Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 8:36 a.m.
He has created a fun show with broad-based appeal using a technique as old as vaudeville -- staging a series of unrelated acts that amazes, amuses and thrills an audience without busting the family budget.
Saxe teaches a course in hotel entertainment at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration.
It's a part-time position. His full-time job is producing, a profession the 34-year-old wunderkind of Las Vegas show business has pursued since age 15.
Professor Saxe's own education in entertainment began at the age of 5, when he would help his bandleader father, Dick Saxe, set up equipment. The prolific producer rivals Cirque du Soleil in the sheer number of productions treading the local boards.
Cirque has three shows -- "O" at Bellagio, "Mystere" at Treasure Island and "Zumanity" at New York-New York. A fourth production is scheduled to debut next year at the MGM Grand.
Saxe also has three -- "Showgirls of Magic" at the San Remo, "V" at The Venetian and now "Ovation." He's looking at bringing a fourth to town -- "Giddy-Up," a country music show Saxe soon will open in Atlantic City.
Cirque's multimillion-dollar productions, which have ticket prices in the $100 range (depending on the show), might be considered the Rolls-Royces of local entertainment. Saxe's are more like Volkswagens -- less expensive (in the $50 range), but just as reliable. You can always count on a good performance. The professor knows how to entertain people and he doesn't have to spend millions to do so.
"Ovation" (co-produced by John Stuart of "Legends in Concert") is a knock-off of "V." Saxe could probably sue himself for plagiarism.
Both productions feature speciality acts, including performers who divert the audience's attention onstage while the main show is making a change behind the curtain.
"Ovation" is billed as "V" for Generation X, for no apparent reason other than to try and distinguish the two productions.
But the distinction is unimportant. Both shows are entertaining, a fun way to spend an evening -- and suitable for the family.
There may be enough excellent specialty acts around town for Saxe to create additional revues.
He has found some of the best for "Ovation," which is performed in the former Seville nightclub/restaurant. The Seville has been converted into the 400-seat Ovation Theater, which is modest by Cirque standards, but functional for this production's purposes.
The main problem with the venue is a couple of vision-limiting pillars in the middle of the room.
The show opens with 20-year-old Serena Henry singing a splendid R&B version of "America." Henry, who once toured with Gladys Knight, was a finalist on the NBC television show "Fame" earlier this year.
Following Henry is a puppeteer known only as "Christopher," who quickly lightens up the audience with a side-splitting routine involving four life-sized Village People dummies attached by two poles on either side.
With Christopher (as the Indian chief) in the middle of the line of mannequins manipulating the poles, the dummies respond as if they are real people, dancing to "YMCA" and other hits by the Village People.
Comedian Mark Kornhauser follows with a memory act that is astounding.
He begins by asking members of the audience for their zip codes, and then identifies their hometown -- or the largest city near their home.
After hearing the zip codes of about 10 volunteers, he then repeats all of them -- in order.
Each of the acts is a crowd pleaser: Anthony Gatto ("The World's Greatest Juggler"); Tino Ferreira (who does a balancing act on cylinders); magician Jason Byrne; the tap-dancing team "All That" and the acrobatic team "Aerial Adage."
The tightly structured production by the high-dollar Cirque organization has its limitations -- it is difficult to replace acts in the show without disrupting the flow.
The beauty of Saxe's Volkswagen is that the parts are interchangeable. He can move the acts around, transfer them from show to show, bring in new ones and delete ones that don't work.
And you get more smiles per gallon.
archive
