Wiedersehen to Wayne?
Wayne Newton is telling fans “Danke schoen” after 50 years in Las Vegas and hinting that his latest run could be his last.
The man known throughout the world as “Mr. Las Vegas” says retirement is possible, but that won’t hinge on the success of his new show, “Once Before I Go,” that opened Wednesday at the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Instead, says Newton, 67, it depends on whether his itch to keep working conflicts with his desire to spend more time with his 7-year-old daughter.
“I’m enjoying my second daughter in a way that I didn’t get a chance to do the first time around,” he says. “The decision that I make, whether or not to perform or retire, will pretty much be based on that.”
The new show, which Newton says took 21/2 months to write, is presented as a live memoir of his life and career, with never-before-shared insights about personal episodes along the way.
“It’s challenging to keep it entertaining,” Newton said. “And that was my first prerequisite.”
On Wednesday night, he told stories about Dean Martin failing to rehearse for a TV duet, Elvis Presley writing a note that inspired the lyrics for “The Letter” and Bobby Darin fighting a publisher to let Newton record his signature tune “Danke Schoen.”
Newton told the crowd that it was tough for him to pick highlight songs from a career that includes 165 records.
“It would be impossible for me to pick songs from all of them even if I remembered them, which I don’t,” he quipped.
Newton arrived in Las Vegas in 1959, when a two-week tryout at the Fremont Hotel & Casino turned into a lounge act of six shows per night, six nights a week for nearly a year.
He earned national fame after a 1962 television appearance on “The Jackie Gleason Show.”
“I’ve been working since I was 4,” Newton said. “There really has not been a time in my life that I don’t remember working.”
He said writing “Once Before I Go” has taken a toll on him and will be emotional to perform nightly.
“If I still feel like I have something to give when this particular show is over, then I’ll make the decision to probably curtail work a little bit but not give it up totally,” he says.
“If I don’t feel that way at the end of this, then I’ll probably hang it up.”
The birthday bunch
Country singer Bill Anderson is 72. “Hustler” publisher Larry Flynt is 67. Country singer Kinky Friedman is 65. Singer Lyle Lovett is 52. Singer Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 47. Country singer Big Kenny (Big and Rich) is 46. Actress Toni Collette is 37. Actress Jenny McCarthy is 37. Singer Bo Bice (“American Idol”) is 34. Actor Penn Badgely (“Gossip Girl”) is 23.