January 1, 1972: "It's One Of Those Nights" was released by The Partridge Family. It rose to number 20 on the Billboard chart, where it remained for six weeks.

January 4, 1962: David's brother Patrick William Cassidy was born.

January 10, 1994: MTV ran every episode of The Partridge Family in a marathon called "MTV Pile of Partridge." 

January 27, 1973: The Partridge Family single "Looking Through the Eyes of Love" was released in the US. It rose to number 39 on the Billboard chart, where it remained for two weeks.
 
 

Have you planned your vacation for 2001?

Sail with me, Shirley Jones, my 1st International Fan Club Cruise.

Sail on Holland America's Maasdam sailing on Sunday Dec. 2 to Dec. 9, 2001. 
Purchase your holiday gifts duty free in the Islands.

Where can you go for a week including: your ACCOMMODATIONS, all of your MEALS, all of your ENTERTAINMENT, 
SEMINARS with SHIRLEY,
PRIVATE COCKTAIL PARTY with Shirley, lots of beautiful Caribbean Islands for only $799.00???

That is less than $100.00 a day.  Just a hotel without meals, or entertainment costs more than that.

The Maasdam sails from Ft. Lauderdale roundtrip:
Sun. -  Ft. Lauderdale
Mon. - At Sea -  seminar with Shirley
Tue. -  Playa del Carmen/Cozumel, 2nd seminar in the afternoon with Shirley
Wed - Grand Cayman
Thu. - Ocho Rios
Fri. -  At sea - third seminar with Shirley, Private Evening Cocktail party with Shirley
Sat. -  Half Moon Cay (private island owned by the cruise line)
Sun. - Ft. Lauderdale

Inside cabin rates $799.00 per guest.
Oceanview cabin rates 949.00 per guest.

Airfare and port tax are additional.

For questions or further information on airfare and other cabins on the ship 
please call our cruise specialist Susan Helfrich at Swain Cruises 800 607 
9246 or e-mail, Susan@Swaintours.com. 

Seminars are only available with purchase of the cruise through Swain Cruises.  Seminar registration will not be sold separately.

Looking forward to sailing with YOU!

(Thanks to Valinda from the Shaun Cassidy chat list for forwarding this info.)
 
 

In David Cassidy at the Copa Beaumont tells a joke about the two potatoes. Which one is the hooker? The one with the sticker that says Idaho. I'm pretty sure that most people who are not from America didn't get the point of this one. "Ho" is American slang for "whore." So the sentence will then be "I, the ho."  Thanks to people on the David Cassidy Chat List for clearing this up.

DAVID CASSIDY 2001 TOUR

Though David did not want the schedule to be released yet, unfortunately Pollstar has put the schedule on their website and fans have been picking it up and spreading.  So there is nothing he can do but release the schedule now.   HOWEVER, I was asked to pass this message on to fans and ask that you comply, please with his wishes. 

David has requested fans not to bombard the venues, especially Foxwoods with phone calls! 
Jan. 25 the tickets go on sale for Foxwoods and fans can start calling them then.  David just doesn't want the venues to be paying for 1- 800 calls just to give out info to fans. That costs them money and it pisses them off!  This is what David is afraid of! If you want David to come back, please do not call. 

Sue Cassidy has just informed us that some of the dates on the schedule are subject to changing, so fans are to be aware of this when they call to order tickets. 

Tickets are not available until one month prior to each show and that, in order to insure they don't waste time or money, fans should not make arrangements before they actually know the show is taking place on that date, is open to the public, and that they can get tickets. That way no one can get hurt." (Thanks to Barbara of the Just David Fan Club for the information forwarded by David's publicist and Sue Cassidy).

Tickets can also be purchased through www.ticketmaster.com

The following dates have been confirmed (as of Jan. 24, 2001). More will be posted soon:
 

Date	City	Venue
Wed 02/14/01	Robinsonville, MS	Harrah's Mardi Gras Casino
Sun 03/04/01	Shreveport, LA	Harrah's Casino
Mon 03/05/01	Shreveport, LA	Harrah's Casino
Thu 03/08/01	Cherokee, NC	Harrah's
Fri 03/09/01	Cherokee, NC	Harrah's
Sat 03/10/01	Mashantucket, CT	Foxwoods Casino
Fri 03/30/01	Stateline, NV	Harrah's Tahoe
Sat 03/31/01	Stateline, NV	Harrah's Tahoe
Fri 04/27/01	Atlantic City, NJ	Showboat
Sat 04/28/01	Atlantic City, NJ	Showboat
Wed 05/23/01	Laughlin, NV	Harrah's Laughlin
Thu 05/24/01	Laughlin, NV	Harrah's Laughlin
Sat 07/21/01	Los Angeles, CA	Greek Theatre
Fri 08/03/01	East Chicago, IL	Harrah's
Sat 08/04/01	Joliet, IL	Harrah's
Sat 09/15/01	Reno, NV	Harrah's Reno
Fri 09/21/01	New Orleans, LA	Harrah's
Sat 09/22/01	New Orleans, LA	Harrah's
Wed 10/17/01	Kansas City, MO	Harrah's Casino
Thu 10/18/01	Kansas City, MO	Harrah's Casino
Thu 11/01/01	Atlantic City, NJ	Harrah's Casino Hotel
Fri 11/02/01	Atlantic City, NJ	Harrah's Casino Hotel
Fri 11/23/01	Las Vegas, NV	Rio Hotel / Casino
Sat 11/24/01	Las Vegas, NV	Rio Hotel / Casino
Sat 12/01/01	Stateline, NV	Harrah's Tahoe
Sun 12/02/01	Stateline, NV	Harrah's Tahoe

Source: http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?By=Artist&Content=DAVCAS&AN=Y

DavidCassidy.com has published a slightly different list. As of January 29 only the Foxwoods Casino venue on March 10 has been confirmed, so be aware that dates are subject to change:
February 14 Harrah’s Tunica
February 17 David and Sue honored for Special Olympics
March 3-4 Harrah’s Shreveport,LA
March 8-9 Harrah’s Cherokee, NC
March 10 Foxwoods Casino, CT
March 30-31 Harrah’s Tahoe
April 27-28 Showboat Atlantic City, NJ
May 23-24 Harrah’s Laughlin
May 26 Harrah’s Reno, NV
July 21 Greek Theatre, Los Angeles
August 10-11 or August 17-18 Harrah’s E. Chicago and Juliet (dates TBD)
September 7-8 Harrah’s Shreveport, LA
September 15 Harrah’s Reno,NV
September 21-22 Harrah’s New Orleans,LA
October 17-18 Harrah’s Kansas City
November 1-2 Harrah’s Atlantic City
November 23-24 Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
December 1-2 Harrah’s Lake Tahoe

You can now go to www.davidcassidy.com and vote for the songs you would like David to sing when he starts touring. If you'd like him to sing your favorite songs, whether it is Cherish, Rock Me Baby, or newer songs like "River in Time" from EFX, here's your chance. Don't blame me for not telling you.

If you have purchased tickets to Foxwoods Casino in March,  please forward your reservation # to foxwoods@davidcassidy.com. There will be a drawing for a special prize... don't ask... we can't tell you!

Cheers,
DavidCassidy.com

A lot of fans showed up on David's last show at the Copa, and Amy Shatzen has this following report:

The show was great! (as usual) I'd just like to share some odds and ends that were different this past weekend, since the show was about to close. Similar to EFX, the cast began to play fast and loose with the script as they took a what-have-we-got-to-lose attitude.

