Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.
Who: Martin Nievera.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, through Feb. 29.
Where: Golden Nuggets Theatre Ballroom.
Tickets: $45.
Information: (702) 386-8100.
Martin Nievera is not a society of one.
The son of one of the original members of the popular Society of Seven show band is a man of the world, performing everywhere from his native Philippines to Europe.
"The Society of Seven, for me and I say this with as much humility as possible, being the son of one of the founders they have the almost-perfect formula for a well-rounded variety show," Nievera said. "I'm hoping some of it has rubbed off on me."
Audiences can see for themselves at the Golden Nugget's 400-seat Theatre Ballroom, where he will be performing through February.
The Society of Seven performed at the same venue for several months last year before moving to the Aladdin in November 2002. Their gig at the Aladdin ended in September to vacate the room for magician Steve Wyrick.
"Society," which has been around for 35 years, is a variety show that mixes impressions, show tunes, standards and comedy.
Nievera employs his natural sense of humor during his performances, but he is more of a vocalist who also spends a lot of time interacting with his fans.
"I don't do impressions," the 40-year-old entertainer said, "although I may make fun of people doing impressions, like singing a Johnny Mathis song that would be out of character for him to sing."
Nievera, who has a huge following in the Philippines, grew up immersed in show business. There was never any question about his destiny.
"There was a time when I had an illusion of becoming an architect, but walls started falling," he said.
Nievera's dream was to be an entertainer.
"I bestow this on my children: to have a dream," Nievera said. "I would rather have a dream than a job of course you may go hungry."
Nievera was born in Manila, but at age 3 his father, Robert, moved the family to Honolulu.
"I was born in the Philippines and grew up in Hawaii, so that makes me Puerto Rican," he laughed.
Robert Nievera was a professional singer
and had a radio show in Manila before joining the Fabulous Echoes in Hong Kong. The Echoes had six members when Nievera came along with his arrival the group became the Society of Seven.
"My father was the Johnny Mathis of the Philippines," Nievera said. "He actually won a contest doing a Mathis tribute."
Robert Nievera was the balladeer with the Society of Seven for 10 years before striking out on his own. He was with them when they debuted at the Outrigger hotel's main showroom in Honolulu, where they (or one of their offshoots) have performed for 35 years.
Martin Nievera said when he was growing up he spent a lot of time hiding in sound booths and beneath bars during performances by the Society of Seven.
"I was too young to be in the clubs, so they hid me," he said.
He recalls hiding places in the now-defunct Thunderbird and the Glass Slipper.
"I remember a semi-topless place," Nievera said. "Only one breast was showing."
Not surprisingly, when he was growing up he envisioned himself becoming a member of the Society.
The closest he came was performing at the Outrigger for a couple of months when the Society was away on tour.
"I had always imagined myself standing in the exact spot where my father had stood on the stage of the Outrigger," Nievera said. "And the dream finally came true."
Robert Nievera is semi-retired in Manila, where he owns several restaurants and occasionally performs for fun.
The younger Nievera has picked up the entertainment gauntlet and has been cutting records and performing in concerts for 26 years. He tailors his shows to the venues -- at the Golden Nugget he will do what he describes as "a Vegas-type show," in which he will perform hits by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and others.
"I'm not imitating them, but paying tribute to them," he said.
Nievera says his show is the audience.
"I feed off of my fans," he said. "I thrive on their energy."
Much of Nievera's performance (which is backed by a 10-piece band) is ad-libbed, and so he says no one will see the exact same show twice.
"I never know what to expect," he said. "That kind of scares the Nugget."
During the course of the evening he says he will "sneak in a couple of my own songs."
Nievera, a songwriter, also has 25 albums to his credit.
"All of them are platinum," he said.
That sounds impressive, but they are platinum in the Philippines, where the standard for platinum is 80,000 units sold -- in the United States it's based on 1 million sales.
His goal is to conquer Vegas, beginning with the Golden Nugget -- he had a two-night engagement there in January 2003. He was brought back for a month's stay in June and now he has a two-month gig at the downtown venue.
Since his arrival he has become one of Clint Holmes' biggest fans.
"He's my God right now," said Nievera, who appeared earlier this week on the talk show "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton."
Even before he came to Las Vegas he was familiar with Holmes, headliner at Harrah's.
"People were always telling me how much Clint reminded them of me," Nievera said.
He says his style is much like Holmes' -- open and personable.
"We have a lot in common," Nievera noted. "He does some of the songs that I would do -- and his mother was an opera singer, and my grandmother, Lourdes Coralles, was a well-known soprano in the Philippines."
Although he has performed at venues with a seating capacity of 14,000, he says the 400-seat showroom at the Nugget is the biggest gig of his career.
"I'm hoping it will snowball," Nievera said. "I am very, very happy at the Nugget, and I wouldn't mind staying there, but hopefully one day I will be moving down the Strip."
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