"What Happened in Boston, Willie"

Reviews of Current Productions

Reagle Hosts
the Incomparable Ann-Margaret

By Beverly Creasey

Ann-Margaret could have told us a lot about loyalty, suffering and an indomitable will. She and her husband, Roger Smith, have been married for over forty years and his debilitating illness surely has been a challenge for both of them. She herself had to come back from a twenty foot fall during a Vegas show and had to endure her jaw wired together, among other bruises and breaks. Here she was, still at it, singing and hoofing like she did decades ago.

She doesn’t say much in her act about the hardships. Instead we get a glitzy Vegas revue---and I do mean glitz, by way of Bob Mackie and Nolan Miller. Isn’t there a joke about the number of sequins that had to die to make these costumes? And they really didn’t do her petite figure justice, as it turns out. As George Burns told her when he first plucked her out of an audition (and made her famous): “Kid, they don’t come to hear your voice. They wanna see where it’s coming from!”

She was at her best when she quoted Burns and turned operetta fare into a sexy tribute to all “Stout-hearted Men.” Most of the songs were Vegas standards, with a loud, powerhouse orchestra hammering them home. She danced with three “cute chorus boys” but we would have loved more chat---and more dish. The only reference to Elvis, surprisingly, was a film clip and her rendition of “Viva, Las Vegas.” The diehard Vegas fans were in seventh heaven. The rest of us truly were amazed by her resilience. Viva Ann-Margaret!

"Ann-Margaret" (????)

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