Mel Brooks plans encore at Encore in April
December 3, 2017 - 7:35 pm
Updated December 3, 2017 - 7:50 pm
It’s good to be the king.
Buoyed by his sold-out premiere on the Strip last summer, Mel Brooks returns to the throne at Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater next spring.
“An Evening with Mel Brooks” is set for it second run April 27-28. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at the Wynn Las Vegas box office.
Brooks twice filled Encore Theater on June 30-July 1. He had just turned 91 last summer when he made his Strip debut.
The week before those shows, Brooks told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about his appreciation for the city.
“I love Las Vegas, I really do. … There’s nothing like the Vegas vibe,” he said. “You can walk from one hotel to another and there’s always something different. A different sight, a different smell, a different look. It’s just a great place.”
The stage show is a mix of Brooks’ TV and film clips, covering such high-water marks as his “1,000-Year-Old Man” TV and album routine with Carl Reiner, and the comedy film classics “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” and “Young Frankenstein.”
Brooks-Lewis connection
Brooks and the late Jerry Lewis were friends and collaborators dating to the early 1960s, when Brooks helped draft the screenplay for “The Ladies Man.” Lewis had hoped to catch Brooks at Wynn Las Vegas, but was not healthy enough to make the shows. Instead, Lewis sent a message to Brooks, wishing him good luck.
Lewis died Aug. 20, less than two months after Brooks’ performances.
The Goss-Bros reunion
Matt Goss opened his residency in style Saturday night at 1Oak at The Mirage. He donned a charcoal tux and grooved expertly through a mix of originals (“All About the Hang,” “Evil,” “When Will I Be Famous” among them) and covers ranging from “Fly Me to The Moon, “Luck Be a Lady Tonight’ and “Hotel California.”
To close the nearly two-hour show in the revamped nightclub — the mobile stage set in the middle of dance floor — Goss performed “My Way.” He’d not performed that song before in Las Vegas, where he opened at the Palms in 2009 and spent more than six years at Caesars Palace ending in September 2016.
He dedicated his rendition to his twin brother and Bros co-founder, Luke, who was at the premiere.
At the postshow hang at Parlour, Luke Goss discussed the documentary filmed during the Bros reunion this summer, which culminated in a pair of sellout August shows at London’s 02 Arena.
Fulwell 73, the U.K. production company behind the “Late Late Show” with James Corden, produced the project.
The feature documentary, due in 2018, is directed by Fulwell 73’s David Soutar, behind “Harry Styles Behind The Music,” and, “I Am Bolt.”
Luke Goss, a film star who has appeared in more than 50 movies (including “Blade II,” “One Night with the King” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”) said he was anxious about having his personal life publicized.
“I’m a private person, and I was nervous,” he said. “But it turned out great.”
In the documentary, the brothers are shown bickering and coping with the death of their mother, Carol. Her death from breast cancer in 2014 inspired the Bros reunion concerts.
The Scheana-Chester show
Expect a formal announcement in the next few days that Scheana Shay (formerly Marie) f the Bravo reality series “Vanderpump Rules” and Chester Lockhart of MTV’s “Todrick” are the next hosts of “Sex Tips For A Straight Woman From A Gay Man” at Paris Las Vegas.
They take over Jan. 4 for outgoing stars Kendra Wilkinson and Jai Rodriguez. The show opened in May at the Anthony Cools Theater.
Marie was at Friday night’s Vegas Strong Benefit Concert (she posed for red carpet photos but didn’t take questions), and saw “Sex Tips” over the weekend.
“Sex Tips” won’t benefit directly from the “Vanderpump Rules” broadcasts — the show is not filming during Marie’s run — but Lockhart and Marie are expected to draw fans from their respective reality shows to the Paris theater.
Strong turnout
Officially, Friday’s Vegas Strong Benefit Concert drew 12,000 to T-Mobile, a capacity in its configuration for the show. The total raised for the Las Vegas Victims Fund has yet been announced.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.