Kelly Clinton's Open Mic Cabaret: Bobby Brooks Hamilton

Make no mistake about it, Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret is 'no ordinary open mic.’ The Monday night 'show of shows' in Vegas is a Cabaret with fantastic entertainment like no other.
As the fans have said, “Why would we ever go anywhere else on Monday nights? This is IT!!”

Kelly Clinton and friends kicked off another remarkable Monday night Cabaret show with a hilarious take on the legendary Marx Brothers. Starring in the comedy cast of the Marx Sisters was the one and only Kelly Clinton (Groucho), with Lena Prima (Chico), Mark O’Toole (Harpo) and Kaci Machacyk as Mrs. Rittenhouse (Animal Crackers). Mike Clark was on the keys and Tommy Vinci played the drums. The witty comical bit had the packed-house crowd roaring with laughter.

How does Kelly Clinton come up with this stuff? For starters, Kelly gets an idea in her head, then there’s no stopping her until the lines are down, the casting is complete, (when it’s not just a Kelly solo act) the costumes are gathered and the music is ready to go. In the latest production, Kelly credits Mike Clark for suggesting the Marx Sisters. Kelly put all her ideas together ---lines, cast, etc. Then the talented people in the sketch threw in their ideas that helped shape the final plan. It’s amazing how everything is put together in less than a day before the show goes on! In addition to her very original characters, for over a year now Kelly has come up with dozens and dozens of satirical Monday night openings starring a cast of characters based on famous icons from the stage, screen and the recording world….Truly amazing and so very entertaining!!!

After stripping off the Groucho wig, eyebrows, etc., Kelly was ready to introduce the first of many talented entertainers waiting in the wings to perform.

First up was the lovely Kaci Machacyk with a beautiful rendition of "Until There Was You."

This performance by Kaci Machacyk was a sampling of the selections from her show, The Soprano, that was scheduled for Wednesday night, July 21, at the Liberace Museum.

The evening was filled with so many fabulous entertainers. We want to mention them all and of course post a photo of each one as they performed at the latest Monday night show. So here we go. Next on stage was the awesome singer Lannie Counts who had the crowd screaming for more!! .....

Geena Mattox, former star of Phantom of the Opera, was back this week with a terrific performance of "Get Here."

Next we saw a whole new side of the fantastic singer Tim Wells who surprised us with an amazing theatrical performance of "Phantom of the Opera." The crowd loved it and wanted more from Tim so he made a song-style switch with the tune, "You Make Me Feel Brand New." That’s when the phenomenal Clint Holmes jumped in to join Tim Wells on a fabulous scat duo that knocked out the crowd!!!

Up next the dynamic duo, Lisa Gay and Tony Drake took to the stage with a extraordinary performance of "The Nearness of You" followed by a moving and grooving rendition of "Feel Like Making Love."

Then Lisa was joined by Clint Holmes and Chris Phillips (Zowie Bowie) to sing Happy Birthday to a very special friend and faithful fan of this show, Mel Myers……

That moment was followed by an introduction from Clint Holmes of a very special appearance by Kelly Clinton as Janis Joplin for one more tribute to birthday boy and car dealer Mel.

The unbelievable Kelly Clinton as Janis sang an original satirical version of "Mercedes Benz" with lyrics by Clint Holmes entitled "Oh, Mel Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz."
The crowd and Mel were hysterical with laughter as Kelly pulled off one more great spoof in costume and song. Wow!!!!

Then Clint was back on stage joined by his musical director, Jeff Neiman to perform “something real nice for Mel and his wife Sheri” who were also celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary. Clint Holmes sent out the beautiful tune "Here’s to Life."
What followed that was another performance by Clint Holmes who first sent out kudos to the fantastic band led by Mike Clark on keys with Billy Adams on the drums and Tony Drake sitting in on guitar. Yes!!! These great musicians played all night long!! Then, with Jeff Neiman on piano, Clint gave us a terrific presentation of that great tune, "Birth of the Blues"…..The crowd went wild!!!!

Up next at the mic was the delightful performer with a big personality -----16 year-old
Alex Christopher who sang that popular old favorite, "Green, Green Grass of Home." Great job Alex!!.......

Then came the hot blues singer Wendy Flemings who belted out a killer version of "Summertime." This lady can sing the blues!!!! Mike Clark was hot on the keys for Wendy’s number and he did a beautiful job on the next singer’s presentation too.

