Book and Brooks carry on after Danny Gans

Danny Gans' co-author RG Ryan signs copies of the Gans autobiography The Voices In My Head at a Borders bookstore in the Las Vegas Town Square shopping center Saturday, the day Garth Brooks sold out the first twenty of his solo shows at Gans' former theatre on the Las Vegas Strip.

Amazon.com is very slow in getting out copies of Gans' books. Ours is promised for delivery in mid-November.

Photo: Photo Diva at Living Las Vegas

Garth Brooks too excited over comeback

PHOTOS: Las Vegas Review-Journal; Las Vegas Sun-Scott Harrison

Paul Tanner wants to be Danny Gans

It's a busy week for fans of the late Danny Gans. His autobiography arrived in stores, Garth Brooks announced he'll be moving into his theatre, impressionist Frank Caliendo began what could be a ten-year run at the Monte Carlo in hopes of drawing in the Gans crowd, and an impressionist named Paul Tanner says he's ready to take over the Las Vegas superstar's celebrity musical impressionist mantle. He told us in this press release that showed up at the Tabloid Baby offices:

Celebrity Impressionist Paul Tanner
Tapped to Follow in the Footsteps
of Legendary Las Vegas Entertainer Danny Gans

Press Release Distribution Staff

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 15, 2009 ) LAS VEGAS – It’s been six months since the untimely tragic death of one of Vegas’ top entertainers, Danny Gans, and his absence has left a noticeable void in the entertainment community. Celebrity impressionist Paul Tanner may just be the one to fill that void. He has been contacted by several “interested parties” who see Tanner as the next star following in the footsteps of the beloved entertainer.

A performer who did his first impression at the age of seven, Tanner recalls Danny Gans with the utmost respect and admiration.

“I’m thrilled and humbled every time someone compares my show to Danny’s,” Tanner said “When I heard he passed away, I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. It was shocking. Danny’s passing is a huge loss for anyone who appreciates great entertainment. I would be honored to carry the torch and honor his tradition.”


Like Gans, Paul Tanner’s show is filled with the great voices of comedy, celebrity, and music. His audiences around the world have included the likes of Pope John Paul II, who upon meeting Paul, gently made the sign of the cross over Paul’s vocal chords.

And when Neil Diamond’s mother came to see Tanner in Los Angeles, she told him, “You sound more like my son than my son does!” He smiles while retelling the story, “You don’t get a better review than that.”

When asked how he felt about the opportunity to step into the spotlight departed by Danny Gans, Paul replied, “No one could ever replace Danny Gans. But I think he would love my show.”

Paul Tanner was classically trained at The Juilliard School and spent time in opera as well as acting on Broadway before he developed his show, “Paul Tanner’s First Impressions”which he has performed all over the world. For a preview of Paul Tanner’s show visit www.youtube.com/paultannerofficial.

Garth Brooks defies Encore Theatre curse

Steve Wynn supplied Garth Brooks with a private jet as part of the deal to bring the country-pop star out of "retirement" to Las Vegas for a five-year residency at Danny Gans' "cursed" theatre at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino on the Strip.

Brooks will play four weekend one-man shows a week (one on Fridays and Sundays, two on Saturdays), and may even draw some regular working class folk to the high-end Wynn and Encore hotel casinos on the Strip. They say all tickets will be $125. Brooks says that along with the bundles in cash, Wynn gacve him a jet so "I'd be able to go to soccer games, to practice, all this stuff.

"Taking care of my children and family is so important to me, and that will be the same for the next five years, except I'll play music."

In the five and half months since Danny Gans' death, Beyonce, Whoopi Goldberg and Larry King have taken the stage at the Encore Theater while Wynn hunted for a permament replacement for the unique musical impressionist.

Some in Vegas consider the Encore to be "cursed" in light of Gans' sudden passing, the failures of Broadway transplants Avenue Q and Spamalot, a medical emergency during Goldberg's debut-- and a show starring Larry King.

The Las Vegas Sun noted yesterday:

"Wynn also said in July that while Gans' 'tickets made money but not much,' the show brought visitors into Wynn and Encore restaurants and the casino floor. Wynn called the loss of Gans as a performer at Encore 'not a cataclysmic event by any means' from a business perspective, 'but a personal loss.'"

Photo: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Garth Brooks to Danny Gans' theatre?

This announcement on Garth Brooks' website has revived speculation that he's heading to Steve Wynn's Encore on the Strip.

Paula Abdul could be the new Danny Gans

Paula Abdul is shopping for a theatre in Las Vegas for a singing and dancing variety show. She was at the Las Vegas Hilton over the weekend (that's where they sell Manilow Water) and there's also talk she may take over the Encore Theatre at the Wynn Las Vegas on the Strip. The Encore, of course, was Danny Gans' room until his untimely death on May 1st.