On Thursday night, just before David began "I Think I Love You," he mumbled into the microphone "Only three more nights of this" and laughed. Friday night, when Johnny is talking to Beaumont who suggests he take on a partner, Johnny asked, "Ever thought of working in a tu-tu?" instead of a dress. Just before Johnny's scene with Cookie he could clearly be heard backstage saying "I need more voice and reverb." I'm not sure if he realized his mic was turned on or not. Saturday night, at the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" Ruby not only grabbed Johnny's butt, but rubbed continuously in large circles, then let go and slapped and grabbed again. David just about lost it from laughing!

Sunday, closing night, the audience was wild! Lots of both DC and Sheena fans were up front. David's family: Sue, Beau, cousin Al, Evelyn, Katie and Katie's mother were all seated in the second row. Normally when David is about to begin Mack-the-Knife he's trying to wake the audience up and asks for more applause, but this time the fans were clapping and screaming so loud he yelled, "Well, it's about time!" It was pretty obvious that the cast had carte blanche on improvising here and there. Even the dancers got pretty silly. During the scene when Lefty tells Ruby there's some people he'd like to show her off to and she normally looks him up and down, she stared at his crotch for at least good thirty seconds. The audience was laughing hysterically! Lefty was at a loss. He finally started to thrust his crotch forward, like "get on with it already!" The first time the sword swallower came out, the assistant surprisingly handed him a gun instead of the small knife. Then, when he injures himself with the large knife, instead of stepping in front of him and escorting him off the stage, she grabbed the hole of his vest sleeve and just dragged him off. David cracked up! And, again, lots of laughter from the audience. We knew the show so well that any small change sent us into fits. During the part of Ruby's song "Strut" where the dancers are on the floor at her feet, they started rubbing her legs up and down. She started to laugh and tried to keep singing, but finally cracked up and missed a few words; then she finished the song and yelled "My girls!" Later, when Johnny asked Ruby "How about that number we've been working on?", Ruby said, "What about my dead mother?" David lost it! He was about to crack up so hard he just ran off the stage. Then, Beaumont cracked up and ran off. Ruby was about to leave too and Lefty said, "Oh no, you're not leaving me here all by myself with this." (Or something like that.) Then, when Lefty took off his shirt and tie while talking to Ruby, he did it very strip tease style and kept thrusting his crotch at her and massaging his groin...very funny! At the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" not only did Ruby grab Johnny's butt, Johnny finally grabbed back! He gave her a really good squeeze too. During the pause after David starts "I Think I Love You," the fans were screaming and he looked down and said, "Thanks for the guitar lessons, Mom." Evelyn laughed. During the pause in "Cherish" when Ruby says to Beaumont, "I just wish I could find him" she also added the line, "Because little Johnny needs his daddy." Again the fans went into hysterics!

David's closing speech was very touching. He thanked the president of the Rio, the head of marketing, and the Copa associate producer, Doug Voet. He brought Doug up on the stage and explained that they had worked together on Broadway in "Joseph" in 1983. He thanked the Rio for giving him the opportunity to go out on the road and tour again throughout the U.S. and possibly England and Australia (lots of screams from the British fans). He brought out Robyn, a few others, and thanked the entire cast. He picked up someone's mostly empty glass of tequila from the front row to make a toast, and sang a verse of Sinatra's "Angel Eyes" a capella-style. Very beautiful! Then they all sang "My Kind of Town" and he hugged everyone, including Sheena, just as the curtain was coming down. Very much a weekend to remember.

Valentine's Day Yahoo! Auction

Hello everyone!!! 

Our Valentine's Day Yahoo! Auction is beginning January 24 and running until Feb. 3rd. Ethel M Chocolates donated 50 heart-shaped boxes of chocolates that have been autographed by major celebrities including : Jack Nicholson, Joe Torre, Geena Davis, Stan "The Man" Musial, Martin Sheen, Courtney Cox, Bruce Hornsby, Mimi Rogers and many more we are waiting for delivery from including Dyan Cannon, Paul Newman, and Pavarotti!! 

Please support us by visiting the website at www.kidscharities.org to see the scope of this auction and how much we have built this fundraising arm to benefit our charities. 

To all of you who donated hotel rooms, airline tickets, and items for this auction, thank you. We can't do this without your help! 

For your information, since our first fundraiser, as of this date, we have distributed over 
$140,000 to the charities we support. 

Thank you ! 
Sue Cassidy

Among the items auctioned:
David Cassidy Autographed color Photo
VALUE: Priceless
OPENING BID: $20
Photo will be onsite at auction

David Cassidy Autographed Valentine Chocolates
VALUE: Priceless
OPENING BID $75.00
Photo will be onsite at auction

 David Casidy (Autographed) 45 Record
    VALUE:  Priceless
    OPENING BID:  $50.00
    DESCRIPTION:  Autographed by David Cassidy.  Side 1 - Daydreamer, Side 2  The Puppy Song.  Very good condition. Certificate of Authenticity.

    TITLE:  David Cassidy (Autographed) 45 Record
    VALUE:  Priceless
    OPENING BID:  $50.00
    DESCRIPTION:  Autographed by David Cassidy.  Side 1 - Please Please Me, Side 2 - C.C.Rider Blues/Jenny Jenny.  Very good condition. Certificate of Authenticity.

    TITLE:  David Cassidy's Onstage (Harrah's-Atlantic City) Towel
    VALUE:  Priceless
    OPENING BID:  $100.00
    DESCRIPTION:  David's towel from his Harrah's Atlantic City first show.  Used onstage, by him, throughout the show.  Autographed and covered with his makeup and sweat!  Certificate of Authenticity.

On January 31, 2001 there was an online chat with David's wife Sue, the founder of Kidscharities.org. Sue could actually divulge that she never knew what the Partridge Family was back in the 70's. She is planning on having several auctions this year with various themes, like Mother's Day and Father's Day. She might even dig into David's closet, and see if she can find some of David's personal belongings to put up for the auction. (Doesn't that sound like one of the Partridge Family episodes where Danny was digging through Keith's stuff selling it?) If you'd like to read the whole transcript, you can go to www.lasvegas.com/events/chat/013101sscassidy.html

January 3, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal writes: Veteran entertainers Debbie Reynolds and David Cassidy were weekend poster children for the old show biz creed: "The show must go on."
     Reynolds, living up to her long ago lead role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," fell off the stage at The Orleans' grand ballroom on New Year's Eve, severely injuring her foot. But she climbed back on stage, finished her show and even returned for the midnight toast.
     "She is truly a trooper," said Candy Cazau, publicist for The Orleans. Reynolds has a Jan. 18 return engagement and, said Cazau, "Knowing Debbie, if she has to do the show in a wheelchair, she'll do it."
     Cassidy showed his mettle as well, gamely performing his "At the Copa" show at The Rio with an injured leg. Visibly in pain, he limped throughout the show, at times hopping, dragging his foot and rolling on his back to get on and off the stage after going into the audience.
     Cassidy told the audience before the show began that he "would not be dancing like Fred Astaire" because he had cut his foot during an accident at home.
     Reynolds, who turns 69 in April, spent two hours in an emergency room being treated for a badly bruised heel. She was flown back to Los Angeles, her home, Tuesday on the private jet of Coast Resorts honcho Michael Gaughan.
     "She's thankful she didn't break a hip," said Cazau. "When we told her to break a leg, we didn't mean it seriously." (Norm Clarke's column) 

January 4, 2001: From the Times (UK): After a decade of trying to appear respectable, Las Vegas is returning to its old image as Sin City, a study having shown that visitors yearned for the tawdry Vegas of the 1970s.
     The latest $18.5 million (£12.4 million) television commercials show the animated silhouettes of two busty women cavorting at a desert stop, then hitching a ride on a four-wheel drive. The slogan is: Las Vegas: What you want. When you want. Another advert shows a young woman in skimpy top and see-through skirt finding a briefcase and mobile phone abandoned in the desert. A tie hangs from a sign saying: Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.
     Two years ago, a campaign featured the celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and David Cassidy, the former Partridge Family star who has a show in the city. Golf courses, swimming pools and theme hotels were also on display.
     An 18-month study for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Assembly discovered,  however, that most people go to Vegas because it is a city without rules where  you can eat breakfast in the afternoon. The new campaign aims to reach 95 per cent of the US population. Casino owners are keen to find a unique identity for the city, as Indian-run casinos in California expand.
     There is caution, however, about promoting anything too risqué; efforts during the 1990s to present a less salacious image brought a convention trade boom and in the busiest weeks 200,000 business people can descend. Apparently funeral directors and rodeo cowboys party hardest.