That would be the fantastic crooner, Mark O’Toole (Harpo) who gave us a excellent performance of the love song, “You Don’t Know Me.” (L).........
Newcomer to the open mic Christopher Todd gave a terrific rendition of “Orange Colored Sky.” Later in the show Christopher Todd (R) was back with the band to croon the tune, "It Had to Be You." Nice, very nice. We are sure to see more of this singer soon.

Singer,/songwriter George Dare stepped up next with a outstanding performance of the big crowd-pleasing tune, "Walking in Memphis." By the way, this night had the kind of audience every performer dreams of! The crowd was just marvelous and totally fixed on the show……. The beautiful powerhouse singer Denita Asberry was on stage next with her performance of the Whitney Houston tune, "I Will Always Love You." She slayed the crowd. Wow!... Then came a big welcome back to showman Bobby Brooks Hamilton. The awesome performer and tribute artist has been traveling the world circuit for many months. It was great to see Bobby back at the open mic giving us his terrific performance of "Higher and Higher."

Another newcomer to the open mic was Trace Taylor (L). The redhead was raised in England and there’s no mistaking her accent. Trace gave a swinging interpretation of "Bye, Bye Black Bird." She’ll be back..........

Soprano, Jacqueline Armitage (R) returned to the open mic Monday night after a couple of months of R & R. Jacqueline presented her beautiful rendition of "If I Loved You."

Trina Johnson, one of the fabulous stars of Vegas the Show, stopped in to give us a really hot performance of “I’m Your Baby Tonight.” The critics are raving about the new show at Planet Hollywood that pays tribute to ‘Old Vegas’ entertainment from the 1940’s through the 1980’s….......

........Another fantastic performer and a first timer at the Cabaret, Michael Love took us away with his energetic, heartfelt performance of "One in a Million."
Wow, what a powerful show closing performance!!!!

Thanks to everyone who took part in the making of one more night of unrivaled entertainment! Special thanks to Mike Clark, Billy Adams, Tony Drake and DJ/Jake Klein for bringing on the music....and especially to Kelly Clinton for making it all happen!!

As always, this was another great show at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret!!!
Please join us next Monday Night at the Bootlegger Bistro,
7700 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Showtime: 9 PM
Dining room reservations: 702-736-4939

Come on Down!! Perform, Promote Your Gig,
Dine In, Chill Out!........It's Always a Blast!!!!

The fabulous entertainer Kelly Clinton kicked off her Monday night Open Mic Cabaret with a number that suited her mood of the day. Kelly said she had been feeling a bit off and kind of sulky all day so it was the perfect time to get it all out with an audience favorite, her original tune, the PMS Blues!!! Kelly took us right into her “easily irritated, my emotions are out of whack” approach via some really powerful vocals and her lively animated act. The bluesy song she wrote “for womankind” over 20 years ago still works as the laugh at yourself and let others laugh with you comedic healing tune it was meant to be. The sensational Kelly Clinton says she was a very young girl when she wrote and recorded PMS Blues, but “It won’t be long before I’ll be writing the sequel!!!!” The amazing entertainer, Kelly Clinton, is always on and she kept it up all night long!!!

First off came the introduction of Kelly’s great band members, musical director Mike Clark on the keys and the stick man, Billy Adams on the drums. Then Kelly turned to intro Kevin Cordova, the DJ/all around special effects guy who adds his extraordinary touch to the show every week. Kevin brought in all those fabulous stage lights we saw Monday night. J.T. Thompson, the fourth member of Kelly’s A-Team was off for the night.

Let the Open Mic begin!!

Reversing the usual format of this blog, we are featuring our last performer of the evening in the first spotlight. Those who did the hang all the way to the end of the show got to see the incredible performance by tap dancer extraordinaire, Van the Man. Van stepped up on a 4 foot by 4 foot portable wooden stage surrounded on three sides by microphones to begin the highlight presentation of the evening!! Van the Man was so awesome he blew us all away with a performance that surely paid homage to all of the Legends of Tap. If anyone can revive this great art form, the astonishing hoofer, Van the Man can!!!!!

Van mentioned he had stopped in to watch Kelly’s Cabaret show a few weeks back, That's when he told himself, “I’ve got to be a part of this!” Message to Van the Man: We want you back!!

