1 00:00:01,439 --> 00:00:06,879 Hey, everybody. Before we start, I ran into some audio problems with 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,960 this show, so you may hear a little bit of distortion here and there, 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,399 or occasionally a word will get clipped. I've cleaned it up the best 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:35,039 I can. So now here's the show, Hey everybody, and welcome to 5 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:42,920 Life is a gamble. My guest today is Lori Thompson, who has gone 6 00:00:43,119 --> 00:00:50,479 from Las Vegas strip entertainer to entertainment attorney and Laurie. Welcome to Life is 7 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,520 a gamble. Thanks so much, Richard, it's so great to see you. 8 00:00:54,679 --> 00:01:00,439 What a flashback from us in the eighties. Yes, yes, gray 9 00:01:00,479 --> 00:01:04,159 hair, but I color mine. Okay, well, yeah, So Laurie 10 00:01:04,159 --> 00:01:10,040 and I first met on the first movie that I ever directed, was called 11 00:01:10,159 --> 00:01:15,079 Dance or Die, and as you might surmise, there was dancing in it, 12 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,319 and Laurie was a dancer at the Tropicana in the Falls, Brugier at 13 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:23,920 that point, and that is how we first met. And I don't think 14 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:33,000 I've seen you much since then, so it's great to reconnect. Absolutely. 15 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,200 Yeah. I want to start at the beginning. You started college at sixteen, 16 00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:45,920 and I also started college at sixteen, and for me, it was 17 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:52,840 not a very easy transition. I was sixteen, but I looked about twelve, 18 00:01:53,359 --> 00:01:57,879 and I really did not feel like I fit in at all. How 19 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,439 was it for you? Well, I was a little scared going to college, 20 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,400 especially when I first showed up and I found out they'd overbook the dorm, 21 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,240 so I had to find a place to live. And my worst fear 22 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,319 is that somebody would find out I was only sixteen, because of course I 23 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,919 thought of myself as in a mature adult, which I'm sure you might have 24 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,360 as well. So you know what really helped me the most was growing up. 25 00:02:24,319 --> 00:02:30,199 I was in theater and as a performer. I sang and danced in 26 00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:35,280 musicals, and I had the glee choir you know club at my high school. 27 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,280 And when I started college, I thought it was going to be pre 28 00:02:38,439 --> 00:02:44,639 law because I, you know, always wanted to be a lawyer. I'd 29 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,360 been something that I decided when I was nine years old. I wanted to 30 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:52,280 be a lawyer. So when I got to college, I was a little 31 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,879 uncertain. I didn't really know any lawyers. I just knew that I wanted 32 00:02:57,879 --> 00:03:00,159 to be the one that was the glue to put every buddy that was very 33 00:03:00,199 --> 00:03:07,400 talented together to make something bigger than I could by myself. So what happened 34 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:14,400 was I wanted to also take dance classes and you know, continue to perform 35 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,479 either professionally or with university projects. So when I went to go an audition 36 00:03:19,759 --> 00:03:23,240 for my dance class, as I found out I had to be a ballet 37 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:29,879 major in order to get into the major ballet classes. So I auditioned and 38 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:35,360 got into the top ballet class, and then a little bit later after that, 39 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,240 I got into a musical and an equity theater. And getting back into 40 00:03:40,439 --> 00:03:50,159 that group of people in the theater is what really grounded me. I really 41 00:03:50,199 --> 00:03:54,680 felt like I was secure now. I was doing something that I'd been trained 42 00:03:54,719 --> 00:04:01,080 to do since I was six years old, and that brought my confidence back. 43 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,319 So I think as long as you can find your posse and find your 44 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,319 people in life, I think whatever you stick your neck out to do, 45 00:04:09,879 --> 00:04:15,639 you can get a foundation and some support around you. So that was really 46 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:24,959 a smart thing. So I stayed undeclared as a major, and I performed 47 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,000 with Ballet West, the professional ballet company there in Salt Lake City, and 48 00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:33,319 had a chance to go and work at Disneyland for a summer. And they're 49 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:40,120 all American Singers and Dancers program from college students from all over the country. 50 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,800 And when you sang and danced on the Space stage in the park and did 51 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,600 the parade at night, but also to during the day. They gave us 52 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:56,680 classes on Disney, which was so beneficial. I just ate that up. 53 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,560 Told us how they produced all of their shows and their events. Took us 54 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,519 over to the Burbank Studios where they were just starting up a new Mouseketeers group, 55 00:05:04,639 --> 00:05:10,360 and saw Don Knott's riding a bike down the street in Burbank doing Pete's 56 00:05:10,439 --> 00:05:14,839 Dagon and it was just you know. I was eating up the business and 57 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:23,319 entertainment, very excited about it and was excited to get into a career of 58 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:30,120 business. And then these things just kept popping up in the entertainment industry. 59 00:05:30,199 --> 00:05:31,959 I got a chance to go to the School American Ballet in New York, 60 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:39,199 came back, graduated, was dancing with Ballet West doing Don Quixote, and 61 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,360 they added a matinee performance, so I had to miss my l sat for 62 00:05:43,519 --> 00:05:49,000 law school. Then I got a chance to go to Miss Jackson, Mississippi, 63 00:05:49,399 --> 00:05:54,279 danced with the Jackson Ballet and go out for the International Ballet competition, 64 00:05:54,519 --> 00:05:59,560 and I thought I was going to be staying in Salt Lake and go starting 65 00:05:59,639 --> 00:06:03,319 laschool and dancing with Ballet West. And when I told Bruce Marks at Bally 66 00:06:03,399 --> 00:06:08,279 West that I've been offered a soloist position with the Jackson Vallet, he didn't 67 00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:12,879 say, no, Laurie, stay here. You can dance with our company. 