Emergency halts Whoopi’s show

The first show in Danny Gans' former theater didn't make it to the end.

During Whoopi Goldberg's closing minutes, a male patron suffered an apparent seizure near the front of the Encore Theater, according to several witnesses.

Goldberg stopped her show when ushers began tending to the man, who was near Steve and Elaine Wynn, who had arrived arm in arm.

After a minute or two, Goldberg called it a night, telling the audience it was best that she allowed the guest to be assisted.

It happened a little more than an hour into the 8 p.m. show, said local hairstylist Robert Aganza.

A Wynn representative said the condition of the man was not known. "It's not something they usually let us release. Unfortunately, medical issues are common occurrence in theaters. We understand he was talking when the medical people arrived."

Goldberg was the first act in the theater since the May 1 death of the veteran headliner, who died at age 52.

Gans' memorial was held in the theater on Thursday.

Aganza said that as he filed out, he heard showgoers saying "they felt like there was curse on the room. Silly talk like that."

SHAWN KING'S WILD TRIP

Larry King's wife, Shawn, almost had to cancel out of attending Gans' memorial for health reasons.

On her Twitter site Saturday, she wrote that she had the symptoms of the flu, and because of her fear of swine flu, she took the anti-viral drug Tamiflu and almost heeded the advice of several friends, including Gans' manager Chip Lightman, to stay home.

But, she wrote, "something inside was gnawing at me ... Danny was my friend. Had 2 go."

A singer, she was scheduled to open Gans' show for him on May 1, the day he died.

In fact, one of the last notes he wrote to himself was a reminder that he left in his quick-change room -- two words on a sticky note: "Shawn King."

After being stuck in security Thursday morning in Los Angeles, and worrying that she was going to miss the flight, she ran barefoot to the plane, with her shoes in her hands. She was running so late that the airline had given up her seat, but she was able to get it back.

When she arrived in Las Vegas, Steve Wynn had sent a Rolls Royce to pick her up.

Her headache was getting worse and she almost didn't make it to the start of the memorial. It took another barefoot dash, past shops and through the casino, but she made it to her front row seat just in time, joining her father, Karl Engemann and Marie Osmond. Engemann is Marie's longtime manager.

King praised Gans' children -- Amy, 21, Andrew, 19 and Emily, 14 -- for their "beautiful, heartfelt, gut wrenching, and comforting words."

After the 3 p.m. memorial, King was feeling so ill she returned to her room and decided to stay the night, and she got a shot from a physician. Wynn even called to see how she was, she wrote.

She had a 5 a.m. wake-up and made it home for a birthday breakfast with the Kings' youngest son, Cannon, who turned 9 on Friday.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

The Mirage marquee has a new addition: a video announcing the arrival of "Beacher's Madhouse." Producer Jeff Beacher and his dozen or so speciality acts are booked once a month in a new 1,200-seat theater, starting this fall. Beacher was back in the news earlier this month for threatening to sue Luxor headliner Criss Angel over a cat. Beacher's attorney, Robert Reynolds, wrote a letter to Angel saying Beacher gave the cat to a female friend to cat-sit while both of his parents battled serious illnesses and later died. Beacher wants the cat back.

SIGHTINGS

At the UFC event at MGM Grand Garden on Saturday: "Bionic Woman" Lindsay Wagner and "Girls Next Door" star Holly Madison.

THE PUNCH LINE

"California experienced another earthquake yesterday. California is the only state where you don't know what's going to bounce first -- the ground from the earthquake or the check you get from the government." - Jay Leno

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.