First up once again this week was the soulful singer, Lannie Counts who gave us his fabulous rendition of the R&B tune, What’s Going On. We couldn’t help notice the beautiful royal red velvet shirt Lannie wore. It was gorgeous!! Lannie went into his second number with the wonderful band behind him. Lannie had some really powerful vocals going during his smooth and soft version of that marvelous tune, What a Wonderful World.

Boy can Lannie Counts sing!!.

Newsflash: This coming Monday night's show will be broadcast LIVE via the web at www.SeeItLive.tv ........by producer, Shawn Eiferman

Singer/impersonator and producer, Elisa Furr was at the Bootlegger Monday to celebrate her son’s fifth birthday. Kelly invited her up to do a number and Elisa obliged with a marvelous (as always) performance of the upbeat tune Almost Like Being in Love.

Elisa is an outstanding singer and Celine Dion tribute artist. When she's not taking her act on tour, Elisa Furr is always working on a multitude of projects in Las Vegas.

The lovely actress/singer and web TV host, Kaci Machacyk was up next with her terrific rendition of Speechless, the 2009 recording by Lady Gaga. Kaci’s second tune was the hot disco number Last Dance.

Kaci Machacyk will headline at Kelly Clinton's Celebrity Spotlight on Sunday, May 26, at the Bootlegger Bistro. Kaci’s featured guest performers are Patty Powers, David Marinelli and Tommy Vinci.
Showtime: 8:30 pm. Reservations: 702-736-4939

“Chicago Boy” Perry Danos, a good looking guy with a wonderful voice and plenty of sex appeal gave us his fantastic version of Over the Rainbow, one of the songs he recorded on his jazz album Swinging’ on the Moon. Then the fantastic singer/songwriter and recording artist turned up the beat for his hot performance of Save the Last Dance for Me. Hot! Hot! Hot!

Perry Danos made his Las Vegas debut in the main showroom at the Orleans Hotel Casino several months ago. Just a week ago he was back at The Orleans for another engagement.

The awesome pianist Danny Wright gave a wonderful concert this Monday night with his remarkable instrumental performance of My Miracle followed by Somewhere in Time. Danny Wright was flown in from Texas to open the Aria Hotel/Casino in City Center several months back. He is now signed as a featured artist with the Bellagio Resort.

The amazing Danny Wright is playing at the Cabaret Showroom in the Liberace Museum on May 9, starting at 6 pm --- and at Grace in the Desert Episcopal Church in Summerlin on May 16.

Singer/comedienne and all around entertainer, Barbara Brighton came by to share her talent at the open mic. Barbara kicked off her act with the up tempo tune, Start of Something, generally known as This Could Be the Start of Something written by Steve Allen in 1956. Barbara has appeared at Caesars Palace and the Desert Inn ---she also had her own talk show based in L.A. Barbara is a very funny entertainer who had the crowd laughing at her “women talk” comedy. Then Barbara Brighton and Kelly Clinton shared the spotlight with a rush of celebrity impressions.
“Barbara Brighton, I love her!”.... Kelly Clinton.

Next came a triple-treat performance starting with singer Gloria Papin presenting a powerful rendition of that very popular song, At Last. Gloria followed up by introducing the amazing trombone player Michael Evans to accompany her on Someone to Watch Over Me.
Adding to the mix of wonderful performers Gloria Papin brought up the remarkable singer, Wesley Dobrow, for their amazing duet number, Neither One of Us.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Three’s a crowd” but in this case the awesome triple play performance was an absolute crowd-pleaser!!!

Roy Orbison impressionist, Donnie Fox, costumed in the image of the late recording artist, presented two of the celebrated legend’s greatest hits with his rendition of Cryin’ and Oh, Pretty Woman.

Accompanying himself on guitar, Donnie strikes an uncanny likeness to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star, Roy Orbison, the performer Elvis Presley crowned as “the greatest singer in the world.”
Thanks for the memories Donnie Fox.

The lovely singer Lenore Rishel was up next with the original version of the swinging tune Fly Me to The Moon that included the intro lyrics that she spoke so beautifully.
Lenore then presented her fabulous version of The Rest of Your Life, a classic standard recorded by many great artists including Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Michael Bolton.

Newly signed recording artist and powerhouse singer Michael Cagle stepped on stage to give his commanding performance of I Will Always Love You, by Whitney Houston.

