There is a company in our small industry that issues awards yearly to the industry leaders. Its pretty much a free for all for anyone who wants to nominate themselves and then explain to their colleagues why they should get their votes and why they should win the award under certain categories. I won for Best Producer in 2006 and was hoping to nominate myself again for Best Producer for 2010, however, i registered to late and missed the boat. What I find so fascinating about this award show is that some of the very best people in this business do not participate so we have a lot of b and c listers nominating themselves and winning these awards. Then, the b and c listers add these winning titles to their resumes as if it means they are worth far more or better than others. I am not against all that, but I think this annual awards need to be regulated in a sense they include leaders of the industry who are by far, more talented and more experienced so the younger generation and followers have something to achieve or guide themselves by. There are only 5 full time casino shows running in the USA that feature celebrity lookalikes, and only two of them include female impersonators. The show I have in Lake Tahoe is the longest running show in the history of the city, yet, I won’t be recognized for that, because I missed the deadline and others are more worthy of their 1 night events somewhere. Most of the people in this industry are looking for full time gigs in the casino arena, yet, my involvement in what I do goes without notice. LOL. It’s all good, really, it is. : ) I also worked with the real Bette Midler on her 1999 concert in Las Vegas, and have booked doubles for the real Madonna, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, but then again, please industry, don’t hesitate to recognize this leader. LMAO!

Call me Little Richard at the Grammy Awards, but this little dick has far more current kudos and praise due to him.

Dennis Russell stars in Carnival Cabaret, Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino

I went with my partner Luis to AVN weekend two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Luis works there every year and it’s a grand delight to see the porn industry awards as its a whole new entertainment world. I saw my good friend Larry Edwards aka Hot Chocolate as well as other close friends in Frank Marino’s (La Cage Vegas) Divas Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. As many of you know, I am not a big fan of the way La Cage ended nor the way it ended artistically, however, Frank Marino’s show has brought back the essence of what La Cage should of been in the end. A true entertaining experience, Marino put heart and soul into the show to bring back a huge production with six male dancers and an excellent cast. You truly can see the love in each of the acts as you watch the show. Marino gave life to so many of these FI acts as they were left cold in the night from La Cage producer Norbert Aleman when he shut down La Cage last year. Good job guys, I truly enjoyed the show.

I also had a chance to see EOY, Entertainer of the Year pageant in California at the House of Blues. This was a first for the pageant franchise and they did it up pretty well. I was highly disappointed in the celebrity judges as I felt they have no clue on what an FI should be doing let alone how to judge these types of pageants. Having celebrities on board is great for press and show recognition but it will not uphold what this FI industry and especially what EOY stands for. The pageant was extremely long and unorganized and with all the money the promoter was tossing around, with ads, and promotions, donations and red carpet BS, they should of put more time into having an organized pageant, especially at a legitimate show place, like House of Blues. I felt the gay community was represented poorly by this promoter. Hopefully next year, they’ll have competent, qualified judges for our industry. Not that the finalists didn’t deserve the accolades, its just it should of been awarded by myself or by people who are involved in this industry and not a media blitz lineup of celebrities. What is this, Battle of the Tiera, Quest for the Crown, all of which are pageants that are mockeries.

I hope everyone is having a glorious beginning to twenty-ten. I wish you and yours the best possible life and see you soon—
dan

Larry Edwards with Dan Gore in Las Vegas at Divas Las Vegas

Gypsy was in full form New Year’s Eve night and we bid farewell to him right before midnight after the second show. Friends from all over were there to wish Gypsy goodbye. It was a great night, and we will miss Gypsy greatly.

Taking over for Gypsy will be Patrick Ross and Dennis Werntz. Patrick has already begun his hosting duties. Patrick will host every night in January. We are taking Monday nights off just in January until Dennis gets here. Starting February 8, Carnival Cabaret will go back to 7 days a week.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and we look forward to a very healthy and successful 2010.

The best to you-

Gypsy Retires

Snow fell for almost 48 hours straight here. A lot more snow than we had last year, so early in the year, before Christmas, the city of Lake Tahoe is hoping for a great Christmas and New Year’s week.

