Characters and music keep coming in one-woman show

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Who: Kelly Clinton

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Dec. 26

Where: Suncoast Showroom

Tickets: $22 to $33; 636-7075

You won't recognize Kelly Clinton when she first appears.

Wearing an enormous fake rear end and black wig and speaking with an accent that is vaguely Hispanic, the normally thin ball of energy waddled into the audience and mingled with the crowd, calling herself Madonica.

Apparently her mother wanted to name her Madonna after the real Virgin, not the one who sings "Like a Virgin." And her father was a harmonica player.

Madonica stopped the five-piece band and complained that her employer - Kelly Clinton - was not ready to go on because she had not been given a warning.

She butchered the English language. Hysterically became hysterectomy. Celine Dion became Salon Dejon - "You know. The one who is married to her grandfather."

Clinton, who is appearing at the Suncoast each Wednesday in December, is a consummate showman. She's part comedian, part singer. She can slink around onstage with the best of dancers. She does impressions. She immerses herself in a variety of characters.

Her fans from places like the Bootlegger and Turnberry Place's Stirling Club, where she is entertainment director, are aware of the breadth of Clinton's talent. But they may have seen only bits and pieces of it as she hosts different shows. Rarely have they seen it all rolled into one.

This one-woman show gives her the opportunity to show what she's capable of.

Part autobiographical, all entertaining, Clinton's show goes mostly for humor, but it also features songs that touch other emotions, such as Billie Holiday's "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "Good Morning Heartache."

Noted for doing an Elvis shtick - Kelvis - she didn't disappoint, singing "Jailhouse Rock" and a couple of other Elvis tunes while dressed in a blue jumpsuit.

Clinton noted that "Jersey Boys," the musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, will soon be coming to Vegas and so she sang one of their hits - "My Eyes Adored You."

She sang mostly from the older musical libraries - Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World," Frank Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String."

Clinton has a classic number she wrote and often performs - "PMS Blues." Fans got a kick out of that and her "I Like Baldheaded Men," which she sang while working her way through the audience and playing with the hair-challenged.

The 90-minute show was a nice blend of comedy and music, backed by an outstanding band.

The show's quality is a tribute to Clinton's years in show business. She knows how to win over an audience and does it effortlessly.

Clinton moved to Las Vegas from New Jersey when she was 12. Even then, she knew she wanted to be an entertainer, inspired by Carol Burnett.

She's been performing since she was 19 - over the years performing with a long list of headliners, among them Engelbert Humperdinck and Wayne Newton. Kelly does a great Newton impression singing "Danke Schoen."

Clinton's show was one woman - but two person.

Vocalist Ted Davey (one of the members of the Las Vegas Tenors) performed two numbers - Paul Simon's "Late in the Evening" (which he sang solo while Clinton changed costumes) and "I Got You Babe," playing Sonny to Clinton's Cher.