January yields new shows on Strip

And the trend for January is ... comic a cappella!

Remember, January is really slow between New Year's and the Super Bowl.

Still, any shows featuring live singing humans instead of trained cats or hypnotists can't be all bad. And the stakes are low in testing the waters for 3 Redneck Tenors at Luxor and the return of Toxic Audio to the V Theater at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

The Redneck Tenors offer a mullet-headed twist on barbershop and operatic harmonies. They gained some national TV time on "America's Got Talent" during the summer, and follow the talent show's winner, Terry Fator, to Las Vegas.

The gents fill in during Carrot Top vacations this week (through Monday) and again Feb. 6-12. Their own Web site lists return trips in March and April.

By coincidence, the Tenors play the same Fantasy theater Toxic Audio did in 2005. That quartet now joins the V Theater lineup to take the place of "Fab Four Mania," which recently moved to the Sahara. Theater operator David Saxe says the show could open Jan. 16 in a 9 p.m. time slot, but it's a tentative date that may be pushed back a week.

The four members of Toxic Audio all met in the theme parks of Orlando, Fla., but ended up with an off-Broadway show that mixed jazz, doo-wop and "human beat box" rhythms. ...

Here are a few other things to watch for in the early months of the new year.

Cirque du Soleil is making several changes to "Ka," which is perceived to be the weak link in the five-show dynasty on the Strip. Attendance is strong compared to most non-Cirque titles, but "Ka" is the most expensive Cirque -- it cost at least $165 million to open in late 2004 -- and less-than-capacity attendance doesn't amortize it any quicker.

Last year, the producers cut one act, in which stunt performers jumped from one log stump to another, because it slowed the pace of the show. A new "aerial strap" act was added to the "forest people" scene before Christmas, and additional tweaks to that sequence are continuing this month.

Another entirely new number is due for "Ka" midyear, when the specialty act becomes available.

February may bring the off-Broadway "Gazillion Bubble Show" to the Steve Wyrick theater at Miracle Mile Shops. Creator Fan Yang planned to be here by November, according to the show's Web site, but he still plans to treat Las Vegas to his "science of bubbles," including the ability to blow a square one.

Don't be surprised if impressionist Rich Little doesn't go the distance of a Golden Nugget residency scheduled through April 6. If management does decide to honor the original contract amid disappointing crowd counts, expect to see more buffet combos and fewer expensive billboard and taxi-top ads around town.

The Golden Nugget, by the way, has another performance space option with a new convention and events center, which was rushed to completion just in time to host a party band for the National Finals Rodeo. ...

The death last week of comedian Pudgy (Beverly Wines) reminds us of all the working pros who have performed in front of thousands of people on the Strip, but never quite reached a bigger level of fame.

The comedian had a Chicago following for a versatile cabaret act that included more singing. But she gave it up to move to Las Vegas in 1993, after testing the waters three years earlier at Bally's Catch A Rising Star club. Her timing might have been better. She got here right when the Strip made a collective play for the family trade and tried to distance itself from insult comics in the vein of Totie Fields or Don Rickles.

Pudgy spent her latter years as comic relief in girlie shows ranging from "Skintight" to "X Burlesque," the Flamingo show she was working before she died. It would be impossible to count how many people were prodded into singing along to "I Will Survive" over the years, as she trolled the audience and riffed off the crowd.

Perhaps it's fitting that Pudgy's biggest exposure in the past few years came from an E! cable network series called "Nearly Famous 2: Vegas Showgirls," which chronicled the backstage drama of "Skintight" in 2003.

"X Burlesque" producer Angela Stabile says "we are dedicating all future shows to 'The Queen of Tease.' " Another comedian with reality TV exposure, Dave Russo of "The Entertainer," will rotate the comedy spot with James Bean. "X Burlesque" is being revamped for its one-year anniversary next month.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0288.