Legendary Las Vegas multi-hyphenate entertainer Danny Gans was known as “The Man of Many Voices,” a master impressionist who could glide from Sinatra to Springsteen to Seinfeld with uncanny precision.
To properly honor his late father, Andrew Davies Gans, wrote and directed “Voices: The Danny Gans Story,” a documentary that goes further than his stage persona, revealing the depth, discipline, and humanity behind the performer who became a Vegas institution.
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“Voices: The Danny Gans Story” will be featured at the Sedona International Film Festival at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, and 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Harkins Sedona 6, theater two.
The Sedona International Film Festival runs Saturday, Feb. 21, to Sunday, March 1.
“Bringing this film to Sedona feels deeply meaningful,” Andrew said.
“The spirit of the place invites a sense of reflection, presence and honesty, which mirrors my journey in making the film and honoring my father. The Sedona International Film Festival is a place where audiences truly show up for the stories and for the filmmakers. Sharing this film with them, in a packed theater, is something I find very moving and special.”
Through archival footage, backstage clips and interviews with family, friends, and fellow entertainers, the documentary traces Gans’ unlikely rise. The film, co-produced with Clare Tucker, follows him from his early days as a Minor League baseball player to his pivot into entertainment after an injury forced him off the field.
The injury was a blessing in disguise. It became the spark for a career that would eventually redefine the modern Vegas residency. Long before the Strip was dominated by megastars with multimillion‑dollar contracts, Gans proved that a single performer — armed with talent, charm, and a relentless work ethic — could anchor a room night after night.
“In creating this documentary, my aim was to provide a space for his voice to be heard once more, but also to grow closer to him, find closure, and the answers that would propel me forward in my life and career,” Andrew said.
“His story is a testament to human resilience, the power of ambition, and the enduring spirit of hope in the face of adversity.”
Cathartic project
“Voices: The Danny Gans Story” echoes the voice that continues to inspire, “reverberating through the life of the son he left behind.”
Gans performed six nights a week, taking a toll on his health and family, the film shows. The documentary also celebrates the joy he brought to audiences, “the generosity he showed to colleagues and the quiet spirituality that grounded him,” Andrew said.
Born in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Andrew splits his time between Pasadena, California and North Atlanta, Georgia. He returned to California because there were plenty of film production opportunities. Andrew called “Voices: The Danny Gans Story” “very bittersweet, very cathartic.”
“I feel very honored to be able to tell my dad’s story,” Andrew said. “I think over the course of making the film, that feeling grew. It started off as something that I felt needed to be made. I had this sense of urgency, but I wanted to make sure I was ready to make it.
“I didn’t want to cut any corners; I didn’t want it to be any less than what he deserved. I waited a little bit to make sure I could do it — and do it well. Then I approached my mom, and she gave me her blessing.”
Andrew said his mom was reluctant at first, however, because she’s “very protective of my dad. But, overall, she was very excited about the project and gave me her blessing.”
Producing the film came with challenges. The first round of interviews was conducted two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The production was shut down for a year. When the severity of the pandemic became apparent, all of Andrew’s investors pulled out.
“I was pretty much starting from zero, but I had a whole crew,” he added. “I had hours of interviews, but not quite enough material to start editing. I was at a very weird place.”
Filming eventually resumed with restrictions, which Andrew accepted because he wanted his crew to be safe. Another hurdle appeared: the strikes hit.
“Pretty much all of Hollywood shut down, and that made it very difficult to work,” Andrew said. “We just continued to run into little hurdles here and there, whether it was scheduling, people feeling safe during interviews, or masking up.
Andrew thought the project would take the standard 18 months to two years; the process took five years.
“A lot of different life things happened, too. I got married during the process of making the film, and we had two children. I had two children during the process of making this. I included all of this. However, at the beginning of the process — aside from all the setbacks and challenges — I quickly realized I was processing a lot of grief.
“I was getting the chance to know him better in a different way than I had before. When your parent passes away when you’re a teenager, you’ve really only had the opportunity to get to know them in a very small way.”
Getting to know ‘Danny Gans’
Andrew knew his father as a performer, but he didn’t understand his journey to the top of the Vegas ladder.
“I got a chance to get to know him as a full human being,” he said. “I got to know him as a man, a husband, a father, and better as a professional. His work ethic is very inspiring. He really prioritized his family and his work. There wasn’t a whole lot that existed outside of those two things. He had to isolate to prioritize those things.”
Adhering to his work ethic, Gans sacrificed friendships and vacation time, among other things, Andrew said. “He felt very obligated and very committed to his audience and to his band and to the people who worked for him, and, also, to us, his family.
“Ultimately, that’s why he ended up in Vegas. He wanted to stop traveling so much.”
When he died May 1, 2009, at the age of 52 in Henderson, Nevada, Andrew felt his father wasn’t properly honored. Las Vegas moved on “very quickly,” he added.
“He was not remembered,” he added. “He was not honored in the way that I felt he rightly deserved. It was a real shame. It really festered in me for a long time. Around the 10th year of his passing, my family and I were sitting at dinner, which we do every year on his birthday.
“I said we needed to do something. There should be a statue of dad. There should be a street named after him. I felt like I should make a movie about him. I threw it out there and, once I said it, it became more real. The world’s not going to wait around.”
Andrew said he hopes “Voices: The Danny Gans Story” makes audiences want to cry, feel a little uncomfortable, and evoke memories from their own backgrounds. He felt the same at times, but he had the challenge of sharing it on screen.
“I had the honor and the burden of ushering his legacy into this film, while honoring him,” he said. “But I’m also the director, and I had a responsibility to tell the story honestly and ethically. It made me stronger.
“I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to share his story. I’m proud of what the film became. I was just a young guy wanting to make a film about his dad’s life. Now, it’s a father-son story. It’s about family and grief, held together by my dad’s really compelling and inspiring underdog story.”
