Brian Passey|bpassey@thespectrum.com
Fresh off of the Mesquite MusicFest in February, the CasaBlanca Resort has another big lineup for the month of March.
From variety shows to music to mixed martial arts, the CasaBlanca has a diversity of events planned throughout the month, starting with the The Comedy Machine at 8:30 p.m. An Ed Sullivan tribute show is set for March 5 while the Future Stars of MMA will be part of Mayhem in Mesquite on March 12. The entertainment then shifts to musical tributes with Bee Gees Gold on March 19 and a John Denver tribute on March 26.
The Ed Sullivan tribute show will feature quite a bit of variety on its own, including old-school acts like magicians and jugglers as well as newer forms of entertainment, says Barbara Vaccaro, director of marketing for Venezia Entertainment, which is producing the show.
“You’re going to feel like you’re watching an episode of the old Ed Sullivan Show,” she says. “There’s a lot of layers to the story.”
Venezia Entertainment brought the Roadhouse country impersonator show to the CasaBlanca Resort last year for the Mesquite MusicFest. Vaccaro says their Las Vegas shows typically keep the audience so entertained that they don’t get the same kind of walk-outs that some casinos see from time to time.
“You never know what’s going to happen next,” she says.
The show is meant to take audiences back in time, as if they were on the set for “The Ed Sullivan Show” The stage is designed to look like a television set.
Paul Terry, the actor who plays Sullivan, looks and sounds like the iconic TV host, Vaccaro says.
“It’s a trip down memory lane for a lot of people,” she says. “It’s really very nostalgic.”
The Ed Sullivan tribute show begins at 7 p.m. March 5.
Bee Gees tribute
John Acosta has been a fan of the Bee Gees since he was 10 years old. In recent years he’s played the role of Barry Gibb, the falsetto-voiced Bee Gee behind the trio’s late-‘70s disco hits.
“I’ve been doing the Barry Gibb character for over eight years,” says Acosta, who leads the tribute band Bee Gees Gold. “It’s something I take a true honor in representing.”
Acosta began his music career in Toronto before moving to Las Vegas and musically reinventing himself. After a strong few years playing the Station casinos on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Acosta took the show on the road, playing all over the world as a tribute to “a time when music was melodic.”
His focus isto represent the music of the Bee Gees for those who remembered it, whether they were adults or kids like him during the height of the Bee Gees’ fame.
As a full tribute act, he and his fellow singers, Daryll Borges as Robin Gibb and Jeff Celentano as Maurice Gibb, not only sing like the Bee Gees, they also dress like them, move like them and act like them. The show follows a storyline and features historical facts about the group alongside the transition of their style into the disco era.
Although the focus is on the hits, they performs songs from throughout the group’s career, including some rarities.
Bee Gees Gold is not only the name of the band, it’s also the name of the show — a reference to the group’s 1976 hits compilation. As such, it’s part of John Menniti’s “In Its Entirety” concert series, which focuses on the performance of classic albums in their entirety. Menniti’s own Beatles tribute band, The Fab, recently performed The Beatles’ “Love Songs” on Feb. 13 at the CasaBlanca as part of that series.
“He performs all over the world doing this show, so Mesquite is very lucky to have this show for one night only,” Menniti says of Acosta.
Although Acosta has previously played a solo show in Mesquite this is his first time bringing Bee Gees Gold to the CasaBlanca. Mesquite is getting the band only 11 days before they perform live at the Whiskey a Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood, California, on AXS TV March 30.
Menniti says the “In Its Entirety” shows typically sell out so he recommends getting tickets early. And Acosta says to be prepared to move.
“Bring your dancing shoes,” he says.
Bee Gees Gold begins at 8:30 p.m. March 19.
John Denver tribute
Jim Curry, the man behind the Denver tribute, emphasizes he is not an impersonator, though he does dress and sound like the legendary singer-songwriter.
“It’s basically a tribute to the music,” Curry says. “I have grown out my hair for the part and I do have my bifocals. They’re real, I have to use them to see. But we’ve tried really hard to make it more about the music. We emulate his looks just enough.”
While he performs Denver’s music, he doesn’t play the role of Denver. He offers information about the singer-songwriter but he doesn’t speak in the first-person as Denver.
Curry first began playing musical tribute to Denver in 2002, though he was a longtime fan. He was Denver’s singing voice in the 2000 CBS made-for-TV movie “Take Me Home: The John Denver Story,” which helped him launch the tribute show at the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas.
Through the years, Curry has earned the respect of Denver’s former backing musicians and has won over crowds across the nation, often playing with symphonies in major U.S. cities. For his first Mesquite performance, Curry will be backed by a five-piece band.
“It’s been working really well wherever we go,” he says of the show. “It sells beyond people’s expectations.”
Although he first grew to love Denver’s music as a teenager, Curry says the singer-songwriter’s music has remained with him through the years.A recent performance with a symphony in Buffalo, New York, had fans flying in from other states to attend Curry’s performance. He has even attracted a few fans that follow him around from date to date.
“His music was open enough that it’s still current,” Curry says. “Nothing was dated or time-stamped.”
The John Denver tribute show begins at 8:30 p.m. March 26.
Tickets for the music and variety shows range from $15-$35 while the Future Stars of MMA event is $30-$50. The CasaBlanca Resort is located 897 W. Mesquite Boulevard, Mesquite. Visit CasaBlancaResort.com/entertainment/ or call 702-346-7529.
Follow Brian at Facebook.com/PasseyBrian or on Twitter and Instagram, @BrianPassey. Call him at 435-674-6296.
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