Call him Professor Holmes! After a four-decade career of creating and performing shows all over the world, our hometown hero singer Clint Holmes is going back to school.
In fact, he’s the kickoff professor lecturing at the new Best University Master Class series dealing with the art of performance. It starts Saturday and is the first time that Las Vegas has its own theatrical academy with entertainers as its teaching staff.
“The idea of growing as an artist has been and continues to be the strongest motivation in my career,” said Clint. “Now I am excited to share what I’ve learned.”
The all-day, seven-hour, $200 workshop is deliberately limited to just 10 students, one of whom is singer Pia Zadora. University founder Ken Henderson of Best Agency on Decatur Boulevard, where the class will be taught, said:
“We received 30 times more applicants than we had space for — we wanted each student to receive one-on-one time with Clint. They will also be able to audit the entire day.
“Each student gets the opportunity to reprise a song they worked on at the end of the day based on what they learned.”
Longtime Las Vegas musical director Bill Fayne will be Clint’s musical accompanist for the master class.
“I will provide lyric interpretation,” added Clint. “As singers, our most important job is to tell the story of the song. The level to which we do this is what separates good singers from great artists.
“We’ll work on exciting techniques to help the student own every song they sing and move their audiences as never before. We’ll also work on stagecraft — developing a stage persona.
“It’s a case of being comfortable with what they sing, from tempos to keys, the body language from feet to face, the talk between songs and the overall impression the audience is left with.
“We’ll also work with the singing students on protecting their instrument. If a guitar breaks, you can buy a new one. If your voice is your instrument and you break it, you’re done!
“We’ll work on voice-saving warm-ups, how to rest your voice even while singing, and how to know when enough is enough. The goal is to help you be comfortable singing for the rest of your life.”
I’m hearing that the next master class will focus on musical-comedy theater with leggy “Seven-Year Itch” and “Chicago” star Leigh Zimmerman as professor.
The longtime former Las Vegas resident won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Musical for the West End revival of “A Chorus Line” in 2013.
Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” fame has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past 15 years giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Article contributed by Las Vegas Sun.