“Retire? I’m going to be just like George Burns-I’ll be here ’til I drop.” -Debbie Reynolds
If you have any interest in all in that hot spot of American entertainment called Las Vegas then no doubt you have been inundated in recent months with news of the three new mega-resorts that have opened there.
You’ve heard that Barbra Streisand gave the opening concert at the MGM Grand. Seen pictures of the huge pyramid at the Luxor. And heard tales of the live sea battles that take place nightly in front of the Treasure Island.
But what have you seen, read or heard about Debbie?
Debbie who?
Debbie Reynolds, of course. Remember her? Well, of course we do. Reynolds has been a fixture in American entertainment since she made her debut as a 16-year-old in “Three Little Words” with Fred Astaire and followed up with “Singing in the Rain” two years later. That was the early 1950s and she has been wowing them on screen and stage ever since.
“You young people, now you can rent me in the video stores-for $2 you can have me for the weekend.”
But that is not enough. Now she owns her own-stage, that is-and a hotel and casino, as well.
This is the story she tells:
“I was getting tired of being on the road (she traveled 44 weeks a year) and I began thinking about settling down. Also, I wanted a place to put my collection of movie memorabilia. I was told that if I wanted to have my own theater, I’d have to go to Branson, Missouri.
“And so I went on down to Branson and visited my friend, Mel Tillis. It took me hours to get there . . . and when I arrived I discovered that everyone goes to bed at 8 o’clock!”
“I decided we all didn’t have to live in Branson.”
And so she returned to Vegas, where she has owned a condo for about 20 years, and took a serious look: No other performer had opened a namesake club here.
“I took a look around and discovered the old Paddle Wheel was being sold at auction. So I bought it . . . They told me you can’t buy a hotel on a side street, nobody will come see you. Well, we proved them wrong, didn’t we?”
“This place is just like us girls-paint us up and we look terrific.”
She declares this to a full house in the new theater/studio that she added to the hotel during renovations. It was designed by her son, Todd Fisher, and is state-of-the-art, including being prewired for television.
Such attention to detail is not unusual on Reynolds’ part as she is involved in every detail of the operation of her enterprise, which opened on Oct. 9 to little fanfare.
However, her location is not all that bad. The Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel/Casino/Movie Museum is just a block off the Strip, on Convention Center Drive, and so its gets lots of drive-by traffic. And it would be hard to miss spotting the marquee that boasts a picture of Debbie Reynolds that is several stories high.
Reynolds performs six days a week in her 500-seat theater. The show, which runs two hours, is a crowd-pleaser and at $29.95-including two drinks-it’s a bargain in this town.
At age 62, Reynolds understands her audience and plays to them beautifully. From the minute she strides on stage, she is in control of her audience. She launches into a lively rendition of “I’m Still Here” and to people who have any affection for Debbie Reynolds-whether as Tammy, Molly Brown or in whatever favorite role-it’s perfect. She mixes, mingles, mugs, shakes hands, gives kisses and has fun. After the show, she is available for autographs and pictures.
“It’s a personal show, not an extravaganza. It is what we all used to do. It’s my heritage . . . After all, we all grew up together didn’t we?”
As expected, the hotel’s first months weren’t easy and she recently installed a new management team. They are striving to get her second major attraction, the Movie Museum, open by this summer. It will house her extensive collection of movie costumes and props, and use video clips to tie them all together.
Meanwhile, the hotel and casino still need attention. Most of the 200 rooms (which run from $47 to $75 a night for a double, $54 to $82 for a king) have been refurbished, but several of the public areas need upgrading. For now, there is only one small restaurant and a dinky casino/bar that has only slot machines.
However, ambitious plans are underway. Plans call for raising capital by a public stock offering and expanding the size of the rooms on the upper floors and selling them as timeshares. Then they may add an additional tower of rooms and expand the stage to accommodate Broadway-type shows. Meanwhile, the enterprise remains modest and all the more appealing for being so.
Debbie Reynolds performs nightly Tuesday through Saturday, and on Sunday afternoons for most of the year. Comedian Rip Taylor appears with her when he is in town. For show reservations, call 702-733-2243; for room reservations, call 800-633-1777.
“When I die, you can just put me in the museum and
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All areas of the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel/Casino/Movie Museum, 305 Convention Center Drive, are wheelchair accessible, as is the showroom. Arrangements for special showroom seating and audio devices for the visually impaired can be made with the maitre d’.
