LAS VEGAS — Mr. Las Vegas presents classic Vegas in his shows at the Flamingo.

“We have had a lot more younger people, and especially a lot more younger guys, come to the show lately,” Wayne Newton once said during a chat in his green room. “They want to experience what Las Vegas used to be like.”

Referring to his shows as a “bucket list” event, Newton has met demand with a full 2025 schedule at Wayne Newton Theater inside Bugsy’s Cabaret. Newton is performing what is close to an old-school Strip residency, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through December 2025.

By the end of the run, Newton will have performed in Las Vegas for 68 years.

In his Flamingo presentation, the 82-year-old showman unspools stories of his fascinating career. The tales range from his break on Jackie Gleason’s variety show, his time with Elvis and members of the Rat Pack, his career-changing friendship with Jack Benny, experience on the top TV shows of the day, and the comedy classic “Vegas Vacation.”

Backed by his three-piece band, Newton performs such familiar tunes as “Danke Schoen,” “Red Roses For a Blue Lady,” and “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast,” and breaks out the six-string guitar, fiddle and steel guitar, among the 13 instruments he’s taught himself to play.

Newton last weekend performed his Christmas show at Edge Pavilion at Edgewater Resort in Laughlin. It was a rare big-band show for Newton, a contrast to his more intimate “Up Close and Personal” format at the Flamingo. Newton wants to return to the Edgewater in ’25.

Newton still visits other headliners, when his schedule allows. He raved about Garth Brooks’ show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which he attended on Dec. 6. “From Garth, to the lighting, to the sound, to the band and whole presentation, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen.”

And Newton forever takes the term “residency” seriously, as a Las Vegan since 1959. Starting at age 15 with his brother, Jerry, Newton was an original “locals” act, playing six shows a night/six nights a week at Fremont Hotel’s Carnival Room. He’s lived in Las Vegas since and, aside from appearances at Las Vegas Hilton, has been a mainstay on the Strip since opening at the Flamingo in 1963.

“One of the important things to me is that I live in Las Vegas. If I’m leaving Vegas, it’s to do a date somewhere and come back home,” Newton said last year. “I am a resident, and I have a residency.”

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