68 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,839 I'll make you a soloist and you can go to law school at night, 69 00:06:15,879 --> 00:06:18,120 and I'll work around that schedule. And that's not what he said, 70 00:06:18,199 --> 00:06:29,439 Richard. He said, I think you're gonna love Mississippi. Well, I 71 00:06:29,519 --> 00:06:32,639 want to jump back just a moment, though. I want to jump back 72 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:39,319 to what happened to you at nine years old that made you want to be 73 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,279 a lawyer. You know that. I was sitting on a rock. I 74 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,519 grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Was sitting on a rock up on the 75 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,920 beautiful mountain at Chautauqua Park, going up the hill, and I was thinking 76 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,120 about a girl that had been killed in a car accident that I knew, 77 00:06:58,519 --> 00:07:03,040 and she was graduating from high school, and I asked her, what are 78 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,720 you going to do? Because she did so many things. She was in 79 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,399 the band and in the orchestra and she did costumes through all the plays, 80 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,480 and she said, I don't know, I don't know. I don't have 81 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,600 a plan. And so I thought, oh my gosh, if you don't 82 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:24,040 have a plan, you might die if you're done. I mean, it 83 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:28,879 was a really odd thing for a child to think that. I thought, 84 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,839 I need a plan, And you know what, I don't want to pick 85 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,360 something where I'm going to hit my head on the ceiling and not have anything 86 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,920 else to do, because I might not be done yet. Right, So 87 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,879 I thought, you know, law is always changing, it's always something new 88 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,959 to learn. There's always more people coming along that need deals put together, 89 00:07:49,879 --> 00:07:54,759 people that are creating things. And I think that that would last forever, 90 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,040 and maybe even longer than I'm able to last. That was one thing. 91 00:07:59,079 --> 00:08:03,360 The other thing was I started to realize I was really bossy. I would 92 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,480 do the play in my garage and everybody would come over and I would tell 93 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,720 them what parks they're going to play, and I would tell them what they 94 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,959 needed to go and get from their house to come over to do our show, 95 00:08:13,199 --> 00:08:16,959 and tell them to invite their siblings and their parents to come to our 96 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,600 show. And so I thought, gee, if I'm going to be this 97 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:26,600 bossy I better know what I'm saying. Surprising that you end up our director? 98 00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:37,000 Right? Oh well you did because I couldn't dance. Oh oh is 99 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,879 that it? So? So you get to Mississippi, which must have been 100 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:48,480 a bit of a culture shock coming from Boulder and then Salt Lake. You 101 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:50,840 know what, it was really a culture shock. I did not realize how 102 00:08:50,919 --> 00:08:56,840 isolated I had been in Boulder. First of all, when I first ran 103 00:08:56,919 --> 00:09:03,039 into somebody that said, we're fixing to have lay ass over Yonder, I 104 00:09:03,039 --> 00:09:05,200 thought, whoa, whoa, whoa, Wait, what planet am I on? 105 00:09:07,519 --> 00:09:11,559 Does she really talk like that? I guess she does. So, 106 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,799 Yeah, it was very different being in Mississippi. The thing that was kind 107 00:09:15,799 --> 00:09:18,279 of I mean, there were many things that were different about Mississippi. Where 108 00:09:18,279 --> 00:09:24,240 I grew up. Everybody was middle class. In Bolder, you know, 109 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:30,840 my father worked at IBM, and many of my friend's parents worked at IBM 110 00:09:30,879 --> 00:09:33,720 as well. They were computer engineers, and the university there. If they 111 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,879 weren't computer engineers, they were professors at the university. And it was very 112 00:09:39,039 --> 00:09:43,639 racially mixed, you know, because of the technology hotbed there. So it 113 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:48,240 was I didn't realize how much everybody was the same, and everybody got along 114 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,799 and bolder. And I got to Mississippi and there's a very wide division. 115 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:58,399 The people that were supporting the ballet and the symphony and the fine arts center 116 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:03,279 that I was working at. We're very very wealthy. And it was my 117 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:09,039 first experience really with being with very very wealthy people that were interested in supporting 118 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,440 the arts. That was something that I learned there was you know, there's 119 00:10:13,799 --> 00:10:18,879 which was a good thing for the arts, maybe not so good for the 120 00:10:18,919 --> 00:10:22,720 rest of the people in that community that you know, were really struggling. 121 00:10:22,279 --> 00:10:28,080 So I saw that as you would drive into different areas in Mississippi, I 122 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,240 would see that anything I couldn't get used to was the humidity. Oh my 123 00:10:31,279 --> 00:10:35,960 gosh, I don't think I ever stopped sweating. I had leather shoes that 124 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,200 actually molded. I saw a cockroach that was as big as my fist. 125 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:50,240 I thought, wow, this isn't bolder. So but I learned so much 126 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,399 there. How long did you end up? You know, I was only 127 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,639 there for a year, but boy did I learn a lot. I learned 128 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:07,480 how a nonprofit gets funded, and how to go and solicit donors to build 129 00:11:07,519 --> 00:11:11,960 a new work, underwrite you know, the costumes or whatever it is that 130 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,120 we were trying to do for our season. So I did learn that, 131 00:11:18,399 --> 00:11:22,679 and that was something that was missing missing my college degree. They forgot to 132 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,159 tell us how to make it a business, right, So as we were 133 00:11:26,159 --> 00:11:30,080 performing and they were teaching us how to sing, how to dance, how 134 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:35,360 to act. I uh, that was the first time that I learned that. 135 00:11:35,759 --> 00:11:39,639 Plus having the International Ballet Competition before our season started, and so I 136 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,200 saw people from all over the world, had a chance to work with Robert 137 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:48,559 Joffrey and people that I hadn't had a chance to work with before. And 138 00:11:48,639 --> 00:11:54,559 see these dancers coming from even from Russia and ones that wanted to defect from 139 00:11:54,600 --> 00:12:00,519 Russia at the time. So you know, that was really a quite a 140 00:12:00,759 --> 00:12:09,519 eye opening