Kelly Clinton's Open Mic Cabaret: The Buzz: There’s No Business Like Show Business!

It may be a tough way to make a living at times but boy can a career in show biz be a blast!!! Take it from Kelly Clinton who loves entertaining so much she frequently transforms herself into satirical characters just to keep her show fresh, funny and full of surprises. At her Open Mic Cabaret Monday night at the Bootlegger Bistro, Kelly opened her show as Gladys Flatball, a Las Vegas showgirl with the ‘Follies Brazzere’ since the 1950‘s. Gladys arrived in full costume and despite the fact she walked with a cane, gained a lot of weight and aged quite a bit, she still looked great!! For the most part that is ---there was a bit of a problem regarding her ‘drooping boobs’ that just didn’t want to stay put inside the costume during her hot number, Hey Big Spender. Funny stuff.

Gladys said, “I’m still on call for the Follies Brazzere’ but apparently nobody ever gets sick.” Then she added a cascade of one-liners including, “I was gonna wear my peek-a-boo blouse but everybody would peek and then boo!” What a terrific ‘Kelly Clinton kick-off’ to one more great Cabaret show!

Let’s get on with the show of entertainers who joined Kelly last Monday night. First up at the mic was that wonderful singer/entertainer Mark O’Toole who started off his spotlight show with Bandstand Boogie, the popular theme from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, written by Barry Manilow. Following the hoppin and boppin tune, Mark gave a terrific performance of the Michael Buble` version of All of Me. There’s a lot of good stuff going on for Mark O’Toole. He’s appearing this month at the M Resort in the Ravello Room on Saturdays starting at 6:30 pm for his two hour show. Then next month he will be at the M two nights a week on Fridays and Saturdays. Yes!

By the way, that awesome singer and very dear friend, Mark Giovi was in Monday night but had to run early to perform in his starring role in Bite at the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino. Mark didn’t get a chance to sing for us ---as he has many other times--- due to his scheduled show performance. Everyone is looking forward to seeing Mark back at the Cabaret whenever he gets a chance to stop by again. (Mark is sitting with Marco of Mastroianni Fashions)

Next Kelly introduced a favorite Jazz/Blues stylist, Gayle Thompson Steele. Actually Gayle can sing any style and sound great. She was the lead vocalist for the Naval Academy Band for twenty years before she made the move to Vegas to join her brother, Las Vegas headliner Clint Holmes, in his show at Harrah’s. Gayle gave an outstanding performance of When I Fall In Love as she made her way throughout the audience in that up close and personal style everyone at the Bootlegger enjoys so much. The band was terrific with Mike Clark jazzin it up on the keys and Billy Adams keeping the beat on drums.

Kelly introduced Paul Stubblefield who came up to bring on another friend, singer, Artis Brown. Artis is originally from Detroit but moved here from Atlanta a few months ago.
For her first performance at Kelly’s Open Mic Cabaret, the petite lady with a big voice, Artis Brown gave a fine performance of Since I Fell for You, with the fabulous band behind her.

The next act was a surprise treat for the crowd. Nine-year old Gianni Cardinale may be young but he is well on his way to becoming a future star. Gianni stepped up to the mic with the confidence of a seasoned performer. Actually he is a seasoned performer as he has played the role of “Young Steve” in the Steve Wyrick Magic Show -- and Gianni is currently playing “Mini John” Lennon in the Beatles “Love” at the Mirage!! He is also in the current Station Casino “The Feast” commercial. Gianni Cardinale, a young boy with a very big future gave an incredible performance of the Elvis Presley tune, If I Can Dream.
The song was a very appropriate choice for Gianni who attends Dream Believers Acting School, a learning center that encourages young students to perform in front of a live audience. Gianni and other young performers get a chance to perform once a month at the Sunday early show at the Bootlegger Bistro.

The lovely and talented Kaci Machacyk was next up with her sizzling performance of that great disco tune Last Dance. The song was written by the late Paul Jabara and became a hit record for Donna Summer in 1978.

The hot young singer Kaci Machacyk is also an actress and the star host of Vegas 5W, a televised web broadcast focusing on Las Vegas’ lifestyle ‘off the Strip.’ Check out the show at http://www.vegas5w.com/

Next Kelly introduced celebrity entertainer and really awesome singer, Early Clover, a performer best known in Vegas as lead vocalist of Cornell Gunter’s Coasters. Early has worked with Kelly many times over the years ---most recently at the Stirling Club at Turnberry Towers and at corporate events. “There’s the soft side of Early, Kelly said, then there’s the……..” The crowd got to see both sides during Early’s beautiful performance of the soft and easy Nat King Cole number Unforgettable ---followed by the Early Clover ‘kicking butt’ side when he wowed the screaming crowd with his “unbelievable” killer performance of Try a Little Tenderness. .....Oh what a night!!!

The gorgeous singer Lauri Cook was up next with her fabulous vamp style performance of that hot tune Black Velvet, a song about Elvis Presley. Lauri was raised in Canada and it seems fitting that she chose to sing a hit tune written by Canadian musicians, David Tyson and Christopher Ward. Black Velvet was recorded by Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1989 and hit number one on the Billboard Top 100 Charts in 1990. It reached number one on the Album Rock Tracks as well as number one in Canada.

Comedian Derrick J. Stroman was back Monday night delivering his funny jokes and anecdotes. Derrick is from New York and is currently working the L.A. comedy circuit. This was Derrick’s second appearance at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret.

Up next was singer/songwriter, George Dare. George writes music including popular jingles like the familiar Fletcher Jones Chevrolet commercial jingle. George has a wonderful voice and he gave a great performance of Walking in Memphis, the signature song of American singer-songwriter, Marc Cohn. Later in the show, George gave a powerful presentation of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.

