‘Superstars’ an easy sell for value

Monday, July 16, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

Who: "American Superstars"

When: 7 p.m. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays; 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Dark Thursdays

Where: Stratosphere's Theater of the Stars

Tickets: $41.75 adults. $30.95 children 5-12, $49.50 dinner package; 380-7777

In a town where casinos sell a 10-ounce bottle of water as if it were a precious metal, there are still a few entertainment bargains.

Producers Donny Moore and Mark Callas have managed to fight inflation with their no-frills, high-energy show "American Superstars."

"Superstars" debuted at the Stratosphere in 1996. The price of admission was $22.95. Today the basic price is $41.75.

Comparison: Impressionist Danny Gans also debuted at the Stratosphere in 1996, and his tickets were $29.50. Today, Gans is at the Mirage and tickets go for $100.

A lot of entertainment is packed into "Superstars," which opens with Darren Lee as Elvis, closes with Damian Brantley as Michael Jackson and in-between features such outstanding tribute artists as Chad Givens (Tim McGraw), Naomi Rodriguez (Christina Aguilera) and Kristie Fisher (Britney Spears).

The audience has so much fun that when the show is over half of them march out of the showroom dancing as the Village People's "YMCA" plays in the background.

The focus here is the performances rather than high-tech staging, and the formula seems to have the blessing of fans. The room was sold out on a recent Tuesday night, which is not uncommon even during the normally languid days of summer.

This is one of the biggest little shows in town - in addition to the cast of tribute artists there are five dancers, who may be the hardest working members of the show, and a very talented four-piece band under the direction of keyboardist Steve West.

There's something for everyone in "Superstars" - country, rock, pop.

Now there is Jason Tenner as Prince, but only occasionally. So if you're a huge fan you need to check with the ticket office to see whether he will be performing the night you plan to attend.

"The producers needed a swing person so people could take vacation," Tenner said.

He joined the cast last week to fill in for a vacationing Rodriguez. His last performance for this engagement was Sunday, but he will be back to substitute for other artists as needed.

You may be familiar with Tenner's work. For five years his band, Purple Reign - a play on the 1984 film and title song "Purple Rain" - was a popular attraction at the Boardwalk, which was razed last year to make room for CityCenter.

Since the demise of the Boardwalk, Tenner has been looking for his own room on the Strip, but until then Reign can be seen at 10 p.m. on Sundays at the House of Blues and 10 p.m. Wednesdays at the Monte Carlo.

And of course you can see Tenner without his Reign men in "Superstars," albeit a short version of Prince.

Purple Reign puts on a two-hour show. Tenner has an 11-minute slice of "Superstars," and he makes the most of it with such Prince tunes as "1999."

He's got the looks and the moves of Prince, a persona he has been honing for 10 years.

"I'm still working on it," Tenner said.

In the mid '90s he and some classmates from Valley High School in Las Vegas had a '70s-era funk and disco tribute show called The Mothership Connection.

Then on Halloween in 1996 Tenner attended a masquerade party at the Hard Rock. He dressed as Prince and fans wouldn't leave him alone. He was overwhelmed by the reaction.

"I thought, 'OK. This is Vegas. I'll give it a shot,' " Tenner said.

He spent the first six months watching video tapes.

"I watched Jimi Hendrix, because Prince is Jimi playing guitar," Tenner said. "He's James Brown dancing and he's Little Richard playing piano."

Tenner has met Prince, who abruptly ended a deal recently at the Rio where he had a showroom/restaurant.

"He's different," Tenner said. "Prince is Prince. It was kind of strange. I don't want to talk about it too much. But it was good. It's all good."

That pretty much sums up "American Superstars."