experience. And I probably would have stayed there except that the Jamie 141 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:13,320 Gallagher I'd started dancing with him, he was from California and he had been 142 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:18,440 hired to dance with the Jackson Ballet as well, and he had friends that 143 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:26,559 his ballet teacher in California's son was in a show called Hallelujah Hollywood in Las 144 00:12:26,639 --> 00:12:35,960 Vegas. So he and his partner Linda now Linda Green said they need an 145 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,960 adagio team for Jubilee. Why don't you guys put together a video and give 146 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,360 it to us and we'll get it to the right people. Now, for 147 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:48,879 our listeners who don't know what an adagio teams, would you explain that? 148 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:54,440 Well, I'm top man, which makes it a lot easier for me. 149 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,600 But what it is. It's actually started in vaudeville and it was a type 150 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:03,360 of dance where the guy lifts the girl in the air and they do some 151 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:09,480 acrobatic type lifts. It used to probably be a little more spectacular, and 152 00:13:09,519 --> 00:13:15,240 then the art side of it started adding to it. So think ballroom, 153 00:13:15,639 --> 00:13:24,279 classical ballet with stunning one handed lifts and spins and flips added in, or 154 00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:28,960 this spectacular element of it. So I had been a gymnast as a kid, 155 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,399 so I wasn't afraid of being an upside down there. You know I 156 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:41,159 could do that. So we put together a seven minute number to Balro to 157 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:46,240 come out and perform it for the people. The producers of Jubilee, the 158 00:13:46,279 --> 00:13:52,919 new show that was going in to MGM at the time, so they saved 159 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,759 us spot for one of their adagio teams, and we finally finished our season, 160 00:13:56,919 --> 00:14:05,080 we did a summerstock musicals in Saddleback College in California. When we got 161 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,399 finished with that commitment, we finally get to Las Vegas and we're staying at 162 00:14:09,519 --> 00:14:15,519 the Highlander Inn, which is now the Beautiful Palladium, but it was just 163 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:22,200 a small kind of motel next to MGM on Flamingo, and we go over 164 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:28,440 and watch the first is it the first show or the second show? I 165 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:35,080 think was the first show of Hallelujah Hollywood, which was amazing at the time. 166 00:14:35,159 --> 00:14:39,399 I think they had close to one hundred dancers in the show. And 167 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,480 I just had seen the Follies Bergere, which is a smaller show on my 168 00:14:43,559 --> 00:14:48,600 way out to work at Disneyland in the seventies, but this is nineteen eighty 169 00:14:48,399 --> 00:14:54,360 and I was just so overwhelmed by it. So then the whole cast goes 170 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,600 and sits in the audience between shows, and my partner Jamie Gallagher, and 171 00:14:58,679 --> 00:15:03,039 I went on stay age to do our seven minute Bolero number for most of 172 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:09,279 the cast no pressure right right, and we got all kinds of oh my 173 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:15,039 gosh, that was so wonderful. And Michael Pratt was there, and I'm 174 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,759 trying to think of who else, But I ended up meeting these people later 175 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:24,679 on. And then Flufflico comes over and she says, oh my gosh, 176 00:15:24,679 --> 00:15:28,799 that was beautiful, but I am so sorry I misunderstood and thought you were 177 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,080 taller. That was the first time I realized, Wow, this is a 178 00:15:33,159 --> 00:15:39,240 hype thing, and let's make it. It's so weird, Like it's not 179 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:45,919 like you would be dancing in the line, right You're you're an act would 180 00:15:46,039 --> 00:15:50,960 matter, you know. I think part of it is that Bob Mackie was 181 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,960 doing the costumes at the time, and the really tall girls, you could 182 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,600 have more costume, you know, show off the costume better, the big 183 00:16:00,679 --> 00:16:03,759 head pieces. If they put one of those head pieces on me, I 184 00:16:03,759 --> 00:16:08,200 would be half head piece, half body, and with the showgirls their two 185 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:15,039 thirds body one third head head piece, right. So, and I think 186 00:16:15,039 --> 00:16:19,080 it was just a style and a look. And so she said, but 187 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,919 you know what, let me send you across the street. I know Pat 188 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,960 mckechney over there, and they've got a show over there, Casino, Dave 189 00:16:27,039 --> 00:16:32,919 Perry, and I think she would love to have you. So I go 190 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,440 across the street. My partner Jamie starts getting fitted. You know, these 191 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:42,519 sizes for the new show already and I get over there and I'm starting to 192 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,960 lace up my point shoes to show her that I can dance, and I 193 00:16:48,039 --> 00:16:53,200 have to jump in here because unfortunately we had some audio distortion and dropouts. 194 00:16:53,840 --> 00:17:00,519 And what happened was Luri went across the street to the dunes and was ready 195 00:17:00,559 --> 00:17:06,480 to audition for the producer and show him her ability as a professionally trained ballet 196 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,839 dancer. And he said, oh, that's okay, just take your top 197 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,359 off and walk across the floor. And I don't know if your JODG just 198 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,599 hit the floor, but my mind did. Last time when that happened, 199 00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:22,880 I was, you know, a college graduate. I was only twenty years 200 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,319 old, but still I remember my ballet teacher whenever I did something wrong. 201 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:30,680 And he said, so, if you're not going to take this seriously, 202 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:33,359 you can always go to Las Vegas and dance. And I thought, oh, 203 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:40,680 no, what have I done wrong? So I decided. She said 204 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:45,039 we're starting rehearsals right after the show, and I thought, and I just 205 00:17:45,079 --> 00:17:48,119 watched the second show and I thought, oh my gosh, it's like two 206 00:17:48,279 --> 00:17:53,279 thirty in the morning. I go back across the street. I'm in tears. 