The Villages: A Dream Come True

For 26 years I have been told I should perform in very specific markets, as they would love my show:

Las Vegas, NV

Branson, MO

Atlantic City, NJ

Cruise ships worldwide

Every Casino possible

Corporate and Education events

The Villages, FL

Having conquered the first 6, thankful for the chance to entertain audiences of all kinds, it was a question as to how and when I would ever have the time or opportunity to perform at The Villages near Orlando, Florida.

Last weekend my moment finally arrived!

If you don’t know what The Villages are, its one of the most fascinating community developments in the world, dedicated to those aged 55+ active adults who are committed to staying healthy, agile, and forever young. An estimated 75,000 homes dot the landscape, with over 100,000 residents. 

Located an hour outside of Orlando, Florida, The Villages has endless town squares that look like Disneyland’s Main Street, more golf holes in one place than anywhere on the planet, and you can hear pickleball being played the entire day.

The theater was intimate, brand new (3 months old), with around 160 seats available.

My show was scheduled for 1 PM on a Friday where a “heat dome” had settled over the area. It was 100 degrees temperature, 110-115 degrees with humidity outside. It was melt your face off weather.

As an unknown in the community, we needed to get creative to get an audience to join us and take a chance on me.

The door was opened to me through my father, John Hewlett, investing in Cardio Miracle coming to The Villages to help the community with their health. We gifted many tickets and discounted them to a price I haven’t had available in a long time (my last public shows where we sold out every one were priced near $70 each).

And yet, it was still a challenge to fill the seats in this new market for me.

Thankfully, they showed up. Cardio Miracle hustled to get a crowd there, as did Jonathan Scott, of Insomniac Television fame in Las Vegas, who has partnered with us to create Blue Zone TV for The Villages on their private television network. It was also a treat to have Merilu Henner there, of Taxi and acting fame, one of the most delightful people I’ve met in showbiz.

Upon being introduced for my show, I began with a song to see if they would sing along and clap with me: The Doobie Brothers’ “Listen To The Music”.

They were hot right out of the gate.

So I blasted into some parodies of The Bee Gees, Journey, and Guns n’ Roses.

The audience hooted, hollered, and laughed at the amount and steadiness my audiences have always given, yet it’s usually a little tougher with corporate audiences and Vegas groups, as my show sometimes takes a minute to warm up the crowd.

Not at The Villages.

They were raring to go from the start, and it was one of the most enjoyable hour long performances of my career.

Going from the piano singing Elton John, to bringing back some oldies I haven’t done in a decade (such as Cat Stevens), to returning to the piano for Billy Joel, and then bringing my Dad up to sing “God Bless The USA” (the community is full of veterans and servicemen who have served our country), the standing ovation was long and loud.

Before the end of my show, someone from the audience yelled out, “When are you coming back?” That’s a good sign when that happens.

I will be returning next month, and the theater is already receiving calls from those who were there wanting to see me again, and others who heard they missed out on “the best entertainer they’ve ever seen” (their words, not mine). And so we are looking to schedule perhaps a show a month there through the end of the year.

Not only will we do the 160 seat theater, called SigPro Studios, but are already being encouraged to choose a larger venue, as there are multiple theaters in the communities there, up to nearly 1,000 seats.

I wanted to share this with you because performing at The Villages is a dream come true for me, and I can’t wait to return, even with the heat & humidity. It was amazing to be there, and have such appreciative audiences. I will perform anywhere an audience is happy to see me.

Thank you to The Villages for letting me share The Promise with you.