Joan has a fabulous two nights in Las Vegas at The South Point Hotel, with one more sensational night to come.. Here are some pics from the first two nights.. Among those attending have been Legendary comic Jerry Lewis.. Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous's Robin Leach.. Superstar sister Jackie Collins and Joan's closest friend the wonderful Judy Bryer...
Joan is terribly excited about her Vegas debut later this evening at The South Point Hotel .... Here is a super shot of Joan in transit from LA with show promoter Mark Rozzano and 'A Night With Joan Collins' technical wizard Oli Zones.. Watch this space for all the latest from Vegas!
Famous people don’t often tell you how much they love the applause of fans. But “Dynasty’s” Joan Collins will tell you exactly that.
Collins is in Las Vegas to perform Friday through Sunday at the South Point.
I asked her what she gets out of acting, as opposed to writing, because she has written 14 books and a newspaper column, while starring on the stage and screen.
“They’re two totally, totally different things,” she said.
“Getting up onstage, you have to present yourself, perform, and you get back from the audience love, approbation, attention — if they like it.
“Writing — you get nothing back whatsoever.”
I laughed when Joan Collins (aka Alexis Carrington) informed me that we writers get nothing back because it’s true more frequently than we’d wish.
Hear me out. We writers find validation in awards, online comments, social media and occasionally from fans on the street.
But writers don’t receive anything like the in-person affection film and stage performers swim in.
That’s not to say writing is unfulfilling. Writing takes place on an interior stage; most of the applause happens in writers’ heads.
“I love writing,” Collins said. “I find it relaxing, fun, interesting and a good way to spend an afternoon.
“But people don’t applaud you when you write books. You don’t get that great rush of adrenalin you get when you’re on the stage and you tell a joke or a story, and you can tell they’re rapt listening to the story, or they laugh when they hear your joke,” Collins said.
“A standing O is really a great feeling, so that’s why I’ve always loved the theater.”
I kept talking with Collins about writing, and about the holidays, but then she comically redirected me, with her teasing, Alexis Carrington accent:
“Anyway, we should talk about my show. You don’t want to talk about it, I can tell,” she said with a laugh.
Ah, yes, the show. So what will fans experience during her shows at the South Point?
“I don’t think people realize I have a self-deprecating sense of humor and that I have lived a fascinating life. So I talk at length about my life, some from my childhood, but in an amusing and self-deprecating way. I tell quite a few jokes.”
Collins’ show comes with a video screen showing clips of Collins in “Dynasty” and in movies with Paul Newman, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly and others.
She will also talk about her lawsuit fights and divorces.
“I just picked the wrong men. But not always. I have three great children. That’s really good. Now I’m extremely happy with my fifth husband, and we’ve been married almost 13 years,” she said. “He wrote the show. He directed the show. We are partners in crime.”
There are two more interesting things from my conversation with Alexis Carrington:
■ Her best friend, Judy Bryer, and her husband, Max, live here. So Collins is familiar with Vegas.
■ When we were talking about writing, she pointed out that millions of people write on social media now because it elicits immediate feedback.
But then, in an Alexis Carrington-esque dismissal, she denounced bad Tweeters thus:
“Pretty sad, some of them, I have to say.”
Joan Collins at "Jubilee!" in Bally's on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012.
Judy Bryer and TVT
Barbara Eden and Joan Collins during the Hollywood Autograph Show weekend in Las Vegas from Nov. 18-19, 2011.
Judy Bryer
Joan Collins, Celine Dion and others at the Venetian.
Joan Collins roast
She is the epitome of Hollywood glamour, but she’s British! Off camera, she’s a gracious and oh-so “propuh” English lady awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1997, but on camera she can roll in the mud and deck Linda Evans and Diahann Carroll in a catfight with a single punch.
She’s been a sex symbol through the years and became British and U.S. royalty as the hottest TV property ever in the days of “Dynasty” when she defined the word “bitch.” Years earlier, she actually starred in “The Bitch,” a 1979 sequel to the year-earlier “The Stud,” both based on bestselling novels by her younger sister, Jackie Collins.
To say it’s been a colorful, checkered, fascinating and interesting life would be an understatement. I’ve known Joan from my early days in Britain. We’re good friends still to this day with songwriter Leslie Bricusse (“Stop the World,” “Willy Wonka,” “Roar of the Greasepaint”) and his actress wife Yvonne Romaine, who were my first showbiz interview subjects some 56 years ago.