207 00:17:53,559 --> 00:17:59,799 Flufflico says it's okay. She said, just because you dance talkless doesn't 208 00:17:59,839 --> 00:18:03,920 mean you're a bad person. There'll be other jobs for you here. You'll 209 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,799 figure it out. I said, I just can't do that right now. 210 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,559 So she called Nancy Howsell's in the middle of the night and said, Nancy, 211 00:18:11,599 --> 00:18:15,559 I have a ballerina here that I think will be very happy with you. 212 00:18:15,599 --> 00:18:18,240 Now. Richard, I don't know if you know Nancy Hausele's, but 213 00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:25,680 it was such a wonderful thing to meet her. She had the Adagio act 214 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:32,720 in the Fall Spears Are years ago. She was called Zoni and Claire Francois 215 00:18:32,799 --> 00:18:41,359 Zoni and Nancy Claire. And then she met Kel Housel, whose father was 216 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,839 one of the people that first built the Tropicana hotel and was the president of 217 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:53,640 the Tropicana. So Nancy actually started Nevada Ballet back in the seventies, and 218 00:18:56,079 --> 00:19:02,799 I think the company was fully professional around own seventy seven, seventy eight maybe, 219 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,640 so it only been professional for two years now. I say professional. 220 00:19:06,839 --> 00:19:10,960 It had professional dancers in it because they were the dancers from the shows on 221 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,200 the strip that were trained ballet dancers. So it was a very good company. 222 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:21,079 It just hadn't gone to where they have a regular company that rehearsed during 223 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,720 the day and died performances at night, rather than rehearsed at night and did 224 00:19:23,759 --> 00:19:30,039 performances during the day. And so you know, that was a big step 225 00:19:30,079 --> 00:19:37,359 for the company to go to take that step to hire a separate company. 226 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,799 And I met her and danced with the company then for two years and out 227 00:19:41,799 --> 00:19:45,039 of ballet, and in the meantime Jamie Gallagher started dancing with the company. 228 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:51,759 After the fire, Yeah, with terrible fire, and they were just in 229 00:19:51,839 --> 00:19:56,440 their final rehearsals to open Jubilee. The cast had already been let go for 230 00:19:56,519 --> 00:20:02,200 the evening the show. The hotel all had to be shut down for a 231 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:08,839 while and all those dancers went elsewhere. Some of them waited for the show 232 00:20:08,839 --> 00:20:12,799 to start back. Some of them went over to the Lido. They went 233 00:20:12,839 --> 00:20:18,799 to the Follies Vigier. My partner Jamie Gallagher, actually went to dance with 234 00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:22,519 the ballet company with Nivata Ballet, and he and I got a hold of 235 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:30,240 Nancy Hausel's tapes when she had the Adajo act in the Fales Vigier and started 236 00:20:30,759 --> 00:20:33,480 putting a plan together to try to get the Adajo act in the follies. 237 00:20:33,519 --> 00:20:40,480 Briger, Jamie and I were doing a show called One of a Kind at 238 00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:47,279 the Desert in the Felds actually did it. Irving Feld was still alive, 239 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:52,400 and they produced a show called One of the Kind and I think it was 240 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:59,240 the Music Box Review from Florida. Frankie Caine and Manuel I forget his last 241 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:04,960 name, two female impersonators that were beautiful. They didn't sing live, they 242 00:21:06,039 --> 00:21:11,519 lip sync, but it was a beautiful show. And we got asked to 243 00:21:11,559 --> 00:21:15,160 go and do a TV show that had just started one season before called Star 244 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:22,359 Search. Think those of you that don't know Star Search, think about American 245 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:29,640 idol with judges that tell everybody how great they are. Well, it's more 246 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,680 like America's got talent, right, I mean, because didn't they have all 247 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,079 sorts of different acts. Yes, they did, and we did it. 248 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:47,359 They had actors and singers and comedians and bands and dancers. So we were 249 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,160 in the dance category. You can only do a minute and a half, 250 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,680 so you got to figure out how to squeeze everything in there that you want 251 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,359 to do. And we did about seven shows and got into the finals. 252 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,000 But we knew that Larry Lee was going to be one of the judges, 253 00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:04,440 and he was the producer of the Falies Bragier. So we had two numbers 254 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,000 that we went out there to do that week, and we decided to do 255 00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:11,559 the classical number because it resembled a number that was in the Pullies Bager. 256 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:18,839 We ended up grabbing his attention and first we got hired as the understudied team 257 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,960 in the Phualies Bugier, and then about six months later we got the job 258 00:22:22,039 --> 00:22:30,720 as the Principhilidagier team. I was there for thirteen years. Wow wow now, 259 00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:37,440 which which brings us to you. You're there working and at this time, 260 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,000 Nevada, I believe, was the only state in the Union that did 261 00:22:42,039 --> 00:22:47,599 not have a law school. And my god, you still wanted to go 262 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,759 to law school. And I remember picking up the National Inquirer one time and 263 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,559 seeing a picture of you in in you know, a show girl outfit, 264 00:23:00,319 --> 00:23:04,200 and they had an article about you flying every day to San Diego to go 265 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,640 to law school while you were doing the show at night. Oh my gosh, 266 00:23:10,279 --> 00:23:14,960 Yes that I did do that, and it wasn't as hard as I 267 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,759 thought it was going to be. I thought we were going to be opening 268 00:23:17,759 --> 00:23:22,279 the law school shortly after I arrived in Las Vegas in nineteen eighty, and 269 00:23:22,319 --> 00:23:26,680 there were some reasons why they law school didn't end up getting opened. I 270 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:33,319 think some of it had to do with that professional basketball team at UNLV that 271 00:23:33,519 --> 00:23:37,160 was best in the country. I think they won the championship ten years in 272 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,839 a row. But we're not supposed to have a professional basketball team at a 273 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:48,279 university, so the donors could no longer be anonymous, and it kind of 274 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,079 changed the way they saw the university after that, so it took a while 275 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,839 before they could get to law school. So I started thinking about it, 276 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:02,039 and I thought, I'm doing two was a night, six days a week. 277 00:24:02,599 --> 00:24:10,400 But I could actually fly to law school after work and then fly back 278 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,759 after class and still do my two shows. But when do you sleep? 