In Voices we get a son’s perspective of his famous father, that father being Danny Gans, singer, comedian and impressionist.
He was known for his Las Vegas residencies (awarded Show of the Year for 10 straight years) and for his Christian faith.
He died suddenly at the age of just 52 in 2009, from an accidental overdose of painkillers.
Now his son, Andrew, has made this film to tell his father’s story in the hope of gaining closure for the family and inspiration for others.
It’s a documentary and biography that’s very interesting even if you have never heard of Danny Gans (I’m in the UK – I hadn’t).
It’s deeply vulnerable due to the director’s closeness to his subject, and exudes love. Andrew Davies Gans just wanted more time with his father. Not the entertainer, but the man he knew at home.
It isn’t a film that starts with birth and moves to death. It jumps from moment to moment of snatched memories, interview snippets, and footage.
Danny Gans had a lot of talent from the clips shown here, especially in his vocal impressions, but he was also a committed family man, a devout Christian, and a man who changed career from baseball to comedy to achieve great local recognition.
I enjoyed seeing how this performer grew through his career, eventually getting a theatre named after himself with 95% sell-outs.
He did one show for six years straight. People seemed to love him. The tone of Voices feels like Danny Gans was on the cusp of international stardom when it was all cut short.
Andrew Gans chooses to add some odd animated reconstructions of the night of his dad’s death, and I’m not sure they added much, but I feel this aspect of Voices must have been cathartic for the family.
More effective is the commentary on this artist who sought perfection and polish in his performances. Danny Gans’s family, friends and colleagues seem to have happy memories and footage of his performances show an enthusiastic crowd.
I quite like these small-scale documentaries that shed light on artists whose lives were cut so short.
Voices: The Danny Gans Story showed at Dances With Films this year.