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| Las Vegas Sun - May 8, 2006 |
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John Katsilometes talks with a 'Phantom' actor who brings Broadway credentials to Las Vegas
Larry Wayne Morbitt is uniquely educated about the frequently analyzed Broadway-to-Vegas entertainment trend. He's done Vegas. He's done Broadway.
"If any show is going to make it in Vegas, it's this one," Morbitt said Friday morning at Valcom Studios on South Commerce Street, tucked away in downtown Las Vegas. "It's immediately recognizable. It's sung in so many languages, and given that Las Vegas is an international city I think it's a great fit."
Morbitt speaks of "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular," set to open next month at the Venetian. The opening date for previews has been moved back from June 4 to June 12; the grand opening is still set for June 23.
Morbitt has portrayed Ubaldo Piangi on Broadway for 7 1/2 years, but he also has strong ties to Vegas; he sang with the Las Vegas Opera and the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra in the '80s, and also served as the minister of music at Trinity Temple - now Trinity Life Center - and still holds a ministerial credential.
Morbitt well remembers the Vegas entertainment scene when he left the city in the late-'80s.
"It's more diverse now than it was then. It's more of an international audience, where English is not always spoken," Morbitt said. "When I lived here, Siegfried &Roy were the really big show ... and 'Jubilee,' come to think of it. 'Jubilee' was a really big show then." |
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© 2013 Larry Wayne Morbitt
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