I had seen Wayne Newton on TV, while I was a teen in a Philadelphia
suburb. He was a very young singer on the Jackie Gleason Show. He never
became 'real' to me until 1985. I used to take my son to play in Little
League games at Sunset Park, and when we drove south on Pecos to Sunset
Road, we saw the word 'Shenandoah' on the wall at the southwest corner
of the intersection. The long wall blocked view into the property along
Sunset, but a variety of trees rose above the wall, and one could feel
that the grounds were 'lush' on the other side.
Wayne Newton lived there. It was a rural area, at the time, desert,
zoned for horses. A stable with some horses was across the street on
Sunset, and there weren't many other homes or buildings in view. If one
traveled far enough further south on Pecos, the wall ended and you could
see the trees and grass within as well as a few horses grazing.
Seeing that property three times a week, and hearing my son tell anyone
that was in the car with us that 'Wayne Newton lives there', made the
entertainer more real to me than if he would have been one of the many
stars that I saw almost daily working in one of the foremost Las Vegas
casinos for many years.
Wayne eventually came to perform in the same casino that I was working
in, and I caught his show or parts of it on several occasions. He is a
very special entertainer. He treated one of my colleagues almost like
family. He is a friendly man with a devoted following.
My mother-in-law was going to catch Wayne and his brother Jerry as a
lounge act in downtown Las Vegas when he was sixteen years old in 1958.
He has been around this town for almost five decades and in show
business for six. He is sixty-one years old now, but he still does his
show with the verve and enthusiasm of a young performer.
Sinatra and the 'Rat Pack', Elvis, and a long list of internationally
know entertainers have come and gone through our town, but Wayne Newton
remains as one of the top stars in this capital of entertainment.
Among his many accomplishments, found in the links to the right, the one
that I most admire him for is 'Chairman of the USO Celebrity Circle'. He
has been working with the USO since he was eight years old, and seems to
be the heir apparent to Bob Hope, when it comes to entertaining the
military men and women of this country.
The rest of us can catch his two hour show, forty weeks of the year at
the Wayne Newton Theater in the Stardust Hotel and Casino. Wayne can
play 13 musical instruments and uses several of them accompanying
himself in his well know favorite hits. Mix in humor with showmanship
and eagerness to please. It's well worth the sixty dollar ticket.
A Las Vegas icon.