Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: August 8, 2021
By: Laura Deni
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THE RICH AND POOR OF BEING AN OLYMPIC SUPERSTAR

Quan Hongchan

Quan Hongchan is a 14-year-old girl who had to get into the work force to earn money to send back to China so her mother could have medical treatment. Her mother was injured in an automobile accident and requires constant care. The Chinese have to pay for medical care and her parents are indigent farmers. The brilliant high diver blew the other competitors out of the waters with 24 perfect scores out of 35.

She also beat the previously held Olympic record in the women's 10-meter platform final.

Speaking with reporters after her feat, Hongchan said, through an interpreter, that her win was dedicated to her sick mother. "I want to make enough money to support her."

While more Americans file for bankruptcy than for any other reason, that a fourteen year old has the burden of supporting a sick parent strikes as antediluvian. Fortunately, most countries pay Olympic metal winning athletes. Some countries pay more than others.

NBC paid $7.7 billion for broadcasting rights to show the Olympics through 2032, sold more than $1.25 billion in ads for the Tokyo games. According to Vox the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which runs the Olympic Games, stands to make $3 billion to $4 billion on television rights for the delayed 2020 Olympics.

According to Slate the Chinese General Administration of Sport promised to drop prizes to provincial governments for their local medalists’ wins, to curb the prevalence of both corruption and cheating. The nation also dropped rewards for team officials. However, some individual prizes remain: The Chinese government partnered with Tim Yip (aka Ye Jintian), a renowned visual artist and Oscar-winning designer, to create “Champion Dragon Clothes” for athletes to wear on the podium.

Olympic gold medal winners from China in Tokyo will receive $51,000 the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Xiao Shan, the deputy head of China's General Administration of Sports.

The prize compares to the $29,000 handed out to gold medal winners after the 2004 Olympic games, the report said.

As part of “Operation Gold,” an initiative the USOPC launched in 2017, U.S. Olympians who reach the podium receive payments of $37,500 for every gold medal won, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. Pots are divvied up evenly to each member in team competitions, according to CNBC.

Host country Japan pays medal bonuses of roughly $45,000 for gold, $18,000 for silver and $9,000 for bronze - except in baseball, with members of the Japanese team reportedly in line for an extra $45,000 if they could win the tournament. Japan won the baseball silver medal in 1996. In Tokyo, Japan defeated USA 2-0 winning the gold - and that bonus.

Canadian athletes earn approximately $20,000 for each gold medal, $15,000 for each silver and $10,000 for each bronze. Canada didn't begin paying winners until the Beijing games.

Hong Kong rewards its Olympic athletes with 5 million Hong Kong dollars ($643,000 at the current exchange rate) for gold medals in individual events.

The individual-gold-medal payouts in Australia, Brazil, Finland, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland, to name a few, range from about $15,000 to about $70,000.

Singapore offers the highest known payout for an individual gold medalist at 1 million Singapore dollars, plus rewards of 500,000 for silver medalists and 250,000 for bronze medalists.

According to multiple sources other high paying countries are:
Taiwan - individual gold medal: 20 million New Taiwan dollars ($716,000).
Indonesia: 5 billion Indonesian rupiah ($346,000)
Bangladesh: $300,000
Kazakhstan: $250,000
Malaysia: 1 million Malaysian ringgits ($237,000)
Italy: 180,000 euros ($214,000)
Philippines: 10 million Philippine pesos ($200,000)
Hungary: 50 million Hungarian forints ($166,000)
Kosovo: 100,000 euros ($119,000)
Estonia: 4,600 euros ($5,500) per year for life

Not all countries provide bounty for medals. Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden don’t provide any extra pay for medals, and neither do smaller contingencies like Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tonga or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In 2016, along with cash, the Russian government began dolling out luxury cars, apartments, and literally a racehorse to various winners for the country at the Rio Games. However, due to a massive doping scandal Russian medalists don't hear their national anthem when they reach the podium. Instead, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, is played.

