When Jason Tenner awoke on April 21, he was shocked to learn his life and career had changed abruptly, maybe forever. That was the day Prince was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.

As the frontman for one of Las Vegas’ favorite tribute acts, Purple Reign, Tenner was swiftly the focal point of dozens of phone messages and texts as the news of Prince’s death spread across the world. He was my first call out that day, and when we spoke he said, “I don’t know what to do, or what to say right now. I am stunned.”

That night, Tenner performed at the Westgate Cabaret, at 9 p.m. as scheduled. The 240-seat room was packed. At midnight, he returned to the stage, opening the walls on the side of the theater and playing a two-hour Prince jam session in street clothes. Again, the room was full, with fans spilling to the casino floor.

By April 23, Tenner’s show had moved into the big room, the International Theater, where Elvis, Liberace, Wayne Newton and Barry Manilow had headlined.

“During [Thursday afternoon] I already had a few conversations with the hotel and the people at [the show’s production company] Red Mercury, Carlos Reynoso, about moving into the theater,” Tenner said, mentioning the head of the Red Mercury production operation. “He got to work with the powers that be at the hotel to make sure it happened. It moved pretty quickly.”

About 900 fans turned out that night, and Purple Reign has been staged in that theater ever since.

Tenner, who began his career as a Prince tribute artist with a gig at the since-closed Tom & Jerry’s on Maryland Parkway in 1997, has bounced around the Valley, from the Beach on Convention Center Drive, 3121 Jazz Cuisine at the Rio (the auxiliary nightspot to Club 3121 when Prince headlined at the hotel), House of Blues, the Pub at Monte Carlo, assorted Station Casinos venues, Hooters, Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood, the D and, finally, Westgate. Purple Reign opened at the former Shimmer Cabaret in October 2014.

In an interview on my radio show, The Kats Report on KUNV 91.5-FM, a week after Prince’s death, Tenner was still trying to absorb the sudden shock to his career. “It’s been stressful. Emotional,” he said. “I didn’t eat for about two days. I didn’t sleep for more than three hours all week after hearing it. To look at the impact of his music and to be receiving all the messages in text, in my email inbox, on Twitter, has been really emotional.”

Prior to the death of the man the show was honoring, Purple Reign had been running at a consistent clip with few alterations. The show borrowed mostly from the artist’s Purple Rain period, particularly segments of that film. Events forced Tenner and the band to get back in the garage, as it were, to fine-tune what was being delivered at the Cabaret each night.

“We have gone back and watched the videos and have been studying the look and tightening the sound and the choreography, so we can put forth the absolute best of what we do,” Tenner said. “We’re looking at wardrobe, everything, and overhauling the show.”

The show has since been expanded from 70 minutes to 90, with the cut-in moment with Morris Day & The Time resurrected to full length. Tenner himself had performed as Day, but actor/singer Drew James has returned to the role (supported by Kendrick Harmon’s spot-on performance as sidekick Jerome Benton). The show continues with an appearance by Vanity, as performed by “Brina C.,” Sabrina Coleman.

Tenner did meet Prince on a couple of occasions, speaking to him once, at a gig in 1998 and also a late-night party at 3121, and calls those occasions “a strange moment, a private meeting.”

“I felt like, at the time, meeting an alien, or some otherworldly being, and he projected that,” Tenner said. “So, I mean, at this point I was very lucky to have talked to this person … I was very blessed to have met him.”

Twenty years on, Purple Reign has been performing for about half as long as the career of Prince himself. There’s certainly a renaissance happening, and who knows? Prince might become one of these long-running tribute figures in the same strata as Elvis, Cher, Madonna, Michael Jackson and others who have survived generations in Legends in Concert-styled shows.

“Everyone wants Prince at their party, at their casino, at their venue,” Tenner said. “We’ve been getting calls from arenas and things of that nature … But I am here to make sure his music, and his legacy, lives on in the right way.”

Purple Reign Wednesday-Saturday, 9 p.m., $20-$89. Westgate Las Vegas, 702-732-5111.