Bubble master, Wyrick don’t mix

It's safe to say Fan Yang has no plans to bring his "Gazillion Bubble Show" back to magician Steve Wyrick's theater.

"I think this theater will work only when they get rid of Steve Wyrick. He has too much ego," says Yang, who spun bubble blowing into a hit off-Broadway show and toy franchise.

Yang checked in before heading to Japan to clear up questions lingering from this column last week. Yes, he would come back to Las Vegas. But not to Wyrick's theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort.

"There's something wrong with this organization there," says the performer who was born in Vietnam and raised in Yugoslavia. "I don't see the future there. We cannot fix the issues."

Yang says he was unable to resolve challenges ranging from contracts with ticket vendors to displays of Yang's hot-selling bubble kits. "I have my toys selling in 40 countries around the world, but he's so stubborn," Yang says of Wyrick. "My toys sell 10 times more than his toys. The money I'm giving to him (per unit sold) is more than the money he's making for his toys."

And yet, he says, Wyrick insisted on his own magic kits getting front-and-center display.

Yang said he did not have much personal contact with Wyrick and found him hard to reach by phone (attempts to reach Wyrick for a response found his voice-mail full). "I sent him a letter (saying) 'You're not a kid anymore. You have people who want to do serious business.' ''

Yang now will concentrate on building his own theater near Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. "I hated to close the show, but I hate also to waste my time there when I can put my time to other projects," he says. "If I had my team working (at Wyrick's theater) we could manage it and make it work beautifully for him and everybody." ...

It's hands-down the nicest space among the limited entertainment offerings downtown, but the Golden Nugget's theater is a tricky entertainment venue. More shows have failed than lingered in the 2000s.

So it's significant that management has curbed its plans for weekend headliners and extended "Defending the Caveman" for a second year, which begins June 1. The theatrical one-man show performed by Kevin Burke doesn't duplicate any other formats around town, so perhaps that's an argument in favor of originality.

"It hasn't been easy but I've done shows that were more challenging," local producer John Bentham says of the 438 performances in Year One. ...

The classic rock tribute band Phoenix is no longer trying to get a $20 ticket for its Thursday performances in the Las Vegas Hilton's big theater. Starting today, the shows are free as part of the Hilton's "Thursday's Live!" promotion offering live music in three areas of the casino. ...

"I kind of like not having to get dressed up," says Stephen Sorrentino, who for years performed as Elton John, but now is producing a Latin-themed tribute show.

"Superstars Latinos" packages existing tributes to the likes of Shakira and Enrique Iglesias into a bilingual revue with an eight-piece band. It was an obvious twist on the "Legends in Concert" format, and Sorrentino says he already has fielded calls from people wanting to book it out of the country.

The single showcase so far will be Friday at Texas Station, with a $25 ticket before tax.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 702-383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.