In the midst of clinking machines, busy shoppers, and loud tourists, Vegas entertainers sing, dance, act, and play music. And they're not complaining. After all, it's a great living. Las Vegas show people have a huge advantage over fellow entertainers nationwide, and opportunities to perform in the casinos on a daily basis are plentiful.
Many of these jobs are more than just a steady gig that pays the rent; they're a satisfying way to develop craft and can provide a comfortable lifestyle. It may not be as fulfilling as performing Shakespeare in the Park or as inspiring as an Ionesco play produced in an abandoned warehouse, but Vegas is one of the few places where entertainers can work in their chosen field on a consistent basis.
Some jobs may be more desirable than others, but all of them have advantages. These casino performers come in all ages and types, displaying a variety of talents. Atmospheric performers from two of the biggest casinos sat down with Back Stage West to talk about their jobs and an average day in the life of a casino entertainer.
Playing Among the Gods
Jennifer O'Hara, 28, has Broadway ambitions but enjoys basking in Vegas benefits. She moved from Cincinnati to Sin City in 1994 to attend UNLV on a full music scholarship. She's worked steadily as a performer since graduation. The classically trained soprano plays Goddess Erato at Caesar's Palace, singing about 15 times a day. "They actually created this character for me after I'd done a special event," she said.
A lovely, fit blonde, O'Hara also works several convention and modeling gigs on the side. She works her Caesar's job through BESTAgency, and she models through BEST and others; because Nevada is a right-to-work state, actors can register with as many agencies as they want. "Show up at all auditions," she advised. "And keep yourself knowledgeable."
The casino is her stage as she travels with Caesar, Cleopatra, and a smattering of other Greek gods for one hour at a time, before taking a 15- to 20-minute break to rest her feet and her voice. Her shift at Caesar's starts at 3 p.m. and lasts eight hours. She's worked steadily as a casino singer for the last two years, starting as a singing gondolier at the Venetian Hotel. The job's biggest drawback may surprise you. "Smoke [in the casino] is the biggest challenge, especially for singers," she said.
Although some people will occasionally try to take a picture with her or ask her questions in the middle of a song, she's had no problems with visitors heckling or doing anything blatantly inappropriate. But O'Hara loves to sing and said Vegas is a place where a performer can do that in front of an audience every day.
Robert David Cochrane, 33, is a filmmaker who also enjoys his day job playing Caesar. He's been in Vegas off and on for the last three years and spent more than five years in Los Angeles before that.
"Things were spiritually dead for me in L.A., and I was trying to find myself," he said. "I like Vegas because I can do things on my own terms here."
An exception to the rule, he's had more success in filmmaking since moving to Vegas. Last year, Artisan Entertainment released his movie, The Playaz Court, which he wrote and starred in. Last summer he directed Lucky Quarter, a short film based on a Stephen King story.
With an impressive resume, he enjoys suiting up in Julius Caesar's armor. "It's fun being out and meeting people," he said. "We take pictures with tourists and become celebrities on mantels all over the world." He also likes working in Caesar's Palace, a hotel with "prestige and clout."
He acknowledges that casino character jobs don't take much mental preparation, and surprisingly the men at Caesars are more susceptible to drunken, groping tourists than the women. But Cochrane said the men who play his guards are able to handle the crowds while staying in character.
Like O'Hara, he also enjoys working other gigs, including acting in several local commercials and doing background work in movies, including Intolerable Cruelty. Although a lot of people imagine Vegas as a land of "strippers and models," Cochrane said this image is erroneous. He advises performers to pay attention to the nuts and bolts of the job.
"Always show up on time and be prepared, and take any job you do seriously," he said. "I don't believe you have to be in L.A. to make it. It's more important to have strength and charisma, to be yourself."
Gambling in Sin City
Jennifer Alaimo, 31, knows dance. As one of the dancers in the Shadow Bar at Caesar's Palace, her silhouette moves in sexy, freestyle motion behind the scrims in the back bar. She works 16 hours weekly as a dancer, and her physical prowess is matched by her management skills, as she works as company manager for BESTAgency's 60 performers at Caesar's Palace.
Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., she came to Vegas in September 1999 after a producer had seen a video of her dancing in an Atlantic City show. That brought her to Laughlin, where she performed in Dancin' to the Hitz for six months.
Her New York accent made her a natural to open Tony 'N' Tina's Wedding at the Rio Hotel, where she played Tina for six months. At 5-foot-3, most dance shows wouldn't hire her. But she was eventually cast in Crazy Girls.
"I was the shortest in the line. I'm always the shortest in the line," she said, laughing. But she spent a year in the show. Now, at the Shadow Bar, height is less of a concern, as only two women dance at a given time.
Her management abilities are nothing new, either. "I've been an assistant to the director and a dance captain before. I wanted to get into management because I didn't want to be the oldest one in the dance line who had to be pulled out." David Barth, entertainment director at BESTAgency, said it's a very normal transition for Vegas dancers to go into local entertainment management. "There are more dancers in Vegas who are prepared for the next step in their careers," he said.
"I always said that company management is eventually where I'd want to be," Alaimo said. "The only thing that's difficult is being on both sides of the company and having to enforce discipline and offer criticism to other performers. I try to remember what it's like and I understand that criticism has to be advice. You can't have a lot of boundaries if you're going to work in this business."
