Columnist Kate Maddox: Plug pulled on Electra event

Kate Maddox

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 9:44 a.m.

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

It looks like Carmen Electra might not be shakin' it at the Aladdin after all. The news conference scheduled for today to announce her new production show at the hotel has been abruptly canceled.

A spokesman for the Aladdin cited the busy holiday season as the reason for the cancellation, but added that things were merely postponed. However, others with inside knowledge of the Electra gig aren't so sure the show will be happening at all.

One source said the hotel simply doesn't have the funds to snag the former Playboy covergirl. The Aladdin has been struggling financially of late, and a production show with a big(ish) name star would certainly put a strain on things.

As for show happenings at Mandalay Bay, one insider says "don't believe everything you've been reading" about the hotel's hush-hush, in-the-works production. Rumor had it that Ricky Martin was producing a new Latin-themed musical, but now I'm hearing otherwise. The entertainment department may have taken things in a new direction. All the source would say is that "something big is coming," but the rumors about Martin "are not true."

This is one of those tricky items where I said I would be vague, so I'm going code. Bear with me.

There's a little guy with a big name playing the Strip on Saturday night. Rock royalty, got it? So, this performer has a habit of sometimes following his concerts with small club shows. And he's going to do it here.

If you're club-hopping late on Saturday, make sure you stop by a few of the more popular hotel night spots. Pay your cover and you just might get a special treat if the singer in question decides to follow through on his promise to entertain some of the fans who weren't able to get tickets to his sold-out show.

He's better than any rave-slinging DJ anyway. Why, I can think of at least 54 of his songs that I'd love to hear on a Saturday night.

Guns 'n Roses reuniting on the Strip? Well, not quite. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who your faves were), Axl Rose will be the only original G'nR member onstage New Year's Eve at the House of Blues. Rose will be joined by Dizzy Reed, who was brought on in 1990, so he kind of counts, but he's no Slash. (Reed, after all, plays keyboards.)

The good news is that Rose has managed to gather a decent band for this first G'nR concert in seven years. One insider says there might be as many as three guitarists on the House of Blues stage, plus two sets of drums and Replacements bass player Tommy Stinson to accompany the oft-screeching Rose.

The bad news is getting tickets will be tough. Advance tickets went on sale online earlier this week and sold out in a hurry. The rest go on sale today at 3 p.m.

And for those VIPs out there hoping to snag pricey space in the HOB's luxury listening suites, you're outta luck. The band already has dibs.

Just how scary is Robert Goulet? For a sneak peek into the Broadway star's Las Vegas world, check out Joel Stein's column in the Dec. 4 issue of Time magazine.

In this ode to Goulet's weirdness, Stein details a budding pen-pal relationship with the singer/actor, as well as Goulet's fondness for "On Golden Pond" oil paintings, spontaneously breaking into song, shamelessly flirting with the wait staff at swank Vegas eateries and continuously referring to Stein as "Kid."

Odd? Sure. But it's Goulet, who Stein reverently calls "... the biggest person I'd ever met -- an Ali in a sea of Wayne Newtons." Enough said.