Steve set for first show without Eydie
Steve Lawrence is returning to the stage Sunday for the first time since his wife, singer Eydie Gorme, died 2½ years ago.
Lawrence, 80, will be performing on Valentine's Day in the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California.
"He's doing a Sinatra tribute," said Judy Tannen, who started managing the duo 58 years ago. "It was sold out in 10 days."
Over the years, the theater was one of Steve and Eydie's favorite stops.
"They used to do five, six shows in a row. All sellouts," Tannen added.
They had accompanied Sinatra on his last world tour, beginning in East Rutherford, New Jersey, his home state, and ending 11 months and 42 stops later in New York City in November 1991.
A year ago, Lawrence told The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, "At some point in my life, I'm going to have to go out alone onstage and do it."
After getting married in Las Vegas in 1957, they became one of the most popular husband-wife teams in show business. They won a Grammy in 1960 as best pop duo and took home an Emmy in 1979 in the category of outstanding comedy-variety or music program for "Steve and Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin."
They were given the honor of being the closing act for the Circus Maximus showroom at Caesars Palace in 2000 and the Stardust in 2006.
Maren Wade makes move
Show biz beauty Maren Wade has stepped into the role of Anastasia Steele in "50 Shades! The Parody" at Bally's.
"The blushing stage has passed, so I guess I have a whole new tolerance now," said Wade, who has performed in many production shows on the Strip, but "I've never been in a show like this."
A former cast member of "Fantasy," the popular topless revue at Luxor, the UCLA grad loves that she gets to "play a quirky comedic character, which is a fun change from the other characters I have played in the past."
A singer and dancer, she toured with NFL legend Terry Bradshaw during his one-man national tour titled "America's Favorite Dumb Blonde." Wade was a member of his backup group called the "I-Qties."
She'll don a showgirl outfit and escort comedy great Shecky Greene onstage at the April 3 "Conversations with Norm" at Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The show will celebrate Green's 90th birthday, which is April 8.
Puppy love
Emily England, half of the Skating Aratas' act at Absinthe, on Monday rescued two pit-bull mix puppies who were running along Flamingo Road.
After putting the dogs in her car, she called co-worker Cadence Alexia, an aerial artist in Absinthe.
The two performers went out of their way to make sure the pups were in good hands.
They took them to a 24-hour vet, but the dogs had neither tags nor microchips. England and Cadence couldn't keep them because they had dogs.
They called animal shelters, but they were all full. The Animal Foundation agreed to take the dogs.
Worried about the pups' safety, England and Cadence called the shelter and learned a couple had attempted to claim their dogs but didn't have the $130 needed to release each dog.
England and Cadence each paid $130 for the dogs' freedom.
The scene and heard
PR specialist Richard Hudock is heading for Washington, D.C., to join CNN as press manager of their bureau. His interaction with CNN began in 2011 when The Venetian hosted the Western Republican Debate. "We reconnected this past year at Wynn during the Democratic Presidential Debate in October," he said. A graduate of Clark High School and UNLV, Hudock spent three as a PR coordinator at The Venetian and the Palazzo. He was public relations manager at The Smith Center for about a year before moving to Wynn Las Vegas in 2013 as public relations manager.
On this day
Feb. 10, 1981: A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton kills eight people, but lessons learned from the devastating MGM Grand fire three months earlier keep the toll from being worse. A hotel busboy is convicted of setting the blaze and is sentenced to life in prison.
Feb. 11, 2001: Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are spotted skinny-dipping at 5 a.m. in the Jacuzzi at the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas after wrap parties for their film "America's Sweetheart." P.S., my source was convinced he was going to sell the video for big bucks. But he forgot to put film in the camera.
Sightings
At XS nightclub (Wynn) on Sunday: Actors Nicolas Cage and Crispin Glover, drinking Champagne. They were in their teens when they appeared together in "Best of Times" in 1981. It was Glover's film debut. They were cast members in "Wild at Heart" in 1990. Glover's breakout role was as George McFly in the "Back to the Future" franchise. ... On Saturday: Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton and, at another table: Olivia Pierson and Natalie Halcro, stars of E!'s reality show "WAGS." With Halcro was her boyfriend, former NFL player Shaun Phillips. ... Norman Reedus of AMC's "Ride With Norm Reedus" filmed at "Zombie Burlesque" at Club Z at the V Theater (Planet Hollywood). Reedus and a friend are touring the United States via motorcycles.
The punch line
"There are 320 million people in the United States. They say 112 million watched the Super Bowl. Which means more than 200 million people do not watch the Super Bowl. I don't know who these maniacs are. I very much hope the Department of Homeland Security is keeping an eye on them." — Jimmy Kimmel
Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. On Twitter: @Norm_Clarke
