The Society of Seven leaves you with a collage of eclectic images and a feel-good attitude.
Without an opening that features a taped performance of the Society of Seven on the '60's Ed Sullivan Show, most people wouldn't know that the group has been around for so long. However, without the corny Coming to America flashes of the Statue of Liberty, the audience still would recognize that Society of Seven is not a white-bread band, in any sense.
Very popular in Hawaii, Society of Seven had a long-running show at the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki. In Las Vegas, the variety show entertainers moved from the Aladdin to the Hilton, and with the savvy addition of Lani Misalucha, to Bally's.
At its best, the performance is a showcase for elegant Misalucha who has a 90-minute eccentric backdrop. All the men are talented musicians, singers, dancers, impressionists, and comedians with electric energy, but it's Misalucha who steals the show. The Philippines-born singer with a powerful vocal range of five octaves never had formal vocal training. "I just always like to sing," she says.
Lani's first knock-your-socks-off number is an a capella version of Whitney Houston's I Will Aways Love You. After the first stanza, the musicians join in. It's a shame that the screeching electric guitar sets up an incongruous battle between the band and singer.
Strikingly beautiful Lani takes her numbers as they come, from tongue-in-cheek impressions of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Shania Twain to the straightforward role of The Phantom of the Opera heroine, Christine. At the same time, several male members are playing personalities in their own campy style too as a "history" of Las Vegas entertainers is presented with a string of more impressions: The Rat Pack, Chubby Checker, Sonny and Cher, Gladys Knight and her Pip brother Bubba, Kenny G, Wayne Newton and Danny Gans -- an impersonation who goes through a dozen other speedy impersonations. Gary Bautista does a dynamite job with that.
In the midst of this amusing madness, Lani -- presented as "Asia's Singing Sensation" -- also delivers an astounding aria. The award-winning singer is incredibly talented. So are the men, but she's a standout.
The afternoon show is suitable for an under-21 audience. The Jolly Parton parody was one of two "racy" moments in the show. Three generations of Parton women displayed stages of mammary diversity. Grandma Parton's sagging bosom alternately nearly hit her in the face or almost tripped her.
A chachacha number featured three of the seven men dancing with pieces of paper covering their chests and groin. When one fella's sheets of paper systematically became smaller, the effect was more humorous since they were all fully clothed.
Three songs from Saturday Night Fever underscore some great harmonies among the men. Three or four mini-scenes from Phantom of the Opera again spotlight Misalucha's vocal talents and the men's comic timing. These scenes appear out of sync with the rest of the show, yet in Hawaii the mini-productions of New York theater hits earned the title "window to Broadway."
The show closes, as it opened, with what appears to be a self-conscious attempt to win a crossover market: a huge American flag and a heart-tugging version of God Bless America.
It doesn't matter if the variety show seems at times to lack focus, you won't regret experiencing this zany Hawaiian group and fantastic female singer/dancer and good sport.
Society of Seven with Lani Misalucha is performed at 3 p.m. Saturday through Thursday at the Jubilee! Showroom at Bally's, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. So. For tickets ($37.50) call: 739-4111.