Columnist Kate Maddox: Boggs McDonald returns to her musical roots

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, only in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach her at [email protected].

Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald is moonlighting.

It's nothing risque, but the Ward 2 representative is pulling some serious double duty around town. Boggs McDonald is pursuing her lifelong love of singing.

Las Vegas' talented City Council member spends most of her Sundays singing with -- and assistant directing -- the gospel choir at St. James Catholic Church.

She has also been singing at weddings and funerals and even directed the musical portion of Mayor Oscar Goodman's Nov. 12 prayer breakfast, which included soloists, groups and performers.

Boggs McDonald's passion for singing was something she discovered as a child and developed during her undergraduate years at Notre Dame, where she was a cantor at the cathedral on campus (as well as a cheerleader for the school team.)

When she was 24, McDonald entered a state pageant and emerged as 1989's Miss Oregon -- and the winner of the talent competition. Then it was on to the Miss America Pageant ... OK, so she didn't win, but she gave it her all in the vocal talent department.

Her career path changed somewhere along the way, but music was always in the background. Boggs McDonald doesn't mind spending her free time singing for others in the Las Vegas community. She says that music is always a solace for her and that it's a wonderful way to release life's stresses.

Superstar country singer Clint Black will be performing at the Circus Maximus Showroom at Caesars in a couple of weeks and the buzz is that it won't be an entirely solo performance.

Black and his wife, actress Lisa Hartman Black, sing the hit duet "When I Said I Do," which shot to the top of both the Billboard and R&R country charts this week.

Hartman Black was rumored to be more than a little bit apprehensive about singing with her talented husband on his new record, but she bowed to the pressure and is now said to be thrilled with the song's success.

Look for the blue-eyed former "Knots Landing" star to join her husband onstage for the hit duet when the two are in town for Clint's concerts Dec. 9-12.

Along the same lines ... members of the Clint Black Fan Club, who will be in Vegas for his concert, have organized a project to help local children in need. The fan club will be collecting new toys and books to donate to the local children's charity Childhaven. Contact the fan club for more information at [email protected].

Stephen Rodrick, the author of December's GQ article on the Ted Binion murder scandal, managed to secure a keepsake token of the quality time he spent with Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish just before they were arrested in June.

Rodrick, who met Murphy and Tabish simply by knocking on the door of the Henderson apartment they shared, spent a few days hanging out with the couple and taking in some of the sights of Vegas.

One of the threesome's outings included a trip to the SkyScreamer, a 250-foot bungee jump of sorts. Rodrick says he linked arms with the murder suspects and the three screamed and laughed their way down.

Rodrick was thinking ahead, however. He purchased a video of the monumental plunge and now has the tape, which he told me he keeps for personal entertainment. Whichever way the case goes, at least Rodrick has his own piece of Las Vegas history.

Dominick Dunne, the writer who chronicles the rich and famous at their very worst, will be back in Las Vegas in a few weeks to follow up on the multifaceted Patricia Margello murder trial. Dunne, calling from Venice, Italy, said that he plans to return to Vegas in time for the sentencing of Christopher Moseley. Moseley, who pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire charges, is the husband of Lisa Dean Moseley, a direct descendent of the wealthy du Pont family.

Dunne, who has written about the trials of O.J. Simpson, William Kennedy Smith, and Claus von Bulow, plans a follow-up to his initial Moseley/du Pont story, which was published in the September issue of Vanity Fair. Dunne said that he was not sure whether he would write Part Two before or after Moseley's sentencing, but he did say that either way he would be here to assume his regular position as courtroom voyeur.

David Osborne, the pianist at the Palace Court Restaurant at Caesars Palace, will show off his talents at one of the biggest and best holiday soirees of the season.

Osborne will play for the first family and their guests at the annual White House Christmas party in Washington on Dec. 12.

archive