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| May 30-June 5, 2002 | ARCHIVES |
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| "It's The Norm" - Recent Entertainment Events in Las Vegas | |
Spanish spitfire Charo opened in the Congo Room at the Sahara Hotel the other evening and she did not disappoint a single person, at least I did not hear any complaints and I saw no reason for one either. She lived up to all her titles, which include singer, dancer, composer, classical guitarist, comedienne and of course everybody's favorite "Cuchi-Cuchi" girl. One might say she grew up in Las Vegas and especially on stage at the Sahara. In the early 70's, after touring the world with famous Latin big band leader Xavier Cugat, she opened as a headliner in the original Congo Room at the Sahara. "For me, this is like a homecoming," the petite blond said. "To perform again at the Sahara is a thrill for me and I know the audiences from all over the world will enjoy all the many exciting elements that makes up "Bravo." "Bravo" is a fast-paced spectacular in the mode of a Latin musical. It has a little bit of everything including flamenco, salsa and samba dancing packed with humor (her's) and lots of passion. She has wisely, in association with another production company On Stage Entertainment, Inc., brought in a fantastic batch of dancers and specialty acts to compliment the show, thereby taking a lot of responsibility off her petite shoulders. The show moves quickly from the opening dance number (salsa) to the final Samba number. In between a lot happens. The four-piece band, led by David Inamine with James Davis on keyboards, Rick Powel on drums and Orlando Santos puts out a tremendous sound throughout the show. |
Charo enters doing a Barry Manilow number "Come on the Road" and then shows her comic style by telling a few jokes (on her of course) before she introduces her first specialty act, Sammy King. King is a top-notch ventriloquist who has a very colorful parrot as a partner and between the two they get the SRO crowd in a very funny mood. Enrique Hernandez (dance captain) leads Chandra Healy, Suzi Hill, Clint McClure, Naomi Rhoads, Jennifer Romas, Sachary Santani, Michael Shepard, Catherince Treu and Kristin White through some very intricate dance numbers throughout the show. The Apollo Brothers from Mexico City follow with a very fine juggling act and then, what I now consider to be the "creme de la creme" of adagio dancers is introduced. Cees & Cathy Dekok do an aerial adagio unlike anything you have seen before. It is beautiful, graceful and of course very exciting to watch them spinning over your head as they move through intricate movements normally done on a floor. Charo of course is so darn cute it is ridiculous. Following a medley of songs she graciously leaves the stage, turning it over to the dancers, while she changes into a formal Spanish suit in respect to her guitar teacher, the world famous Andres Segovia. "The one promise I will always keep is to respect his teaching and the formality of the great Flamenco guitarist from over the years," she said from stage. You can tell this is her favorite portion of the show and her main love as she performs her own high tech Rumba "Caliente." This is followed by the classical "Malaguna" (by Maestro LeCuona), "Leyenda" (by Albeniz) and the fabulous "Bolero" by Ravel tops this portion of the show. This is a wonderfully fantastic performance by a true student of the greats from the past. All I can say is you will not be disappointed when you leave the Congo Room. It's worth every dime! I'm outa here!
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