Joan was only 9 years old when she made her stage debut and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. That led to an exclusive U.K. movie studio contract and a number of films on both sides of the Atlantic. At 22, she was in Hollywood making headlines.
In 1981, TV viewers were fixated on her role of Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter, the evil ex-wife of John Forsythe’s Blake Carrington in the top-rated nighttime soap opera “Dynasty.” It won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Here’s the YouTube video of when Dean Martin roasted her as the Woman of the Year from MGM Grand in 1984. Watch Bea Arthur’s hilarious routine about the “Dynasty” days and how her character began the permissiveness of U.S. television.
Joan hasn’t retired or even slowed down after more than 70 movies, 25 theatrical shows and more than 50 TV programs with 250 episodes. It’s a remarkable career. She’s still performing plays, making films and TV commercials and writing books, including five novels, four memoirs and eight nonfiction works on beauty, health and politics.
She has certainly come a long way since her 1956 Golden Globe for Most Promising Young Actress and Star of Tomorrow awards. Since then, she’s received more than 20 other cinematic recognitions, including film-festival lifetime achievement awards.
Today she’s in the headlines again talking bravely about when at age 17 she was drugged and raped. Joan appears in a new Netflix documentary about sexual violence titled “Brave Miss World” with Israeli pageant winner Linor Abargil, who was raped six weeks before being crowned Miss World.
On Thursday, Joan will drive here to Las Vegas in her Rolls-Royce across the I-15 desert for three weekend nights of her one-woman show at South Point. She took time out from early Christmas shopping to talk with me:
“The show is about my life, with humor and amusement and anecdotes. While I talk about it and the people who I’ve worked with, behind me there is a screen, with projected photographs, clips from movies, outtakes from “Dynasty” and films from my two court cases.
“I had two quite famous court cases over my books in a battle with publishers, so there’s a lot of newsreel footage from them. Generally, it’s just a whole montage of something going on all the time in the background.” Do you spill secrets?
There aren’t too many secrets left, darling, because I’ve been doing the show for eight years. But they will be secrets to some people, yes. We’ve been doing it in New York, Palm Beach, Miami, in London, and we toured Britain — in all on and off for eight years. What is the one thing above all others that the audience loves?
The outtakes — they are very funny. Bloopers, really. And of course they love the “Dynasty” fight scene that I have there with Linda Evans. Some with Diahann Carroll. They also love the courtroom stuff when I am being interrogated by this really harsh, nasty lawyer in New York. It’s no-hold’s-barred as I tell the whole story of that.
The entire show runs about 75 minutes, and then I do a Q+A with my husband, Percy, working the audience for questions. In all about 90 minutes and then a meet-and-greet photo opportunity. Ever stumped by some of the questions you are asked?
No. It’s always who was the best kisser and that kind of thing. It’s never too outrageous. How do you put on your eyelashes? That was actually asked of me by a transvestite.
I talk about love and marriage. Of course! Why wouldn’t I? It’s what makes the world go around, isn’t it? Or is it money?
I talk about old husbands. It’s a montage of my life. I talk about some of the boyfriends like Warren Beatty. And, no, I’m not going to tell you everything, so you have to come and hear it for yourself at the show. It’s very entertaining anyway. Do you enjoy doing this, telling all the intimate, behind-the-scenes secrets?
Well, darling, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t. Absolutely, I love doing it, and I’ve been wanting to play Las Vegas for so long. So it’s a great thrill for me to be there this weekend.”
* * *
London theater critics raved: “The devastatingly well-preserved Joan Collins gives her audiences exactly what they want: Glamour, glitz and gossip. She looks terrific in skintight, spangled black pants sitting on a baronial chair in front of a movie screen dropping names like confetti.
“Joan reveals the time Bette Davis got jealous with her and kicked her on the set of ‘The Virgin Queen’ and when Peter Sellers dressed as a Nazi to pick her up for a date from her Jewish neighborhood.”
Another critic praised the Queen of ’80s Soaps: “The Ageless One sashays on the stage like she owns it and has charisma, confidence at breakneck speed through a series of showbiz tales all told with great skill, plenty of wit and delightful, surprising self-deprecation.” “A Night With Joan Collins” is at 7:30 p.m. at South Point on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Joan features in today's issue of Style magazine with The Sunday Times..
