Columnist Jerry Fink: Well-rounded Gilchrist a match for Las Vegas

Friday, July 12, 2002 | 8:50 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

Australian David Gilchrist has had successful careers in the theater (London's West End), in nightclubs (Australia's cabaret circuit) and on cruise ships ("All of them," he says).

Now the 54-year-old entertainer is ready to conquer Las Vegas.

"I have always wanted to come here," said Gilchrist, who bears a vague resemblance to fellow Australian Paul Hogan. "This is where I want to be. Las Vegas has everything. It's made for entertaining. It has such a wonderful way of life."

A versatile entertainer equally at ease with comedy, Broadway tunes, musical standards, pop and opera, Gilchrist is showcasing his talents at Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre at 8:30 p.m. on Monday nights through July. He says if all goes well he may extend his dates through August.

"I'm hoping to get myself a room, find someone to back me so I can keep the big-band sound alive," Gilchrist said. "I love having an orchestra. It doesn't have to be that big, but at least I want a live band."

Gilchrist is undaunted by the fact that Las Vegas, to some, seems like a graveyard for talented entertainers who live here but can't find a job locally. They must work on cruise ships. A few even do dates in Australia and London, Gilchrist's old haunts.

"I'm here to stay," Gilchrist said. "I will get there, eventually. It's just a matter of keep plowing on 'til I get something that works, finding out what the audiences want.

"I have five or six shows I could do. It's just a matter of finding what goes down, and what's a little bit different from everyone else."

No other entertainer in town mixes comedy (he calls it nonsense), opera and Broadway, with a little sprinkling of a tribute to rock 'n' roll stars.

Gilchrist's one-man show is a road map of his diverse career, including samples of things he has done in show business over the past 35 years.

Gilchrist didn't come from an entertainment background in his native Sydney. His father was a bank manager. His brothers were accountants.

"I was always into sports in school," he said. "I wanted to do something with that. But if I wasn't going to be a sportsman, at least I wanted to do something physical as well using my talent."

While growing up, Gilchrist sang in church choirs and performed in musical productions in school.

"I was winning all these awards in various competitions," he said.

In 1965 he took his talent to London and joined a troupe of actors performing in the city's theater district. He was there for 10 years.

"We did a lot of revivals of the old musicals, Noel Coward stuff," Gilchrist said.

They also did such classics as "Man of La Mancha" and "The Student Prince."

"We just absolutely packed them in," Gilchrist said. "We ran a show about a year, then the next year we ran something else."

While performing in shows by night, he studied singing by day, including opera.

"I studied (opera) to learn technique," he said.

Gilchrist includes a number of arias in his one-man show, but he says he wasn't cut out for a full-blown opera career.

"I didn't have the right psyche to do opera," he said. "I'm not cut out for it, but I don't mind making fun of the singers."

After 10 years in London he landed a gig in South Africa and ended up doing several shows over a two-year period.

"In the mid-'70s, musical theater was big in South Africa," Gilchrist said.

It was the period before the social upheaval over apartheid changed the political and economic structure of that nation.

After two years Gilchrist returned to his native Australia, where, on a whim, he auditioned for the Sydney Theatre Co., which produces operas.

"I decided I would give opera a go," Gilchrist said.

But the production in which he won a lead was "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a rock opera.

After his opera experience, Gilchrist returned to musical theater and toured Australia for five years in such productions as "Stop the World I Want to Get Off."

Then he was hired to do commercials for an Australian carpet company.

"It brought me instant recognition," Gilchrist said.

After almost 20 years in show business, a single commercial made him a household name in Australia, and he used the recognition to forge a career doing a one-man show on the cabaret circuit.

For more than 10 years Gilchrist performed in nightclubs and was a spokesman for the carpet company and for Alcan aluminum.

"I was the Alcan Man," he said.

Tougher drunken driving laws in Australia hurt the nightclub business, so in the '90s Gilchrist launched a career performing on cruise ships. Now that he's paid his dues, he's ready for the Entertainment Capital of the World.

"People seem pleased to see a bit of Broadway in Vegas," he said. "I'm hoping that it will take on."

Lounging around

Sultry Christy Coffey and the Swingin' Cats debuted Thursday night at Piero's Trattoria, 325 Hughes Center Drive, launching the restaurant's Thursday night series "Hot Notes at the Trat." Performances are 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Three good acts to catch in the lounges at Fitzgeralds: Impressionist Larry G. Jones, Craig Newell and his "Tribute to Elvis" and Michael Lee, "Singer of Memories."

Caesars Palace is a haven for lounge lovers -- the venue has six of them that feature entertainment: Cleopatra's Barge (Groove City performing); La Piazza (Tony Tillman); Terrazza (Ghalib Ghallab Experience); Galleria Bar (Mark Verabian and Billy Stevenson); Cafe Lago Restaurant (David Osborne and Danny DeMorales) and Shadow (daily dance performances).

The Bellagio also has six lounges, but only four with entertainment: the Allegro Jazz Lounge (featuring Boy Katindig and The Steven Lee Group & No Fear); Baccarat Bar (Morrie Louden, Tuesdays through Saturdays, and Bruce Zarka, Sundays through Thursdays) and the Fontana (Jimmy Hopper); Petrossian (Jeff Cox). For those who just want a quiet drink, there's Nectar and the Pool Bar.