Brady calls the shots at Venetian; ‘Spotter’ Harrison of ‘Pawn Stars’ preps for bi-coastal appearances

By John Katsilometes

Monday, June 14, 2010 | 11:50 p.m.

Deep thoughts and quick shots for a Tuesday morning:

• Wayne Brady is protecting his voice, but not in any over-compensatory way, during his return to the Venetian for his brilliant “Makin’ It Up” improv show. Brady’s approach to good vocal health is simple: He’s upped his water intake and is talking a bit less. He’s not singing as much from the stage, either.

The mix of the dry desert air and his busy performance schedule has reminded him to take care of that vocal vehicle.

“I look at it like this, a football player wears pads to protect his body. He does things so he can play a full season, and an entertainer does the same thing,” Brady said during a phone interview Monday afternoon. “But I’m not in a hyperbaric chamber, there are no sensors around me … I just drink water, shut up and don’t’ talk a whole heck of a lot.”

Brady remains the host of the game-show juggernaut “Let’s Make a Deal,” which moved out of Tropicana in March for a return to its studio in L.A., where the remainder of the season is to be taped. Brady’s current run at Venetian continues Thursday through Monday. He’s back June 24-28 and July 1-5.

Apart from the TV show and live production, Brady is prepping for a run in “Rent” at the Hollywood Bowl from Aug. 6-8, during which he plays maverick philosophy professor Tom Collins, the highfalutin philosophy professor. He’s also working on an album of mostly original material, and has a Disney children’s album “already in the can.”

This all adds up to a schedule so packed that Brady isn’t sure he’ll resume his Venetian production after closing this run in July.

“I have not worked it out yet,” he said. “We’ve got a TV show shooting schedule and a life schedule. … I’d like to do it, because the Venetian and (show producer) BASE Entertainment have been great.”

As is Brady, one of the best the city has seen at what he does.

• Rick Harrison, known as “Spotter” on History Channel’s Vegas-based reality hit “Pawn Stars,” is going bi-coastal today and Wednesday. Tonight he’s a attending the Game 6 of the NBA Finals at the Staples Center in L.A. He flies back after the game, then flies out very early Thursday for appearances on CBS’ “The Early Show” and “The Late Show With David Letterman.

“This is some cool stuff,” he said during a phone interview Monday afternoon. “I’ve never been to an NBA Finals game, I’ve watched Letterman, but I’ve never even seen ‘The Early Show.’ I usually watch some CNBC in the morning, then I am outta the house.”

Centered on the happenings at Gold & Silver Pawn on Las Vegas Boulevard a few cartwheels north of Charleston Boulevard, “Pawn Stars” began its third season June 7.

• E! Entertainment execs say they are thrilled with the ratings for the premiere of "Holly's World," which debuted Sunday night from 10:30-11 p.m. The show posted a 1.56 household rating, or 1.9 million total viewers, which is reportedly double what the network averaged in that timeslot over the previous month. Something about Josh Strickland in the center of a beachside tavern dustup appeals to late-night viewers.

• Yes, to answer the questions of many friends and readers who have asked if I was aware of the topsy-turvy sound quality in Saturday’s “Sgt. Pepper Live” performance by Cheap Trick at Paris Theatre. The most obvious problem was that Rick Nielsen was having trouble being heard, which is a concern since he’s one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. That’s why he kept looking off the stage and making a “jack up my volume!” sign with his right thumb.

This is not a new issue with the show. Nielsen’s guitar was also lost in the mix last fall at the LV Hilton, but the sound was effectively recalibrated pretty quickly. These guys are pros, famously so.

Saturday night’s second-most obvious problem, of course, was that the third sitarist was way out of tune. Wow. How’d that not get detected during sound check?

• The ever-explosive Grucci family and Station Casinos have announced the city’s biggest July 4 fireworks show, logically titled, “Station Casinos’ 4th of July Blast.” Fireworks by Grucci is producing the nine-minute pyrotechnic extravaganza, which should thrill Independence Day revelers and puppies alike.

Five Stations hotels will serve as launching pads: Aliante Station, Green Valley Ranch, Fiesta Rancho-Texas Station and Red Rock Resorts are the sites. A soundtrack is being assembled even now, but don’t expect that song (“Even Now”) to be on it.

• Whatever the talented Erich Bergen, once of “Jersey Boys” and the showcases at Liberace Museum, has planned for a return Las Vegas will not involve a show at Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Bergen had been assisting in the writing for the just-opened “Vegas! The Show,” primarily by contributing ideas for the production’s theme song, but he’s not involved in the theater in any capacity now. Bergen’s vision for a tribute to Michael Jackson for the theater is also off the table. Or, in this case, off the dance floor.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.