January 5, 2001: From the Las Vegas Sun: Welcome to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Vegas Version! In this edition of the wildly popular trivia game -- you know, where you link virtually every movie actor in the universe to Kevin Bacon through six steps or less -- we hook
up a veritable Who's Who of Vegas (living and dead) to The Baconized One. It's easy -- we'll demonstrate:
     Wayne Newton was in "Vegas Vacation" with Juliette Brewer, who was in "Balto" with Kevin Bacon. Danny Gans was in "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner, who was in "JFK" with Kevin Bacon. Liberace was in "The Loved One" with Roddy McDowall, who was in "The Big Picture" with Kevin Bacon. Elvis Presley was in "Speedway" with Courtney Brown, who was in "My Dog Skip," with Kevin Bacon. Can you file the Bacon Brothers in that Movie Stars Slumming As Rock Stars To Feed Their Ever-Undernourished Egos department? That club that includes Russell Crowe and 30-Odd Foot of Grunts (no kidding), Keanu Reeves and Dogstar, David Hasselhoff and Bruce Willis (under the nom de plume of "Bruno," no less)? Not quite.
     Tommy Tune (most recently of "EFX") was in "Hello Dolly!" with Walter Matthau, who was in "JFK" with Kevin Bacon. ("EFX" star-to-be) Rick Springfield was in "Hard to Hold" with Tracy Brooks Swope, who was in "The Big Picture" with Kevin Bacon. "At The Copa" star David Cassidy was in "The Spirit of '76" with Michael McShane, who was in "Balto" with Kevin Bacon. "At The Copa" co-star Sheena Easton was in "All Dogs Go To Heaven" with Jim Cummings, who was in "Balto" with Kevin Bacon. (By Steve Bornfeld)

January 5, 2001: From the Las Vegas Sun: CATCH DAVID CASSIDY and Sheena Easton in "At the Copa," performed nightly at the Rio (except Mondays), before it closes later this month. In the show, one-time teen idol Cassidy and Easton, who had several pop hits in the '80s, including "Morning Train" and "For Your Eyes Only," play a pair of nightclub singers who fall in love. (by Ethan Miller)

January 7, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal can inform us that "the Harrah's headliner, Clint Holmes, is the sole survivor from a flurry of early 2000 openings, which included the departed "Notre Dame de Paris" and David Cassidy's "At the Copa," which completes its run at the Rio Jan. 21." (Mike Weatherford's entertainment column) 

January 9, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote that "disastrous dress rehearsals of David Cassidy's "At the Copa" last year were meant to allow Rio employees to spread the good word, but instead nearly poisoned the show." (Mike Weatherford's entertainment column) 

January 12, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: 

The Sahara hasn't made it official yet, but you can take it to the bank: "The Rat Pack is Back!" has been extended until April 1. The six-week extension comes with whispers that the show's operators, David Cassidy and Don Reo, are looking at another location. 
     Another hot bit of news has Steve Wynn is reportedly settling with Frank Sinatra's family over a trademark infringement suit filed against the Desert Inn before Wynn purchased the Strip property in May. 
     Sheffield Enterprises, a licensing company owned by Sinatra's children, Tina, Nancy and Frank Jr., filed the suit in September 1999 in federal court. The complaint claimed the resort wrongfully used Sinatra's name, identity and persona in its advertising and marketing material. Compensation was sought from the Desert Inn for profits gained as a result of the advertising campaign. 
     Co-produced by entertainer Cassidy and TV writer Reo, the show opened in July 1999 in the 300-seat Starlight Lounge. The show, which moved to the Sahara early last year, features performers who impersonate Rat Pack members Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Sinatra. (Norm Clarke's column)

January 16, 2001:  The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: The apparent collapse of the Las Vegas Hilton's sale sparks a musical chairs game in Las Vegas showrooms. A number of "who goes where" questions may start to  fall into place as soon as Wednesday.
     The deadline for prospective buyer Ed Roski to come up with a payment to Park Place Entertainment is 5 p.m. today, a deadline nobody at Park Place believes the Silverton owner will make.
     That creates a bit of corporate surrealism at the Hilton, where a parent company  that's been trying to pull away and nudge people over to its Bally's, Paris, Flamingo and Caesars Palace properties now may be trying to nudge them back.
     Richard Langlois, the hotel's head of marketing and entertainment, has spent six months with his hands tied in booking the 1,600-seat Las Vegas Hilton Theater and the smaller NightClub, headlined by lounge impressionists the Scintas.
     With the Hilton out of the picture, Park Place's bigger plan was starting to become apparent: Move headliners from both the Hilton and the demolished Caesars' Circus Maximus to the theater at Paris, while a new showroom -- with Celine Dion as the prospective anchor tenant -- goes up at Caesars on the site of the old Omnimax movie theater.
     If the Hilton comes back into the formula, Langlois says he has "new ideas about expanding the entertainment programs here. ... If we hadn't been in transition, of course we'd have been more aggressive."
     And the Scintas may still be in consideration for one or both venues.
     This is a plot twist, since their name keeps coming up to replace David Cassidy's "At the Copa" in the Rio's Copacabana room after the final show Sunday.
     But the Hilton may not let them go without a fight -- or at least a counteroffer.
     "Our position is that we have them under contract until the beginning of April,"  says Langlois, who doesn't sound at all broken up if that timing "may not be good for the Rio."
     The Scintas were never able to meet with Roski, and Langlois was unable to talk to them about a contract extension "until we know who owns the hotel."
     The group's agent, John Milkie, will only volunteer that "things are brewing," and that a decision may come in the next two weeks.
     The Scintas going to the 720-seat Copacabana isn't a huge stretch; they worked large supper clubs in Detroit and Akron, Ohio.
     The Hilton's big theater would be another story -- after all, there's more competition on the Strip than in Akron.
     But thanks to group sales and good word-of-mouth, the Scintas sold enough tickets to move from the NightClub to the big room a few times during the summer. The hotel may be thinking of putting them in the theater on weeknights and closing the balcony; concerts are usually booked only on weekends anyway.
     Langlois calls the multitalented siblings "one of the most successful first-year  acts ever to hit Las Vegas." It sounds like the Scintas have a fan in the right place. ...
     If the Scintas stay put, the Rio can always talk to Cassidy about his other show, "The Rat Pack Is Back." The Sahara recently extended the show again, but only until April 1. The extension also involves a 6:30 p.m. start -- happy hour?  -- for the first show on Monday and Wednesday. ... (Mike Weatherford's entertainment column)

