Columnist Kate Maddox: Jackson forges a magical link

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000 | 8:46 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

See, I don't care what everybody else says, Michael Jackson is just a regular guy. Sure, he likes to wear surgical masks, fake beards, sparkling gloves and penny loafers, but when he just wants to play it normal, he makes a visit to Vegas to see who else but Regular Joe magicians, Siegfried and Roy.

On Saturday the so-called King of Pop and his entourage went to see his longtime friends at the Mirage. Needless to say, the sold-out audience was more than a little surprised to see Jackson walk into the S&R Theater with his children, Prince, 3, and Paris, 2, holding daddy's hands.

After the show Siegfried and Roy welcomed their old buddy backstage and looked on while the Gloved One fulfilled a dream of touching a white tiger. Jackson was "formally introduced" to 600-pound Pride. Jackson was enthralled with the beast and stroked his tail (hey, I know where you're going ... it was for luck, people, luck).

When all of the ruckus died down, Jackson held a private conversation with the Magicians of the Century to discuss business plans. The trio might soon be involved in a mutual project -- no word yet on what sort of deal might be in the works, but again, they're just regular guys, normal as they come, shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary -- right?

The Hard Rock hotel-casino was one of the places to spot stars this weekend. Lenny Kravitz jammed to a packed house Friday night with stars including Jerry O'Connell (of "Jerry Maguire" and "Scream 2" fame -- although to me he'll always be the fat kid from "Stand By Me"), Drew Carey (a holdover from Thursday night's Weird Al Yankovic show at the Joint), Alan Thicke, Danny Gans, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dean Cain and Jerry Bruckheimer (who is at work on the much-anticipated film, "Pearl Harbor" and whose chicks-in-a-bar flick "Coyote Ugly" hits theaters Friday).

Thicke, Cain and Gooding were in town for Bruckheimer's Bad Boys of Hockey game, which the producer holds annually with a handful of celebs and NHL players. Also here for the game, and staying at the Hard Rock, were Scott Wolf and Kiefer Sutherland, (who held court in the VIP section of Studio 54 at the MGM on Saturday night).

O'Connell is in town to shoot scenes for "Tomcats," -- an upcoming movie about a group of young bachelors who must marry off a friend in order to win a bet and avoid financial ruin. The movie is being filmed this week at the hipster Hard Rock.

O'Connell stars along with Jake Busey (a dead ringer for his dad Gary,) Horatio Sanz of "Saturday Night Live" fame, Shannon Elizabeth and model-turned-actress Jaime Pressly. Comedian Bill Maher makes a cameo in the movie on Wednesday.

Pressly spent her day off on Saturday filming a new MTV show at Studio 54. The young actress is the host of "The Lowdown," which is being touted as a made-for-TV men's magazine, along the same lines as Maxim or Stuff -- both testosterone-enhanced, must-reads for men between the ages of 18-45.

Producer Wayne Baruch has maintained a positive attitude about the closing of "Notre Dame de Paris," which had its final performance on Saturday at the Paris hotel-casino.

Despite swirling rumors of hotel hostility and money troubles, Baruch insists that there were no hard feelings and that financially, things with the cast, crew and hotel are squared away. Baruch also said he intends to look for another place for his Hunchback adaptation and he would welcome the chance to work with the same "talented and devoted" cast and crew that he had the opportunity to work with here in Vegas.