridays, resuming Jan. 7 in the main showroom and broadcast live over KJUL 104.3-FM.

Greco, Anders and their big band will be the Dec. 31-Jan. 1 attraction in the Resort at Summerlin. ... Robert Goulet, starring in the Andy Williams Theatre in Branson, Mo., this month, returns home for a New Year's Eve date at the Flamingo Hilton.

Las Vegas will be at full-strength, entertainment-wise, starting next week, building toward the anticipated biggest New Year's Eve weekend in history. ... We predict it will be the biggest to date.

Thursday addenda

If the New Year's Eve weekend falls a little short, the hotels can blame themselves for excessive corporate greed with $2,500 tops for one particular show and $4,000 three- and four-day room packages. ... Shame on us. ... Another factor has to be all of the Y2K furor all year and the uncertainty that exists today. ... Hopefully, it's just much ado over nothing.

Magician Lance Burton deserves special kudos for his good deeds for children in this community over the years and, especially, for holding the line with $59.95 and $54.95 prices on New Year's Eve. ... Merry, merry. ... See you next Thursday.