Then Michael and Kelly Clinton got it going with a fun loving duet version of Proud Mary with lots of Tina Turner moves and shakes by Kelly, the“dancing machine!”

Michael Cagle’s first single will be out this summer on the Brooklyn West Records label. Michael announced plans to debut his first release at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret!!! We are all excited about Michael’s career move and we are most certainly looking forward to being the first to see him perform his major debut recording.

Just about then, DJ/Special effect guy Kevin Cordova turned on something that had Kelly lip sinking the popular and funny baby giggle bit before she stopped him with “Stop it you!!”

The super singer, Terri Cola was up next accompanied by the band and the exceptional slide trombone player, Michael Evans. Terri did an excellent performance of God Bless the Child that gave Michael a really great opportunity to show his stuff on the horn. For her next number the fabulous Terri Cola did a hot swinging version of Lady Is a Tramp. Terri sure knows how to choose musicians. Her hot tune
rendition was truly enhanced by Michael Evans and the fabulous Kelly Clinton band.

A gentleman that spend most of the night enjoying the show, singer Dean Cobb, had his opportunity to give us a tune when Kelly brought him on stage. Dean did a great job performing with the band on Lost in a Masquerade.

Dean mentioned how well he remembers seeing Kelly's husband, headliner Clint Holmes open for “Georgie” Jessel back in the 1970’s up in the Catskills. Dean Cobb is from San Diego but we expect he’ll be back in Vegas soon to perform at the open mic again.

Bobby Brooks Hamilton was back in town following his latest tour to give us another of his dynamite performances. We are so grateful to have Bobby come by whenever he is in town. He is such a pro and an awesome entertainer. Bobby started off with the popular R&B/Blues number Mustang Sally. Then when the call for “Do your Little Richard” came from the crowd Bobby obliged with his absolutely, right on impression of the Rock and Roll legend performing the hit tune Good Golly Miss Molly. WOW!!

But Bobby's performance wasn’t over yet. He invited the very popular guy of the night, trombone player Michael Evans to share the stage for his final number. Bobby Brooks Hamilton closed out his stupendous act with Roy Hamilton’s, Since I Fell For You.

Bobby Brooks Hamilton is scheduled to appear in the Hit Parade Show at the Suncoast on Thursday ---then he's off on another European tour.

A couple of the many demands for Bobby Brooks Hamilton’s Little Richard impression came from two fellow entertainers in the audience, singer Johnny Fortuno and legend impersonator, Rob Garrett.
Johnny Fortuno is appearing in Addison’s Lounge at the Rampart Casino on May 14-15.
Rob Garrett is billed as America’s #1 Neil Diamond Tribute Artist. He is a Legends in Concert alumni and recently performed his Tribute show at the Cannery Casino Hotel.

Kelly introduced “super model” singer/entertainer and song writer, Judy Brown who stepped up to the mic to sing one of her very own favorite songs, I’m In the Mood For Love. Judy followed up that beautiful performance with a fabulous rendition of another wonderful classic tune, Inseparable.

Judy Brown is appearing at the Salo-Salo Restaurant on Sunday, May 14 Showtime 9 pm.

There were more good times ahead as we got closer to the end of another spectacular show.
The magnificent singer, Avis O. Chaney was back for the second time at the Cabaret with a remarkable performance of Kelly Clinton’s favorite song, You’re the Best Thing, by Gladys Knight.

On her second incredible number, Avis had the back up support of four other terrific singers, Terri Cola, Perry Danos, Lisa Gay and Kelly Clinton. What a great show led by Avis O. Chaney, with back up band members Mike Clark, Billy Adams and four great singers performing behind the scenes!!!

What a blast!

Now we’ve reached the end of another great night of outstanding entertainment. As mentioned earlier, the show closed with the astonishing tap dance performance by Van the Man ---that was followed by 'good night and thank you all' from the loose as a goose 'dancing machine,' Kelly Clinton.

We are looking forward to another exciting evening of fabulous entertainment coming up next Monday night at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret at the Bootlegger Bistro!!!

Please Join Us on Monday Nights!!

Perform, Promote Your Gig, Dine In, Chill Out, HAVE A BLAST!

Bootlegger Bistro
7700 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Dining Room Reservations: 702-736-4939
Showtime 9 pm
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