German medalists get a lifetime supply of beer, and Belarusian winners receive a stockpile of sausage, according to Yahoo Finance. South Korea allows winners to escape required military service.

Olympians competed for 1,017 medals over 339 events across 33 spots at Tokyo 2020.

That doesn't mean there is a pot of gold at the end of every medal ribbon.

Rebecca Twigg was a famous Olympian cyclist winning six world championships and medaling in two Olympics. She appeared on cycling magazine covers, in sponsor ads and in features in Sports Illustrated and Vanity Fair. Then she became homeless in Seattle, actually living in homeless shelters and on the street under garbage bags.

Brian Job would win a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Multiple arrest records would follow and 45-years later - to the day of his Olympic victory - he was released from the Santa Clara County, CA main jail. He was homeless.

Swimmer Klete Keller won gold in 2004 with Michael Phelps and just a few years later he was jobless and living in his car.

Just a few of the many who went from wining medals to a tarnishes existence.

For most, the demise stems from having no back-up plan. Being an Olympic champion is the be all and end all - and for many it ends exactly that way. A lesson learned the hard way is that has beens aren't worth as much as new flames.

Olympians are permitted to accept endorsement deals. The higher the profile and popularity of the spoke the more lucrative the payout. Speed walking doesn't count for much at the bank.

Many former Olympians find work as Cirque du Soleil performers.

Katie Ledecky signed a six-year deal worth $7 million with swimwear apparel giant TYR in 2018, while Simon Biles has her own line of gymnastic equipment along with endorsement deals with Nike, Hershey's and Kellogg's.

Tom Daley knitting at the Olympics.

With more than 3 million Instagram followers, a well knitted future belongs to Britain's Tom Daley, 27, who pocketed gold for his diving skills. He has a secure future with his headline generated knitting. From socialites to fans, a Daley knitted original - ranging from sweaters to a tea cosey - will be a must have item.

According to The Therapeutic Power of Knitting, the craft is credited with reducing stress, creating strong social bonds and increasing feelings of usefulness. Meanwhile, the repetitive and rhythmic movements of knitting are often compared to forms of meditation.

Daley's motto is madewithlovebytomdaley. He can expect a line aound the block to snap up his knit one, pearl two creations. His doggy sweaters are adorable.

He also uses his knitting skills to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity. On instagram he explained: "Since my knitting page is gaining momentum, I wanted to take the opportunity to try and raise some money for the @thebraintumourcharity in memory of my Dad! Any donations would be greatly appreciated."

Then there is Venezuela Yulimar Rojas who broke the world record for the triple jump at the Tokyo Olympics. She set a world record of 15.67 metres on her sixth and final jump, smashing the previous best of 15.50m set by Ukraine's Inessa Kravets in 1995.

The 25-year-old, pink-haired star who was raised in poverty now stands as a symbol of hope for other poverty-stricken youngsters in a country mired in economic crisis.

“The sky is the limit,” Rojas told AFP

Quan Hongchan deserves to earn enough to pay for her mother's medical treatment - and then some.

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In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

ART AND ABOUT

THE ART OF BANKSY

Girl With Balloon by Bansky

the largest touring exhibition of authentic Banksy artworks in the world, takes place in Chicago on the 4th floor of 360 N. State St: a 45,000-square-foot space that was the home of other public exhibits. The public opening will be Saturday, Augusr 14.

Situated in the heart of River North adjacent to the Marina Towers, 360 N. State St. is just steps away from the Chicago Riverwalk.

The Art of Banksy will feature more than 80 works by the elusive street artist including many of his most recognizable images such as Flower Thrower; Rude Copper and Girl with Balloon. Banksy’s works are seen on city walls, bridges and streets throughout the world, but The Art of Banksy offers a rare chance to see a multitude of works in one location.

In true Banksy style, The Art of Banksy is not authorized or curated in collaboration with the artist, but rather sourced from private collections allowing the public to see works that would otherwise stay hidden in private homes or warehouses. Banksy, whose identity is the art world’s biggest secret, is an enigmatic artist and world-recognized activist. His graffiti-influenced stencil technique, often combined with anti-establishment slogans, is immediately recognizable and never fails to generate immediate attention.