I had the opportunity of booking Phil as Dr. Evil for CES this 2010 year in Las Vegas. Phil does an amazing Dr. Evil. What is so unique about Phil and again, just a few in this industry I can speak of like this, Phil’s an actor, officially, a comedian, an improv expert that takes this industry to a new level. Perfection in this industry has been lacking for years, I think that is why so many people look at the impersonation industry as a joke, but when its done with perfection, there’s nothing like it. Phil is one of those artists, who has studied not just the art of looking like someone else, but being able to “act” like that alter character is very difficult, and it comes to Phil extremely naturally because of his acting and improv background. Really, an amazing guy in this business. Off the top of my head, people similar to this are Richard Halpern as Austin Powers, Suzanne LaRusche as Lucille Ball, Sandy Anderson as Dolly Parton, and of course all of my acts in Carnival Cabaret. These people really are impressive and are a great value to this industry. It makes people think its an extremely easy thing to do, to create another person’s persona, but its not. It’s extremely difficult to master, and I think this is why I was always fascinated with drag, because it’s just another level of difficulty, to not just change your looks, but to change your sex as well on stage, is a masterful feat of artistry, at its best.

We had a quick change of direction in Tahoe the past couple of days. I originally planned on bringing Brian Keith in from the old Finocchio’s as an interim host in January before Dennis gets here, aka Denise Russell. Unfortunately, I decided to steer into a different direction. I didn’t have the time or the passion to design something unique for Brian and really wanted an opportunity to create something special, but it wasn’t the time to do so, so we canceled Brian’s engagement here. But the opportunity will arise again as I will be opening another show in the near future and will need to adjust my casts.

2010 will mark a very special year for me and my crew. What we do here in Lake Tahoe is extremely magical and unique, like no other place or show you’ll see, we take this art form to a new level and do it with a minimal cast and effort. There’s no stopping the passion, the energy and the art form that we have so much respect and love for. Super success for us in 2010, it’s just around the corner.

If you know of anyone who feels a passion for the art of drag, please refer them to me as we are looking for multiple cast members for 2010.

We will be welcoming Ralph Jeffries this week, as he begins his drag camp training with Carnival Cabaret. He debuts as Beyonce, Thursday, December 17. We already tore a hole in the stage for the wind and smoke, so we are all ready for Beyonce’s debut.

On New Year’s Eve, Carnival Cabaret will be doing two shows, at 8pm and 10pm, with dinner available at both shows. Tickets are $69.95 plus tax per person for dinner and show. Show only is $29.95 for 8pm show, and $36.95 plus tax per person for 10pm show.

In 2010, we will begin serving desserts nightly in our showroom as well.

We’ll see you at the show…

dan

Snowfall in Lake Tahoe this past week.

Snowfall in Lake Tahoe this past week.

Dr. Evil Impersonator

As many of you may know, James Gypsy Haake, who is my Master of Ceremonies here in Lake Tahoe, will be retiring after 59 years on stage. His last show is December 31, 2009. He will return to Palm Springs to live by the pool and drink martinis. No more dresses in his future, he says. Patrick Ross will take the reigns over for the month of January, sharing the hosting duties with former Finnochio’s host Brian Keith. Brian will work 2 days a week rotating with Patrick Ross. These hosting duties will proceed the arrival of the amazing Dennis W. aka Denise Russell. Dennis will begin sharing the hosting duties with Patrick Ross in February. Dennis will work the 2010 year rotating on 2 months, and off for 1 month. Dennis hails from Ohio, and was the Master of Ceremonies for the Nashville show Cowboy’s La Cage. A master at what he does, he will be a great addition to the Carnival Cabaret family and we are highly anticipating his arrival in Lake Tahoe. He is also the only female impersonator that has ever performed at the Grand Ole Opry!

Frankie Kein and Manual Arte will return for Gypsy’s last night on December 31 before they depart for South America. They will perform there the first quarter of 2010 with their amazing show. If you have never seen the work of these two gentlemen, you are missing two of the greatest entertainers in our industry. Do a search on youtube, you’ll be amazed.

