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ent000832-003
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University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

Grandest show at MGM Grand m Li, THE MINK IS nil ! 'Cirl Crazy." Leonard Ben In a tnulni.wi.il revue formal of waves York" from "On the Town" and Rodd ?╜i girls, technical da.-.Ae, costumes to ers and Hart are heard from with make yon gasp wild their feathers, se "Manhattan" from "Words and Mu quins and ability to reveal, alotnj with sic." tlie occasional specialty act that allows Also from Gershwin is his pair of for set and costume changes. rhythm songs, "Fascinating Rhythm" But there is more to this show from "Lady Be C-ood" and "I Got which was drean.ed up in homage to Rhythm" from "Girl Crazy." And much the Hollywood of days gone by. It is a production that in si/.e and splash oozes Hollywood rather than Broadway or ONE OF THE most film-accented tlie French Paris revues, with produc numbers is a spool of famous film tion numbers of such size that they would be out ol the question for Broad equally famous performers mi,-,htha\o way and almost anywhere else. They done that number. First comes Vivien make you think only of Hollywood and Leigh and Clark Gable in "Gone With those massive sound stages, with a the Wind." with their scene spoofed by Busby Berkeley as drillrtiaster. performers made up as Mae West and THE THEATER-SHOWROOM Is a vision in itself, with this Ziegfeld Room, specially built to house this kind of spectacular, with this production serving as the room's debut. It has the largest stage in the world, with the largest backstage area in the world and is able to hang more sets than any opera house in the world and all of that is augmented by elevated portions of the stage, along with 11 neat little stage areas dropping out oE the ceiling over the heads of the audience which is seated nightclub style rather than in theatrical seating. Donn Arden produced this extravaganza which makes almost every other revue in this city look like a streetcor- ner religious sect meeting. Just the statistics alone are astonishing?╟÷TOO costumes by Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie, a cast of 150 singers, dancers, specialty acts, showgirls and nudes, along with an Ark-load of camels, dogs, lions and tigers. Yet, numbers aside, it is a show put together with the kind of high chic that sees six stunning black girls pour down' a staircase draped in nothing but strands of simulated diamonds, a scene of James Bondian flair. THE SHOW blends film and live action with good sense, with the action onstage not always overpowered by the film screen. And it Is done frisky and quick, the film accomplishing its purpose and disappearing. The show opens with what would aurely be the finale of any other show and it goes from there, starting with a segment of the 1329 film, "Broadway Melody," which sets the tone for the evening and promptly fades into a live variation of the same number, but - done as Busby Berkeley would do it today, with an amusing, stylized set and waves of dancers. Along the way a center panel in the monstrously large gold curtain slowly ?√ß turns around. Suddenly, in place of the drawing of MGM's Leo the Lion symbol is the live Leo himself, growling and standing there unattended. -KISMET" IS another spectacular, followed by a sal ite to "Meet Me in St. Louis," with a Valentine to Judy Garland, a most moving closeupoflhe young Garland 'inking to a framed photo of Clark Cable "You Made Me Love You." "The Trolley Song" is reprised with a while wicker tram that drew an ovation from the audience. It Tarzan. Greta Garbo and Clark Gable Carmen Miranda and Groucho Marx types. What could be left for the finale? A salute to Ziegfeld, of course, with performers portraying Ruth Etting. Helen Morgan, Fanny Brice, Lena Home and Marilyn Miller, Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, W. C. Fields, Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn. And there are special moments for Jeanette MacDonald and Xelson Eddy and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is a splashy massive production, one reeking oi money and a considerable amount of taste. For example, the thought of a girl and a dolphin swimming in a tank of water seems like a lesser theatrical moment. But all of a sudden up surges this giant glassed in tank, with its thrust alone compelling. And in it are the two'most graceful creatures, this young girl and a dolphin quietly swimming, and for some reason it is an oddly moving moment. ' NO MONEY figures were revealed for this show, which is rare for this money-oriented city, but experts estimate a cost of at least $1 million. It is to live shows what MGM was to mot- ioa pictures, massive yet with a sense of style, overpowering but with a kind of intelligence about it, that feeling of talented people who know how to play with excess. "Hallelujah Hollywood" Is one of those rare exceptions to the thought certainly more. Flo Ziegfeld and Louis B. Mayer must be up there in that great theater in the sky puffed with Leo and his friends GERI GARNER, with hairdo reminiscent of a Holly- wood Harlow era, dances in a number saluting an early day Hollywood in "Hallelujah Hollywood," the elaborate new revue at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel, Also on hand, below, is MGM's Lao tha Lion in a guest appearance. X was the kind furniture Eot