REVIEW: Revamped ‘Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers’ is showbiz wow, razzmatazz at its finest
Review from Las Vegas Sun
https://lasvegassun.com/vegasdeluxe/2015/jun/09/review-revamped-steve-wynns-showstoppers-showbiz-w/
How do you add 12 minutes of new songs and music to a show and in making it longer also seem faster? Only the magic of hotel mogul Steve Wynn could pull off that feat, but he’s accomplished the impossible with his “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers” spectacle of 66 singers, dancers and full orchestra.
The dazzling costumes and scenery of the seven weekly shows add to the style that is uniquely Steve. This is showbiz wow and razzmatazz at its finest! No wonder the audience is standing up cheering and applauding by the end of the extravaganza.
Last Thursday, Vegas DeLuxe posted a lengthy Q+A with Steve’s producer Rick Gray, who is his general manager of entertainment and operations. I wanted to check out for myself how the 22 numbers now all flow together as a joyride of live music in the expanded show, which has changed since its Dec. 20 premiere.
David Burnham, who was last seen on Broadway in “Wicked,” is fantastic in “Willkommen” and “Money, Money” from Kander & Ebb’s “Cabaret.” He also slays in their music and lyrics with “Razzle Dazzle” from “Chicago.”
Lindsay Roginski, who starred in “Chicago” on Broadway, also has come into her own — particularly when she steps out for her “Cell Block Tango.” I’m not taking anything away from the four other leads: Kerry O’Malley, Nicole Kaplan, Randal Keith and Andrew Ragone.
These six stars are more than impressive with extraordinary vocal talents and endearing personalities that come shining through from the stage. They are the glue of the show as they warmly guide this thoroughly enjoyable musical journey.
It opens and closes with Irving Berlin’s bang of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and the ultimate showstopper of “One” by Marvin Hamlisch from “A Chorus Line.” The synchronized high-kicking lineup a la The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall is exhilarating.
In between, there is the finger-clicking and toe-tapping of “Hello Dolly,” “Gypsy,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and my pal Leslie Bricusse’s “Once in a Lifetime” he crafted with Anthony Newley for “Stop the World I Want to Get Off.”
This is musical theater at its finest. Here’s a YouTube highlights reel of “Showstoppers.”