279 00:24:15,839 --> 00:24:21,519 I know, well, you know, I was young, and now you 280 00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:26,160 never really. If you like the way law school is depicted in all the 281 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,480 movies, you know that they're they're already not getting any sleep because they're studying 282 00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:37,880 so much. I'm mind boggled by your ability to do oh, Richard, 283 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,599 And that wasn't the hard part for me. The hard part for me was 284 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,720 I graduated from college in nineteen seventy nine, and I'm going to be starting 285 00:24:45,759 --> 00:24:48,480 law school in nineteen ninety five. And I wasn't sure they still teach in 286 00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:52,599 English. You know, it's been so long since i'd been in school. 287 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,880 I had no idea. That was the hard part for me. It was, 288 00:24:56,079 --> 00:25:00,119 you know, showing up in a classroom. So what I did was, 289 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,680 before I went to law school, I went over to UNLV to see 290 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,680 about taking some classes again, just to sort of get the hang of it. 291 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,039 And I saw that they had an entertainment and fine Art law class, 292 00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:15,880 and I went, well, this will be perfect. So I took that 293 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,920 class. The first day I walked into class, I you know, was 294 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,480 I wanted to look like a student. So I wore my little my, 295 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,680 my blue jean shorts and my boots, and you know, I put on 296 00:25:27,759 --> 00:25:36,559 a hip necklace and walked into the classroom realized I didn't have a notebook to 297 00:25:36,599 --> 00:25:44,599 take notes. I thought it was about the costume. I ran back to 298 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,319 my car and grabbed my day Runner because we weren't using computers back then for 299 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:55,000 school yet, so I grabbed my day Runner to take notes, and it 300 00:25:55,079 --> 00:26:00,279 ended up being Mark Trottos was teaching the class and he had a law from 301 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:06,039 Quirk and Trottos with Ted Quirk and Mark Trottos, and that's where I first 302 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,160 met him and realized that he did speak in English and I could learn. 303 00:26:14,079 --> 00:26:17,079 I did miss one on one of the tests, and I was a wreck 304 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,799 over it, and he looked at me, like, you missed one. 305 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:26,000 I'm like, no, no, no, So we became friends. I 306 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:30,799 was closer to his age than the student's age. I was about thirty two, 307 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:36,000 I guess. We became good friends and started a production company together, 308 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:41,079 a consulting company, which was my second company I'd started in Las Vegas in 309 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,359 production. He was very supportive of me getting to law school and back, 310 00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:49,680 but also too, I still had to work out the logistics. So when 311 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,240 I got into the University of Utah for law school, that's where you know, 312 00:26:53,319 --> 00:26:57,920 I went to undergrad school. But it snows in Salt Lake, and 313 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:03,839 I thought what if? And it's a time difference too, So I started 314 00:27:03,839 --> 00:27:07,000 thinking, I got to go somewhere where it doesn't snow and it's close to 315 00:27:07,039 --> 00:27:11,640 the airport. So I ended up going to San Diego to University of San 316 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:17,240 Diego, a lovely school looks like a country club overlooks the ocean. It's 317 00:27:17,279 --> 00:27:21,680 so beautiful until you start paying for all of that. But what happened was 318 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:29,839 I got a call from a reporter that said they were with the European version 319 00:27:29,839 --> 00:27:33,359 of People magazine, and I said okay, and he said, well, 320 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,519 can we kind of shadow you? So they came to the show and there 321 00:27:37,599 --> 00:27:42,519 was a tent card on the tables. There was also the billboard that was 322 00:27:42,599 --> 00:27:48,039 up laying on my side in a show gold costume. It's not actually when 323 00:27:48,039 --> 00:27:51,759 I wore in the show, but and it said meet me for dinner at 324 00:27:51,799 --> 00:27:56,759 eight, because we used to have a dinner show then and it was an 325 00:27:56,759 --> 00:28:00,759 eight o'clock dinner show, so it was pretty kind of cute. And so 326 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,920 he grabbed that tent card and then he followed me to the airport and I 327 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,680 was getting on the plane or getting off the plane. I think he was 328 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,960 in San Diego then getting off the plane, and he they told him I 329 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,359 couldn't get on the plane, and he did and he took pictures on the 330 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:22,839 plane, and then he came to law school with me and he interviewed my 331 00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:26,279 my is it contracts? Professor? Professor as my oh, I think it 332 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:32,359 was constitutional law or I remember two of my professors and they were only too 333 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,880 happy to do the interview about the lost law school. And yes, it 334 00:28:37,079 --> 00:28:41,960 ended up in the National Enquirer, and I thought, I want to go 335 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:47,759 and do intellectual property and entertainment, and I didn't pay attention to what magazine 336 00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:52,079 it was going to end up in. So that and you know what, 337 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:56,359 it was a very nice artifle. I should be so lucky to have such 338 00:28:56,359 --> 00:29:03,160 a nice article that generally you think of National Choir is something that's sensational, 339 00:29:03,279 --> 00:29:07,200 overly sensational, and I guess I just didn't think it was that sensational for 340 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,920 a show girl to go to law school, but apparently that's what intrigued them. 341 00:29:12,599 --> 00:29:17,240 Yeah, well, especially to do it at the same time in another 342 00:29:17,359 --> 00:29:22,799 state. I mean, that's true. But I guess we're always lucky. 