Frankie Moreno sees the Las Vegas entertainment scene as something of an amusement park. There is a Ferris wheel, the teacups, bumper cars, even a funhouse.
“Everyone fits in the Vegas amusement park,” he says.
And what ride fits his new show?
“The roller coaster,” he says with a laugh. “It’s an emotional up-and-down, where you’re not knowing what’s coming next.”
What’s coming next in Under the Influence, the Moreno production at Planet Hollywood Showroom, might be a rotating piano outfitted with an LED screen. It could be Moreno in a silver-studded, black-leather jacket borrowing from the Elvis classic, “Suspicious Minds.” It could be the arrival of a red Shelby Cobra, the setting for the rocking original “Diva,” with Lacey Schwimmer, late of “Dancing with the Stars” and Moreno’s girlfriend and co-director, gyrating across the hood.
The Moreno show is at once original and steeped in history, same as its star. A prolific songwriter in any genre—covering rock, country, R&B and even symphonic compositions—Moreno’s history in Vegas stretches to a 2001 gig at the Crazy Armadillo at Stratosphere. Since, he has crisscrossed the city, playing the old La Scena at The Venetian, Shimmer Cabaret at Las Vegas Hilton, various resort poolside stages, Rush Lounge at Golden Nugget and the Lounge at the Palms. That’s not the full list, but it is representative of Moreno’s career after he moved to Vegas following a stint in Nashville as a contracted songwriter, penning music for and with other artists—Billy Carrington, Graham Russell of Air Supply and and Gary Nicholson (who wrote “Power of Love” for Huey Lewis) among them.
As a result, Moreno’s career in Las Vegas has taken an uncommon flight, as he fit in his small-venue schedule with extensive touring with Air Supply and the country act Sugarland. He became well-known in the industry as a sensational performer and writer, but was not necessarily rooted in a single venue in Vegas, sometimes playing multiple gigs for 10 hours a day.
That changed when he was plucked from his run at Rush Lounge—among other venues he played between 2006-2010—by the Palms. His strong run at The Lounge lured execs from the Stratosphere, who signed him to that hotel’s showroom in October 2011, a run that ended in November of 2014. Moreno again took to the road, performing in Australia, Europe, Asia and in performing-arts centers around the country—including Carnegie Hall, in a Frank Sinatra tribute to the New York Pops. He also performed a series of shows at Cabaret Jazz at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, under the same Under the Influence title used for his new show.
That run of performances was under a different theme each week, as Moreno paid tribute to James Brown, Elvis, The Beatles, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, country artists, even his favorite classical composers (a full orchestra was jammed on the Cab Jazz stage). His backing band learned about 400 songs during that series, setting the stage for his Base Entertainment-backed showcase of originals and covers at Planet Hollywood.
“We went through the best-ofs at the Smtih Center, we picked the artists before the songs and then fit the songs into the format,” explains Moreno, who plays piano, guitar, harmonica and mandolin in the show. “So we have Elvis and ‘Suspicious Minds,’ Jerry Lee Lewis with ‘Wild One,’ which I’ve been playing for years as the closing of the show. The Beatles—obviously Eleanor Rigby (which Moreno recorded years ago with violin virtuoso Joshua Bell), to Sinatra and ‘That’s Life’ the Police, Green Day, Bruno Mars. We have eight to nine songs that we squeeze into an acoustic medley.”
Each of the numbers in the show are fully produced scenes, with Schwimmer providing the choreography. The guitars are all custom-designed, thanks to an endorsement agreement with Gibson. Moreno slides such orignals as “Moonlight Matinee” into his Elvis segment, as it reminds of an Elvis tune. The original “I Gotta Have It,” evoking the slamming presentation of Brown, opens the show. “Some Kind of Love,” a song actually delivered to Charles for recording just before Charles’ death, is performed simply on one of Moreno’s three grand pianos. “Eleanor Rigby,” with a video violin accompaniment, and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” are also pared-down numbers. But the show otherwise erupts in technology, with Moreno and his backing band showered in a new light system under a set of eight new LED screens.
There is a chance to grow, however. The room has been cut to just under 800 capacity from its original 1,500 seats, with the balcony and rear sections draped off. Moreno would love to get to the point where he can re-open those regions and play to the big house. But that type of talk is not for now. As is the case on any rollercoaster, the peak is never at the start.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 9 p.m. Tues.-Sun., starting at $45 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
