Clint Holmes, Las Vegas Sun, July 23, 2000

Q&A: Welcome Holmes Lisa Ferguson Sunday, July 23, 2000 | 10:31 a.m. Talk about a repertoire. In the span of an hour and a half Clint Holmes, star of "Takin' It Uptown" at Harrah's hotel-casino, sings everything from jazz tunes to current chart-topping Latin pop songs to rock 'n' roll to soul to scat to the standards. The potpourri is typical of Holmes, a father of three whose career has seen him on television (he served as a music reporter for "Entertainment Tonight" and as Joan Rivers' sidekick on her '80s late-night talk show, and had an Emmy Award-winning New York talk show of his own) and the stages of Atlantic City, among others. Then he landed in Las Vegas for a well-received but brief run (cut short when the showroom closed) last year at the Golden Nugget hotel-casino. Earlier this year Holmes found a new home for his critically acclaimed vocal talents at Harrah's. The show also includes selections from "Comfortable Shoes," the musical he wrote based on his life as the son of a white British opera singer and a black American jazzman. Holmes spoke to the Sun following a recent performance of "Takin' It Uptown": Las Vegas Sun: What were your goals when you came to Las Vegas? Clint Holmes: To become someone that people, when they saw the billboard (promoting the show), didn't say, "Who is he?" They could say, "Oh, yeah, I saw him and I like him" or "I saw him and I didn't like him." And I think that takes time and people are still in the process. I want to establish myself in town as someone, that when people come to Las Vegas, I'm on their list of shows they want to see. Sun: Did the commercials that aired during your stint at the Golden Nugget, featuring you singing in the shower, help? CH: That got us out of the box pretty good. I got my car fixed (recently) and the lady said to me, "You take a nice shower" ... I said, "Thank you. I'm sure you do, too." Sun: Where do you think you fit in on the local entertainment scene? CH:There's a lot of impressionists; there's a lot of magicians; there's a lot of production shows. What I'd like to think, at least, is, I'm a singer who is contemporary and who crosses all of the (genres). I think anybody can come see this show and have a good time. Sun: Do you see yourself competing with Wayne Newton, Danny Gans and David Cassidy? CH: I don't like to look at it as competing, but realistically, sure, we compete for people to come see us. I respect all of those guys for what they do. I certainly respect Wayne for his history and Danny for coming here and staying here for years and becoming who he has become in this town. That's kind of what I did in Atlantic City. And David for going from "EFX" to producing a show ("The Rat Pack is Back") to starring in a show ("At the Copa"). I'd like to think there's an audience for all of us. I wish that all of us got together more, performed together more. I regret that there seems to be a lack of that. Sammy (Davis Jr.), Frank (Sinatra) and Dean (Martin), they could be performing at different hotels and they'd all meet at Don Rickles' show at the Sahara and get up and sing, and I think that was special for people. There are enough of us now that we should be doing those kind of things. Sun: How do you keep up your energy level onstage? CH: The music does that. And the interaction with the audience. I love my band. The show's different every night ... It keeps it fresh and I think that's what keeps the energy (up). You never get stale. I couldn't do the same thing every night. Sun: Is "Comfortable Shoes" definitely Broadway-bound? CH: You never know for sure ... We played at the Paper Mill Playhouse (in New Jersey), which is a 1,200-seat theater and we got rave reviews. It was moving right along and then Steve Wynn called and said, "Come to the Golden Nugget." I have two children who are juniors in high school and I said, "There's a time and a place for everything, and I think this is the time and the place to go (to Las Vegas)." But (the musical is) something I can't let go. It's like the one thing in my career that I must at least give a shot to ... I'm not gonna, 10 years from now, say, "Gee, I wish I would have followed up on 'Comfortable Shoes.' " I'm not gonna do that. Sun: Are you really, as you say in the show, sick of singing your one Top-10 hit song, "Playground In My Mind (My Name is Michael)"? CH: Nah, not anymore, because I didn't sing it for a while. I stopped doing it and people would say, "Didn't you? ..." "Were you the one? ..." "How come you didn't sing that? ..." If somebody bought a ticket because they remembered that song, it's not really fair to them not to do at least a little bit of it. I (sing) half of it and it's nice. And when I get sick of it I'll stop doing it.