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Lounge Singers Losing Showrooms

Today the 10-story-high neon signs on Las Vegas Boulevard flash the names of Lance Burton, Steve Wyrick and Danny Gans.

Danny who?

There's a new face on entertainment in Sin City.

Illusionists Burton and Wyrick and singing impressionist Gans are replacing the lounge singer, the one form of entertainment that has been as synonymous with this city as neon and gambling.

With the final curtain falling in the past month on two of the Strip's most celebrated showrooms -- Caesars' Roman-themed Circus Maximus and the Desert Inn's celebrated Crystal Room -- some believe the days of the Vegas lounge singer are numbered.

`This might be one of the most interesting times in Las Vegas entertainment history because they are doing away with the lounges, ‘said crooner Wayne Newton, who still has a showroom to call his own at the Stardust hotel-casino.

Lounge singers are losing their intimate showrooms that each night seated hundreds of customers. Now arenas hold thousands and play host to Ricky Martin or Cher for a performance or two.

Other singers have lost their stages to opulent villas that would have made the flamboyant Liberace blush, as casinos try to maximize floor space and attract high-rollers.

Some entertainers like Tony Curtis and Julio Iglesias say that in losing showrooms like Circus Maximus, the city is losing some of its essence.

“…Newton, who has been playing the Strip for the past four decades, said the demand for star entertainers cannot be filled with "names" because of the sheer number of new megaresorts. Five - Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Paris, The Venetian and the Aladdin - have opened within the past two years…”

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