January 16, 2001: Found in the USA Today: 

Wall-to-wall boys: Lindsay Mattone's room at her Westbury, N.Y. home is plastered with pinups from teen magazines.
     Every square inch of 14-year-old Lindsay Mattone's bedroom walls in Westbury, N.Y., is covered with Backstreet Boys pinups. More than 170 at last count, meticulously clipped from the pages of teen fanzines such as Teen Beat and Tiger  Beat, which she purchased with hard-earned babysitting money. Her younger sister, Stevie Goodman, 12, prefers the 'NSYNC pinups left over from Lindsay's scraps. The interviews and photos retired from the walls go into the girls' scrapbooks.
     "I like Teen Beat better because the pictures look more realistic. In Tiger Beat, the pictures are, like, blurry," Lindsay says.
     Only a teen could differentiate between the dozens of look-alike fanzines on the  newsstands. But whichever magazine she buys, chances are her money will end up in the same place ? Primedia.
     Primedia, best known for its flagship magazine Seventeen, owns nearly a dozen teen titles, including BB, SuperTeen, Superstars, Teen Machine and entertainmenteen.
     But beginning with the February issues (on newsstands Jan. 23), only the company's grandmother 'zines will be published: Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, 16 and BOP.
     With screaming headlines, fluorescent colors and glossy pullout posters, these teen fanzines have been a rite of passage for girls for decades. From John Travolta to Aaron Carter, they remain focused on the hot act of the day. The past two years have been a bonanza for Primedia  thanks to the boy-band phenomenon led by the Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC, and their legion of female fans -- and now the company is focusing on its best-known names. (It's cheaper to print four big fanzines than 12 smaller titles.)
     The oldest of the fab four, 16, hit the stands in 1957. Tiger Beat was launched in 1965, with "Tiger" referring to an old slang term for cute boys. The Gen X-era titles, Teen Beat and BOP, hit newsstands in 1974 and 1983, respectively.
     Teen Beat's January cover headline reads "Hotties on the Holidays." BB's cover asks "Justin & Britney: Fairy-tale romance?" For the uninitiated in teen pop culture, that reference is to singers Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, who are dating. Duh! The articles rarely give last names.
     The magazines feature a cleaner, neater redesign, the first in their history. The newspaper-quality paper stock is gone, replaced by slick color spreads. Primedia's goal: to protect its "tween" magazine market from emerging competitors such as J-14 and Twist.
     "These magazines have been driven by the rise and fall of boy bands," says Roberta Caploe, president of Primedia's youth entertainment division. "Listen, that's important, but there are other things going on with girls."
     Tiger Beat will become a general entertainment magazine covering music, movies, TV and sports celebrities, a formula that made Teen People an overnight success when it launched in 1998. BOP will focus on music, covering edgier acts such as Eminem. Teen Beat becomes "a cool interactive magazine," with polls and quizzes,  "the kind of magazine you'd want when you're going to a sleepover," Caploe says. And 16 becomes a monthly "specials" issue focusing on a specific topic or act. The fab four also plan a major Internet presence.
     But make no mistake. These are still your mother's magazines. Through the decades, girls' teenzines remain focused on one topic: boys. Their target audience: girls ages 9 to 12.
     "Many of our readers are falling in love for the first time with a celebrity, mind you," says Tiger Beat editor Louise Barile. "Girls are at that stage when boys in their class are nasty and smelly and mean to them, so idolizing 'NSYNC's  Justin Timberlake is more appealing."
     Teenzines are "the only constant in the magazine business," says magazine analyst Samir Husni of the University of Mississippi. "You just sit in your office, wait five minutes to see who's the star today and publish your magazine tomorrow."
     Today, an editorial staff of 50 creates the teen fanzines. "They are all adults I hate to say that  more women than men. I think it's because women appreciate what it's like to have a fantasy about celebrities," says Caploe, 38,  who acknowledges having had "a heavy David Cassidy fixation" as a girl.
     "I read Tiger Beat as an 11-year-old. I was a big Shaun Cassidy fan," says Barile, 35, whose column in Tiger Beat is sparkled with teenspeak such as "yummy" and "soooooo cool" and closes with a doodled little heart and peace symbol.
     "We're not digging for dirt," says Barile, explaining the editorial content of Tiger Beat. "It's a slightly idealized version of who (celebrities) are. It's not a lie, but it's the positive parts of the person."
     Readers are the lifeblood of fanzines, and they're in constant need of a transfusion. As girls discover real boys, they abandon the fanzines for Seventeen or one of its competitors.
     The combined monthly circulation of the fab four is about 400,000, rising and falling like the waves of stardom. Surprisingly, not all of the readers are kids.
     "I pretty much avoided these magazines when I was younger because I never had any interest in '90s bands," says Katie Wooliscroft, 18, a college freshman from  Edinboro, Pa. But she collects vintage issues of Tiger Beat to satisfy her obsession with The Monkees, whose fanzine heyday ended when their TV show did, in 1968.
     Her source is someone like Chuck Rushin, a 30-year-old data processing company manager from Poplar Bluff, Mo. In the past year, Rushin has sold more than $3,000 worth of Teen Beat magazines on the Internet auction site eBay.
     "If I had a steady supply of these, I'd quit my regular job," says Rushin, who collected the magazines in the '80s. "I didn't think they had any value."
     Despite their sappy sweetness, teenzines are not without critics.
     For one thing, they're very white.
     Twelve-year-old Briauna Smoot of Baltimore subscribes to Teen Beat "for the interesting articles. I use the pictures in my locker and make collages." Briauna loves Sarah Michelle Gellar and Puff Daddy. But the African-American preteen says she is "sometimes disappointed" by the few faces of color.
     Of the 29 pinups in the February issue of Teen Beat, only two feature black celebrities.
     "We try to be balanced, but the fact is, the boy-band phenomenon happens to be very white," Caploe says. Things are improving. The R&B trio Destiny's Child appears on the February cover of 16.
     Some critics argue that teenzines aren't even magazines in the traditional sense.
     Tiger Beat and the rest "are the only magazines I can think of that are bound and meant to be disassembled as soon as you get them," says Susan Burton, teen magazine critic for Contentville.com. She characterizes them as nothing more than "advertising supplements," hawking boy-band merchandise such as T-shirts and key chains ($2.99-$15.99) and unauthorized 'NSYNC biographies published by  Primedia ? for $5. "If one thing has changed in 40 years, it's the awareness of teens as an economic presence."
     Teenzines cost $3.99 apiece. The average reader buys two copies a month. Sometimes, she'll buy four to get all the pieces of enclosed "super-sized puzzle posters." You do the math.
     Despite the changing prices, readership and boy bands, one thing is certain: Teen fanzines aren't going anywhere.
     "Teen girls have always been attracted to music and cute guys," says Carrie Yamato, editor of BOP. "As long as there is radio and TV, and as long as they keep putting those guys on the air, then there's an audience for us."

