Zowie BowieÕs lounge act isnÕt big enough for showroom

IF YOU GO

What: Zowie BowieÕs ÒVintage VegasÓ

When: 7:30 p.m. Sundays

Where: Lance Burton Theater, Monte Carlo

Tickets: $29.95; 730-7160,

montecarlo.com

Chris Phillips talks with great passion of his dream of a lifetime. He wavers on how long heÕs had the dream. Sometimes itÕs 35 years, sometimes 32. Sometimes itÕs 40, from the moment he first heard ÒElvis in Person at the International HotelÓ in 1969.

It is the dream to keep alive the essence of Las Vegas, that maverick, Rat Pack-ian swagger on which the cityÕs entertainment reputation was forged.

In this dream, Phillips is half of the act billed as Zowie Bowie. HeÕs singing with a partner, the blustery Marley Taylor, so buxom she makes Jayne Mansfield look positively dowdy. Setting up residency in his dream is a 16-piece orchestra conducted by trumpet player David Perrico (who plays with the Lon Bronson All-Star Band at Green Valley Ranch and is rehearsing for the Cirque Elvis show at CityCenter), and featuring Bronson in the horn section.

Famous friends stop by in this dream, played out onstage at Monte CarloÕs Lance Burton Theater. There are a couple of the ÒRat Pack Is BackÓ performers from the Plaza, up for a frenetic ÒLuck Be a Lady Tonight.Ó ThereÕs Vince Neil of Motley Crue, decked out in a charcoal suit and soaring through ÒFly Me to the Moon,Ó carefully steering the tune like an IndyCar driver suddenly plopped into a Bentley. There is even a famous canine, Alicia JacobsÕ Star, a doggy with her own agent, who is invited onstage as Taylor chirps ÒCrush on You.Ó

ItÕs an adventure in wonderland, this dream. And as you sit and watch and listen to the highly persuasive, bronzed, blond-frocked Phillips repeatedly claim that Old Vegas will never die, not as long as he has a voice in the matter, you wonder: Is this dream too big, too outsized, for these two?

The ÒVintage VegasÓ show Phillips and Taylor are four-walling at the Burton Theater each Sunday night might be a simple case of a very good lounge show moved into a venue that strips that show of its intimate appeal.

On Sunday night, during the gala opening, the theater seemed to engulf the performers — no small feat, considering the magnitude of their collective personalities and TaylorÕs impossible-to-ignore physical appeal (when your gay friends are saying even they canÕt stop staring at her chest, you know youÕre in rarefied territory).

Crucial to Zowie BowieÕs long success (the duo have been performing together for 10 years, three in Las Vegas and seven in Scottsdale, Ariz.) is the relationship-driven shtick between Phillips and Taylor. The two have been famously engaged for nearly a decade with no wedding date in sight, and the comic material rises from this concocted tension — ÒGet Me to the Church on TimeÓ is played to start and end the show.

But the give-and-take between the two was far more comfortable in a smaller setting — like Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort and the Lounge at the Palms. Somehow itÕs not quite hitting the mark in the big showroom. You wince when Phillips slaps Taylor on the rear and tells her, ÒBeat it, will ya?Ó — trying to channel Sinatra, I guess. But Taylor does have a couple of good zingers, mocking PhillipsÕ spiked-out hair by saying, ÒShut up, Beavis,Ó and referring to him as Tweety Bird.

Musically and vocally, the show works well as a recitation of famous songs that fit the ÒVintage VegasÓ theme. TaylorÕs ÒDiamonds Are ForeverÓ and ÒTouch Me in the MorningÓ prove sheÕs a lot more than a gown model. Phillips has some fine moments. ÒDelilahÓ didnÕt have Tom JonesÕ force, but Phillips sang it with grit and passion. He embarked on a fun medley of old TV show themes, ÒThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,Ó ÒThe JeffersonsÓ and ÒLove Boat.Ó They uncork ÒAmerican TrilogyÓ near the end, but in these instances the numbers are carried mostly by Zowie BowieÕs heartfelt desire to be great.

If anyone is looking to improve this show, right now, he should address the out-of-step, oddly costumed backup dancers. Even occasional showgoers recognized that strips of gold and silver sequins and attention-grabbing headdresses (which seemed to startle even Taylor) are no substitute for grace and precision.

Zowie Bowie, two of the more popular personalities to arrive on the Vegas scene in a long time, have a 90-day commitment in this theater. By their sheer force of will and boundless belief in their act, it might well grow into a show that reaches the furthest recesses of the showroom. But that type of rousing production, at the moment, is a dream.

John Katsilometes can be reached at 990-7720 or at john.kats@lasvegassun.com.