Ol’ Blue Eyes led us through a swingin’ 2015 in Las Vegas

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 | 2 a.m.

This was the year I discovered Frank Sinatra. Not just “listened to” Sinatra. I’d already done that. But this was the time I really learned about the greatest saloon singer of them all. This was achieved through the course of reporting and writing a series of columns and a Las Vegas Weekly cover story about the celebration of his 100th birthday (Dec. 12 being the date), where I found a remarkable level of idolization of Sinatra among those who knew him.

And I am talking about some really famous, legendary people of high achievement: Steve Wynn, Jerry Lewis, Steve Lawrence, Tony Bennett and Wayne Newton among them. To a person, they spoke of Sinatra in idolatry terms. Lewis showed me the “gooseflesh” he was feeling as he remembered watching Sinatra at the Copa Room at the Sands. Wynn and Newton recalled casual conversations with Sinatra as if they’d happened yesterday. Lawrence said, upon meeting the Chairman, that “I was just in awe of this man.”

Bennett said he owed his long run of sold-out shows to Sinatra, who told Life magazine 50 years ago that Bennett was “the best singer in the business.” “I idolized him from the very beginning.”

Not bad, huh?

In this stretch, I listened to Sinatra music relentlessly. One recording I’d not owned: “Sinatra at the Sands.” Backed by Count Basie under the direction and arrangement of a then-upstart producer named Quincy Jones, this recording from the Copa Room in 1966 brings alive that era. You feel you are in the room, and when Sinatra kicks in with, “One for My Baby,” singing the opening line, “It’s quarter to three …” you are really present. “This is a drunk song, and a drunk song is sung or read by a guy who’s got problems,” Sinatra tells the audience, “like his broad flew the coop with another guy and all the bread.”

So in looking back, as Sinatra would say, it’s one for my baby and another one for the road. Set ’em up, Joe:

Eager for the return of: “For the Record: Baz,” wherever and whenever that might be. As “FTR” founder and the show’s executive producer Shane Scheel said, “We are looking to find a proper venue, a warmer venue, to bring the show back bigger and better than before.” He said that in August, and there has yet to be an announcement of the show’s future, but in relation to that show …

We’ll miss Ruby Lewis: She breezed into town as an unknown, playing the role of Daisy in “Baz” and guest-starring in Human Nature’s holiday show. She just moved to New York this week, prepping for a starring role in “Paramour,” Cirque’s du Soleil’s first Broadway production.

I feel this: Frankie Moreno, Strip residency, in 2016.

Under-the-Radar Space of the Year: Liberty Loft, the 300-capacity venue atop Tom’s Urban at New York-New York. It’s about to be thrown open for some sort of purpose, and entertainers and producers in town have been poking around wondering if their show idea is a good fit. For now, it’s mostly a convention space with entertainment possibilities.

What’s up with the Osmonds? Donny recovered from throat surgery in time to return to the stage in September, and the duo announced another year at the Flamingo through the end of 2016. Also a distinct possibility in this stretch is Marie performing with a partner who is not Donny (oooh, intrigue).

Hang of the Year: A night at “Absinthe” with Jerry Lewis and his family.

Quote of the Year: “We used to do that act, but we had to quit. Dean hated being on the bottom.” From Lewis, during the Duo Vector human-balancing act.

Funniest act: During Melody Sweets’ “Big Top Circus & Burlesque” show at the Spiegeltent in June, Jimmy Slonina, one of the clowns in “O,” used a blow-up doll to satirize Duo Vector. So inspired was this act that it could be in “Absinthe” or “O” or any show incorporating comedy.

Single of the Year: Sweets’ holiday sendup, “Santa, Maybe …”

Great sendoff concerts: Rush in June for its 40th anniversary (with no firm plans to return to the stage after this year) and Motley Crue just last Sunday. Both at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Anniversary to be applauded: Lon Bronson’s All-Star Band celebrated No. 25 with a flamethrower of a performance at Cabaret Jazz featuring a guest appearance by Penn Jillette singing “The Clothes of the Dead.”

I had lunch with this guy in New York: Steve Schirripa, who signed Bronson 25 years ago when Schirripa was entertainment director at the Riviera. And if you think Schirripa, a cast member of “The Sopranos,” can walk Manhattan unnoticed, you would be wrong.

