Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand: Leave it to Bernie to get a winner on Broadway

Bernie Yuman

Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Bernie Yuman

Bernie Yuman is back on his feet.

Twelve years ago, when Siegfried and Roy’s career ended with a terrible onstage accident at the Mirage, the man behind the scenes but in front of all the action, Bernie Yuman, saw his own remarkable career flash before his eyes.

It wasn’t really over for my friend, Bernie, because he doesn’t have the words “no” or “can’t” in his rather extensive vocabulary. A vocabulary, I might add, that he employs to regale you with all manner of superlative insights, whether talking about Siegfried and Roy; his dear and longtime friend Muhammad Ali; Coach Don Shula or any number of personalities whose lives Bernie has positively affected during his decades-long career of managing to do the seemingly impossible.

At this point, Bernie would tell me I’m giving “way too much information,” but I am just getting started in talking about what I am feeling. For I remember the dark times, the difficult times, the impossible times that followed that awful night at the Mirage and the struggles which would have felled any other human being. But not Mr. Yuman.

Thursday night in New York, the next “really big show” hit Broadway.

“On Your Feet,” the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, opened to rave reviews — no surprise there — and every one of them is deserved. Myra and I were some of the lucky “friends and family” who were invited by one of the show’s producers and the man who conceived it all many years ago. I know. I was there.

When a show opens on Broadway to the sights and sounds of crowds singing and dancing and the reams of positive reviews from the fickle and jaded press flowing like water, it is, well, rare. It is rare because it is hard to do.

I know there were many people involved in making “On Your Feet” the huge success that it will become, starting, of course, with Gloria and Emilio. There is plenty of credit to go around. But I want to focus on Bernie.

I remember seven years ago when Bernie had this idea that he could bring the quintessential American dream realized — the Estefans’ life story — to Las Vegas. He knew it would be a big hit and, frankly, a huge draw for the Las Vegas hotel willing to take a chance. Alas, it was seven years ago and it was hard to find any hotel willing to look past the devastation of the 2008 crash long enough to even listen.

One man, Alex Yemenidjian, who had just bought the Tropicana, was very interested but was too early in his ownership to tackle an idea so big and so bold. But his encouragement was all Bernie Yuman needed. If Las Vegas wasn’t ready for Bernie, he would go to a place that would understand his dream. Broadway!

And so he went. Along his way to New York he assembled one of the most dynamic teams of singers, dancers, directors, designers and choreographers and, of course, producers — the folks with the money to make it all happen.

So, here we are seven long years later — years that have flown by like months ­— and Bernie has a huge hit on his hands. His friends and colleagues couldn’t be happier for him. He will never admit it, but he deserves a large amount of good.

So, why am I writing this? In part it is to acknowledge what hard work, perseverance, some creativity and an unwillingness to never say never can achieve. In part it is to recognize Bernie’s singular ability to overcome all in his path. And, in part, it is to encourage Bernie to go back to his big idea that brought him to Broadway in the first place.

Las Vegas, where the road to Broadway started.

This play belongs in the Entertainment Capital of the World. The hotel owners might not have seen it seven years ago, but it is impossible to miss today. “On Your Feet” is a winner, plain and simple.

Come on, Bernie, get on your feet and make it happen.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.

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