Boyz hitting town for holidays

Boyz II Men didn't take long to ponder a sudden offer for a short-term vacancy at the Flamingo. They'd been thinking about it a long time.

"They've always wanted to play Las Vegas," manager Joe Mulvihill says of the R&B vocal group that became one of the biggest acts of the '90s. After racking up 162 shows around the world in a single year, "we've wanted somewhere to sit down and play Vegas as a resident-type act."

Local producer Adam Steck has been trying to place Boyz II Men for years, and "for a minute" thought he had them locked into the Flamingo before Donny and Marie Osmond got the nod in 2008.

So when the Flamingo put out feelers for a holiday-themed show -- a rapid response to the Osmonds' relatively quick decision to stage "A Broadway Christmas" in New York Dec. 9-19 -- the Boyz were ready. Almost, anyway. They've been jetting back and forth to take care of commitments such as Tuesday's Christmas Tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.

The vocal trio will show their stuff in a holiday-themed show with scattered dates between Dec. 14 and Jan. 9. They hope to sell enough tickets and excite Caesars Entertainment officials enough to attract a more permanent offer.

"Nobody's really had a residency within their generation, and they want to be the first ones to do it," Mulvihill says of Shawn Stockman, 38, Nathan Morris, 39, and Wanya Morris, 37. "They have a mixed clientele. They're not strictly just an urban act," he says of the megahits "End of the Road" and "I'll Make Love to You."

The show will mix holiday hits with the group's favorites, and take an "unplugged" turn with "special moments around the piano," Steck says. He first met the trio a few years back when they were working with Donald Trump on a casino project in Philadelphia (which ultimately didn't happen). ...

Barry Manilow also has been Christmas-customizing his Paris Las Vegas showcase, with help from local choirs from schools including Lawrence Middle School, West Middle School and Von Tobel Middle School. But he knocks off early for the holidays, so Friday and Saturday are your last chances for the year. He's back Jan. 7 and his 2011 dates at Paris are slated through August.

Terry Fator also turns his Mirage showcase into "A Very Terry Christmas" for his shows the rest of the month. ...

Susan Anton has joined "Menopause the Musical" at Luxor. The Las Vegas-based entertainer will get top billing in the ensemble show that thrived for years around the country without any names.

But the producers turned the corner on that policy in 2009 when they signed "America's Got Talent" contestant Queen Emily (David). Since then, local ads also bill Paige O'Hara, who has been with the show since it came to town.

O'Hara is taking a break as the soap opera star Anton will play. O'Hara will help Disney promote its 3-D re-release of "Beauty and the Beast" (she voices Belle) and prepare to play Judy Garland in a new production slated for Mesa, Ariz., next spring. But she will return to "Menopause" in January on some type of split schedule with Anton.

Coincidentally, Anton and O'Hara both moved to Las Vegas when they headlined a Flamingo production themed after the Radio City Rockettes in the late '90s. ...

And you thought Cirque du Soleil came up with some weird titles. The strangest in a long time is the (non-Cirque) "Kungfu Revelations 9 Scrolls," a martial arts revue taking over Penn & Teller's theater at the Rio Dec. 10-11 and 17-18. ...

Patience, all you Vegas entertainers hoping to get face time on an awards show. There may come a day when the American Country Awards lets the Strip's indigenous talent in on the action. But the David Coppperfield-making-Taylor Swift-appear kind of stuff will have to wait until the new start-up establishes itself.

"What I'm hoping is we're going to have years and years with this show, and all kinds of opportunities to invest the Las Vegas community in the show," says executive producer Bob Bain.

But first, "we want to plant the flag that this is a credible franchise that offers a high-profile outlet for country artists and doesn't make fun of them," he explains. "It's very important that the Nashville community doesn't feel like this show was made by a bunch of Hollywood types who don't get it."

Host Trace Adkins does plan to tape some segments around town, Bain adds of the broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden that airs Monday on Fox.

The producer says he's not worried about being in the same arena as the Academy of Country Music in the spring. "The look is a function of the set and the environment and the lighting. Every one of those things is something you bring in."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.