Debut of the Year: Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns at Cab Jazz, just making it before the final buzzer of 2015 on Dec. 28.

Greatest appearance at the Electric Daisy Carnival: Bryan Cranston, summoning some Walter White action during a surprise appearance to kick off Above & Beyond’s set at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The place came apart.

Great moment at the Gossy Room: When Matt-Matt-Matty reaches through the legs of the Dirty Virgins dancer straddling the VIP section to shake hands with fans.

Tragic timing, Las Vegas-style: Fluff LeCoque died Dec. 10 at age 92. Two days later, the show she helped create, “Jubilee,” announced that it was closing in February after 34 years.

Unsung hero alert: Diane Palm of “Jubilee,” forever a showgirl.

In the pits before the checkered flag award: To Bob Anderson’s “Frank: The Man, The Music,” closing two weeks before Sinatra’s 100th birthday celebration Dec. 12.

The night that made me feel like I lived in Las Vegas during The Rat Pack heyday: Hanging with Anderson, music director Vince Falcone, Dennis Bono and Lorraine Hunt Bono, Jerry Tiffe and assorted Old Vegas scenesters at the Italian American Club the night after Anderson’s show closed. “Mr. Sinatra wanted me to arrange a medley of Neapolitan songs,” Falcone recalled. “You mean, like ice cream?” Anderson called back. Damn fun night.

Unexpected comedy team: Flavor Flav and Carrot Top. The former’s appearance in the audience of the latter’s show at Luxor touched off real excitement in the crowd, with cries of “Yeah, Boooooy!” filling the room. Flav also showed up at Mike Hammer’s Celebrity Go-Kart Ride at Gene Woods Racing Experience on Sunday and interrupted Chris Phillips of Zowie Bowie’s rendition of the national anthem, at the “at the rockets’ red glare!” part.

I had no idea …: Seth McFarlane was such a great deliverer of standards. Great performance highlighted the “Sinatra 100: A Grammy Celebration” at Encore Theater.

Land Transaction of the Year: Penn Jillette leasing, or essentially handing over, his 10-acre property and home known as the Slammer to the United Church of Bacon. “Bacon Prophet” John Whiteside plans to use the compound as a community center for atheists and critical thinkers.

Always a thrill ride: Oscar Goodman’s dinner/speaker series at Oscar’s at the Plaza.

They did rock Broadway: Penn & Teller performed one of the most successful runs on Broadway in 2015, nearly selling out the entirety of a two-month stay at Marquis Theater in New York. Artistically and financially successful, the duo returned to Las Vegas for a revamped show at the Rio, where, in fact, they make more money than they did on Broadway. But the investors who put on those shows would love a return in 2016.

He’s lost the equivalent of a flyweight: Jillette has shed 100 to 115 pounds since the fall of 2014.

Toys are us! Through many toy drives during the holiday season, the city raised tens of thousands of toys for needy kids all over the valley. Chet Buchanan led the way with $430,315 and collected 5,783 bicycles in the 17th annual KLUC Toy Drive on West Sahara Avenue (where Buchanan again spent 10 days in a perch in the NV Energy parking lot).

In a quirky turn of events, we had dual shows benefitting Toys for Tots, with the one sanctioned by Marine Corps Reserves and sponsored by Cadillac at Orleans Showroom bringing in more than $200,000 (a record for the event) and 3,000 toys. An offshoot show benefitting Toys for Tots at Tropicana Theater, coordinated by local producer Jonathan Scott, raised $3,000 worth of toys and $5,000 in ticket sales. Scott says he’ll be back next year, too, though there has been grumbling that his show used the Marine Corps crest and Toys for Tots logo without approval.

Thwarted showroom renovation action: After well more than $100,000 was spent on renovations to the old Versailles Theater, the Riv closed in May before any of those upgrades were seen by the public.

Event that was a knockout only financially: After years of buildup, the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout at MGM Grand was 12 uneventful rounds controlled by the Money Man (one judge scored the fight 118-110, an easy Mayweather decision). The fight did incredible business, though, with 4.6 million pay-per-view buys leading to a record $410 million in PPV sales. Incredible. The story of this fight was Money and money, more than Pacquiao’s trick shoulder (which was revealed after the bout). That type of revenue has fueled speculation that these two will indeed meet again, at Las Vegas Arena, because even 50 percent of that kind of money is a lot of money.