Miss Collins invites
From Liz Taylor to Andy Warhol, Joan Collins has partied with the best of them. The ultimate hostess shares her tips on how to throw the soiree of the season
Joan Collins Published: 23 November 2014
First-night party at the Waldorf, London, 2001 (Richard Young)
I have thrown dozens of parties in my life: children’s birthday parties, Christmas parties, beach parties, pool parties, barbecues, cocktail parties, seated dinners for 10, kitchen suppers for four, buffet dinners for 50, and weddings, at which, of course, I’m an expert.
The guest list
The first and most crucial element of a great party is the guest list. I invite a core group of my closest friends and family along with a sprinkling of new friends, as one doesn’t want to see the same faces every year. Boring or dull people can cast a bad vibe over any gathering, so I’m ruthless about whom I invite. The food
I make sure I have the most delicious food possible, and I’m lucky enough to know a terrific chef who comes in to cook mouthwatering fare. For buffets I like to have three or four simple things so that everyone has a choice. I want everyone to be able to sit down comfortably, even if they are balancing their plates on their laps, so I always have food that doesn't require a knife, such as salmon en croute, shepherd's pie or beef stroganoff.
For my Christmas soiree I encourage all the women to dress up, since I love the 'dressing up box' anyway, and at Christmas time I feel it's particularly appropriate. It's a big effort to give a really great party, so why not persuade everyone to look gorgeous in celebration of the festivities? No jeans or trainers, please and besides, the men like it too. Timings
Most people at my Christmas party know each other, so the atmosphere is convivial (and crowded). If the invitation says 8pm, I try to have the buffet on the table by 9.15pm, although some of my friends are notoriously tardy. For a seated dinner, I don't believe in waiting longer than an hour for latecomers.
Elizabeth Taylor was so late one evening, that when she arrived we had finished dinner. In came the fabled star, abjectly apologetic and insisting she wasn't going to eat.
'I'll just have a cigarette', she said, trembling slightly as she lit it. We stood in the entrance hall and she looked nervously into the living room where everyone was pretending not to notice. Hollywood people are just as star-struck as ordinary mortals and Elizabeth was the last of the glamorous superstars. That night she was wearing very long acrylic nails and as the match flared so did her nails!. 'Oh my God! My nail's on fire!', she shrieked. George Hamilton gallantly threw his drink over her hand and Elizabeth stared at the dripping mess with dismay, but in true Hollywood style she recovered immediately and then asked. 'Do you have an emery board?' Music
I love all types of music, so Percy and I carefully choose what we are going to play for the cocktail hour. I like nostalgia , 1940's classics like Frank Sinatra and the old standards, which are all mellow and romantic and don't distract from the conversation.
After dinner, some people love to dance, so we amp up the mood with contemporary tunes. I'm besotted with Pharrell William's 'Happy', which is guaranteed to get people up and giggling away. This summer I was at a party in St Tropez and as soon as that song started, I stood up and gave it my all. A photographer snapped me dancing and the picture ended up everywhere. A cautionary word in this world of YouTube and Instagram ... Iphones are everywhere!
The Postmortem
Last of all, don't worry. If you've made sure you have enough food and drink, and that your staff or servers have been properly instructed, just relax and enjoy the show.
My final word on entertaining comes from my dear, departed friend Sue Mengers. She believed that if they don't invite you back, after you've invited them, don't ask them again - a school of thought I wholly embrace. However, there are certain allowances I make for friends who perhaps can't afford to entertain, but who at least make the effort to keep in touch.
As well as featured in today's 'Sunday Times' style magazine with a two page article on throwing a party.. Joan can also be seen in 'The Sunday Times Magazine' with this two page portrait from a new book 'Seventies Glamour' by David Wills & Stephen Schmidt.. Joan is posing for a sculptor at renowned mannequin creators 'Rootstein' in 1975... 'Seventies Glamour' is Available next week from Harper Collins... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seventies-Glamour-David-Wills/dp/0062265563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416760336&sr=8-1&keywords=seventies+glamour
Joan features in today's issue of Style magazine with The Sunday Times.. Here is a taste of the feature..
