Veronic shares a personal journey. Rather than covering just the female stars, she explains why she loves specific singers and notes what made them so unique as stage performers. I enjoyed this personal perspective, which made me listen to some songs I thought I knew before in entirely different ways.
Singer-impressionist Danny Gans was the most popular act on the Las Vegas Strip during the late 1990s.
Gans headlined the Mirage showroom. He sold out every night. Gans was named “Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year” multiple times. His $100 ticket price didn’t dissuade anyone from standing in line at the box office. Gans was the hottest ticket in town and was worth every penny.
Gans passed away a few years ago. Since then, a void has existed on the Vegas entertainment scene — not necessarily from a lack of impersonators. There are still plenty of those around. The void is that immense satisfaction one gets when utterly convinced the performer gave us everything he or she had while onstage. Gans did that. He brought an extraordinary range of music and voices to his show, combined with meticulous craftsmanship that made you believe — if your eyes were closed — that you were actually listening to many of the greatest male singers in history.
To this day, one had to wonder — would a female version of Danny Gans ever come along?
Well, yes. Meet Veronic, who’s been playing at Bally’s for about a year now.
Veronic DiCaire is French-Canadian. From her speech and nuances, it’s clear that English is her second language. The singer, presumed to be in her mid-forties but has the energy of a 21-year-old, performs four nights a week in the Bally’s Jubilee showroom. Ticket prices for her one-woman show range from $29 to $89 — a relative bargain given the overpriced cookie-cutter shows elsewhere.
It’s not really fair to compare Veronic to Gans, but in a word or two — that’s basically her act. That said, I think she presents a better show, for a number of reasons.
First, female voices seem to be considerably more difficult to mimic. Note how many impressionists out there do male voices. Whether it’s Bill Clinton, or Jack Nicholson, or Bob Dylan — just about anyone can do those icons. By contrast, how many female impersonators do you see? Not many. Maybe even none. Except for Veronic.
Next, consider the extraordinary diversity and vocal range of the greatest female singers in popular music — from the late Billie Holiday’s deep baritone to Mariah Carey, who often squeals like a cat in heat. That’s a lot of vocal real estate to cover. In between these high and low notes, Veronic absolutely nails many of the most legendary female voices of the past and present — including Adele, Patsy Cline, Sheryl Crow, Tina Turner, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Amy Winehouse, Anita Baker, Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Katy Perry, Celine Dion, and so many more. In all, there were about 50 different voices covered. Moving from the bombastic soul of Aretha Franklin to the deeper introspection of The Eurythmics has never looked nor sounded so effortless.
As for structure, Veronic’s show is divided into several segments. So, even if you’re not a fan of a certain singer or type of music, she’ll be on to the next impression within minutes. For instance, she does an entire homage to country music consisting of four or five songs. I’m not a fan of that genre and didn’t even know some of the music, but even that part of the show was both impressive and fun. By the way, Veronic’s impression of Dolly Patron is hysterical.
That’s one of the qualities making this show better than most impressionists many of us have seen, in that Veronic never quite seems to take herself or even the singers she’s impersonating too seriously. She has fun with everyone, especially her audience — and most of all herself. Much of her dialogue with the crowd also seemed unrehearsed, a refreshing bit of spontaneity we’re not used to seeing much anymore in Las Vegas. Anyone who breaks away from the canned predictability of sameness deserves an ovation.
Other segments included tributes to all the divas, which was a powerhouse 15 minutes of music. Veronic gave her audience tips on how she recreates some of the best singing voices of all time and somehow manages to master every single note and nuance. Some impressions are better than others, of course. But they all pass the test.
Veronic’s very best moments come when she takes over the piano and plays songs from her favorite singer-songwriters — from Alicia Keys to Carole King to Lady Gaga to Karen Carpenter. This part of the show was my favorite.
Oddly enough, one of the show’s strengths also happens to be a major negative. Unlike Gans, who employed a full band-orchestra onstage, Veronic’s music track is entirely prerecorded. This subtracts some of the authentic magic from her performance, us knowing that she’s performing almost entirely to digital sound, which is another word for karaoke (which is why those solo piano arrangements were so special). Hey Bally’s, Veronic deserves much better than this. Let’s hope her continuing success as a stage performer will enable a full band or small orchestra to be brought in. That would make what is currently a very good show, into a great show.
As stated, Veronic’s one-woman act is tough to pull off in this world of short attention spans and flash-in-the-pan superficiality. Yet somehow, even with these challenges, she’s able to deliver everything we want and expect, and then some.
As for impressions, what we see is just as important as what we hear. What sets Veronic apart is her attention to seemingly subtle details. By this, I mean what’s visual about a performer. The vocal recreations would be impressive enough. But add in the unique presence of each performer, and that would seem nearly impossible to duplicate. The way Lady Gaga broods over the stage for example is difficult to master, but Verinoc somehow manages it. Pink’s in-your-face attitude is also a refined characteristic, which Veronic clobbers out of the park. How about Barbra Streisand’s stoic and mesmerizing stage presence, which I can’t even imagine anyone capturing when she belted out timeless classics like People and The Way We Were. Again, Veronic not only sounds just like Streisand for those 60 seconds, but she also looks just like her performing in about 1970 at The International. There are way more hits than misses.
Be advised, there’s not a bad seat in the house (at Bally’s). We paid $29 for tickets and sat near the rear of the auditorium, which is entirely downstairs. Yet, we heard and saw everything quite clearly. Paying the additional $40 or so to sit 40 feet closer wouldn’t have made much difference.
A few final thoughts:
— I’m not a fan of much of the music that was performed (Beyonce, Spears, Swift — take a hike). But I really enjoyed just about every song and impression. You need not be into the types of music to appreciate Veronic’s special talent.
— Veronic has just the right mix of laughter, seriousness, and sentiment. There are times you will laugh out loud. Other times, you may shed a tear.
— Veronic makes this a very personal journey. Rather than just covering the female stars, she explains why she likes specific singers and notes what made them so unique as stage performers. I enjoyed this personal perspective, which made me listen to some songs I thought I knew before in entirely different ways.
— The audience was heavily skewed towards females. I’m baffled as to why this was the case. Great music is great music and a performer like Veronic deserves to be enjoyed by everyone, including men. However, the audience also included people of all ages.
While most shows on The Strip run a punch-the-timeclock duration of precisely 1 hour/20 minutes, Veronic, true to a more freewheeling nature, goes a full 1 hour/45 minutes. So, add 25 minutes more than the average show. That’s a gruesome performance demand for what amounts to a one-person act (she uses some dancers, but all the singing and talking is entirely Veronic).
I give Veronic a solid “8” on the 10-scale. This is a wonderful show and a relative bargain, given what Las Vegas show ticket prices have become. Here’s to hoping she soon will move into a bigger showroom, hires a band, and then starts charging $100 per seat. Then, Veronic will really be worth it.
MORE REVIEWS HERE: TRIP ADVISOR (VERONIC VOICES)