January 18, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: Harrah's announcement, of a "new chapter" in its relationship with David Cassidy once he closed in "At the Copa," with Sheena Easton, came nearly two months ago ... "At the Copa," is closing this weekend at the Rio (a Harrah's hotel) ... At the time we wrote this column, there was still no word as to what would follow the show in the Copacabana showroom ... That's strange. (Columnist Joe Delaney)

January 25, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: "EFX" (MGM Grand) opens next week as "EFX Alive" with Rick Springfield as its star.
     Anent "EFX," with its incredible special effects, there have been three distinctly different editions ... The first was a tour de force tailored for Michael Crawford; the second, a younger edition custom built for David Cassidy; and the most recent, a vehicle for Broadway's Tommy Tune where, when he wasn't dancing, he acted more like a show/tour guide.
     As anxious as I am to see if I can go the cashier's window Sunday, after the Super Bowl, this columnist is even more curious to see how "EFX Alive" fares with an even more contemporary, rock 'n' roll feel with Springfield ... We're rooting for Rick. (Joe Delaney's column)

January 25, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: 

Rocker and former soap opera star Rick Springfield is trying his luck in Las Vegas. He takes the stage Tuesday as the lead in the newly titled production show "EFX Alive" at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.
     But that doesn't mean Springfield is going to become a lounge lizard.
     "The weirdest thing for me was to do a show in Vegas," he told The Associated Press during rehearsal Thursday. "I always thought Vegas is where musicians come to die."
     Springfield even used a line in his movie "Hard to Hold" in which he tells the band "you guys keep playing like this and we'll be ready for Vegas in a year."
     That was then.
     "When I started playing here 2 1/2   years ago, I saw how the place had changed," Springfield said. "It's a totally different atmosphere. Everyone comes through this town.'
     The entertainer, whose best-known song is "Jessie's Girl" and who captivated soap-opera fans in the 1980s with his portrayal of Dr. Noah Drake on television's "General Hospital," says Las Vegas has evolved from a gambling town to an entertainment mecca.
     "It's like a younger, more party-oriented New York," he said. "I love it here."
     The 51-year-old, whose shaggy hair, earring, lean physique and black-leather Harley-Davidson jacket belie his age, considers "EFX Alive" as a stage project that allows him to mix his love of
theater and music.
     "I came here as an actor principally, and as a singer secondarily in the show," he said. "It's all performance."
     And Springfield wants to make it clear that he did not change his music to fit a "Vegas" show. He did, however, write two new songs for the show that will also include his hit, "Human Touch."
     Springfield replaces Broadway star Tommy Tune in the $75 million production, that previously featured David Cassidy and Michael Crawford. MGM Grand approached him about doing the show when Crawford was leaving and later when Cassidy was about to depart, but the timing wasn't right, Springfield said.
     The award-winning singer will make his "EFX" debut the same day his first live album, "Greatest Hits Alive," is set to be released by Universal. An "EFX" soundtrack album also is being
produced.
     In "EFX," the star leads the audience on a journey exploring the world's of the wizard Merlin, the showman P.T. Barnum, illusionist Harry Houdini and science-fiction author H.G. Wells.
     What changes can audiences expect to see in the revamped show?
     "We've tightened the show up a lot," Springfield said. "It's got a lot of new music, great choreography and a new story line. And there's stunts; I love stunts."
     Springfield said he signed a yearlong contract.
     MGM Grand officials are hoping the rocker will bring his fans along to help revitalize the production that first opened in March 1995.
     "The introduction of new headliners into "EFX" allows us the opportunity to see the show evolve with the personality of each performer," said Richard Sturm, president of MGM Mirage Entertainment and Sports. "We feel it's important to keep the show current, fresh and exciting."
     The show's name was changed to reflect the addition of Springfield, who sees this latest gig as a natural evolution of his 30-year career.
     "I always wanted a long career and that involves diversifying and staying passionate about everything you do," he said. "I'm excited about this."

January 26, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: 

What do Michael Crawford, David Cassidy and Tommy Tune have in common with Rick Springfield? 
     Besides the obvious, that is. All have been the star, at one time or another, since the 1995 opening of "EFX" at the MGM Grand, with Springfield's stint in the production show's spotlight scheduled to begin Tuesday. 
     But Springfield shares other career similarities with each of the men. Like Crawford and Tune, he's no stranger to the theater, having performed on Broadway in 1999 in the musical "Smokey Joe's Cafe." 
     But his career seems most aligned with that of Cassidy, the '70s TV star-turned-teen idol who, after his "EFX" turn from 1996-98, went on to star in the Rio's recently departed "At the Copa," as well as co-produce "The Rat Pack is Back" at the Sahara. 
     Springfield started out as a singer-songwriter, then became a teen idol and pop star with such '80s hits as "Jessie's Girl," "Don't Talk to Strangers" and "I've Done Everything for You." 
     He also tackled television (as Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera "General Hospital" as well as countless roles on other programs) and movies (including 1984's "Hard to Hold"). 
     But one thing the four performers have not shared is "EFX's" story. Each time a new lead has stepped in, the show's fantasy plot featuring dragons, wizards, magic and such has been tweaked to suit the star. 
     The 51-year-old Springfield, taking a break from rehearsals as the EFX Master recently in the EFX Theatre, explains that Tune's version (which opened in 1999 and closed in December) "was all about song and dance and (had a) Broadway kind of feel," while Cassidy's featured "the little punk"-type character being swept up into the storyline. 
     Crawford's version (which opened the show) "was the big extravaganza" coming off of his legendary role in "The Phantom of the Opera." 
     "So I think people are expecting shots of me with a guitar," Springfield says. "They're expecting something along those lines within the confines of the show, so it's not like, 'Well, that's not Michael Crawford's show.' And it will live and die on its merits, of whether we did the right thing and went in the right direction or not." 
     For its latest incarnation, "EFX" has become "EFX Alive," a nod to Australia-born Springfield's latest album, "The Greatest Hits ... Alive," which is being released Tuesday (the day the show opens). 
     He also penned a pair of songs for the show -- the opener, "Rhythm of the Beat," and "Forever" for the Harry and Bess Houdini segment, a holdover which deals more with the romance between the legendary magician and his wife than in previous "EFX" plots. 
     Springfield has also tossed one of his own hits, 1983's "Human Touch," into the musical mix. 
     "I wanted to do one song," he explains. "I didn't want to do 'Jessie's Girl' or 'Don't Talk to Strangers,' though we do nod to some of those because Jerry (Mitchell), the director, said people who know that stuff are going to feel a bit cheated if you don't at least acknowledge it, and I totally agree with that." 
     Springfield reminds, "You've got a lot of story to tell in a couple of minutes around all of the effects and everything, and we're trying to make it as connected to the Earth as possible." 

