Building Dreams
Gans Adds Another Voice at the Mirage

Showbiz Magazine
By Hilary L. Green

He is known as “The Man of Many Voices” for his ever-expanding repertoire of more than 300 characterizations. With the advent of his debut album, A Brand New Dream, Danny Gans has added yet another voice to his show at the Mirage – his own.

Gans was blessed with a wide range of talent and is considered to be one of the finest entertainers in the business today. A singer-impressionist-comic-actor-dancer phenomenon, Gans has, for the third consecutive year, been named “Best All-Around Las Vegas Performer” by the Las Vegas Review Journal’s annual Best of Las Vegas poll.

He doesn’t take awards and acclaim lightly. Gans is deeply grateful to local fans and visitors who flock to see his shows. They are the ones who break box office records, Gans says. They are the people who pushed advance ticket sales past the million-dollar mark weeks before his debut at the Mirage. They are the people he performs for, embracing them from the moment he steps on stage.

He is a one-man show; there is no opening act. It’s Gans, his band and his cast of characters in concert; an ensemble that reads like a Hollywood “Who’s Who” list. It’s a show that the Los Angeles Times declared as “brilliant” and Joan Rivers summed up in one word: “incredible.”

Gans possesses an uncanny ability to re-create every aspect of the person he is honoring. Not only does he look and sound just like them, he captures their smallest mannerisms and subtleties. It’s almost as if for those moments Gans actually becomes that person.

Gans switches from one on-the-money impression to another in the blink of an eye. He doesn’t miss a beat in presenting a series of flawless re-creations featuring celebrities such as Natalie and Nat ‘King’ Cole singing their “Unforgettable” duet, followed by Rod Stewart or Billy Joel. In a matter of seconds, Gans makes the amazing transformation from a singer like Boz Skaggs to George Burns or Jimmy Stewart.

A talented writer, Gans composes hilarious lyrics to accompany his dead-on impressions of performers like Randy Travis (whom he good-naturedly refers to as Mr. Excitement), and hard-to-understand vocalists such as the Doobie Brothers and Al Jarreau.

There are tender moments in each show as well. His scene from On Golden Pond is one of many show-stopping segments, and his chilling portrayal of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman ricochets throughout the theater.

But the voice that Gans closes with is his own. He sits on a stool and sings a song about life. It’s about never giving up; it’s about faith. It’s a gift to the audience from his heart.

An evening with Gans at the Mirage will be an evening that you will never forget.