We will be adding a Beyonce impersonation to Carnival Cabaret beginning December 17. Ralph Jeffries will join our Carnival Cabaret family next week. We are looking forward to our new cast member and adding an updated celebrity to our show.

Carlo Riley as Michael Jackson is shooting a Japanese television show all week in Los Angeles. He is doing re-enactments of Michael Jackson the day he died, as well as re-enactments of the court trials MJ went thru back in 2005.

Carlo will join amazing Madonna impersonator Lorelei Prince (discovered by Guy Guido) for a private party in Tampa on December 19. Carlo has been extremely busy with his MJ tribute, working all over the world. You can check out his website at almostmj.com. Lorelei Prince as Madonna will work in Hong Kong over Christmas week doing a live Madonna show in a large shopping mall there. Carlo Riley worked at that same mall earlier in the year.

Hope all is well with you and yours and if you get a chance to get to Lake Tahoe, be sure to come by and see the amazing and record breaking show Carnival Cabaret.

Also, if you are looking for a great gift for the holidays, try the DVD “We’re All Angels” – a documentary that I worked on that was done by Robert Nunez about pop christian singers Jason & deMarco. I’ve added the youtube video of film director Robert to this post, enjoy! (And in the video promoting the DVD is my cat Chandler!)

Lorelei Prince as Madonna - Who's That Girl era

Carlo Riley as Michael Jackson - In The Closest era

]]> http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=137 14 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=132 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=132#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:43:19 +0000 dan http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=132 I had a one night affair at the Anaheim White House in Anaheim, California. I do an event here about once a year, at least. Bruno, the owner, throws a great party and has one of the finest restaurants in the state, if not the country. Great good, amazing service and ambience [...]]]> I had a one night affair at the Anaheim White House in Anaheim, California. I do an event here about once a year, at least. Bruno, the owner, throws a great party and has one of the finest restaurants in the state, if not the country. Great good, amazing service and ambience unsurpassed. Check it out if you have a chance. We had a Patrick from my show in Lake Tahoe host, and we brought in Venus, Chad and Ralph to perform impersonations of Cher, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Beyonce. It was a great night!

As some of you know I manage a great act that impersonates Michael Jackson, Carlo Riley. Carlo receives dozens of inquiries everyday for his impersonation of Michael Jackson. He is a hot ticket right now. One of the best things are the a**holes that like to send derogatory emails about my performers and what they can do with them if they hire them. Received an email asking how much would it cost for this client to r** his c*** up a lookalikes’ ass. Wow, this made my day! What kind of idiot is wasting their time sending out such emails! In any case, there are many TOS issues with sending that kind of email thru the internet. The user unfortunately is not aware of such TOS on the internet, and now no longer has an email service. Love it!

In Lake Tahoe, my show Carnival Cabaret (celebrity impersonators) continues going strong with its 2nd year on stage. We received some snow fall the past couple of days. This snow fall will be a great base for the skiers as the season officially begun with Thanksgiving weekend. Frankie Kein and Manuel Arte were in my show here this past week, together, performing as Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli. Their impersonations and performances are by far the best that this industry has, and they have yet to appear in any other show except mine, where they were part of an ensemble cast, rather than lead stars. Most of the impersonator industry is unaware of these two talented people. They have traveled all over the world and this show and our cast were so privileged to have them in our show the past couple of months. These two impersonators, actors, were absolutely amazing!

I will be in Los Angeles for 24 hours on Tuesday for my depositions with the crazy one. We have one more stop on this legal train, and then I believe it will be over for the defendant. Sorry Charlie!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and looking forward to a great 2010 year in Tahoe. I hope to see you in Lake Tahoe, or better yet we’ll see you at the show!

