‘Absinthe,’ Australian Bee Gees mask up and party on Strip
It’s the deliberate tug of a mask at Caesars Palace, and a mocking dance in what was once The Moat at Excalibur.
This is how the ongoing recovery of Las Vegas entertainment is being charted.
In the show-closing scene Wednesday night in “Absinthe,” body balancer and resident strongman Lucasz Szczerba pulled his partner, Misha “Ten Pack” Furmanczyk, slowly from the stage. Furmanczyk remains rigid and supine in this routine, as he is gradually lifted while the two performers grip hands.
From Wednesday, video of #DuoVector’s masked moment @AbsintheVegas @CaesarsPalace 🎥 @DorimarBonilla pic.twitter.com/i4zr93553J
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) March 20, 2021
It’s a stunning display of physical strength, an act featured in the show for its entire 10-year run at Caesars. In “Absinthe’s” return from a 3½ month pause, Szczerba added a wink to pandemic protocols. His mask had slipped just below his nose, and as we know it, is of utmost importance to keep one’s nose covered.
Szczerba then casually adjusted the mandatory covering, continuing to hold his adult-sized partner in place, then raised his arm, as if no big deal, like he was picking up a carry-on bag.
Priceless. The spaced-out crowd of 170 cheered. After the show, it was about all producer Ross Mollison could talk about, “Did you see Lucasz pull his mask up while holding Misha? That was perfect!” It was, and expect that move to now be part of “Absinthe for as long as the cast is required to wear masks.
A night later, south on the Strip at ExCal’s Thunderland Showroom, the Australian Bee Gees resumed performances for a crowd of 130. This crew was ready to do the disco. Most everyone was up and out for the the show-closing “Night Fever” and “You Should Be Dancing.”
#TheScene, from last night. We have #groovers, including a gal at the front of the stage in the former #Moat @TheABGShow @ExcaliburVegas #RjNow @reviewjournal pic.twitter.com/DARS56TW7D
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) March 19, 2021
One woman arrived ventured from the seated section and cut a rug directly in front of the stage, where the 25-foot Moat once separated the musicians from the audience. That distance is more like The Sidewalk, more friendly and manageable than the Moat. I can’t say if this gyrating guest was mocking the Moat concept, but I like to think she was.
Aside from those revealing moments, and their respective links to Australia (Mollison’s home country and a touring location for “Absinthe” years ago), the shows proved it’s possible to generate energy in a COVID comeback.
Absinthe is still something of a hybrid experience at the moment, with some acts returning to the middle of the room and others still pushed to the auxiliary stage, away from the crowd.
Fortunately the Gazillionaire is permitted to take center stage and destroy everyone in his path. I feel for anyone singled out in the audience-participation, lap-dance segment. Wearing shorts to the show is an especially regretful idea.
A new act, a piece of comic performance art based on condom application (I am not kidding) is in the middle of the venue. For the show lauded as the greatest entertainment experience since the dawn of time, this would be (blurb alert) “The greatest depiction of a prophylactic ever in Las Vegas!”
But seriously, and again, “Absinthe” showed why its standards are as gold as Gaz’s shoes. The show is clutch, and it delivers whenever it needs to jack up the adrenaline for a big moment.
Similarly, the Australian Bee Gees showed why they have kept the beat thumping at ExCal since 2011. This show knows what it is, a nostalgic party dating to the band’s late-60s launch through its hitmaking disco era. There are wonderful, quiet moments in “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart” and “New York Mining Disaster 1941.” They cut into songs written for others, including the unexpected “Islands In The Stream,” and a nicely delivered tribute to Andy Gibb.
But this is a show for the groovers. By the time front men Michael Clift Wayne Hosking and Michael Welsh (with bassist Tony Richards and drummer Richard Powell) unloaded “Staying Alive,” the room was alive.
You have to remind people to remember to be safe (the ushers sure did), and to keep their masks up. Don’t make us call Lucasz. He’ll enforce the rules.
More from the scene
*We are anticipating the formal announcement of the return of “Atomic Saloon Show” to The Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes on May 5. This will likely establish the path for “Opium” to open at the Cosmopolitan in July. Those productions, especially, were temporarily done in by the Moat and in idle until COVID restrictions were relaxed.
*Italian American Club dials up Steve McCoy as Tom Jones and Garry Moore as Little Richard in the same show at 6:30 p.m. (dinner) and 8 p.m. (ambient tribute action) Sunday. Our friend Lannie Counts plays 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Counts is a fantastic, versatile singer, whose name is also a full sentence.
On Thursday, it’s the dazzling and bedazzled Chase Brown and his disco ladder. Seriously. A stepladder, fully decorated with thousands of tiny mirrors. Brown is a great talent with a wicked-devoted fan following. His tip jar overflows.
Randal Keith and Philip Fortenberry collab on “Unexpected Songs” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at The Vegas Room. Unexpected, because these are all songs have been made famous by female artists. “Rose’s Turn,” “Before the Parade Passes By,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” are all on the list. It’s a gender-bending experience, ladies and gents.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, Rita Lim is back with her “Reflections of the Carpenters” presentation. Dave Siegel is on piano. The show is sold out, sadly (and please don’t comb Commercial Center looking for scalpers). But Lim and Siegel are always worth a nod. Catch ‘em next time.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