For Alaimo, the freestyle form of dancing is the best part of working in the Shadow Bar, where the shift is a half hour onstage, a half hour off. Like all dancers, she has to make sure that she monitors repetitive movements by the more strained parts of her body. But, she said, her current work is a blessing: "That freedom of dancing expression is a great creative outlet. For me there's really no downside."
Over at the Venetian, about 120 singers, musicians, models, magicians, and actors fill the atmosphere. Joan Dukore, 27, uses the Venetian as her stage and plays many roles, including living statue, visual artist, marionette, and magician/juggler. A former dancer with a solid background in magic, Dukore has lived in Vegas on and off for the last eight years. For her, any opportunity to perform is a gift. "If you do what you love, you never really work," she said.
A former magician at Caesar's Magical Empire, Dukore said consistently available work is one of the biggest advantages for an entertainer in Las Vegas. Because of her background in magic, she's used to performing without a fourth wall.
As a living statue, she has to stand very still for long periods, but she never worries about being bothered by tourists because security keeps an eye on them. The biggest distraction is that people try to make her laugh, but they rarely do, she said. "Children are the ones it's hardest to resist, because their curiosity is so innocent."
Because of their difficult jobs, the statues work four-hour shifts and take 20-minute breaks to flex and stretch their muscles. Living models at the Paris Hotel (cast by Orion Productions) work on a similar mix of "on-time" with generous breaks to avoid muscle problems.
Bill Chenoweth, 54, has been at the Venetian, working as the musical director for three and a half years, overseeing 16 musicians on a daily basis, and playing piano. He also gets in the act, creating his Guiglemo Kokopelli character from scratch. He's been in Vegas for 23 years. "Personally, I've never gotten bored," he said. "We are constantly changing the music and have a nice selection to choose from."
Musicians perform small shows in the food court; the opera singers sing arias for dining patrons at Canaletto's restaurant.
Like O'Hara, Chenoweth also faces the occasional guest who asks a question in the middle of a musical number. "I just stay in character and nicely tell them that I promise to answer their questions when the show is over," he said.
Alvin Diehl, 33, has been a Gondolier at the Venetian since 1999. His character, Arturo La Spina, left the fake canal for a year and half to sing opera in Australia, but Diehl came back to the Venetian when he returned to Vegas.
His first job in Vegas was working as a character at the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton Hotel. Diehl comes to Vegas from North Dakota. He has two master's degrees: one in opera and one in vocal performance. He enjoys being able to sing opera on a daily basis and said the consistency isn't the only thing that makes Vegas living great. "There are so many opportunities to make extra money doing special events. The biggest challenge is juggling all the work," he said.
Although many performers around Vegas sign with multiple agencies, Diehl said that devoting yourself to one may be beneficial. "Find a good production company and develop a good rapport with them," he said. "And stick with it."
Full figures
It's easier to stay with anything, performing included, when you can earn a living doing it. Every performer interviewed earns a sustaining living on their base salaries, but most say they try to work side gigs when they can to expand their repertoire and earn extra money.
Erica Harris, director of marketing and an agent at BESTAgency, said the agency prefers not to disclose its entertainers' salaries, but several of the positions it places also earn tips.
Aside from salaries, many casino entertainers enjoy full benefits, even if they work through an agency. BESTAgency offers benefits after three months of full-time employment.
At the Rio All Suite Hotel, Dick Foster Productions places the performers in the Masquerade Village in the sky and the BevErtainers. They work on six-month contracts and are eligible for free health benefits after six months. Though they are not employees of the hotels, many of the casino entertainers are entitled to free meals in the employee cafeterias.
Lynne Foster, co-owner of Dick Foster productions, said BevErtainers' salaries start at $40,000 per year, and they can earn up to $120,000 annually because they collect tips on cocktail service, which they combine with entertainment. "BevErtainers are doing outrageously well," Foster said, explaining that turnover thus far has been low--a rarity for Vegas. "Nov. 18 is when the original six-month contracts changed out, and only about 20 of the 86 people we originally hired were replaced."
Men aren't usually used as cocktail servers, but about 10 are BevErtainers, and Foster said they get even more attention than the female performers. BevErtainers work four- or eight-hour shifts. They perform nine times per shift, singing or dancing, on self-contained stages throughout the casino. They get paid breaks.
The dancers in the Masquerade Show in the Sky perform 20 minutes for each show, six or seven shows per day, because it's hard work. "They just dance their little tushies off," Foster said.
Although age is unimportant--the average age of BevErtainers is 34--Foster said weight matters for these jobs. "We built all costumes in sizes 6 and 8 and reduce down to 2s and 4s. Our contracts all have weight clauses in them." Note that size may not necessarily be a factor for other agencies and performing positions.
Working entertainers know that there are times when you have to do something other than perform to pay the rent. Waiting tables, construction, theatre tech, and temping are all viable options for actors working toward their big break--or at least their next steady gig. But Las Vegas offers a variety of ways for actors and others to make their living doing what they love. The whirligig patterns of casino carpet and fake marble walkways may not be the most artistic or ideal stages, but someone who needs to perform can make any atmosphere his stage. And with a little effort, Vegas performers can usually find a place to show their talent. BSW