Michelle Johnson

Michelle Johnson

Photos by Nikki Artale


Gold Coast Classics is alive and well in the showroom at the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino featuring free afternoon shows with live music. I spent a wonderful afternoon listening to Michelle Johnson singing many popular songs from The Great American Songbook. http://www.michellejohnson.com/
Michelle Johnson appears at the Gold Coast, Tuesday through Friday from 2pm to 5pm, once a month, accompanied by Mike Tramontana on the drums and Billy Moran on the keyboard. She is an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer and a great entertainer, who can sing many songs on request.

Michelle Johnson

Mike Tramontana

Not only does the audience love her music, they also love to dance and on a Wednesday the dance floor is completely full for the entire three hours. I enjoyed watching the talented dancers as they whirled around the large dance floor.

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Lily is a loyal fan who comes to every show and when she enters the room, Michelle plays her favorite song “My Way”. Lily spoke to Michelle on her break and showed her appreciation as a fan.

At three years old, Michelle started singing and at four years old, started piano lessons. Her father was the Liberian Ambassador to Egypt, representing the United Nations and they lived for 12 years in Cairo, Egypt. Michelle attended Yale University and then moved to New York and then onto Las Vegas for the warm climate and the entertainment opportunities.

Michelle’s first job was in “Country Fever” at the Golden Nugget. Besides the acting and singing she also is sought out by major corporations and by trade shows as a talent producer.
After she completes the day portion of events, she goes to the Las Vegas Hilton where she appears as Sister Hubert in “Nunsense”. An award winning musical comedy, it was nominated beside two major hit shows “Phantom” and “Lion King”. I saw all three shows and “Nunsense” did deserve the nomination.

The nuns are all friends and that shows in their performances and interaction together on the stage. Sister Hubert is Mistress of the novices and it is her job to teach them the rules and protocol so they can become full fledged nuns. She is second in command to Reverend Mother. Sister Hubert believes that Reverend Mother is clueless and that she should be running the convent. The nuns have run out of money to bury some of the nuns who were poisoned by bad soup. They are buried in the freezer and the nuns have to raise money for the burials.

The acting and comedy is great and the singing is fantastic. This is a must see show and you will get to meet the nuns outside the theater, following the show.