Caught-up
in a Winters-Wonderland 
Somewhere
in the cavernous Miracle Mile Shops on The Strip, sits Wes
Winters. “Who?” you might ask… well,
it is he of the Liberace-tribute fame who has parlayed his passion
and admiration for the extravagant performer and pianist, into the
beginnings of fame (and hopefully) some fortune.
We caught with
Wes a few weeks ago and he shared with us the long and winding road
of his success story and how he has finally “arrived.”
From his humble beginnings, growing up in Kansas, he caught his
first glimpse of Liberace, on TV of all places. “The minute
I saw him playing, I was hooked, I was mesmerized…”
he said. The story goes on to say that he then decided to teach
himself to play the piano, just by listening to the lone Liberace
LP he had found. He practiced on a 100 year-old upright piano, for
four to five hours every day, for seven years. To this day, he readily
admits that he can’t read music, learns everything “by
ear” and has never had a music lesson or any formal music
training. He can learn a song (play it on the piano) after listening
to it only once, and jokingly says, “I’m like an idiot
savant, only take out the ‘savant.’”
The long way
to Las Vegas was via 20 years of headlining in Kansas, as well as
touring the world. It was boredom, he says, that led him here. “I
was playing in all the best places in Kansas, and just felt it was
time to move forward. Vegas fit my talent. This is probably where
I have the best chance.”
Upon
days of arriving in Las Vegas, where he knew no one and didn’t
have a job, he received a call from the Liberace Foundation, inviting
him to take part in the annual “Liberace Play-Alike”
competition. He refused at first, intimidated by the other contestants
who were classically-trained pianists. Finally, he decided to go
for it, and played “Kansas City” and “Bumble Boogie.”
Following the competition, the judges told him they knew within
the first few minutes of his performance that they had their winner
because of his showmanship and skill. His run at the Liberace Museum
lasted a good four years and eight months, on top of him performing
his lounge act at Carluccio’s, for five years, making him
the first entertainer in over 12 years, to play there.
 Today,
he’s definitely not in Kansas anymore. His show, an off-shoot
from his days at the Liberace Museum, has incorporated some new
theatrical elements, in keeping with performing in a 422-seat Strip
theater, such as state-of-the-art lighting and his “Tuxedo
Piano,” a nine-foot concert grand that he personalized with
mirrors and other embellishments. He labored at home for over two
and a half months on this piano and approximates the value to be
around $250,000.
Liberace fans
can expect his signature songs, “The Theme From Exodus,”
“The Johnson Rag,” “Beer Barrel Polka” and
“I’ll Be Seeing You.” Another way Winters’
show is different is that he has “show women” (as opposed
to “show girls”) grace his show and some of the production
numbers. These ladies – Jackie McDaniel, Teresa Cushman and
Suzanne Jipson - are part of “Fine Wine,” a group of
“retired” ex-showgirls and dancers, who, in their heyday,
performed at The Dunes and The Stardust.
Liberace being
a main component of the show, it’s a pleasant surprise then
to have Winters allot a segment of it to himself. Not many people
are aware that he has six solo albums to his name, and that he’s
an accomplished musician in his own right – playing many other
instruments aside from the piano. He performed “Send Out An
Angel,” a song that he wrote and produced, to success. The
man seated next to me was brought to tears, I swear. Winters explains
that this is all part of a grand plan to eventually headline a show
as himself, and that he’s ready to move on to the next chapter
in his life. Wherever that may be, one thing is clear, “I’ll
Be Seeing You” might very well be his closing song too.
-Rachel
M. Sugay
Cover photo
credit: Randy Soard
Wes
Winters – A Musical Tribute to Liberace
Steve Wyrick Theatre, Level 3, Miracle Mile Shops
Show times are 1 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday. Tickets
are $24.95. Call 702-777-9974.
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