Did Danny Gans' death hurt Steve Wynn's bottom line?

How did the drug overdose death of Wynn Encore Hotel & Casino headliner Danny Gans impact the bottom line for his boss Steve Wynn? We'll find out later this week when Wynn Resorts Ltd. reports its second-quarter financial results after the market closes Thursday.

Gans was three months into a longterm, multi-year, multi-million dollar contract at the Encore Theatre when he died suddenly and mysteriously in his bedroom smack in the middle of the second quarter on May 1st.

Wynn Resorts, run by billionaire and major stockholder Steve Wynn, operates casino resorts in Las Vegas and the Chinese island gambling enclave of Macau and has a resort under construction in Macau.

The $700 million Encore at Wynn Macau, due to open next year, is expected to include 600 rooms and suites along with casino, restaurant, retail and lounge space.

A subsidiary of Wynn Resorts Ltd. filed for a possible initial public offering of its Macau assets last week. The action did not come as a surprise to industry analysts.

These analysts expect Wynn Resorts to lose a penny per share on $739 million in revenues, compared with a profit of $1.11 per share on revenue of $825 million in the same period a year earlier.

Gans' death certainly did not help the Wynn Las Vegas operation, which is being propped up by the Chinese business. All casino corporations in Las Vegas are expected to have a rough year, even though many have lowered room rates to keep their hotels filled.

New hotels coming to Las Vegas in the next year will hurt everyone's revenues and earnings.

Wynn Resorts’ stock price has dropped from its 52-week high of $119.74 and closed the second quarter at $35.30.


Gans' showroom at the Encore has remained empty most of the time since his death. Though the local news media refused to investigate the circumstances of his untimely demise at age 52, publish what it knew about his use of painkillers and steroids, or speak to the many sources who claimed the musical impressionist was getting illegal prescription drugs from within his organization, most everyone in the beholden Vegas fourth estate is helping promote New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess's 3 pm "Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson's Music Birthday Tribute But Not To The Man Show" set for August 29th at the Palms.

Danny Gans shows up in The Hangover

The late Danny Gans makes a cameo appearance of sorts in this weekend's #1 box office attraction, The Hangover. The Las Vegas Strip headliner shows up near the end of the movie about three guys who lose their buddy on a Las Vegas bachelor's party bender. In a daytime scene on the rootop of Caesars Palace, Gans' name and image can be seen clearly on the giant marquee for the Mirage Casino Resort next door, where he'd reigned for years before moving his musical impressionist act over the road to Steve Wynn's Encore. Gans does not appear physically in the film, as do a couple of other showmen synonymous with the town in a hiliarious-- and surprisingly hardcore-- stills sequence during the credits.


The film was shot in Vegas last year. Danny Gans died in his home on May 1st, of still-undetermined causes.

The Curse of The Encore? Whoopi Goldberg walks off during first show in the theatre since the death of Danny Gans

The first show at the Encore Theatre since the death of Danny Gans reportedly ended in chaos last night as Whoopi Goldberg walked off the stage after a medical emergency in the audience-- and never returned.

The story was "twittered" by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke, who, in a bizarre twist, had gotten a "twittered" from the scene (Gans' former theatre) by Gans' close personal friend Alicia Jacobs, the beauty queen-turned-TV entertainment reporter who was the first media figure to be notified of Gans' sudden death on May 1st, and who's been under fire for her role incovering the story.

Norm delivered three Twitter posts:

* Alicia Jacobs, ent reporter at KVBC-TV, CH3 just Twittered "Whoopi Goldberg walked off stage & didn't finish her show 2night @ ENCORE!"

* "An audience member took ill, ambulance came. Whoopi wallked off stage, never said goodnight. Audience was left a bit blindsided."

* Whoopie's walk-off came in the first show in the Encore Theater since Danny Gans' last show on April 29. Gans died May 1 of unknown causes

At the time of Gans' death at age 52, he was three months into a longterm engagement at the Encore Theatre. Ticket sales were sluggish, and he was said to be unhappy that other acts were being brought in on his dark nights.


After the tragedy, some suggested that the musical impressionist had fallen to the "curse" of the Encore Theatre because his show had followed disappointing, abbreviated engagements by the Broadway shows Avenue Q and Spamalot.


Whoopi's disastrous first night follows that tradition. Larry King and Beyonce will dare take the stage in the coming weeks.


The Encore had been the site of Gans' memorial service on Thursday.

(UPDATE: Norm twitters again: "One attendee just e-mailed me, saying a showgoer appeared to be having a seizure. Another attendee sez Whoopie "DID say goodnight.")

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