     One of the biggest production issues for him? "I wanted the character that I play to thread through the show ... rather than in some of the other (versions), the character would go on and off (the stage) at times and became almost an emcee. So I've tried to shoehorn myself into as many things as I can." 
     When he's previously seen the show performed, Springfield says, "I've walked out going, 'God, great effects. Huh? What's it about?' And I think that was everybody. Everyone wanted to change it, to have it be simpler, to make more sense and I think we've had a real good shot at that." 
     "We're putting a new energy into the show," says director Mitchell, who choreographed "The Full Monty" and, most recently, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on Broadway. He was hand-picked by Richard Sturm, president and COO of MGM MIRAGE Entertainment and Sports, to oversee "EFX Alive." 
     The show, Mitchell says, is "a lot more youthful, a lot more exciting, a lot more hip, to say the least." 
     One of the things he likes about it, he says, "is every time a new star steps into it, you can take the star's talents and qualities and guide them into the show. 
     "Rick's a great musician and he's a great singer and a songwriter, and so we wanted to create a new opening that speaks a little bit more about the show, but also about him and the way he sees the show." 
     The changes to the show have been a long time coming. Springfield, who signed a yearlong contract to star in "EFX Alive," says he was approached to take over the lead just prior to Crawford's departure. 
     At the time Springfield was starring in the syndicated action series "High Tide" (1994-97), playing a beach-based private detective. The show lasted three years. 
     "And then they asked me again, and I'd just released 'Karma,' my last studio album, and I was getting ready to tour," he says. "And when they came back again the third time, I'd been on the road (touring) for 2 1/2 years and I was ready to take a break." 
     The show, he figured, would provide him one. "Honestly," he says, "ever since I first saw this show I've been real interested in doing it because it offers a lot for somebody like me, because it's acting, it's singing ... It's performing onstage, which I love. There's stunts, which I love to do and have certainly done enough of them in movies and TV." 
     His stint on Broadway clinched it, though. 
     "The fact that it was Broadway was very intimidating and so that was very nerve-wracking for me the first night," he recalls. "But after the first show, it was, 'How can I do this better. This is great.' 
     "And I love that whole backstage community of theater, which is the same here. Everybody's an actor, everybody's a dancer, everybody's a technician, and it's the same kind of people that are on Broadway, so it's a very similar vibe backstage and I love that." 
     Meanwhile Springfield is warming up to the idea of being a Las Vegas headliner. 
     "There's a slightly weird thing to it," he says. "There's a line in a movie I did, called 'Hard To Hold,' where I say to the band derogatorily, 'You guys keep playing like this and we'll be ready for Vegas in a year.' So there's that little issue. 
     "I'm a very dedicated musician, but I'm also an actor and there's a lot I want to do. And I'm sure there will be people who think it's great (that he's in the show) and other people will be disappointed and say, 'What are you doing a Vegas show for?' 
     "But for me, I'm always hungry for new things, and I can do this, I'm capable of this," he says. "And because I've written (music) for the show, it's not like I'm stepping in and doing something that I feel is a sell out. I'm committed to all of the parts. I wouldn't do anything I wasn't committed to, because then it would come off as seeming cheesy and lame." 

     And as much as he is "committed" to "EFX Alive," Springfield contends his family -- including his two teenage sons -- will always come first in his life. 
     He will commute from Las Vegas to the family's home in Los Angeles, as well as play select concert dates, during breaks from the show. 
      "I went home for breakfast the other day. It was cool," he says. 
     Springfield is also quick to set straight the story of a highly publicized domestic dispute last year between he and his wife, Barbara, which he says was spawned when "a third party" attempted to "break up an argument" between the couple. 
     Springfield was arrested and later released on bail. No charges were filed. 
     "My wife and I are both very volatile people, and we've always had a very emotional relationship and it's always involved pretty intense arguments," he says. "Anybody who's been in a relationship longer than six months knows that arguments are part of a relationship. 
     "There was no physical abuse, but once the police are called, they have to go through that (procedure)." 
     He blames the media for blowing the incident out of proportion, explaining that news vans and helicopters swarmed his house. "Mainly I was upset that it was so painful for my kids ... They lived through it and we've talked about it and they know what our family relationship is. After 21 years (in a relationship) I don't think you suddenly turn into a wife beater." 
     In regard to charges not being filed, a statement on Springfield's official website, rickspringfield.com, said the couple was "happy with the news and are excited to move forward from here." 
     The incident occurred after Springfield's life and career was profiled on an installment of VH1's "Behind the Music" series. He's also taped a biography special for the A&E cable network, set to air in about a month, he says. 
     Given his recent run-in with the media, it's surprising that Springfield doesn't have a problem participating in such probing programs. 
     "Entertainers are always talking about themselves," he says. "And to be honest, I like to talk about profound events that changed me." 
     Such as starring in "EFX Alive." 
     "There's a little apprehension about it," Springfield says. "There's always a fear that what you do will not be accepted as highly as you anticipated it being accepted, and that's just the way of everything every time you put something out there." 

January 26, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: 

     Rick Springfield has been a rock star and a TV doctor. Now, he's trying his luck in Las Vegas. 
     Springfield takes the stage Tuesday as the lead in the newly titled show "EFX Alive" at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. 
     "The weirdest thing for me was to do a show in Vegas," he told The Associated Press during rehearsal Thursday. "I always thought Vegas is where musicians come to die." 
     He replaces Broadway star Tommy Tune in the $75 million production, which previously featured David Cassidy and Michael Crawford and was simply called "EFX." 
     The 51-year-old performer makes his "EFX Alive" debut the same day his first live album, "Greatest Hits Alive," is set to be released by Universal. An "EFX" soundtrack album also is being produced. 
     A heartthrob in the 1980s, Springfield is best known for hits including "Jessie's Girl" and for his portrayal of Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera "General Hospital." (Associated Press)

January 27, 2001: The Las Vegas Sun wrote: Look for the ugly back-and-forth between David Cassidy and Tony Tillman to heat up again. A source inside "The Rat Pack is Back" cast says Tillman is on the outs with producer Cassidy, and this time he's ready to pack it in for good. The two have had a tempestuous relationship since December, when Cassidy heckled Tillman during a performance. Tillman stars as Sammy Davis Jr. in the "Rat Pack" tribute show at the Sahara. 
     The insider has been telling a select group of friends that Tillman "will definitely be replaced before April 1," and that "there's a guy already working on the role to takeover." 
      After turning down the Sahara's offer to renew the show for a full year, effective Feb. 18, Cassidy reportedly signed for the shorter six-week extension so he could have more time to shop the "Rat Pack" to other properties. The Rio is one of the hotels rumored to be lobbying hard for the production. 
     Tillman couldn't be reached for comment, and Cassidy's L.A.-based publicist, Jo-Ann Geffen, said she "hadn't heard anything on that," but that she would "look into it."  (Kate Maddox's column)

January 28, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: Special Olympics Nevada will hold a gala titled "Experience the Glory -- Inspire Greatness" Feb. 17 in the conference center at the MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South. 
     The formal event will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m., with entertainment by Outasight. 
     Dinner will begin at 7 p.m., with a special guest appearance by University of Nevada, Las Vegas football coach John Robinson. 
     Tickets are $150 and can be obtained by calling 474-0690. 
     David Cassidy and his wife, Sue Shifrin-Cassidy, will be honored during the gala for their commitment to and support of Special Olympics. 
     The special event also will serve as a send-off for six Special Olympics Nevada athletes selected as delegates to Team USA for the Special Olympics Inc. World Winter Games in Anchorage, Alaska, in March.

January 28, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: "MGM Grand's "EFX" -- a star with marquee value anchoring an array of cinematic effects. But Rick Springfield, the upcoming "EFX" star, is well past his Top 40 currency -- as was past star David Cassidy." (Mike Weatherford's entertainment column) 

January 31, 2001: The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: Tony Tillman leaves "The Rat Pack is Back!" on Feb. 18, the end-result of the infamous "where's-the-melody" jab by co-producer David Cassidy in December. Tillman, who played Sammy Davis Jr., will be replaced by Doug Starks. Ex-New Yorker Henry Prego fills in for Steve Lippia as Frank Sinatra's character during  February. Lippia has some obligations.

Sue Shifrin-Cassidy, accomplished songwriter and the wife of entertainer David Cassidy, is heading up a charity auction for KidsCharities.org, an Internet-based organization that is an umbrella group for many children's charities. The auction features beautiful boxes of chocolate that have been contributed by Ethel M Chocolates, the tops of which are signed by various 
celebrities. The perfect gift for Valentine's Day! The auction takes place January 24 through Feb. 3. For more information, check out www.kidscharities.org. Sue will be talking about the auction and her other interests during an online chat on lasvegas.com at 7 p.m. PST Jan. 31. Just go to www.lasvegas.com and look for the link for chat guests on the home page. (This message was forwarded by Tina from the Just David fan club. Thanks, Tina.)

