Wayne Newton at the Stardust

He rises from beneath the room on an elevator platform. I look at my watch. It’s exactly 8pm. Wayne commences singing his hits. Danke Schoen and all the rest. A big part of the show is the love going back and forth between Wayne and the crowd. Wayne is wending his way amongst the people, making eye contact and singing directly to their faces. They love it. I love it.  How could you not love it?

This is the Stardust hotel and casino. I think this is my first time in Vegas. It’s wild. We’re in a room in one of the older towers, dozens of floors up. I realize I forgot contact lens solution. Luckily, from my high vantage point, I spot a Walgreen’s across the street. Half an hour later I get there after an elevator ride, winding through a maze of about eight game rooms, past the lobby, eight more game rooms and out into the parking lot, which is about a quarter mile wide, and finally to the street, Las Vegas Boulevard, where I press the “walk” button. And wait. And wait. Then it’s just twelve lanes of traffic to cross and I’m at my destination. In and out of Walgreens and back the way I came. That’s crossing the street in Vegas, baby. It’s big. Everything’s big.

And in his time, there was nobody bigger than Wayne Newton. In that room that that night, I’m drinking it all in like a fan. He’s bold. He’s a tease. He’s ebullient. He’s sad.  But like a true showman, he makes it seem like this is the most special time or maybe it’s the first time he has ever done these songs. He’s giving and taking energy, asking whose having their anniversary, their birthday and making it all part of the show. Seamless. Then Wayne hops back onto the elevator platform. I look at my watch again. It’s 9pm exactly. The seemingly made-up-on-the spot improvisation, banter and everything else was timed to the minute, maybe the second. Amid applause, cheers and tears, Wayne descends back down underneath the casino to, well, who knows where. Show’s over, everybody. Time to go hit the blackjack tables.

I don’t know if there is a point to be made. But I saw someone post a picture of the Neon Museum in old Vegas. It featured an old Stardust sign that reminded me of that Wayne Newton show 20 years ago. Then that reminded me that this is the kind of story I played with telling in my solo performance acting class last year. That in turn, reminds me that Wayne Newton’s show was a solo performance, basically. So we’re at full circle? There you have it.