Great Comment To Vegas’ Media Gripes – Sour Grapes

Ooh, so bitter! Lets see – Bette was here for roughly 17 weeks in “08, and 20 for “09. The crowds of people who come to Las Vegas to be entertained don’t live and give here – must the entertainers? Lack of charity? Bette has given to many local causes, but prefers to remain anonymous. Her dining out with friends, staff and family, and the show shopping alone have contributed mightily to local paychecks over these 2 years. She’s been very generous to staff and crew – her own and local. The non local crew, have spent and given in ways immeasurable while they were here.

The 2 events you speak of were coincided with Show Days, on which Bette’s first and foremost commitment is to the ticket buying public. A Show Day – from AM work out to vocal rehearsal to dance rehearsal to sound check, to vocal rest, to curtain – is all, and ONLY about giving the best performance. The Audience and what they deserve is what matters – end of story. It is unfortunate that those events were scheduled on top of previously existing shows. Nevada Ballet were very aware of the logical limit to her time for participation, as you might have been also. Her level of professional commitment and dedication to the task of performance at hand is unsurpassed. To anyone who knows her, this is clear. By the way – the nightly “soundcheck” is a crucial element, involving a huge mandatory local union labor call, the artist’s band, production, and crew, the Colosseum, and AEG, not just the Artist. It does not just get “re-arranged”, not even by the Artist. Bette, at 63, does all her own vocals, dancing, very fast changes, and speaks to the audience all night long (unlike some others). In this very dry environment, it can be extremely difficult. She does not fly home to humid LA between shows (unlike some others). She has not canceled a single show for which tickets have been sold (unlike others). She anchored the Colosseum through June and August of the worst tourist summer Las Vegas has seen in more than a decade, possibly two. At least it stayed open and booked, and everyone who works there, plus her own crew from all over, had a job.

There is a phrase much bandied about this year (and last year, if one paid attention). “Recession! – worst since 1987!”. Perhaps you might Google it, and find out what other promising enterprises did not perform as well as expected in the last 2 years. As far as her future plans – anyone’s guess, (but yours is not a good one). There’s a lot she could do – show biz being just a fraction. By the way – do you know anyone else who picks up garbage in their spare time, has reclaimed 150 inner city gardens, has committed to planting a million trees in one of the most crowded cities in America and is 1/4 of the way to that goal? No? I didn’t think so.

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