Monday, July 6, 2009

Breaking: Jackson Bros Envoy Asks About Wynn LV

Chip Lightman, the late Danny Gans' manager, informed me today that he's been contacted by an envoy for Michael Jackson's surviving brothers about the prospect of a permanent Jackson Brothers show in the vacant Encore showroom at Wynn Las Vegas. The room has been empty since Gans died on May 1, save for a handful of performances by Whoopi, Beyonce and, of course, Scarecrow and Mrs. Larry King.

Lightman noted that the call was extremely preliminary and that it's unclear exactly what the Jacksons have in mind, although it would likely have a serious Michael Jackson tribute component and Jackson choreographer Kenny Ortega's name did come up.

Lightman also noted that there's no telling how Wynn management might react, but I suspect the answer would be a "HELL NO." There just aren't enough people who would shell out the sort of money Steve Wynn would demand for a performance by opportunistic siblings whom The Gloved One spent the second half of his tortured life professionally avoiding.

Chip also mentioned that he and Wynn are waiting to see if Garth Brooks -- who has played two free shows in the room recently -- might want to come out of retirement for a standing production. There's no specific deal on the table, but it's clear Wynn would love to have him. Other names being bandied about in Wynnville: Prince and Mariah Carey.

All of those names sound reasonable. The Jackson Fourish? Not so much.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That made me laugh. While they didn't wait for him to get into the ground before seeking to profit from Michael, they did at least wait until the body was room temperature. The person in the industry who would be happiest about the Jackson 4 at Encore would be Shel Adelson & Co. What a horrible idea.

SG

WSOPJoey said...

Hey Steve - It's Joey in Denver. Saw that comment earlier from that person (using the word loosely) taunting you about the Danny Gans thing that you wisely removed. I'm just awestruck that anyone could be that idiotic for this long a period of time. Is it seriously possible that he really is actually mentally unstable? This level of persistence is really troubling. I know you've laughed it off, but if you have, as you have said in previous posts, been deleting messages like that regularly, you might have a cause of action for a restraining order. My sister-in-law is a lawyer who deals with this sort of thing, so if you want her number say the word.

Seriously. Think it over. You've done an amazing job of ignoring it so far and nobody with half a brain could read his crap and take any bit of it seriously, but mentally unstable stalkers eventually can take things to the next level when they're ignored. Their whole MO is to get attention for themselves. This guy is seriously disturbed and clearly fits that pattern.

THE STRIP PODCAST said...

Joey: Thanks for the concern but I haven't seen anything physically threatening so far. If it crossed into that territory, I would deal with that accordingly. Otherwise, I just delete the childish and transparent efforts to get attention and annoy me and carry on with my work comforted by the knowledge that nobody who actually matters to me has ever heard of him. -sf

robertw477 said...

The brothers did want to do a Jackson 5 reunion before Michael died. It was Michael that turned it down and there was talk about a reunion recently and than MJ announced the UK tour. I see no issue with them performing if they can. What the demand would be is unknown. I dont think Janet would join the 4 either. If Wynn thinks he can sell tickets for an empty showroom what does he have to lose?

Anonymous said...

I kinda think it's a good idea. They've got 60-70 minutes of Jackson's stuff, plus a little of Jermaine's solo work. Add 15 minutes of MIchael trubute and some rotating Motown legends like Smokey Robinson, and it'd make a decent show.

Jeff in OKC