‘Nothing’s off-limits’ in new Tyson show

There actually are two answers to one question, “How did Mike Tyson become the most unlikely Las Vegas headliner since, well, Joe Frazier?”

And the answers are, “A Bronx Tale” and “vintage boxing gloves.”

Two parallel tracks led to Tyson doing a one-man show called “Undisputed Truth” at the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre April 13-18.

The first involved local producer Adam Steck (Human Nature, “Thunder from Down Under”) working out with “Thunder” company manager Matthew Fardell. Conversation turned to the pair of vintage gloves Fardell had autographed by Tyson.

Knowing Tyson lives in town led to the notion, “What if we did a one-man show about his life?” Steck recalls. But a search for a management contact found “10 different people claiming to represent him, which told me no one had him.”

Steck later visited the M Resort’s spa, where a manager agreed to pass along Steck’s business card the next time Tyson came in. Three days later, Tyson himself called to say, “We were thinking about it as well.” He had been inspired by the dramatic structure of Chazz Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale” (which coincidentally is back in town next week).

Tyson’s wife, Kiki, already had made progress on a script Steck calls “intelligent and well-written.” Realizing they were halfway there, Steck reached out to potential directors — including Martin Scorsese and James Toback (who did the “Tyson” film documentary) — before circling back to versatile stage and concert director Randy Johnson, with whom Steck is developing an unrelated project.

“Nothing’s off-limits,” Steck says of the show. “Whatever he’s done, he paid a lot. He deserves a chance to tell his story.” So far the thing is “one big experiment,” but Steck is convinced it will work. The most important thing people don’t know about Tyson? “He’s hilarious.” …

“Damn, that dude looks just like Cody Collins. You know, the guy who came after Dan McDonald in Lonestar.”

“Dude, that is Cody Collins.”

OK, you probably won’t ever hear this at “Country Superstars Tribute,” but you get the idea. The Golden Nugget country revue’s latest twist is kind of a reversal on its original one: Ron Keel, once a minor rock star, realizing he could make more money impersonating Ronnie Dunn.

Now, the show adds a new headliner in Collins, who won’t impersonate anyone, but perform as his regular ol’ self, starting Tuesday. The title will drop “Tribute” from the name to help lessen confusion about dropping Collins in amid impersonators.

Collins sang on Lonestar’s 2010 album, “Party Heard Around the World,” before McDonald rejoining the band for a 20th anniversary tour nudged Collins in the direction of a solo career.

“Superstars” producer Leonard Quenneville also has an investment in Collins’ new solo album through his Radical Productions Media, and plans to promote the disc during the Academy of Country Music Awards weekend of April 1.

Collins is signed for six months. “We probably won’t get to keep him after that,” Quenneville says. The plan is in fact for headliners to move on and up, “and we’ll move into a new guy.”

“It’s a win-win for both of us,” he adds. “Cody isn’t a household name but Lonestar is.” And after five years as a country variation on the “Legends” format, “Superstars” moves into more original terrain as “the first hybrid show.” …

The Cirque du Soleil movie filmed largely on the Strip, “Worlds Away,” has a reported release date of Dec. 21. Since the much-anticipated “The Hobbit” comes out only a week before, it’s a testament to Cirque and executive producer James Cameron that the 3-D flick — which sounds like something of a glorified infomercial for the resident Vegas titles — can command screen space in the multiplexes amid the holiday movie schedule.

The company officially unveils its updated “Mystere” with an “18th anniversary” performance Saturday, after importing two acts from the “Zed” show it closed in Japan at the end of last year. …

“This is a stage fright I’ve never experienced,” says Paige O’Hara, and she’s not even singing.

The Las Vegas-based star of “Menopause The Musical” instead displays her paintings of Belle, the character she voiced in “Beauty and the Beast,” today through Saturday at Renaissance Galleries inside the Palazzo.

She will be there to meet people from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

O’Hara has long painted the character, usually because “friends wanted me to paint Belle for them as gifts.” Two years ago it became a sanctioned thing through Disney Fine Art, and “they’re helping me a lot now.”

And while I usually don’t try to link items in this column, we cannot overlook the odd fact that O’Hara and Mike Tyson have a shared director in Randy Johnson, who helped her with a vehicle called “Belle to Broadway.”

“Let me tell you he doesn’t come cheap,” she says.

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