Comedian/singer Willie Asbury was back starting off his spot with Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, the song written, recorded and produced by Barry White. This comic can sing, dance and bring on the laughter too. Willie introduced some more new material this Monday night starting with his impressions of ‘the ethnic changes’ in Las Vegas. Then he brought back some of the crowds favorite character impressions, Rodney Dangerfield and Richard Pryor plus his wonderful satire take on ethic cheerleaders.

Willie is a real comedy pro. He appeared in the Tropicana Comedy Stop for 12 years and now you can catch Willie Asbury at the Four Queens’ L.A. Comedy Club in Downtown Las Vegas on Friday nights starting 7:30 sharp.

Everyone has got to see the next performer and there’s no doubt you will be seeing him very soon in a big room tribute show. Brand new to Las Vegas and back this week for the second time, singer/entertainer/tribute artist Isaiah Mercado rocked out the crowd with his impeccable song and dance performance of Michael Jackson’s, Billie Jean. This time Isaiah added a bit of costume to enhance his show ---a sparkling black sequined jacket and a silver glove like Jackson wore for his acclaimed performance on Motown 25. The crowd wanted more so after a minute or so of an A cappella version of Ben the track was set for his outstanding second number, Human Nature. At 24 years old, Isaiah Mercado is an incredible performer.
Tribute artist/singer/songwriter, Elisa Furr was so impressed she took some video and got together with Isaiah after his act to talk shop.

Jacqueline was back this Monday to perform as Grandma Taylor, a dear character who recited rather than sang Jacqueline’s original recorded ballad, Snow. Jacqueline has written and recorded many ballads during her career.

Her Grandma Taylor character was brought to life with the story of Snow and Jacqueline’s amazing flair for creating costume ensembles.

That outstanding Jazz stylist Kitty Montgomery was at the mic with her latest original Jazz arrangement of Summertime, a song first composed as an aria by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The song soon became a Jazz standard and has been recorded by many well-known artists. Kitty gave another wonderful performance this Monday night.

Kitty Montgomery will be on tour in the Boca Raton area of Florida in the upcoming weeks before heading to Chicago where she will perform in a major Jazz show.

R&B singer Andrey SeVille was back in town this week to rock us out on Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together.
The tall Texan with plenty of soul did a super performance of the great R&B classic with the fabulous band backing him all the way.

Andrey SeVille will appear at Jerry’s Nugget on May 7 ---the date falls on Andrey’s birthday! Have a good one!!!

That awesome singer/songwriter/musician, Paul Stubblefield was back on stage ---this time to perform a brand new original he wrote titled, I See Your Face. The song lyrics were so new Paul had the words scrawled on the paper he held while doing a terrific presentation of his own song.
So what was it that inspired Paul to write this tune?....The inquiring mind (Kelly) wanted to know.
As the story goes, Paul was walking with his dog Drummer on Pacific Beach in San Diego when he saw a lovely girl along the way who was walking with her dog. With that momentary encounter still vivid in his dreams, Paul’s song I See Your Face came to life. The music and lyrics are beautiful and no one can sing his song better than the artist himself, Paul Stubblefield.

Michael Cagle is back in town after a couple of weeks of vacationing with family up north. According to the fans, 'Michael gave one of his best performances ever' Monday night when he sang Somewhere from the musical West Side Story. “That was the bomb” one fan shouted out. Truly, it was a tremendous presentation by the powerful singer. Michael has a lot on his plate right now working with World Movement Records and considering some very exciting offers that have come his way recently.

Hard work pays off and we all know how hard Michael works at his career so it seems the time is right for Michael Cagle to shine. For right now, he wanted to take a few moments to express his praise for the outstanding performer and host of evening. Michael said he has worked with and has seen many talented performers ---but none more talented than Kelly Clinton ---“You are by far the most talented entertainer I have ever seen!” ....Nice!

The beautiful and talented singer, Andrea Li returned to the open mic for her second time ever. Andrea blew the crowd away last week with her fabulous opera voice and she did it again this Monday night with her beautiful and mesmerizing performance of All I Ask of You from the musical Phantom of the Opera. Andrea Li is a phenomenal talent!

Veteran performer Ron Star, the singer/musician who knocked us out about a month ago when he surprised us with a spectacular drum solo, was back at the mic this week. This time Ron Star chose to dedicate his song to the guys in the Elvis Presley band that he got to know years ago. The story of the hang time Ron spent with the band is a precious memory he shared with the audience just before his fabulous performance of Presley’s song, I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, .......Good show!!

Kelly introduced “Sexy Manuel” a guy best known as Kevin Cordova, our DJ/Special Effects guy and member of Kelly’s A-Team.

Kevin chose a very moving song about a man on the road and his response to his family that misses him. No one could do more justice to this poetic tune about how a guy feels about his family than Kevin Cordova. His powerful performance of I’m Already There, by American country music band Lonestar, proved once again that Kevin’s the man!

Before closing the show Kelly thanked all of her A-Team members including her musical director and band leader, Mike Clark, the spectacular drummer, Billy Adams, Bootlegger host, J.T. Thompson and of course, DJ/All round special effects guy, Kevin Cordova. Let’s hear it for the A-Team leader and phenomenal entertainer, Kelly Clinton for bringing us another fabulous Monday Night Open Mic Cabaret at the Bootlegger Bistro.

Thanks to all the entertainers, our friends and fans for joining us on Monday nights at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret at the Bootlegger Bistro. LUV YAH!

Kelly Clinton will be in North Carolina next Monday with her husband, Clint Holmes, for the final performance week of Clint’s play, My Own Song.

The fabulous entertainer and
star of Menopause the Musical, Skye Dee Miles will be guest host next Monday night, April 19.

Join Us for the Blast!!!!!

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