Three movers and shakers to watch in 2012

By John Katsilometes

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 | 4 a.m.

What’s the saying? One is an incident, two is a tradition?

Maybe I just made that up.

No matter, a year ago at this time I wrote of three fascinating figures to watch in VegasVille for the upcoming year. Before rolling out this year’s triumvirate, let’s see how our figures from the 2011 Three to Watch list fared:

Oscar Goodman: Pretty easy call, yes, but Goodman exceeded even his own lofty standards for devouring attention by parlaying his three-term run as mayor of Las Vegas to a promotional restaurant partnership at the Plaza and his own courtroom TV pilot. Oscar’s, for which Goodman is the living and breathing brand, opened last month at the old Center Stage Restaurant under the famed glass dome at the Plaza.

Goodman also has taped the pilot of his courtroom drama/production show, tentatively titled Las Vegas Night Court With Oscar Goodman, at the LVH (formerly Las Vegas Hilton) theater. This concept is sharp and funny and nutty enough to work.

Frankie Moreno: Even I’m beginning to tire of writing Moreno’s name, but I have this bad habit of gravitating to the energy, y’know? Moreno started the year with his airtight, four-piece band in Rush Lounge at the Golden Nugget. After a stop at the Lounge at the Palms, Moreno ended 2011 with a record deal with Sony’s Masterworks label while fronting a roaring 10-piece band (three horns and three string players have been added) as the fully funded headliner at the Stratosphere.

Put it this way: Moreno had never even seen Carrot Top’s show at the start of 2011. On New Year’s Eve, the Topper surprised the audience by delivering Crown Royal to the band onstage. It has been a wildly entertaining ride with this bunch, and the audience is typically populated by such Vegas luminaries as Topper, Zowie Bowie, Greg London, Gordie Brown and Paul Shortino. Crazy fun, each time out.

Brody Dolyniuk: The founder and frontman for the great classic rock cover band Yellow Brick Road started the year with a promising rock ’n’ roll impressions show he showcased, impressively, at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch. But Dolyniuk’s musical and vocal talent and sharp-witted stage presence were not enough to sell the show in Vegas, at least not in 2011.

Weary of the heat and of performing regularly in small casino venues, Dolyniuk moved to Southern California, disappointing longtime fans of YBR but free to pursue more fulfilling projects such as Windborne Music’s touring Queen tribute productions. In June, he drew 2,000 fans to a symphonic rock show at Henderson Pavilion, and there is a strong indication that Dolyniuk will be back in Vegas with that orchestral rock show this year, at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Now we arrive at this year’s Three to Watch. The criteria, again, are that they are Las Vegas movers/shakers who are interesting and making news in some sort of inventive, fascinating and relevant manner:

Myron Martin, president and CEO, Smith Center for the Performing Arts: One of the most ambitious projects in the city’s history, the $460 million Smith Center at Symphony Park opens March 10 with a yet-to-be announced act. The center has booked the Broadway Las Vegas Series at 2,055-seat Reynolds Hall: “The Color Purple” (April 3-8), “Mary Poppins” (May 22-27), “The Million Dollar Quartet” (June 12-17), “Memphis” (July 18-22) and “Wicked” (Aug. 29-Oct. 7).

The Smith Center will serve as the new home to Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Martin also has combed the city for some appealing performers to appear in its cabaret jazz club. Committed to the Smith Center is Clint Holmes, who begins a monthly residency in April. He’ll perform the first Friday and Saturday of each month, and there is some chatter that Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns can inhabit the cabaret azz space weekly, carried by the momentum of their Monday shows at the Palms.

Martin has a long and rich history of cultural affiliation in Vegas dating to his days as executive director of the Liberace Museum in 1995. He also was the head official at the UNLV Performing Arts Center and with Michael Gill co-produced “Hairspray” at the Luxor in 2006. The quick closing of that show, after just 15 weeks, deeply stung Martin, who is always immersed in the arts of Las Vegas. And never more so than in 2012.

Adam Steck, founder and CEO, SPI Entertainment: Count on Steck to uncork a curveball every so often. He turned what many felt would be little more than a quirky novelty act, the Aussie-Motown singing ensemble Human Nature, into one of the finest presentations in the city. The Human Nature Theater at Imperial Palace also is home to Frank Marino’s “Divas Las Vegas” production, a show that remains a high-caliber showcase as Marino celebrates more than 25 years performing in Vegas.

Steck’s “Australian Bee Gees” show opened in February and has shown impressive staying power at Excalibur, and what can we say about Thunder From Down Under? Seriously, you tell me — I’ve never seen it in the more than 10 years it’s played Vegas. But the guys are still a raging success at the Excal, one of Steck’s crowning achievements. Expect something wildly unexpected from him this year, too. It’s the Steck way.

Paul Davis, vice president of entertainment, Hard Rock Hotel: It’s get back, back to where you once belonged at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, and Davis is focusing his efforts on reminding potential concertgoers that “Hard Rock” is not only the hotel’s title, but its theme. Davis’ calculated risk for New Year’s Eve weekend — booking Guns N’ Roses for Friday and Saturday night shows — proved shrewd. Axl Rose and his monster backing band performed for 3 hours in a pair of epic performances that set the stage for a 12-show residency by Motley Crue from Feb. 3-19.

The Crue residency is the first engagement of its kind in Vegas, a hard rock band over a 2-week period in a hotel-casino venue. Expect promotional material and souvenirs to be strewn throughout the hotel. Already, Crue T-shirts and related memorabilia are on sale at the hotel in this return-to-roots campaign, set to remind music fans in the coming year that the Joint is among the best live music venues in the city.

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