Night Clubs Reviews

Apr 5, 2003 - "Sunny: Blondes and Boy-Toys" hits a showbiz jackpot at Harrah's Reno

By Jack Neal

Once again it's like the golden age of big-name entertainment at Harrah's Reno. The sexy and entertaining new show "Sunny: Blondes and Boy-Toys" is a winner right out of the classic-career mold of movie and nightclub star Mitzi Gaynor, when she was in her prime - and what an exciting time that was.

Now the excitement is back and it's Sunny's turn to give Reno audiences lots of glamor, lots of showbiz moxy, and lots of just plain fun. Starring the vivacious Sunny and her four hunky and talented boy-toys, the show is an 85-minute extravaganza of song, dance and costume changes that adds up to a very special evening of first-class entertainment.

Sunny, who is gorgeous, slim, chic and wears clothes marvelously well, sings and dances her way through over two-dozen songs. The ploy around which the show is built is how blondes manage the "hardship" of making their way through the many stages of life with hopelessly attractive men. That the show is a bit too long is something that can be handled with some judicious editing. That there's oodles about the show that entertains is never in doubt.

Trained in opera, with a short bit to prove she can sing operatic material, it's clear the star is really mad about musical comedy and connecting with people in the nightclub format. The best moments in the show come with Sunny's impressions of famous blondes in its "I'm a Broadway Baby" segment. She does a terrific Mae West impersonation. "I used to be Snow Whte," Sunny intones a la West, "until I drifted." Her Joan Rivers is a much classier act than Miss Rivers herself usually provides. Her description as Rivers of the work Anna Nicole Smith did to "earn" her 85 million dollar inheritance ("Is she here? Can we talk?") is hilarious. Better still, Sunny is at her very best bringing the dumb-blond (like a fox) humor and magnetism of Marilyn Monroe to the stage. She's very Monroelike, drolly funny, and does - with her boy-toys - a knockout version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."

Sunny's boys bring an international flavor to the show. All four are splendid dancers and very hot. Juan Solan is from Spain. Ritchie Allen has performed in Germany, on Guam and extensively in the United States. Jack Failla has performed in Europe as a Chippendale's dancer and has had an extensive career as a model. Marlon Mitchell has performed in Europe and Asia. All are terrific stage performers.

The "Sunny" show is shrewdly produced and packaged by Sunny's husband, producer-director Greg Thompson, with great lighting, glamorous and sexy costuming and vibrant choreography by Mistinguett. The cast is backed by six excellent musicians. David Grantham is the band's director and arranger and is, among his many musical talents, a splendid guitarist.

But what ultimately makes "Sunny: Blondes and Boy-Toys" work as superior nightclub entertainment is Sunny herself. She comes off as sweet, truly interested in the people who have come to see her show, and aims very hard to please which she does with grace and ease. Paired with the popular "Gordie Brown Show," which alternates with "Sunny; Blondes and Boy-Toys" in Sammy's Showroom at Harrah's Reno, it appears that Harrah's entertainment has once again hit the jackpot.

"Sunny: Blondes and Boy-Toys" can be seen Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. and Sundays and Mondays at 9:30 p.m. in Sammy's Showroom, Harrah's Reno, 219 North Center Street, Reno, Nevada. For information call 775-788-2900.