Seen by 750,000 people worldwide, The Art of Banksy has already generated excitement in Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Auckland and Toronto with rave reviews from critics all around the world.

FLYING HORSE EDITIONS the national printmaking studio that invites some of the world’s leading artists for its Visiting Artist Residency program, has chosen Mira Lehr for their select roster of artists for 2021.

In her new series, Lehr, now at the bold age of 86, is experimenting with explosives, fuses, plexiglass, watercolor, and inks ? exploring new ways to use nontraditional materials in the art of printmaking.

South Florida based Lehr’s new work created at this residency will debut during Art Basel Miami Beach 2021, at the INK Miami Satellite Fair - December 1-5 at the Dorchester Hotel - during Miami Art Week 2021.

Lehr is an American multidisciplinary artist, her practice encompasses painting, design, sculpture, and video installation. She creates abstract works inspired by the natural world.

Her father, Charles I. Tager patented an affordable, efficient version of the modern stapler. A recipient of a Rockefeller Scholarship, Lehr received a degree in art history of Vassar College in l956. Thirty of her paintings were comissioned for the permanent collection of Mount Sinai Hospital. Her work can also be found in museums ariubd the world as well as a number of American embassies.

SKETCH ON THE SQUARE

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Make your way to London's Trafalgar Square this summer as art goes al-fresco for 'Sketch on the Square', part of the Inside Out Festival.

Pull up to one of 30 easels installed outside the Gallery and create your own masterpiece at drop-in sessions, family studios and artist-led classes throughout August. All activities are free and open to any age or ability, with materials provided.

Paint, draw or sketch whatever sparks your imagination! Then before you head home, grab some refreshments and take in the spectacular views of London at our pop-up café. Taking place until August 31, 2021.

THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART has acquired two major works by leading contemporary artists Wangechi Mutu and Josiah McElheny. Both will be installed within the next year in TMA’s Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden, which features a growing collection of more than 25 exceptional works of art sited on the Museum’s verdant 40-acre campus.

Mutu’s The Seated II (2019), a bronze sculpture of a woman reaching over 6.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, is inspired by the caryatid – a sculpted female figure found in African and European art that doubles as a load-bearing architectural element.

McElheny’s Moon Mirror (2019) is a crescent-shaped work of colored glass and stainless steel that suggests a luminous half-moon resting on a plane. At 8.5 feet wide and 16 feet tall, its curved shape also lends itself to frame performances and other acoustic improvisations.

Born in Kenya in 1972, Mutu came to the United States in her early 20s. Today she divides her time between what she calls her mother home – Nairobi, Kenya – and Brooklyn, New York, her adopted home. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cooper Union and Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Yale University. Her work, which focuses on large scale collage-paintings, video, performance and sculpture, has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally, including at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Brooklyn Museum, Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Studio Museum in Harlem and Tate Modern in London, among others.

Based in New York, McElheny (born 1966) extends the possibilities of glass through sculptural works that elude easy definitions and established categories. McElheny explores the factory techniques of glass-making and reconnecting his work to the glass industry and its communities, history and sites. For the glass in Moon Mirror, he collaborated with a 100-year-old family business in upstate New York that manufactures lenses for airport runways. The firm and the artist devised a new method of pressed molding that results in an exceptionally strong and durable glass. The custom-made glass tiles in an array of blues create a shimmering, light-filled sculptural experience that embodies shifting perceptions and reflections, much like the moon itself. The purchase of Moon Mirror was made possible by TMA’s Georgia Welles Apollo Society, the Museum’s art acquisition membership group.

CHINA'S ART AND ACTIVISM - THEN AND NOW takes place Thursday, August 19, 6-7 pm EST on line.

Join Mei Lum, one of the Metropolitan Museum's Civic Practice Partnership Artists in Residence, and Tomie Arai, artist and cofounder of the Chinatown Art Brigade, to learn about the relationship between art and activism in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Explore key themes of resistance and resilience, anti-gentrification, and the community's cohesion during the current wave of anti-Asian racism and violence.

