ent000337-002

LAS VEGAS TODAY *^ Hitz Hot ometimes producers are like Congress?╟÷when something goes wrong they throw money at the problem, somehow ex- pecting that ostentatious costuming and grandiose sets will somehow save a lackluster show. How refreshing that Jerry Jackson, creator of the new production "Hitz" at the Hacienda, understands that the real secrets of entertainment success are energy, enthusiasm, creativity and attention to detail. That is not to say that "Hitz" is not with- out its riches. The flamboyant costuming and vivid sets, together with a cast of nearly 30, give the show a full, rich look. But Jackson gets so much out of the production that you'd swear this was one of the $30 shows, not the $9.50 bargain "Hitz" really is. For instance, rather than fill the stage with inert, wooden showgirls, vacuous under their rhinestone finery, Jackson choreographs a number in which everyone on stage?╟÷dancers, nudes, and stars?╟÷work together in graceful symmetry. Rather than spend thousands on some mechanical marvel of a set, Jackson strings a few colored lights across a stark silhouette suggesting urban Latin America. The enthusiastic calypso singing and dancing of the cast down in front is what carries the day. Jackson?╟÷already well-known to Las Vegas audiences at the director of the "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana?╟÷says the real secret of show business success is tireless attention to detail. "You can never say Tt's good enough,'" he says. "It's either right or its wrong. 'Good enough' is wrong." It is also important that a show have an underlying theme to give it substance and identity, Jackson says. "I don't like to do disjunctive shows, such as opening number, act, Aztec number, act, French number, act, finale. I like to have themes," he explains. "The underneath ideas have to be very, very strong so that its just not all tinsel and glitter on top of nothing." It would seem the theme of "Hitz"?╟÷a celebration of top 40 music in the 1980s, is an idea who's time has come. Coupled with the tradition glitter and feathers of the Las Vegas review, "Hitz" features the upbeat rhythms and rapid-fire pacing of a music video. Indeed, Jackson feels music videos are the 6 DECEMBER 1, 1QBB modern equivalent of the variety show. "MTV has replaced variety, and MTV is so faced paced, with so many symbolic images and subliminal things going on that audiences have become accustomed to that," he says. "Hitz," too, sets a frenetic pace, with more than 50 songs in less than an hour and a half, including two specialty acts. If, in Jackson's words, "Hitz" is "current, it's today, its not like the other shows," it should nonetheless appeal to audiences too mature to be familiar with Sting or Steve Winwood. "It's not heavy metal," Jackson says. "I know this room attracts an older crowd. I hope it will attract more people, but in my shows, I try to make them accessi ble to all age groups and to different kinds of audiences." The show also relies on a lot of comedy to bridge any age gap between music and audience. Popular music and mores are spoofed in a variety of surprising ways. But Jackson need not worry about a generation gap. Anyone can groove to the funny, enthusiastic rendition of "Pink Cadillac" or feel the plaintive emotion behind the softly- sung question: "Who's kissing her now ?" "Hitz" is a show that preserves the best of the past with an eye toward the future. It's what all shows will look like in years to come?╟÷or at least they'll try to. By Marc Charisse