Impressionist Acosta returns

Friday, June 18, 2004 | 8:13 a.m.

In his own voice, impressionist Bill Acosta talked about his entertainment career.

"When I was 5 or 6 the family moved to New Orleans," said Acosta, who will perform at the Suncoast tonight through Sunday.

Acosta was born in Dallas and then lived in Gonzales, Texas, for a few years, where his Episcopal minister father had a church.

"I don't remember much about it, except that you could be up to your neck in mud and dust would blow in your face," Acosta said. "New Orleans, that's my home."

It's where he acquired a love of music, especially jazz.

"New Orleans is a very rhythmical place," Acosta said. "It sparked my interest in music."

He sang in the choir at his father's church until he was kicked out for being too disruptive.

"People were trying to put folk music to church music, so I thought, 'Why not jazz?' They said, 'No way,' " Acosta said.

By the time he was 15 he was singing in New Orleans nightclubs.

Shortly before he was 18 his father was hired to be the minister of a church in Dauphin Island, a small town in Alabama.

"New Orleans was wearing him out," Acosta said.

Reluctantly, Acosta went along.

He got jobs singing in local bars until a couple from San Francisco heard him and encouraged him to pursue his career in the City by the Bay.

Acosta was 18 when he headed west in 1965. For a year he lived in an apartment on Farrell Steet, off Powell and Geary, not far from Union Square in the heart of The City.

He had occasional gigs, singing jazz and pop tunes for meals and drinks, but his primary source of income was as a waiter. One of his jobs was at the historic Lefty O'Doul's.

"At one time, I was a singing waiter, which went over like a pork chop at a bar mitzvah," Acosta said.

He had a one-night gig at the legendary Purple Onion.

"I knew how to sing and hold a mike," Acosta said. "Other than that, I had no clue what I was doing."

It was the Vietnam era, and the war was heating up. He enlisted in the Army one step ahead of the draft, but only served six months before he was discharged for medical reasons -- he had chronic asthma as a child.

After the Army, he went to work at a jazz club operated by his sister in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I got connected with better musicians and learned what arrangements were," Acosta said. "I formed a little bit of an act. I was primarily a singer at that time."

He had been doing impressions since he was a child. Occasionally one would crop up in his act.

"It was a side thing, a fun thing," Acosta said. "They were just for laughs."

He worked in clubs in St. Petersburg and Tampa, eventually getting a gig at the famed Fontainebleau Hotel's Penthouse Lounge.

"I had four and five gigs a night," Acosta said. "I worked at the Penthouse from 1:30 in the morning until 6 in the morning."

While he was performing an amateur pianist named Clifford Perlman would sit in from time to time.

Besides playing the piano, Perlman and his brother Stuart founded a fast-food chain called Lum's, which developed into a billion-dollar corporation.

Lum's bought Caesars Palace in 1969 for $60 million.

"Perlman would come up and sit in on the piano and I'd sing," Acosta recalled. "One night he said, 'You sing good, kid. We're buying Caesars Palace, and you're going to play there.' "

Acosta got a gig at Nero's Nook.

He performed at Caesars Palace lounges off and on for almost 10 years.

It was when he was performing at Cleopatra's Barge in 1976 that he decided to make impressions a major part of his act. Fans responded so well to them that he became an impressionist/singer rather than a singer/impressionist.

Acosta has been associated with Vegas off and on for about 35 years, headlining at venues such as the Aladdin, Dunes, Tropicana, Sands, Luxor and Flamingo.

For the past couple of years he has been performing more outside of Vegas in concerts around the country and Canada. He performs at the Suncoast twice a year. His next engagement will be Dec. 10-12.

Last year Acosta provided the voice for Frank Sinatra in a segment of "Sinatra: His Voice. His World. His Way," a production at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

The production spanned Sinatra's life. Acosta was his voice for the Rat Pack era. Acosta also voiced Peter Lawford.

Acosta says he can't imagine any career for him but performing.

"Since the first applause, I knew it was my career," Acosta said. "I found out I could make money doing what I enjoyed doing for free."