Entertainer Dane determined to build his castle in Las Vegas

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006 | 7:16 a.m.

Danish entertainer Tom Dane (real name Thomas Eje) lives in a castle in Denmark, complete with a moat, his spokesman says.

Well, what's a castle without a moat?

He owns a few Bentleys, the publicist points out, which indicates Dane's pretty successful in his homeland, where he has performed for more than 25 years.

Actor. Voice-over specialist. Musician. Comedian. Writer. Impressionist.

A testament to his popularity in Denmark was the more than 200 Danes who came to his two performances last week at the Suncoast, where he self-produced a couple of showcases in hopes of establishing himself in Las Vegas - a dream he has had for many years.

The Danes weren't expatriates - about 150 of them flew here from Denmark specifically to see him perform. The remainder were from all parts of the United States, in this country for other reasons but deciding to take the opportunity to catch their favorite entertainer.

Others attended the showcases, but none was as enthusiastic as Dane's Danish fans, who gave him several standing ovations.

Whether those were deserved is a matter of opinion.

Dane is, without a doubt, a polished performer. He is a musical genius who plays more than a dozen instruments, including bassoon, banjo, trombone, fiddle, saxophone and acoustic guitar.

He can even play his thumbs.

And, of course, piano - he is a piano virtuoso who calls the Danish comedian/pianist Victor Borge one of his inspirations. Dane also has a fine voice and good comedic timing.

But his impressions left something to be desired.

Some of them - John Denver, for example - were totally unrecognizable. Others were barely on the mark. Perhaps the impressions are somehow lost in the translation - maybe when he does them in his native tongue they sound more like who they are supposed to sound like.

Dane is performing in a city where some of the best impressionists in the world reside - Rich Little, Babe Pier, Danny Gans, Gordie Brown, Bill Acosta.

They set a high standard, and if Dane's going to perform in Las Vegas as an impressionist he is going to be compared to the best. So, he needs to focus on the voices that he can do well and forget the others.

Some of his humor also may have been lost in translation. Dane has lived in Las Vegas for two years and seems determined to make it here. Based on his past successes, he certainly has the potential.

If he would hire a couple of comedy writers to give him material that works better here, down play the impressions and focus on his musical genius, he should be able to afford a moat in no time.