343 00:29:22,839 --> 00:29:27,480 And it's a combination of what happens to you. And I actually got asked 344 00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:36,759 to do the commencement speech for my law school in twenty twenty, and it 345 00:29:36,799 --> 00:29:41,519 was such an honor to go back and think of all the things you know 346 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:48,240 that you are insecure about in law school and insecure about in starting the practice 347 00:29:48,279 --> 00:29:55,240 of law, and so I had this journey in twenty nineteen October and November, 348 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,759 putting together my speech, you know what I wanted to tell them, 349 00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:04,319 and thinking about my life and what they learned from that experience, and both 350 00:30:04,359 --> 00:30:11,480 flying back and forth and being at the end when I graduated from law school, 351 00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:15,519 I'm about to start to practice law. And I was six six even 352 00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:19,599 months, six six months pregnant when I took the Navada bar, and so 353 00:30:21,079 --> 00:30:25,440 I'm thinking about all the things, you know, and I write this speech 354 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,799 about how wonderful their careers are going to be, because this is twenty nineteen, 355 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:37,880 and well, you know what happened in March of twenty twenty. The 356 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:44,759 pandemic shut down everything, and people were so uncertain about what was going to 357 00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:48,000 happen. And some of these law students that had been given offers to start 358 00:30:48,039 --> 00:30:53,680 work after they graduate were put on hold. And so at first they say 359 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:59,720 we're canceling. And then I get a call in a few weeks before, 360 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,759 I said, we're going to do a virtual tool duation. So we need 361 00:31:03,799 --> 00:31:14,960 you to videotape your commencement speech and we'll run it on our online graduation ceremony. 362 00:31:15,559 --> 00:31:19,839 Well, the problem is things are different now, you know, the 363 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:26,759 things that I wanted to say before are very different now They're going into a 364 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,720 very challenging world. And and I'm so glad. You know, even the 365 00:31:30,759 --> 00:31:36,960 title of your your podcast, I just life is a gamble, right, 366 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,440 And so I thought about that, and I thought, it's a pivot. 367 00:31:41,319 --> 00:31:48,640 You what you've learned in law school is how to pivot. But so I 368 00:31:48,079 --> 00:31:55,240 managed to write a whole new graduation speech in a week and get back to 369 00:31:55,759 --> 00:31:59,240 h and tape it and send it out to them, And so that was 370 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,440 I think I bet of fitted from it way more than they did. You 371 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,839 know, I forgot to mention this when we were talking in the beginning, 372 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:13,599 before we started about what I wanted to cover. But I can't not ask 373 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:21,519 you about many of our listeners have seen the show on Netflix Glow Gorgeous Ladies 374 00:32:21,559 --> 00:32:28,119 of Wrestling, and you were one of the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. 375 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:34,920 So so so now how did that work into the mix? So while I'm 376 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:40,240 waiting for the lost open, before I realized this might not happen, I 377 00:32:40,319 --> 00:32:49,480 had done star search and gone out to do take the television show where I 378 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,039 have to fly out during the day, take the television show for Star Search 379 00:32:52,039 --> 00:32:57,400 and then fly back and do my shows at night. And I was lucky 380 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:01,160 that, you know, that worked out time wise. That I wanted to 381 00:33:01,519 --> 00:33:06,759 really learn television and get more into television, and I heard that they were 382 00:33:06,799 --> 00:33:10,079 going to be doing a television show at the Riviera Hotel and I thought, 383 00:33:10,079 --> 00:33:14,000 well, that'll be perfect if I can, you know, do work on 384 00:33:14,039 --> 00:33:17,279 that show. I can learn the television industry. You know, it's just 385 00:33:17,359 --> 00:33:22,680 my brain. I just am always wanting to know how things work, what 386 00:33:22,799 --> 00:33:29,839 makes them succeed. So I went over to the Riviera and the producers there 387 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:37,119 showed me a videotape of Japanese women doing these acrobatic moves in a ring. 388 00:33:37,359 --> 00:33:42,480 They were wrestling and doing like a clothesline and she'd do a back layout. 389 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,480 I just my jaw hit the ground and I said, oh, oh no, 390 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:51,680 no, I'm not a wrestler. I'm sorry and said wait, wait, 391 00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:55,680 don't leave. What do you do? I said, Oh, I 392 00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,759 sing a little, I dance. I've done some comedy before, musical theater. 393 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,759 I said, but I don't wrestle, and he said, you know 394 00:34:05,839 --> 00:34:09,960 that's okay. Wrestling is the hook. We're doing a comedy show, and 395 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,119 it's so one hour show, but we only get it like twenty minutes in 396 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,159 wrestling in it. That's kind of the hook for the show, and we're 397 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:23,320 writing it as we go. So I thought about it and came back and 398 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:30,960 said, okay, but I need three things. It's it. First off, 399 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,800 I need spinoffs because I'm not really a wrestler, you know, spinoffs 400 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,599 for like sitcoms or movies or whatever you know they're going to do. And 401 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:43,760 I said, second of all, I want to learn the television industry, 402 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:50,000 So I want to shadow the writers, the director, the producers, the 403 00:34:50,039 --> 00:34:54,760 distributors. I want to learn how you sell the show. And the third 404 00:34:54,840 --> 00:35:00,800 thing said, see that billboard. That's me on the billboard, the principal 405 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:02,480 dancer in the Flyes Beige are and I do two shows the night, six 406 00:35:02,519 --> 00:35:06,480 days a week, and you're gonna have to work around that schedule. So 407 00:35:06,559 --> 00:35:09,760 I picked up my notebook got ready to leave it or my portfolio, and 408 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:15,400 he said, wait, wait, wait, okay, you really said, 409 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:21,880 okay, oh, I'm gonna have to learn how to wrestle. I did. 410 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:24,440 I kept my side of the bargain, and boy did they keep their 411 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:30,440 side of the bargain. I was so David McLean and Matt Simber they kept 412 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,320 their side of the bargain and I got to learn the television industry, and 413 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,719 I'm so very happy I had that experience. Ended up moving into the river 414 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:45,159 A hotel, staying in a suite there so I could get to the Tropicana 415 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:51,039 faster and get back faster, because sometimes we would tape in the casino at 416 