Columnist Joe Delaney: NFR entertainment is plentiful

Joe Delaney's column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or [email protected].

The National Finals Rodeo is building to a big climax Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center ... The rodeo is usually sold out months in advance ... If you do have tickets, these are the most exciting events tonight through Sunday ... This is also the time to catch up with such country favorites as Clint Black (LV Hilton), Tanya Tucker (Orleans) and Clay Walker (Sam's Town).

The entertainment excitement starts at 11 p.m., right after the rodeo, with Ricky & the Redstreaks in the Stardust Ballroom ... Country stars, rodeo stars and those in the know convene with Ricky & Co.

Alternative show choices: Bill Acosta (Flamingo Las Vegas); David Brenner (Golden Nugget); Clint Holmes (Harrah's); Fab Four (LV Hilton); Blue Man Group (Luxor); Carrot Top, plus Rita Rudner, plus Tommy Tune starring in "EFX" (MGM Grand); Danny Gans (Mirage); Wayne Brady (Monte Carlo); and David Cassidy-Sheena Easton (Rio).

Anent Wayne Newton

Wayne Newton closes tonight (Stardust) and returns Dec. 26-Jan. 7 ... The E! channel (Cox cable channel 36) aired a two-hour documentary on Newton that was well produced and worth viewing ... We enjoyed being part of it ... Country comedian Bill Engvall performs in the Stardust's Wayne Newton Theater Friday and Saturday, with singing impressionist Bob Anderson in Sunday through Dec. 22, making room for Asian Nights on Dec. 16 and 23.

"Legends of Comedy" is a new nightly offering at the New Frontier with replications of Jack Benny, George Burns, Rodney Dangerfield, Jay Leno and Roseanne, each well done ... Critique appears in Friday's Sun.

More alternative choices: Check out the entire Flamingo Las Vegas lineup: "Bottoms Up," afternoons; "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus," 7:30 p.m., Acosta's "Lasting Impressions," 10 p.m., Justin Tranz' "Hip-nosis," midnight Friday and Saturday, plus "Forever Plaid."

Ego vs. talent

The late Bobby Darin was prominently featured in the aforementioned Newton documentary ... He was a major factor in developing Newton's career ... Darin was taught the lyrics of "Mack the Knife" by the late Frank Assunto of the original Dukes of Dixieland ... The Dukes were playing at the Cloisters on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s.

Darin would sit in with the group nightly ... The Dukes' arrangement was loosely based on an earlier Louis Armstrong version ... Darin's arrangement was based on the Dukes' chart but using a full orchestra ... He wanted Assunto to cancel their dates and go on tour with him.

The bookings were lucrative and the Dukes refused Darin ... He prevailed upon me to intercede and I refused ... Darin was insistent and I finally told him that his ego-talent ratio needed an adjustment. "If your talent ever equalled your ego, you would be the next Al Jolson."

Darin concluded

From that time until his too-early death in December 1973, we became great friends ... Darin was a concerned citizen, very bright, a tremendous talent ... He would drop by the house in the afternoon when playing Las Vegas ... At the start or the close of each time we spent together, he would ask how his ego-talent ratio was coming along.

His life story, properly told, would make a powerful motion picture ... It should be done ... He has been gone 27 years and three stars -- Newton, Paul Anka and Tony Orlando -- still include Darin tributes in their performances.

There is a great deal of Darin in David Cassidy ... There is a great deal of a lot of people in Cassidy, to the point where his own persona is obscured ... He is a great salesman, but needs a better ego-talent ratio, if this be possible ... Query: Who is the real David Cassidy?

Thursday addenda

Peter Marshall and Lisa Donovan received great reviews for their Judy Garland tribute several Saturdays ago at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif. ... Donovan had just returned from a successful Australian tour with her "Judy, Judy, Judy" one-woman show ... Second and last weekend for "Hamlet" in UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre.

Sunday jazz: World's Smallest Jazz Band, 2-5 p.m. (Swede's Corner), and the Ernie George Trio with Gus Mancuso and Tom Ferguson, 5-9 p.m. (Paisano's) ... See you Friday.

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