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SWEET CHARITY

HAMPTONS SUMMER CONCERT SERIES will kick off at legendary venue Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY on August 31st. The first installment in the series will feature Grammy-nominated guitarist and innovative songwriter Marcus King. New Orleans multi-instrumentalist Ivan Neville, “badass and beautiful” vocalist and songwriter Lisa Fischer, and Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato will join King as special guests.

Produced by Greg Williamson and Nicole Rechter, the Talkhouse concert series will feature a charitable element. A portion of the proceeds from the shows will go to benefit USA Warrior Stories, a not-for-profit organization designed to record, archive and share videos of veteran stories online to help veterans make a connection with one another and to help us all better understand their sacrifices for our freedom. USA Warrior Stories can be found on Amazon Prime with 2 seasons completed and a third coming soon; the veterans’ stories can also be found on YouTube.

RONNIE WOOD 74, of The Rolling Stones, opened a new charity music studio in London. The superstar and his wife. Sally Wood. launched Links Studio, the new recording facilities at Community Links in Canning town, England.

The rock legend chatted with youngsters while touring the new Links Studio.

The social action's charity has a goal to be "a subsidiary record label for one of the UK's leading music companies, recording, managing artists and being a learning provider."

The band's famous tongue and lips logo is outside the studio.

SPREADING THE WORD

2:22: A GHOST STORY by Danny Robins has Lily Allen making her West End debut at the Noel Coward Theatre, starring alongside Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood.

Alan plays Jenny in the supernatural thriller about four friends caught up in a night of high tension. Lily's character believes her new home is haunted - but her husband Sam (Fraser) remains skeptical.

They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren (Chan) and her partner (Wood) decide to stay awake until 2:22 a.m. to discover the truth.

The creatives are: Set Designer Anna Fleischle - Costume Designer Cindy Lin - Lighting Designer Lucy Carter - Sound Designer Ian Dickinson for Autograph - Casting Director Jessica Ronane CDG CSA - Illusions by Chris Fisher - Vocal Coach Hazel Holder - Fight Directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper Brown.

They play has received rave reviews.

JOKER LIVE IN CONCERT Todd Phillips’ ground-breaking, award-winning film will be screened with the accompaniment of a live orchestra playing composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s award-winning score for the first time ever, for a limited engagement.

Central to the emotional journey, Joaquin Phoenix’s character Arthur Fleck takes throughout the movie is Guðnadóttir’s beautifully haunting, Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning score. The fusion of looming industrial soundscapes with raw, emotive string-led melodies – led by a lone cello – creates a melancholic shroud pinpricked with moments of hope, which unfolds gradually to become a fever pitch of disquieting tension.

This extraordinary music will be brought to life by a full orchestra to create a vivid, visceral and entirely new Joker viewing experience. Performed live, Guðnadóttir’s inimitable score illuminates further the emotional weight, texture and atmosphere of Phoenix’s captivating portrayal.

August 10-11, 2021 at Dubai Opera in Dubai, UAE.

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS at the Muny in St. Louis on August 12-18.

Based on the Academy Award-winning 1954 film, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is Americana at its finest. With an age-old tale of wooing and winning, the battle of the sexes and some barn-raising dancing, this western rollick features whistle-worthy favorites, including “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” and “Goin’ Courtin’.” With two of the most eminent dance scenes in musical theatre history and seven times the fun, saddle up for an unforgettable joyride through the Oregon frontier.

Josh Rhodes is director and choreographer while Valerie Gebert serves as Music Director.

The cast features: Kendra Kassebaum as Milly Bradon - Edward Watts as Adam Pontipee - Raymond Baynard as Caleb - Colby Dezelick as Frank - Leslie Donna Flesner as Dorcas - Shonica Gooden as Sarah - Garett Hawe as Ephraim - Sarah Meahl as Ruth - Harris Milgrim as Benjamin - Mikayla Renfrow as Alice - Carly Blake Sebouhian as Martha - Ryan Steele as Daniel - Brandon L. Whitmore as Gideon - Kristin Yancy as Liza.