00:35:51,079 --> 00:35:55,639 two am after I got back some of the comedy stuff. So I was 417 00:35:55,679 --> 00:36:02,960 a good girl, of course, and glossy. And I remember Matt said 418 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,280 to me, I think you should be Star, and the writer says yes, 419 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,840 and we'll have like a twinkle on your tooth and then maybe a twinkle 420 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:15,519 on your eye and you know, so that'll be like your character. And 421 00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:17,119 I thought, oh my gosh, what am I going to do with that? 422 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:22,760 Was that the name of your character? They wanted me to be Star? 423 00:36:22,079 --> 00:36:25,079 And I thought about it, and I said, a cheerleader. I 424 00:36:25,119 --> 00:36:30,760 can be a cheerleader. So I said, how about my parents call me 425 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,480 Susie. It's my meddle name is Sue. I said, how about if 426 00:36:34,519 --> 00:36:40,440 I'm Susie's spirit a cheerleader, and I can be for good eating habits being 427 00:36:40,599 --> 00:36:45,639 nice to everybody, supporting everybody and cheering them on, and athleticism and how 428 00:36:45,679 --> 00:36:49,559 we need to work out. And I said, I can do something with 429 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:53,239 that. And I said, there's no such thing as the name cheerleader. 430 00:36:54,679 --> 00:36:58,480 Yeah, I could go find a partner if you want to be a cheerleader. 431 00:37:00,519 --> 00:37:05,039 Hi was one of the acrobats and the falling SiGe Air, and I 432 00:37:05,079 --> 00:37:07,599 went and sent and said, how do you feel about wrestling? Went? 433 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:14,360 Are you serious? She came and wrestled and sold in the very good gymnast 434 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,920 and she got it down quickly, and so we were the Cheerleader, Susy 435 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:24,519 Spirit and Debbie Debutante. In our first match, we wrestled the heavy metal 436 00:37:24,599 --> 00:37:34,400 sisters Chainsaw and Spike. Chainsaw came into the ring with the chainsaw and Spike 437 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:37,880 had a blowtorch with flash paper. It was light and throw it for fine. 438 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:44,400 So anyway, we have this match with these two lovely sisters who were 439 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:52,400 just in incredible characters a delight, and it ends up that Debbie Debutante one 440 00:37:52,440 --> 00:38:02,280 of them bites her foot and gets lockjaw of miss the the uh. They 441 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:07,400 had to call the ambulance and the that she had to be carried out on 442 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,960 a stretcher because they couldn't get her mouth off of her foot. You know, 443 00:38:12,159 --> 00:38:17,039 it was just fun, you know, we would I was fighting Palestina 444 00:38:17,159 --> 00:38:22,400 once and she cheated and through sand in my eyes. So Americana came to 445 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:28,280 the rescue, and and then Noshka jumped in to help Palestina the Russian. 446 00:38:28,519 --> 00:38:32,599 I mean, it was just comedy. R really funny comedy, and we 447 00:38:32,679 --> 00:38:37,119 never admitted that weren't really the characters. So when I would do interviews, 448 00:38:37,159 --> 00:38:40,400 I went on the late night show at Joan Rivers as Susie's Spirit. So 449 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:47,519 I'm sitting on the couch with Mike Tyson and John Davidson and and Linda whose 450 00:38:47,599 --> 00:38:53,960 wonder woman h Carter of Linda Carter. Yeah, and I'm Susie Spirit. 451 00:38:55,239 --> 00:39:01,000 To be Mari Thompson, I had to be Susie Spirit. Mike Tyson is 452 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:06,880 is you know all nervous, comes to my room and asks for my autograph. 453 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,280 Wait, you're Mike Tyson? Will you sign all of these for my 454 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:15,519 friends? So it was quite an experience. I'm really glad that I did. 455 00:39:15,519 --> 00:39:20,719 I got to go to napty and learn how to actually pitch the television 456 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:25,880 show, you know, on the floor of the convention. That's how I 457 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,559 learned television. And it was a little tough back in the Follies Vigi Air 458 00:39:30,679 --> 00:39:37,119 because well two things. The showgirls were very upset that I was doing something 459 00:39:37,199 --> 00:39:43,360 like that that was so disgusting. And they didn't want the affiliation with wrestlingling, 460 00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:47,599 you know, because they're only dancing in a top of the show Hi. 461 00:39:47,679 --> 00:39:51,159 And of course when I did Glow, they said, don't tell anybody 462 00:39:51,199 --> 00:39:54,039 you're in there. We just don't want the him at the Toubles show. 463 00:39:54,679 --> 00:40:00,199 And I thought, really, you guys, it's entertainment, right, It's 464 00:40:00,199 --> 00:40:07,960 all good. So I'm really glad for that chapter. I'm really happy for 465 00:40:07,039 --> 00:40:10,400 the things that I learned and the chance that I had. And then years 466 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:15,199 later, these two kids that grew up watching it with their dads came and 467 00:40:15,199 --> 00:40:19,239 said, we want to do a documentary on Glow. Can you help us? 468 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,199 And by then I was practicing law, so I helped them with they 469 00:40:22,519 --> 00:40:29,519 what they could and couldn't do to do this show, and they did the 470 00:40:29,559 --> 00:40:34,719 documentary and GINGI Conan from Orange is the New Black. The producer saw the 471 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,599 documentary and said, I would really like to do that, got the rights 472 00:40:38,599 --> 00:40:45,840 from the documentary from these producers and recut it a little differently, and then 473 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:52,559 she created the show Glow, got the rights to use the name Glow from 474 00:40:52,599 --> 00:40:57,480 a license, and we created that for Netflix only this time the story was 475 00:40:57,519 --> 00:41:01,039 about the girls that were playing the characters, so they got to be real 476 00:41:01,079 --> 00:41:05,880 people. And there was a character on the new show that was kind of 477 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:07,840 like me because she got into the production side of it. She was a 478 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:16,280 Russian Instead. I broke my arm dislocated it in the four camera shoot while 479 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:22,639 I was doing Glow, and that was not planned, but we had probably 480 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:27,199 eight hundred people in the live audience at the time, so we had to 481 00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:32,559 figure out how to get around that. I actually my a map because it 482 00:41:32,599 --> 00:41:37,880 was dislocated on the side of the rope, and she said, get back 483 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:42,639 in there, Susie, you're not a quitter. My Glow show on Netflix 484 00:41:42,679 --> 00:41:45,719 they had the character breaker leg instead of her arm like I did. That 485 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:50,519 was a tough explanation. Richard to go to the producer of the follies, 486 00:41:50,599 --> 00:41:52,760 Vigier and say, I'm going to be out for about six weeks because I 487 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:57,360 have to let my arm heal. They thought