Recycled Percussion beats path to new site

Recycled Percussion plans to finally get out of college, or at least that mindset, next year.

Two years ago, the tenacious quartet of show drummers moved here and dug in with shows at Studio 54 and the Tropicana Las Vegas.

On Jan. 12, they move into The Quad (formerly the Imperial Palace).

The move appears to seal the departure of Human Nature, long said to be headed to The Venetian, to perform in the Showroom at The Venetian primarily used by comedians such as Tim Allen and Rita Rudner.

Human Nature doesn’t have tickets on sale for any show at The Quad after Sunday; December takes them home for some dates in their native Australia.

At The Quad, producer David Saxe hopes to take Recycled to the next level, moving the show to a deeper and wider-ranging appeal, with “more heart and soul in there.”

Recycled’s fast and furious drum-along hour always played like “Stomp” for the college circuit, where the group made its living before its network exposure on “America’s Got Talent.”

Saxe says he and the group headed by Justin Spencer plan to add new skits and segments, including a holographic-type duet with their inspiration, the late jazz drummer Buddy Rich. …

Ladies, there is no longer any need to blush. The G-string revue has gone highbrow.

Saxe says the latest tenant back at the theater carrying his name in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort will be “Stripped The Play,” a midnight show opening Dec. 22.

Written and directed by Geoffrey Cantor, “Stripped” played in New York and aspires to fuse the usual G-string antics with a dramatic look at the lives of the “peelers,” who bare their souls as well as their bottoms. …

Mirage headliner Terry Fator this week brings back “A Very Terry Christmas,” the redecorated version of his ventriloquism showcase, through Dec. 29.

A Bing Crosby puppet and Christmas songs from all eras made this one a winner last year. I liked it better than Fator’s rest-of-the-year show.

Fator is celebrating a contract extension that will keep him at The Mirage through 2016.

Starting in January, his schedule will change from Tuesdays through Saturdays to Mondays through Fridays. The move seems to free Saturdays for The Mirage’s headlining comedians to perform two shows, or at least start a single show earlier than 10 p.m. …

Until the final verdict is in for Recycled Percussion, Fator remains the one and only winner of “America’s Got Talent” to have continued success at this level. Not even the dogs have his staying power.

The package show of TV finalists from this year’s edition of the NBC talent show – complete with the winning team of trained dogs – recently wrapped a run just across the street at the Palazzo.

The promoter, AEG Live, hasn’t slammed the door on a return, saying one is “not confirmed yet, but we hope to have information soon.”

However, the show isn’t on the Palazzo’s Web calendar, and Las Vegas isn’t on the January or February calendars of comedian Tom Cotter or the Lightwire Theater, two of the key acts. …

Last year, Bob Anderson didn’t even need a “Smith Center bump” to pack Artemus Ham Concert Hall for a date with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

So what’s the deal, bumping him over to Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts Friday through Sunday? Hasn’t the singing impressionist, once a staple of the Strip, proved his drawing power for a big-room pops concert?

Anderson takes the responsibility here, but is limited on how much he can divulge.

Seems he is well along with a project that involves a full orchestra and pays tribute to a Las Vegas icon. He hopes to bring it to The Smith Center’s big stage. But he is not the producer, so it has to happen when the other parties involved are ready for it to happen.

In the meantime, the artistic freedom of the cabaret will allow Anderson to sing more in his own voice.

“Clint (Holmes) told me this is a great place to do some jazz-pop standards as myself,” he says.

He will still do his impressions of the Las Vegas greats, but they will be a small part of the show backed by Vince Falcone on piano, Joe Lano on guitar, Bob Sachs on bass and Mike Mechem on drums.

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