Diva Las Vegas Baby

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to make a professional appearance at a Girls' Club out here to help support their "Girls' Day" event, a day of empowering young girls and providing positive reinforcement as they embark on the path to becoming young women. All I had to do was sit at a table with other female "celebs" and sign autographs. My autographing comrades included a ten year old beauty queen, a 17 year old rising basketball star, two women from the Air Force, a female local news anchor, and the female winner of a cooking reality show. I was initially a little shy about venturing solo into a completely unknown situation, without my castmates, outside of the regular one-mile radius encompassing the theater and the apartment complex. But I was so happy I went. The girls were just adorable. The day started with a presentation in the club auditorium, during which about 200 girls were paired with 200 female adult volunteers to form teams, and then th...

Okay, let me preface this entry with apologies to my NY posse - I was in NY for ONE DAY only, literally 24 hours, for my Grandmother's 94th Birthday. And because I knew it was going to be an extremely short trip, with the focus being spending time with my Grandmother, I didn't even tell anyone that I was there, because I would feel so bad if I couldn't see people. Because that's the kinda gal I am. Plus, I know that visits to Las Vegas are in the works. So rather than set myself up for disappointment, I decided to keep my visit mum. The added factor was that I brought Brooklyn with me to meet my family, specifically my Grandmother, who was particularly excited about the prospect of a furry creature (besides myself) in her humble abode. Which meant that traveling around was somewhat limited, and I had to keep my eye on her ever-moving jaws to make sure she didn't destroy my Grandmother's house, so I had to keep her with me at all times. So, that being said,...

I was doing a spontaneous organization of my purses this morning, and I decided to gather all the ticket stubs I've kept to all the shows we have seen since we've been here in Vegas. And in doing so, there are two that I don't believe I ever mentioned in writing. Tower of Power - All I can say is what power!! They were so great, and it was great to see a REAL BAND who were obviously so comfortable with each other and have been playing together for such a long time. Great musicians, great music, old school soul/funk. I hadn't recalled hearing their name when I was little, but I know them now. House Of Blues Gospel Brunch - This was quite an experience. I was expecting a full-out choir and band, like in the movies, and instead it was more of a small family band with a down-home Southern feel - Uncle So-and-So on the bass, Cousin So-and-So on the drums, etc. Very talented, the entire family, and nice songs. Some of the songs even reminded me of 60's doo-wop, my...

We went to see Big Daddy Kane perform at a local night club, Tabu, in the MGM Grand Hotel. And while I don't recall all of his songs, there were enough tunes that brought back days of sweating on the dance floor in college, all cramped up in the basement bar, when the biggest concerns were paper deadlines, exams, dance recitals and drama department auditions. Ah, those were the days. The Tabu crowd was relatively young, although there were definitely some who were old enough to have jammed when Big Daddy Kane was considered current, like my husband (who was rapping all the lyrics back at Kane) and myself. Kane even called people out, asking the crowd first to make noise if they were over 25 (which excluded the fellow cast members who came out with us), and then to make noise if they were over 30 (no, we weren't as loud a group, but we still let our presence be known). It's funny how nostalgia can create familiarity with strangers; I found myself eyeing the people who a...

Opening Night Well the show finally opened, to much critical acclaim, Halleluah! Now the trick is to keep those seats filled. We are still in the beginning climb and the onus of generating word-of-mouth buzz from our audiences is on us in these early months. Opening night was a blast, and I was happy to perform that night because I actually sprained my finger in the show the night before. So, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to go on opening night, but I bit down and worked it out. The after party was huge, almost too huge because it was hard to find other cast and crew members. There was a red carpet just inside the entrance to the ballroom where the party took place and that was such a surreal experience. Camera people saying "Over here, please" and bulbs flashing. Robin Leach came over to my husband and said he was a "comedic genius" and then proceeded to film a sound byte on the show. Wow, six months in the making! The days following the opening,...