From Glitter to Gourmet, the cookbook David has taken part in, is up for orders from January 19 at Barnes & Noble.com for $24.95.  You can also order the book by sending $24.95 plus $4.50  shipping (USA) to JLLV, 461 South Decatur Blvd, Las Vagas, Navada 89107 and write "Cookbook" on the envelope. 

Patrick is leaving Annie Get Your Gun to star in AIDA.  Rehersals begin in a few weeks, and the show opens March 27th in Minneapolis, MN and is going to run 18 months.  So keep an eye open for the show coming to your area.   www.shirleyjones.com

Released on January 29, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS (Bob Merrill) with stars like Faith Prince, John Schneider, Patrick Cassidy, Hal Linden, Ron Raines, Carol Woods & a chorus of 18 and 26-piece orchestra (2CD) on the Original Cast Records. http://originalcastrecords.com

"Hearthrobs of the 70s" has now been rescheduled for Sky One (UK) sometime in March. We will let you know the exact date. Thanks to Alice UK for the info. In the meantime David will be featured in Channel 4's "Top 10 teen Idols" on Saturday Feb. 3rd at 9pm. It's about the top 10 idols then and how they are today.

We have also heard that the Australian release of the Partridge Family Definitive Collection has been postponed by a few weeks. We will let you know the release date as soon as we know. Thanks to Charlotte of the David Cassidy chat list for the info.

On Dec. 28 just before the "At the Copa" show started, David came out into the audience by the stairs on the right side and announced that a 40 pound radiator had dropped on his foot when he ran into it in the bathroom during the night because he didn't turn on the light!  He said there was a lot of blood.  His doctor said he wouldn't be performing that night, but David told him he would and he better give him pain killers for it!  He said he was feeling pretty good after taking those pain killers!  He certainly had a lot of energy hopping around on the stage all night!  There were some jokes made by the others in the cast about his limping and calling him pegleg. He didn't come through the audience during "I Think I Love You."  Instead he lied down on the stage, sung only to the girls in the middle of the front row, and took their hands in his! (Thanks to Joyce from the David Cassidy chat list who was there and could tell us all about it.)

January 14, 2001: Yahoo news wrote: NEW YORK (Variety) - When the 1960 box office hit ``Elmer Gantry'' first ran on network TV, the entire subplot featuring Shirley Jones in her Academy Award-winning performance as a prostitute was chopped out of the movie because it clashed so violently with her role as the wholesome mom on ``The Partridge Family.''
     That's one of the surprising, little-known facts unearthed by the staff of Turner Classic Movies for Rob Reiner to present as the host of a 26-week movie series called ``The Essentials,'' scheduled to run Sundays at 6 p.m., beginning April 1.

David Cassidy's little dachshund is licking my hand, but I am afraid to sneeze because, sitting on the sofa next to us, the dog's master is saying how terrified he is of catching a cold. 

"You can't get sick, and you can't sprain your ankle. I don't ride my horses or do any of that stuff. You have to build that into your life," Cassidy says. 

Don't worry, the former teen idol has not moved to Las Vegas to transform into Howard Hughes. But as the producer of "At the Copa," which has seven performances a week at the Rio, Cassidy knows full well that the public will not accept an understudy replacing the show's star, one David Cassidy. It makes for a busy life. 

"I am producing two shows and performing six nights a week. There's a lot of responsibility that goes with that. I'm on the phone, doing faxes, having marketing meetings, approving everything, rehearsing people and dealing with the problems that come up every single day with these projects. I don't have a day off anymore. Then at night, after I've done my job all day, I get to go do my job. It's really difficult." 

Cassidy conducts business from a building behind his Las Vegas home. At first glance it looks more like a ski lodge than an office. It is quiet and clean and decorated with furniture so comfortable that it envelops you. There are many pillows. On a desk in back, a woman works silently at a computer and then with a quick "good-bye," slides out into the late afternoon twilight. Cassidy, obviously tired, makes himself some tea. He seems used to being the last one in the office, and it's probably a good bet that he is first to arrive each morning, too. 

"I've been accused by my intimate family of being a workaholic," Cassidy admits. I tell him that even though I just met him, I agree with his family. Cassidy offers up a weary half-laugh and wan smile. 

He doesn't exactly pace himself, either. Just two hours after our conversation, Cassidy is onstage as Johnny Flamingo and holding nothing back. "If you're going to do it, you do it one hundred percent and you go out on the stage and give everything you got," he says. 

By the end of "At the Copa," Cassidy is covered in sweat--having spent the past 90 minutes singing, dancing, changing costumes, playing a couple of characters and even racing through the appreciative audience. "I want to have it all," Cassidy says. 

Though "At The Copa" opened only a year ago, it has been like this--more or less--for the past four years. That was when Cassidy arrived in Las Vegas to star in a troubled "EFX" at the MGM Grand. 

"That show took a long time to rework. We did the first big hunk of it in like three weeks, you know, 15 and 16 hour days. Then when we got it on its feet, we worked on it for a year and a half. 'At the Copa' has been the same kind of experience. We put it up on its feet and then started working on it--reworking it and changing it. Fortunately, audiences are loving it now." 

Between the two shows, Cassidy co-produced and wrote "The Rat Pack Is Back," which still runs on the Strip. He came to Las Vegas a star and, as improbable as it sounds, Cassidy has now also become an impresario. 

"I love my work. I love the job. I love being here. It's afforded me such a great opportunity to be in one place." 

Cassidy appreciates that because he has been on the move for as long as he's been famous, which, by the way, has been for so long that he probably doesn't even remember anything else. After all, even before he became the ubiquitous heartthrob of the early '70s as the son of actor Jack Cassidy, he was not exactly anonymous. 

So when Cassidy talks, he speaks with practiced care. Make a rude comment around him and he'll say, laughing, "You said it, not me." The tone may convey agreement, but the words are chosen to offer nothing of the sort. Cassidy is well experienced with the crafty ways of the media. Even exhausted, he remains alert to every word he says. 

"A friend called this weekend and said, 'The weirdest thing happened. I was watching cable and you weren't on. Aren't you on every night on three different channels?' I've had a lot of exposure in that respect." 

Cassidy was just out of his teens in 1970 when the television show he starred in, "The Partridge Family," made him a superstar. By the end of that year, the show produced the radio hit "I Think I Love You," with Cassidy singing, and it paved the road for him to become a bigger recording star than even Keith Partridge. It was as David Cassidy that he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. 

"When you learn you have a bigger fan club than the Beatles and Elvis, you know that you arrived. I don't say that egotistically. It's just that I wasn't dumb, so I knew that there were a large number of people out there and I was having a significant impact on their lives," he says. 

It was mostly an audience of young girls, for whom David Cassidy was the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync all rolled into one. It is an audience that still comes out to see him in "At the Copa," and he still manages to provoke a scream or two out of them. Of course, these days, thanks to syndication, Cassidy fans come from many generations. 

"It's interesting because it's gone on and on and on. The next thing you know it has another life. I learned this a long time ago about nostalgia, movies, art and television shows: if it was any good in the first place, if it was quality in the first place, it will always come back. Things go away and become passé, but then they have another life." 