Miss Collins invites
From Liz Taylor to Andy Warhol, Joan Collins has partied with the best of them. The ultimate hostess shares her tips on how to throw the soiree of the season
Joan Collins Published: 23 November 2014
First-night party at the Waldorf, London, 2001 (Richard Young)
I have thrown dozens of parties in my life: children’s birthday parties, Christmas parties, beach parties, pool parties, barbecues, cocktail parties, seated dinners for 10, kitchen suppers for four, buffet dinners for 50, and weddings, at which, of course, I’m an expert. The guest list The first and most crucial element of a great party is the guest list. I invite a core group of my closest friends and family along with a sprinkling of new friends, as one doesn’t want to see the same faces every year. Boring or dull people can cast a bad vibe over any gathering, so I’m ruthless about whom I invite. The food I make sure I have the most delicious food possible, and I’m lucky enough to know a terrific chef who comes in to cook mouthwatering fare. For buffets I like to have three or four simple things so that everyone has............... For rest of interview see The Sunday Times in print or online!
Next weekend Joan will be making her Las Vegas debut with 'A Night With Joan Collins' for three nights at The South Point Hotel & Casino.. Here is a look at the fabulous billboard to herald Joan's special engagement from November 28th to 30th.. Click here... http://www.southpointcasino.com/entertainment/entertainers/joan-collins.php
Joan Collins Timeless Beauty is a new beauty brand by Joan Collins OBE. I feel that it’s about time that Joan had a beauty brand of her own since she is a beauty icon to many and has had decades of experience with makeup, and indeed has gained valuable beauty secrets from the ‘greatest beauty experts in cinema’.
Each product in her collection is designed to help women achieve ‘timeless beauty’. The products look as if they’ve been plucked from the eighties, which won’t be to everyone’s taste, but is to mine since I like how these products look luxuriously different to the usual shiny black of nowadays. The Marilyn Nail Lacquer, priced at £13, comes in a faceted glass bottle with a tall, ribbed, gold lid. I like the look of the product but find the lid slightly flimsy. However the actual nail varnish is very, very opaque. I’ve never come across another nail lacquer that gives a completely opaque finish with a single coat. It takes a few minutes to dry and gives a somewhat glossy finish. I tried this in shade Marilyn, which is a medium to dark rose that would look particularly lovely on darker skin tones. This Nail Lacquer comes in other shades of pinks and reds.
Joan recommends matching nail varnish to lip colour, for a ‘perfectly groomed’ finish. The Lady Joan Compact Duo, priced at £34, contains a Divine Lipstick and Meticulous Powder. I find this duo incredibly convenient as the lips and face are the two things which generally need touching up during the day. I tried the duo which contains a natural shade of powder and lipstick in shade Marilyn (a warm, bright rose), which coordinates with the Marilyn Nail Lacquer. The lipstick smells of chocolate and has a faint shimmer. The wear time isn’t great though, the formulation is velvety smooth. The lipstick has a ribbed gold exterior, with ‘JC’ debossed on the lid. It feels like it’s of a high quality. The powder is finely milled and soft, and doesn’t look cakey on the face at all. The sponge applicator is decent enough on the go but I’d use a powder brush when possible.
Lastly, I tried the I Am Woman Signature Duo priced at £25. It contains the I Am Woman perfume in an Eau de Parfum and a Fragrant Essence form. Both bottles come in faceted glass bottles and hold 12ml of perfume. The Eau de Parfum smells pleasantly musky and has a wood base with floral notes. Again, this is a product which feels like it has come directly from an earlier time, due to the very sweet musk fragrance that could rival other popular musky scents. The Fragrant Essence is similar to the Eau de Parfum but stronger.
I quite like the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty range and feel that the products are high in quality and differ in style to many beauty products currently on the market. Although the products look luxuriously vintage, their formulations are reassuringly current. Joan Collins Timeless Beauty is available to buy from QVC. / WWW.JOANCOLLINSBEAUTY.COM
Tune into The Insider this evening to catch Joan's interview, which she recorded recently featuring Mark Zunino.. Check local listings for timings in your area.
Joan will light up the Las Vegas Strip this coming Thanksgiving Weekend, with her worldwide smash hit show ' A Night With Joan Collins'.. For three exclusive performances in the Showroom at The South Point Hotel & Casino
Joan will make an appearance at the next Hollywood Show at The Westin Los Angeles Airport this coming January 23rd to 25th 2015. Joan appears courtesy of Karen Cadle International.. Times to be confirmed... Book your tickets here.... http://www.hollywoodshow.com/main.php
Joan has a fabulous two nights in Las Vegas at The South Point Hotel, with one more sensational night to come.. Here are some pics from the first two nights.. Among those attending have been Legendary comic Jerry Lewis.. Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous's Robin Leach.. Superstar sister Jackie Collins and Joan's closest friend the wonderful Judy Bryer...
.jpg)
