The ‘T’ stands for talent at Stage One’s dinner shows

Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun

Monday, April 2, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

Who: T. Fox & the Fox City Show

When: 7 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays

Where: Stage One Night Club, 707 E. Fremont St.

Tickets: $34.95, includes five-course dinner; 433-8253

Stage One isn't the only venue in town trying to keep the Vegas entertainment tradition alive.

T. Fox was born to entertain.

It must be in his genes, something you notice when he and his mother perform their cabaret act for a dinner show at the Stage One Night Club.

When T. Fox finishes "Mona Lisa," he hands off the microphone to Mama Fox. She belts out "What a Difference a Day Makes" while her son rushes to a dressing room to change costumes.

Mama Fox - real name Maria Jackson - sings, dances and mingles with the crowd, giving her son time to catch his breath. In her day, she performed with legends such as Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan and once backed up Billy Eckstine.

And Mama Fox installed the engine that drives T. Fox to make sure his audience has a good time. The 43-year-old entertainer is in constant motion from the moment he hits the stage, refusing to allow anyone to be bored at one of his dinner shows.

He presents a smorgasbord of music from the big band through hip-hop eras. He covers songs by the likes of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Louis Armstrong, Luther Vandross, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis Jr. The nonstop entertainment also includes the Fox City Dancers - T. Fox's wife, Imani; choreographer Shea Palluck, a former Denver Broncos cheerleader; Melissa Rincon; and Martine Buffet.

Not enough people know about this cabaret at 707 E. Fremont St. - otherwise the shows would be packing in the fans.

Stage One is near the heart of old Las Vegas, an area that fell on hard times but is slowly being transformed. Several nightclubs have opened in the Entertainment District - with more planned - to keep alive old downtown Vegas and the entertainment tradition of a bygone era.

T. Fox is doing his part.

Former dancer Alice Key celebrated her 96th birthday at a recent performance and was impressed.

"You are as talented as anyone I know," Key told T. Fox. "I always said Sammy Davis Jr. was the most talented entertainer in the world. You make me wonder."

Key was a chorus girl in the Cotton Club in New York City in the early days, performing with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Armstrong and Ethel Waters. She came to Las Vegas in 1955 to work at the legendary Moulin Rouge, the city's first integrated casino, built in West Las Vegas.

The Moulin Rouge lasted only about six months, but it was one of the most exciting venues in a town still in the throes of segregation. It's still talked about more than 50 years later.

Key was at the cabaret with a group that included other entertainers who performed at the Moulin Rouge - dancers Dee Dee Jasmin and Anna Bailey and Bob "Doc" Bailey, a former vocalist with the Count Basie Band who was the master of ceremonies at the Moulin Rouge. Bailey, who is 80, became famous in Las Vegas for his political activism, his commitment to minority business development and his work on behalf of civil rights.

He also gives high praise to T. Fox:

"He's as talented as those he paid tribute to here tonight."