am I going to keep my 488 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:04,159 job. Wow, that is is quite a crazy story anyway. So now 489 00:42:04,199 --> 00:42:12,280 you have gone from entertainer on the strip to television with Glow, and then 490 00:42:12,559 --> 00:42:16,639 you've had this pretty long career as an entertainment attorney. We're one of the 491 00:42:16,639 --> 00:42:22,800 top entertainment attorneys here in town, which is great. But now I understand 492 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,960 you are going back to the stage, right. Tell me about that. 493 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,280 So, Richard, it's been twenty seven years since I've been on stage in 494 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:36,119 the follies, Bigier. I do a lot of speaking and a lot of 495 00:42:36,159 --> 00:42:40,719 teaching, but I'm always with a PowerPoint and not in fancy costumes and definitely 496 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:46,039 not dancing. So I had worked with I'm on the board for Nevada Ballet, 497 00:42:46,199 --> 00:42:52,639 and I had met two gentlemen there, Tom Michelle and David Robinson, 498 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:58,280 and they were putting together a musical in Las Vegas, the Follies. So 499 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,639 Stephen Sondheim had written in this musical in the seventies and it opened on Broadway, 500 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:09,320 I believe in nineteen seventy one, and it's been produced though several times 501 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:15,599 since then, but it's never been done in Las Vegas. And Follies is 502 00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:22,119 about a group of people that performed together in a theater in the follies production. 503 00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:29,440 I imagine it was probably a take off on the Zigfield Follies or something, 504 00:43:30,039 --> 00:43:35,000 and they get together and have one final reunion because they're tearing the theater 505 00:43:35,159 --> 00:43:42,280 down. So they're producing this show in Las Vegas. It's on a website 506 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:50,159 called Showgirls Come Home dot Com and they've got twelve legendary showgirls. They've got 507 00:43:50,199 --> 00:43:54,320 a cast of Broadway stars and some of our local stars Clint Holmes, Michelle 508 00:43:54,360 --> 00:44:02,360 Johnson, Linda Woodson is actually singing in a just some wonderful people, Gabriella 509 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:08,800 Versace and anyway, I am one of the legendary show girls, so that's 510 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:13,480 going to be a lot of fun. I had to get my top shoes 511 00:44:13,519 --> 00:44:17,199 out the other day because we just started rehearsals last week and we're seeing and 512 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:23,880 dancing and trying to look fabulous. We're very excited because Steven Song Somendheim did 513 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:29,559 a beautiful job. Beautiful Girls is in the show, probably one of the 514 00:44:29,639 --> 00:44:36,800 most famous ones in the show, and it's really it's a wonderful opportunity to 515 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,760 do something that is this has this much history to it, and it just 516 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:45,280 so happens. The theater that I've performed in for thirteen years is being torn 517 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:51,360 down on April second, the Tropicana, the Fullly Spaciety here, it's being 518 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:57,760 torn down, and our show is opening on April eleventh at Aliante. We're 519 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:01,400 doing six shows running through the fiftheenth, so it opens on Thursday, Thursday, 520 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:06,760 Friday, two shows Saturday, two shows Sunday, and that's it. 521 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:12,800 We're just doing those six shows. It's a nonprofit, so it's not meant 522 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:15,679 to make money, it's just meant to bring that art to Las Vegas and 523 00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:20,840 do something meaningful for the community here. I think it will mean a lot. 524 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,800 They'll see a lot of performers that they know. Well. There's a 525 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:30,119 wonderful number that Kelly Clinton and Clint Holmes do together, and so I think 526 00:45:30,119 --> 00:45:35,760 that you really will enjoy that and it's fun for all of us. I 527 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:39,800 am one of the youngest legendary show girls and I just turned sixty four. 528 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:46,519 There are one of our show girls is ninety seven. We have one that's 529 00:45:46,599 --> 00:45:52,760 ninety one, that's eighty nine, and we're a charity faster than they do, 530 00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:59,760 so we're very excited. David Lowe is our musical conductor. We've got 531 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:07,159 the Joy Jazz Orchestra with us JOI. It's I think it's about a thirty 532 00:46:07,199 --> 00:46:14,000 five piece orchestra with our production, So it should be a it should be 533 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:15,840 a treat. That should be a treat for the people on stage and the 534 00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:20,039 people in the audience, and I'm really looking forward to it. At first, 535 00:46:20,039 --> 00:46:23,960 I wasn't so sure. That takes a lot of nerve. I dug 536 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:30,039 out my tap shoes that I bought when I was in college and in a 537 00:46:30,079 --> 00:46:35,559 couple of musicals and tap dancing, and had to break those out for my 538 00:46:35,639 --> 00:46:39,400 rehearsal the other day and it came back. I was surprised. So I'm 539 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:43,920 so excited, and I hope the community has a chance to come out and 540 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,320 see this production, and you know, maybe it we'll revive the production and 541 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,559 maybe it'll get off on a tour. I'm still going to practice law, 542 00:46:51,599 --> 00:46:55,480 though, I think that's my calling. I've been spending the last few weeks 543 00:46:55,480 --> 00:47:00,400 with all of my clients talking to them about Super Bowl ads with can it 544 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:07,039 can't do? So I think I have a purpose doing that, and I 545 00:47:07,079 --> 00:47:12,599 know I'm good at that. I am so grateful to come and talk to 546 00:47:12,639 --> 00:47:16,920 you, Richard. It's been so much fun and fun to reconnect with you 547 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:22,639 again and I look forward to hearing many episodes of your show. Lauri, 548 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:27,480 thanks so much for doing this. It was great to have this conversation, 549 00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:32,960 and I just want our listeners to know I was actually able to find a 550 00:47:34,079 --> 00:47:43,400 clip of you getting your arm dislocated on Glow and I will put a link 551 00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:49,760 to that in the show notes so everyone can go check that out. Anyway, 552 00:47:50,519 --> 00:47:54,239 that's it for this show. I'm sorry about the audio glitches, and 553 00:47:55,159 --> 00:48:00,920 as always, you can reach me at Life is a Gamble pop at gmail 554 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:06,679 dot com or on Twitter at r w M twenty one. Until next time,