Cassidy has had a few lives. After "The Partridge Family" left television, Cassidy had some lean years. "There were years when the phone didn't ring at all," he remembers. Cassidy, however, not only came back as an actor in films and television, he also established himself as a talent and draw in musical theater. Even his recording career has continued to have the occasional success. In 1985, he had a hit in England with "The Last Kiss," which featured backing vocals from George Michael. Five years later, the single "Lyin' to Myself," off an album on the punk label Enigma, put him back on the U.S. charts. Cassidy produced his most recent album, Old Trick New Dog, in May 1997, shortly after his arrival in Las Vegas. 

"I'm still writing and working on music. I would like to do another record and I have three movie scripts that I am considering right now. But I'm not cloned. I'll be honest with you. I just don't know if it's possible to do 'At the Copa' and do other things. I need time to recharge my creative batteries. Fortunately, I am about to go on my first vacation in many months." 

A few weeks after our meeting, Cassidy has decided to make some changes in his life. He holds a press conference at the Rio to announce that he is closing "At the Copa" and will instead be performing 30 or so concerts at Harrah's properties around the country. The goal, Cassidy says, is to allow himself more time for his family. But old habits die hard and he also discusses a range of projects, including plans for a film and a double-disc release. 

It could not have been an easy decision. Cassidy's departure means an end for "At the Copa," a show that he first conceived in 1995, authored, and dedicated the past year to performing seven times over six nights each week. It also means disbanding the talented cast that includes an 18-piece band and Grammy award-winning singer Sheena Easton. 

"This is the best group of people I've ever worked with, and they've given everything to this," he says of the cast, band and crew. But at least the show is going out on top. "The fact that it has become a big hit is a wonderful thing and I think we are doing something that isn't done anymore--since it is performance-oriented as opposed to spectacle or novelty." 

The final performance of "At the Copa" is January 21, and it's a sure bet that, as he has every night since the show opened, Cassidy will put his all into it. 

"I really love doing it, and it doesn't matter how I feel--as soon as I hear that band go--I go 'Yeah!!!'" He snaps his fingers and this time, the smile spreads across his entire face. 

David Cassidy 
Where: Rio
When: Jan 21
Cost: $60
Information: 252-7776
www.lvshowbiz.com

January 30, 2001: Zap2it.com, TV News 

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) -  USA Network has not renewed the drama "Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family," reveals the show's creator, Shaun Cassidy.
     "That's 25 episodes," he says, "and that's more than I've done before. It's been a tumultuous year, but a good one." 
     The actor and former pop singer has had a sort of good-news/bad-news career as a TV writer and producer. The good news is that he has written and produced intriguing TV series, including the critical and cult favorite "American Gothic" for CBS, but the bad news is that, to date, his series have been all short-lived.
     "Roar," the rollicking Irish sword-and-skins drama Cassidy did for Fox, didn't finish out its 13 episodes-on-the-air commitment, and to this day, several episodes have never aired. Worse yet, Cassidy's paranormal drama "Hollyweird," done with Wes Craven and originally announced as a 
one-hour pilot for Fox, never made it on the air at all, despite a revamping of the concept and cast.
      "Cover Me," which premiered last March, is based on the story of an FBI agent who took his family into his undercover assignments, so as to keep them safe. It stars Peter Dobson and Melora Hardin as the parents, with Antoinette Picatto, Cameron Richardson and Michael Angarano as the children. First filmed in San Diego, the series shifted locations mid-season to Salt Lake City.
     "These things are out of your control," says Cassidy, "so you just try to make good shows and hope people watch them. I think I'm philosophical about it." 
     Yes, but is he getting good at this sort of thing by now? 
     "Don't say that," Cassidy exclaims. "I don't want to be a professional at this. But if you make crummy shows, and they're canceled, you don't work anymore. All you can do is make the best show you can, and if you do that, you will continue to work. So far, knock on desk, that's been 
the case." Cassidy is currently awaiting word on drama pilots, one of which may have a double run on a network and a cable station, a la NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which also airs on USA Network. 

http://tv.zap2it.com/

LONGTIME COMPANION

Date of publication: 05/25/1990

By Roger Ebert

`He is survived," the obituaries sometimes say, "by his longtime companion." The  phrase is taken by everybody to mean "lover," but newspapers prefer the euphemism, and only in the age of AIDS have they even finally admitted that homosexuals do not live, or die, alone. Norman Rene's "Longtime Companion" is a film that begins on the day when an obscure story in the New York Times first mentions a disease that seems to be striking homosexual men, and it ends after AIDS has profoundly affected all of their lives - mostly, but not entirely, for the worse.
     That first small cloud on the horizon was a story about a "gay cancer" that doctors were reporting among some of their homosexual patients. Within a few months, the Village Voice was providing in-depth reporting on the "gay plague," which eventually was named AIDS. But at the beginning, the characters in the story have difficulty in believing that a disease could seem to single them out.
     The movie has been written by Craig Lucas as a series of scenes, sometimes separated by months or years, in the lives of several ordinary homosexual men, and it is the very everyday quality of their lives - work and home, love and cooking and weekends - that provides the bedrock for this film. The emphasis is on the notion of "longtime." During the course of the movie some characters will  fall in love and others will break up, but most of them will be steadfast in their friendships and they will stand by each other in a series of crises. Of course others simply disappear when AIDS arrives to interfere with their personal priorities, but not everyone is a saint, and some of the events in this  film require, or inspire, a quality of sainthood.
     The movie is told in chronological order, so that at every moment we know as much as the characters do about AIDS. At first they can't believe it at all. Then they can't believe it could strike anyone they know - or themselves. Then they begin to ask themselves uneasy questions about less-than-prudent episodes in their lives: Are long-forgotten indiscretions about to come back and take a deadly toll? Is AIDS the revenge of the past?
     When a friend gets sick, it is hard to ask what the matter is, easy to pretend it is "something else." A friend loses weight, and inevitable questions arise. Lovers ask each other hard questions about fidelity, and do not always get honest answers. One by one, over the period of years, the circle of friends grows smaller. Of course many will survive, but there seems to be no sensible pattern in who is chosen, and no guarantee that a man will not care for his friend only to need help himself before long. Few films have done a better job of illustrating the virtue of "visiting the sick" - that cardinal act of mercy most neglected in an America that likes to let hospitals take care of that sort of hard work.
     The central scene in the film - one of the most emotionally affecting scenes in any film on dying - involves Bruce Davison as the lover of a dying man. The struggle has been long and painful, but now it is almost over, and what Davison has to do is hold the hand of his friend and be with him when he dies. The fight  has been so brave that it is hard to end it. "Let go," Davison whispers. "It's all right. You can let go now." The scene plays for a long, quiet time, and it
is about the absolute finality of death, but it is also about why we are alive in the first place. Man is the only animal that knows it will die. This scene shows how that can be the source of courage and spiritual peace.
     One of the particular strengths of "Longtime Companion" is that it does not identify its characters only through their sexual preferences. It would seem bizarre to watch a movie in which heterosexual men were defined only by the fact  that they like to sleep with women - but many films about gays have made the opposite error, and limited their characters as a result. "Longtime Companion" is about friendship and loyalty about finding the courage to be helpful and the humility to be helped.
Cast: Fuzzy (Stephen Caffrey), Howard (Patrick Cassidy), Bob (Brian Cousins), David (Bruce Davison), Paul (John Dossett), Sean  (Mark Lamos), John (Dermot Mulroney), Michael (Michael Schoeffling), Willy (Campbell Scott)
Samuel Goldwyn presents a film directed by Norman Rene. Produced by Stan Wlodkowski. Written by Craig Lucas. Edited by Katherine Wenning. Photographed by  Tony Jannelli. Music by Greg DeBelles. Running time: 96 minutes. Classified R.