December 12. 2021

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Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton, made a stop at the Robins Theatre on Saturday Night to bring a little bit of Las Vegas to northeastern Ohio.

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The spry seventy-nine year old still moves around the stage very well, has a quick wit and can tell a story with the best of them.  However, his voice  isn't quite what it used to be, but most people in the audience didn't seem to care.  They were thrilled to be taken down memory lane by a living legend.

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Opening the show with "Viva Las Vegas," Mr. Newton immediately had the audience itn the palm of his hand.

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Before playing "Blue Christmas," he told the crowd that he was dedicating the show to his former brother-in-law, Michael Stanley.  

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The show was full of stories from his career.  Starting with he and his brother appearing on the Jackie Gleason Show, to being on Bonanza, to being the opening act for Jack Benny.

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All of his stories were accompanied by photos that were shown on the screen behing him.  

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He also answered some questions from the audience that were written down on cards before the show.  One of the questions was who was his favorite person that he sang a duet with?  His answer was Glenn Campbell, and then proceeded to play a clip from the only time they played together in England.  He noted that they never rehearsed it and did the medley in one take.  

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Another question was how many instruments can he play.  He answered, "thirteen" and then laid down some impressive licks on an acoustic guitar while he played "Help Me Make It Through The Night."  Later in the show, he broke out a violin and played a solo that would have made Charlie Daniels proud. 

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Other video clips were played throughout the show with him singing with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

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Of course, he had to play his biggest hits, "Danke Schon" and "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" toward the end of the set.

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The two hour story teller and musical extravaganza came to a close with the appropriate cover of Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

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It was the perfect way to end the night.

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Photos and review by Greg Drugan