Weekend features talent reunions

Each year, the "Ribbon of Life" benefit for Golden Rainbow gives local dancers on the Strip a chance to show everything they can do.

And each year, "half the people sitting in the audience are just dying to get onstage," says Liz Elliott Lieberman. You see, much of the audience used to be those dancers.

So producer Lieberman sold the AIDS-relief charity on "a senior version" of the annual fundraiser. But "Las Vegas Legends" set for 2 p.m. Sunday at The Orleans has grown so much, "I wouldn't even call it a senior show anymore," she says.

Not that it would be unfair, given a talent roster that includes 85-year-old comedian Marty Allen, burlesque legend Tempest Storm, vintage-Vegas pianist Mafalda and Cherie DeCastro, the last of the DeCastro Sisters.

And the showgirl lineup ranges from Linda Green, who broke records for "Jubilee!" until the show retired her at age 51, to 92-year-old Kitty Duarte. "She looks barely 60," Lieberman says.

A strong turnout could launch the Lesley Bandey-directed revue on a track to be Las Vegas' version of The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies. Tickets are $25 for the 2 p.m. show; call 365-7075.

Right after the show is a cast and crew reunion for those who used to work in the "Lido de Paris" and "Enter the Night" at the Stardust. It's a separate $65 ticket. ...

You can make the whole weekend a reunion of entertainment vets. On Saturday, many of them rally at 2 p.m. in the Imperial Palace showroom to help Dave Swan, who hosted "Legends in Concert" in its earliest days but is better known for 17 years of playing King Arthur in the Excalibur's "Tournament of Kings."

The announced lineup includes Pete Barbutti, Cork Proctor, Peter Anthony, Tony Sacca, Corrie Sachs and Jason Byrne. Tickets are $30; call 889-3587.

Swan says the King wasn't finally felled by ongoing chemotherapy or the removal of a good chunk of his lung due to cancer. "I've got a little arthritis in the hip, just to make things perfect," he says.

"An old man like King Arthur would probably limp onstage," he helpfully pointed out to producer Patrick Jackson.

"Your breathing's not to good either," Jackson couldn't help but notice.

The two finally concurred that Swan or someone else might get hurt by the swords and horses. Jackson "did some real nice things for me" when he left the show in May, but medical expenses are still getting beyond him. ...

"Matsuri" is closing at the Sahara on Nov. 10. The Japanese "muscle musical" of comic acrobatics had its fans, but its Japanese producers opted not to extend past a six-month contract period. David Saxe, who runs the V Theatre in the Miracle Mile Shops, holds the producer's contract with the Sahara but wasn't hands-on with operating or marketing "Matsuri."

Saxe was meeting with Sahara officials to pitch a replacement earlier this week. ...

The Second City comedy troupe usually deals not with famous names, but unknown talents who later move into high-profile gigs. But the newest player in the Flamingo's quintet has a head start on the name; he's Rob Belushi, son of James and nephew of the late John, both famed Second City alumni. ...

I'm not a mentalist, so I couldn't predict -- writing this column before Wednesday's prime-time TV -- whether "The Mentalist" got the boot from "Phenomenon," NBC's trickster version of "American Idol."

But I can predict with absolute certainty that "The Mentalist," Gerry McCambridge, won't be using the first installment of "Phenomenon" for any blurb quotes to advertise his live show at Hooters Casino.

Uri Gellar, the mentalist helming the show, told McCambridge his presentation was "dull, flat (and) totally predictable."

Guest judge and upcoming Luxor star Criss Angel was kinder, but advised, "I think you have to raise your own bar."

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.