ALWAYS . . .PATSY CLINE created and originally directed by Ted Swindley.

This spectacular tribute musical tells the true story of the friendship that developed between country music superstar Patsy Cline and Louise Segar, her most devoted fan. Louise narrates the story of the day in 1961 when she met Patsy at Houston’s Esquire Ballroom. Afterward, Patsy kept in touch with her number one fan by writing her long handwritten letters that she signed “(Love) Always, Patsy Cline.”

Featuring all of Cline’s chart topping hits including Walkin’ After Midnight; Crazy; I Fall to Pieces and Sweet Dreams.

Enjoy Always…Patsy Cline an evening of nostalgic song and heartfelt humor starring Tennessee’s Miss America Kellye Cash as Patsy Cline and Playhouse favorite Patty Payne as her biggest fan.

Through September 2, 2021 at the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville, TN.

COLIN JOST of Saturday Night Live fame brings his wit and wisdom to The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT for two shows on Sunday, August 15, 2021.

SAN JOSE JAZZ SUMMER FEST 2021 returns for its 31st festival season from Friday, August 13 through Sunday, August 15 in and around Plaza de César Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, Calif.

With over 45 acts across five stages, confirmed artists include: Morris Day and The Time, Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, Superblue: Kurt Elling Featuring Charlie Hunter, Judith Hill, Ozomatli, The Motet, Shamarr Allen, Butcher Brown, 7th Street Big Band, Bloco do Sol.

SJZ Artistic and Festival Director Bruce Labadie adds, "Attendees of SJZ Summer Fest can expect the same experience as years past but with a reduced footprint. We're working closely with the city to ensure a safe environment for all while many of the best acts in the business perform on our stages. Live concerts will be centered around Plaza de César Chavez Park with our favorite vendors offering delicious foods and beverages, and creative crafts. We are thrilled to finally get back to in-person concerts, and have the opportunity to present acts for the first time at the Montgomery Theater and our very own SJZ Break Room with a live audience." San Jose Jazz's state-of-the-art pop-up video recording and performance venue The SJZ Break Room will feature a live audience for the first time. Select concerts will be live streamed for music fans unable to attend this year's festivities. The SJZ Break Room is housed inside San Jose Jazz's downtown office on South 1st Street (at San Carlos) featuring a multi-media digital video wall that projection-maps live performances with Ultra-Short Throw Projectors onto high-end projection fabric mounted on motorized rollers. Sound from outdoor speakers and projections fill a 35 x 14 feet bank of floor-to-ceiling windows, providing a special multi-media concert experience for viewers, both inside the venue and outdoors. Access to the SJZ Break Room is for Priority Access and VIP ticket holders.

San Jose Jazz partners with Team San Jose and hotel concierges to feature sets by live jazz bands in lobbies across downtown from August 13 - 15. A Jazz Mass at Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph will take place on Saturday, August 14 and Sunday, August 15, 2021.

For the first time, the Fountain Blues Foundation, in collaboration with Jay Meduri of the legendary South Bay venue Poor House Bistro, will book and host a dedicated stage at SJZ Summer Fest featuring blues and New Orleans acts on the new Fountain Blues Stage.

San Jose Museum of Art Stage puts the spotlight on emerging talent performing throughout the three days of festivities. The historic 1936 venue Montgomery Theater brings its elegant décor and great acoustics to Summer Fest as the premier indoor concert space for national and regional artists. Additional local curatorial and performance partners include Mosaic America, Bloco do Sol, Jazz Organ Fellowship, and Universal Grammar.

ANN WILSON OF HEART performs at the Rams Head in Annapolis, Maryland on August 15, 2021.

LILLIAS WHITE performs August 12-14 at The Green Room 42 in New York City.

MARTINA McBRIDE: THE POWER OF HER VOICE is a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN. The exhibit will be on display to August 7, 2022.

