Suzanne Somers' life transformed into classic Vegas act

The first clue that Suzanne Somers is bringing the classic Las Vegas lounge act back to Vegas comes when a recording of Louis Prima and Keely Smith's "That Old Black Magic" is played before the show.

Louie and Keely invented the Vegas lounge act back in the day when Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack were playing the showrooms. But Somers revitalizes the art form in "Suzanne Sizzles," presented in her own cabaret room in the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. I tweeted after seeing the 70-minute show, it's smokin' without the toxins.

The long-time Palm Springs resident has begun a year-long residency in the room, dubbed Suzanne's at the Westgate, and her act seems like a perfect extension of all that came before it. Elvis Presley played the hotel showroom in the 1970s when it was the International and then the Hilton. Barry Manilow played it in the 2000s. Somers herself played the showroom in the 1980s and was named Vegas Entertainer of the Year as the featured entertainer in the "Moulin Rouge" musical revue.

Somers says everything in her career has led to this show and she's right. Even her daughter, Leslie Hamel, designed her many great costumes. But, who would guess that working in alternative health, the Home Shopping Network, TV sitcoms and cooking could be the perfect ingredients for a lounge act?

Somers makes it all work because she's a good singer, has a great, jazzy show band and is just so damn personable. On her fifth show, she started telling a story that didn't match the visuals projected behind her. She admitted she screwed up but said, "so what?" And the audience applauded!

She didn't hire a writer for this show, as most cabaret artists do. She just created a thread that ties it all together while giving her space to improvise between anecdotes. She talks to people in the audience and generates laughs like her old friend, Merv Griffin. But the basic formula is, she tells a story about her career, shows some visuals to illustrate it and sings a song pertaining to it.

For example, she tells how she got a job singing with a band when she was 16 years old in 1960-61. They played the first teen club in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco, until the owner fired the band and made Somers sing a cappella. So she sings one of her songs from that gig, "Angel Baby" – which Rosie and the Originals released in 1960.

Upon winning over the audience, she quips, "We have a hormonally balanced audience tonight." Then sings "an estrogen kind of song" – Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'."

After talking about her first cookbook, she sings Diana Krall's hit, "Frim Fram Sauce." After talking about her film debut as the girl in the pink Thunderbird in the '50s nostalgia film, "American Graffiti," she sings the 1957 song, "Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby" (later recorded by Ronnie Milsap). After revealing how the president of ABC selected her to play Chrissie on "Three's Company" after seeing Johnny Carson flirt with her on "The Tonight Show," she sings the beautiful ballad, "Guess Who I Saw Today."

It all fits perfectly.

But what makes this show different from many autobiographical acts is she has real history with the people she's singing and talking about. She can tell stories about Carson, Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow and Leon Russell because she's had interesting encounters with them. And those stories lend themselves to great songs. Her version of Manilow's "I Was A Fool (To Let You Go)," from his 1978 album, "Even Now," is a killer and it's performed so infrequently, Somers likes to call it her Barry Manilow song.

Manilow, a Palm Springs friend and neighbor, attended Somers' opening night with guests such as model Beverly Johnson, British singer Clint Holmes, desert pals Helene Galen and Jamie Kabler, and Linda Thompson, the second wife of Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner. So I guess Manilow is OK with Somers' appropriation of his song.

She performs Tuesdays through Saturdays at the Westgate. Then, unless she has a book to pitch somewhere, she's back in Palm Springs Saturday nights through Tuesday afternoons.

Somers in Vegas

What: Suzanne Somers starring in "Suzanne Sizzles," a multi-media act with a four-piece band

Where: Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, 3000 Paradise Road, Las Vegas

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays

Tickets: $79 or $99 for VIP. $350 including meet-and-greet tickets with Somers after the show.

Information: (800) 222-5361 or westgatevegas.com