Impersonators of Madonna, Beyonce, Patrick Ross & Lady Gaga

]]> http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=132 2 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=113 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=113#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:19:08 +0000 dan http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=113 Well, if you ever want to get away. There’s a city called Canyonville, Oregon. They do have a Burger King, a fantastic casino with all kinds of fun, and they have a gas station! There’s a show here that features a few friends of mine, and it’s here thru January 3, 2010. [...]]]> Well, if you ever want to get away. There’s a city called Canyonville, Oregon. They do have a Burger King, a fantastic casino with all kinds of fun, and they have a gas station! There’s a show here that features a few friends of mine, and it’s here thru January 3, 2010. The show is called Dreamgirls, and it features four female impersonators, Alex Serpa, Denise Russell, Lawanda Jackson and Coti Collins. Kevin Wiley and I flew into Portland Saturday evening, went to Darcelle XV that night, and also went to Embers. Saw lots of drags (pics below). On Sunday morning, we drove 3 hours south on the 5 freeway to Canyonville to catch the 2pm and 7pm show of Dreamgirls. We’ve been here over 24 hours now, and we had a great time visiting with the drag gang. We toasted to our lost friend Bobby Etienne and also welcomed Denise Russell to our drag show family. Denise will begin her run in Lake Tahoe the first week of February in my show Carnival Cabaret. The cast and I are very excited to have Denise come on board. My main master of ceremonies GYPSY will be retiring at the end of the year. Patrick Ross and Denise Russell will share MC duties beginning February 1, 2010 in Lake Tahoe.

Bobby Etienne, (anita baker, tina turner and diana ross impersonator) a former La Cage Aux Folles cabaret performer and veteran of Moulin Rouge and numerous cabaret shows in Paris, passed away on Saturday, November 7. I got to know Bobby very well the last couple of years. He was a great story teller of his past career and has performed for almost everyone he ever impersonated. He was good friends with all the kids in the gang, and he will truly be missed. He paved the way for many in the female impersonator industry and was a veteran and legend of our time. He was too young to go, and he will be missed by us all. I’ve embedded a video Bobby made on his computer about his career. He asked me to put it on the internet last year, and so I did. He will be remembered now forever. Rest in peace Bobby, say hello to Hunter.

Kevin and I will head back to Portland, Oregon tomorrow/today Tuesday morning, and fly out to Tahoe in the evening. Hope life is treating everyone very well.

Kevin and I had a successful trip and are very pleased and excited to have Dennis on board to join our cast in Lake Tahoe. Welcome Denise/Dennis!

Bobby Etienne passed away Saturday, November 7, 2009.

]]> http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=113 2 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=105 http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=105#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:07:09 +0000 dan http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?p=105 2009 is almost over and on to a new year. So hard to believe that this year is almost over. Currently I am working on our big plans for New Year’s Eve and making Gypsy’s last night, very special.

This weekend I will make a drag show pilgrimage to see other shows and to [...]]]> 2009 is almost over and on to a new year. So hard to believe that this year is almost over. Currently I am working on our big plans for New Year’s Eve and making Gypsy’s last night, very special.

This weekend I will make a drag show pilgrimage to see other shows and to keep on top of what’s making this industry move. Kevin, one of the cast members and I will depart Saturday and head up to Portland. In Portland, there is a show place called Darcelle XV. This show place has been in business for 43 years. I wrote about this last year when Kevin and I visited this establishment. The most interesting part of this place is the history. So many acts forget about who came before them. When you walk into Darcelle XV you are immediately engulfed by tall walls of framed pictures of acts that have worked there. Every wall space is covered by a past performer. Such an amazing moment to see such drag history right before you. Such a great place to see if you’ve never been there before. On Sunday morning, Kevin and I will leave Portland and travel about 200 miles south to Canyonville, Oregon to the Seven Feathers Casino. At this casino, there is a drag show running with several performers that I have worked with before, Lawanda, Alex and Coti. Greg Thompson is producing this show, and looking forward to visiting with them and seeing this show on Sunday. I enjoy seeing other shows for inspiration and just to know what others are doing. It’s great research. I will write about the trip and post pictures soon.

Darcelle XV 2008 visit before Carnival Cabaret opened

]]> http://www.icons.nu/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=105 1