We didn’t know it at the time, but … May’s Rock in Rio USA festival, played out over two weekends, would be the only event staged at MGM Resorts Festival Grounds (now called Las Vegas Festival Grounds) in 2015. Looking forward to the “Party for a Cause” show scheduled for April 1-3, a complementary festival to the Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Talk of the Route 91 Festival moving from Las Vegas Village to the Festival Grounds seems to be at least a year premature.

That said, one of the city’s great entertainment success stories …: Las Vegas Village, just the right size for a 25,000-capacity festival, and the view of the Strip is peerless.

Unexpected treat: Pitbull’s rowdy residency at Axis theater at Planet Hollywood. Dang, dude. Save some for next time (and expect him to return in the spring).

Catch him at the most unexpected moments: “America’s Got Talent” champ Michael Grimm, who has played Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel, Brooklyn Bridge at New York-New York and Brendan’s Irish Pub at the Orleans over the past year.

Research this puppet show if you feel it is at all like Terry Fator’s production at the Mirage: “Puppetry of the Penis” at the Erotic Heritage Museum, which did make it to the end of the year and is still being staged.

To Las Vegas Arena? Really? Reunited Guns N’ Roses rumored to be eyeing a date at the arena as part of an upcoming U.S. tour. This explains the eradication of most band members in the latest lineup that played the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Shows to undergo revamping: All of this in the first half of 2016, “Believe” at Luxor (expected to be renamed “Mindfreak Live”), still starring Criss Angel; “Love” at Mirage, with updated scenes and technology and revamped soundscape from Giles Martin; and “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers,” where in the spring the focus will be on adding more contemporary numbers.

A likeable star who was not a bankable star: Suzanne Somers, whose highly appealing show failed to sizzle at Westgate Cabaret.

Seriously, he looked like an impressionist: Martin Fontaine’s performance in the ill-fated “Elvis: The Experience” at International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas looked a lot like a very polished adaptation of an Elvis tribute show. And we have seen a lot of that around here already.

But the Westgate still burns with …: “Sexxy” starring Jennifer Romas and Purple Reign, the Prince tribute fronted by Jason Tenner. (Cameo remains under contract to play Westgate Cabaret, but no starting date has yet been announced.)

Get to see these shows, pronto, Tonto: “Alice” at Brooklyn Bowl on Jan. 12 and David Perrico’s Pop Strings at the Palms on recurring Saturdays (the next are Jan. 16 and Jan. 30).

May they rock forever: “Rock of Ages,” moving to the Rio, and “Million Dollar Quartet,” churning out the oldies at Harrah’s.

Quirky concept that worked magnificently: Andy Walmsley’s “Drop the Mic” show at the Sayers Club brought out the silliness in everyone in the room. We had pasties. We had URL (Ubiquitous Robin Leach) performing “Happy.” We had a juggler (Jeff Civillico of the Flamingo) in yoga pants. And we had the Hammer, Mike of Four Queens, as the able ringleader. The fact that Murray Sawchuck beat out Eric Jordan Young had a few of us crying, “Fix!” Only in Vegas …

Starting Grammy buzz now for ...: Clint Holmes’ upcoming CD. Count Basie Orchestra backing at Capitol Records with Gregg Field producing. Jane Monheit, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Patty Austin on the duets. Holmes is nothing short of heroic (blurb alert!) in this effort.

Onstage Injury of the Year: During a Zowie Bowie show at Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort, singer Nieve Malandra spun and cracked Phillips above his right eye, opening a cut and causing a pretty impressive shiner. But he forged ahead, which is why he has survived for nearly 10 years (glass wall or no) at Rocks Lounge.

Something I said to Dana Satterwhite during the holiday show hosted by his wife, Kristen Hertzenberg, and Philip Fortenberry at Cabaret Jazz: After Hertzenberg performed a version of “O Holy Night” so powerful it led to tears and a standing ovation, I leaned over to Dana and said, “This chick is tracked.” We laughed through the next song, whatever it was, and this is the sort of moment that keeps me going.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.