Martina visited the curated exhibit that includes items from her childhood, standout wardrobe pieces from various awards shows and performances, special highlights such as her Grand Ole Opry induction by Loretta Lynn, and of course her numerous awards and accolades.

Martina returned to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's CMA Theatre on Sunday, August 1st for a live conversation with special performance and live Q&A with fans. The sold-out program was filmed and will premiere on Tuesday, August 31st, as part of the museum's Live at the Hall digital series - available to stream on the museum's YouTube Channel, Facebook page, and website. Martina was also honored at the event by Jackie Jones of the RIAA, who presented her with plaques commemorating 4 new RIAA certifications - bringing her to a total of 20 million RIAA certified career units - and also a milestone 23 million in worldwide sales from her RCA catalogue.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

HANG IN THERE . . . .

CHARLIE WATTS 80, drummer for The Rolling Stones, who has pulled out the group's North American due to medical concerns. Watts successfully underwent an emergency medical procedure in London last week. Friend Steve Jordan will sit in for Watts on the tour which begins September 26 in St. Louis. Watts hadn't missed a tour since 1963.

KATHY GRIFFIN 60, who announced that she has Stage I lung cancer. The comedian will undergo surgery.

FINAL OVATION

ALVIN Y. R. ING a pioneering Asian American actor who made his Broadway debut in Pacific Overtures in 1976 and then returned in 2004 for its revival, died July 31, 2021. He was 89.

He also starred as Wang Ta opposite Lea Salonga in the 2002 Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, as well as numerous tours. He is credited with playing Wang Ta more than any other actor.

Other stage turns included at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where he played Ito in Mame. On tour her preformed in Two Gentleman of Verona and City of Angeles and the play adaptation of The World of Suzie Wong.

His career spanned the stage, movies, television and cabaret.

He was active with the Theater for Asian American Performing Artists.

ELLIOT LAWRENCE a Tony and multiple Emmy winner who was a music director, conductor, composer, and music producer, passed away peacefully July 2, 2021 at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was 96.

For 46 years he served as music director and conductor for the Tony Awards broadcast.

Elliot was himself a recipient of a Tony for music direction for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962), as well as ten Emmy Awards. Elliot Lawrence was born Elliot Lawrence Broza on February 14, 1925 in Philadelphia, PA. His parents, Stan Lee Broza and Esther Broza, were radio and television pioneers, creating and producing the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, which ran on WCAU radio from 1927 to 1958 and on television from 1948 to 1958. Elliot took the name Elliot Lawrence when he became the music director of WCAU's house band in 1945. The band's weekly show, "Listen to Lawrence," vaulted to a national broadcast on CBS radio later in 1945. From 1946 to 1954 the Elliot Lawrence Orchestra toured the U.S., and recorded albums for Decca, Columbia, RCA, and Fantasy. Lawrence's recording of his and Gerry Mulligan's composition "Elevation" was named "one of the top 50 jazz recordings of the 20th Century" by the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1953 Elliot went to the Soviet Union with The Ed Sullivan Show as part of the first American band to broadcast from the Soviet Union. In addition to How to Succeed in Business, Elliot music directed many other original Broadway shows including Bye Bye Birdie, (1960) for which he was nominated for a Tony award. Other shows were Golden Boy, Here's Love, The Apple Tree, Golden Rainbow, La Strada, Sugar, and Georgy. His film career includes composing and conducting the score for the Oscar-winning film Network and the opening sequence of The French Connection. Elliot won ten Emmy awards for musical direction and was nominated for many others. He conducted television specials for Placido Domingo, Anita Baker, Ann Margret, Anne Bancroft, Joel Grey, Patti LaBelle, Burt Bacharach, and Dionne Warwick. From 1978 to 2002 he executive produced all the music for the advertising agency N.W. Ayer, including the Army's iconic "Be All You Can Be" jingle and AT&T's "Reach Out and Touch Someone." At one point in the 80's he was producing all the music for the daytime dramas Search for Tomorrow, The Edge of Night, As the World Turns and The Guiding Light.

