Under Construction

Incredible!  Amazing!  A must see! - are just a few of the words that describe Barbra and Frank:  The Concert That Never Was at the Riviera.  Sharon Owens and Sebastian Anzaldo are not simply tribute artists - they are the perfect fit for the shoes of two of the greatest entertainers of all time.  Elvis with acrobats at the Aria and all of the other Circ shows in town may be spectacular with their costumes and sheer number of people on stage, but "Barbra and Frank" bring back the reality of what true stars are.  We'd forgotten Barbra's nasally prattle, which Sharon Owens does perfectly.  Her jokes are not old, rehashed, from a show or movie, but current, in the moment, as she "whined" about "hail in April in Las Vegas." (we couldn't believe the weather either) Sebastian Anzaldo is smooth as Frank Sinatra.  He makes you believe Ol' Blue Eyes is back.  And Musical Director, Rob Hyatt, does a mean Kermit the Frog.  This is the show to see when you're in Vegas!

Who is John Bauman and what does he have to do with The Platters?  Answers:  Bowzer formerly of Sha Na Na, and Nothing.  Several years ago Bauman started something he calls Truth in Music.  He has travelled the country trying, and succeeding in many cases, to get Truth in Music laws passed.  After spending close to $5,000,000 over the years in our effort to stop phoney Platters groups, we applauded the effort.   But it seems that, at least in the case of The Platters, Bauman's motivation is his friendship with two former singers from the group:  one who resigned in July 1969 and another who left in 1970.    It was unpleasant to be told he believes The Plugger's fifty-six contineous years working to build and maintain the group whose success was/is founded on Buck Ram's beautiful songs, is inconsequential.  We find his personal opinion to be uninformed and disrespectful.  It was the Plugger's time, effort, soul -- and money, that went into the group.  The singers did not ante up the cash to create the hits.*  Buck Ram was lucky to find Tony Williams, whose voice was perfect for his songs, and we had a group that stayed together for six years and is called the "originals," but there have been fifty additional years of success.  Bauman wasn't there.  He doesn't know the work that has gone into this business, so please Bowzer MYOB!  We see no more truth in your "Truth in Music"  than we have seen in any of the phoney groups we've fought over the years.

*The Plugger does have to confess to being paid $25 a week as publicist and Resdient Agent by The Five Platters in 1956.  However, by 1966 she had paid "the originals" thousands of dollars to buy them out.