In 1956, Elliot met Amy Bunim on a blind date in New York City. They married three months later, and were together until Amy's passing in 2017. They had four children, Alexandra, Danny, Jamie and Mia. Over the decades Amy and Elliot built a world-class African and Oceanic art collection. He is survived by his children, daughter-in-law Margot Herrera, and five grandchildren, Oliver, Jack, Jacob, Carmen, and Rumi.

ALLEN GLICK casino manger who was featured in the movie Casino died at his home in LaJolla, CA, on August 2, 2021 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 79.

An owner when the mob ruled Las Vegas, Glick, then a young attorney and real estate investor, purchased the Hacienda hotel in Las Vegas in 1974. That year he also acquired Recrion Corporation, (subsequently renamed Argent Corporation).

Glick had served as an Army captain in combat in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. The name Argent came from the three initials of his name, combined with the first three letters of the word "Enterprises", it also was the French word for "money".

State and local officials in Nevada believed that the casinos were controlled by organized crime families in the Mid-West and that a huge skimming operation was conducted within the casinos. Glick was considered a front man for the Kansas City mafia.

Licensed to practice law in two states, Glick was never charged with the crime; he was known as "Genius" by FBI agents.

As Chairman and President of Argent Corporation, Allen owned and operated the Stardust Hotel and Casino, Fremont Hotel and Casino, and Marina Casino. Argent Corporation was one of the largest owners of casino and hotel properties in Nevada in the mid-seventies, bringing the first race and sports book operation to the "Strip". His company was also responsible for bringing the Siegfreid and Roy show into prominence. Allen sold his Las Vegas holdings in 1980.

Glick became a cooperating witness for the FBI, immunized from prosecution in a criminal case in 1983 against 15 individuals charged in the skimming operation. The 15 individuals indicted included many people in the top echelon of organized crime: Joseph Aiuppa, Jackie Cerone, Joseph Lombardo and Anthony Spilotro from the Chicago Outfit; Frank Balistrieri and his two sons John and Joseph Balistrieri of the Milwaukee crime family; and Carl Civella from the Kansas City crime family.

Glick was President and owner of ARG Enterprises, LLC,in La Jolla, California.

The company was a private, diversified company whose central activities were real estate investments, (apartments and warehouses). The company has been involved in projects in Southern and Northern California, Arizona and Oregon. He served as advisor and/or consultant to several real estate developers in the context of financing and strategic planning. In addition, Glick was involved in advising, structuring and mediating several ventures for private investors. He has had joint ventures with the Lai Sun Group, Hong Kong, PAGOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming), and Marco Polo Pure China Fund, Hong Kong. Glick owned several casinos in Costa Rica, was the innovator and developer of the Philippine Dream, a floating entertainment center located in Cebu, Mactan, Philippines. He was responsible for the expansion of the successful lottery operation in Caracus, Venezula by introducing VLT machines.

Glick is survived by his wife Kathleen Glick, sons Todd and Cary Glick, and grandsons Aaron and Adam Glick.

DENNIS THOMAS sax playing founding member of Kool & the Gang, died in his sleep at his home in Montclair, New Jersey on Saturday, August 7, 2021. He was 70.

Thomas played on every one of the group's studio albums, with a career that spanned almost 60 years.

In addition to playing the alto sax Thomas served as the band's "Budget Hawk," carrying the group's earnings in a paper bag in the bell of his horn.

Kool & the Gang earned two Grammy awards, seven American Music Awards, nine Top 10 Hits and 31 gold and platinum records.

Kool & the Gang kicked off the 2021 season of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on the 4th of July. It was Thomas' last appearance.

Survivors include his wife Phynjuar Saunders Thomas.

Next Column: August 15, 2021
Copyright: August 8, 2021 All Rights Reserved. Reviews, Interviews, Commentary, Photographs or Graphics from any Broadway To Vegas (TM) columns may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, utilized as leads, or used in any manner without permission, compensation and/or credit.
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Laura Deni

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