Columnist Kate Maddox: Tour a Supreme disappointment

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, July 11, 2000 | 9:09 a.m.

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

Proving the old adage "what goes around comes around," Diana Ross and her Supremes' "Return to Love Tour" has gotten the ax. After a stormy send-off -- which left both former group members and Supremes fans wondering, where the did the love go? -- the "reunion" was marked for doom from the get-go.

Ross was informed on Monday of the tour's cancellation, and in a statement she admitted that she was "severely disappointed." But one can almost hear the sigh of relief from former Supreme Mary Wilson, who was unceremoniously dumped from the reunion after financial tight-fistedness issues with the Supreme diva. Ross apparently thought that she alone had the name power to draw crowds across the country with just herself and her Supreme stand-ins, Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne. She was wrong.

The "new" Supremes were scheduled to roll into Las Vegas on Aug. 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Tickets were in the mid-to-stratospheric range, between $32.50 and $250. On Monday the MGM Grand had no comment on the cancellation -- entertainment executives had yet to hear the "official" word from promoters, who are still saying the rest of the 23-show tour will continue.

Recent cancellations of concerts in New York City and Washington, D.C., prompted the plug-pulling. At a June performance in Columbus, Ohio, reports had Supremes fans filling fewer than 3,000 seats in a 22,000-seat arena.

Bill Cosby is coming to Las Vegas next month. The comedian will play two nights at the Mandalay Bay Theater, Aug. 11-12.

This will be a rare appearance for the actor/comedian. Cosby, whose latest sitcom was recently canceled by CBS, doesn't hit the stand-up circuit all that much these days. Tickets for the show are slated for $55 and $70 and go on sale Friday.

I'm also hearing that one of the next acts to take the stage in August at Mandalay Bay will be Isaac Hayes of "Shaft" fame. For you late bloomers who are fuzzy on the '70s, let me give you another ID: Hayes also is the voice of Chef on "South Park."

The Crazy Girls are steamed. The ladies of the Riviera hotel-casino's topless revue plan to boycott a local cab company. Seems that the Nellis Cab Co., which for years ran the Girls' risque ads without complaint, has decided to drop the cheeky campaign from the backsides of its cabs.

A total of 105 signs were recently removed from the taxis, making the girls a little hot under the collar. The topless stunners plan to picket Nellis' offices. As for whether they're successful, we'll have to wait and see, but at least they'll be getting to the bottom of things.

David Cassidy, who along with partner Don Reo produces the recently canceled "The Rat Pack is Back" show at the Sahara, returned from vacation this week optimistic about the future of the tribute show. Seems that offers are coming in from Strip hotels and one "major player property" in Atlantic City, as well as from overseas.

"People are flying in from all over to see it," said the star of the Rio's "At The Copa" with Sheena Easton. "We're looking at a lot of different options right now."

Cassidy, who would like to see the show keep its current cast, is willing to entertain offers from anyone who can promise the "Rat Pack" a long-term commitment and keep the small-room intimacy that the show needs to work its charm.

Cassidy also said that the split with the Sahara was something he and the cast knew was coming for quite some time and it wasn't because of lack of popularity. "The fact is," Cassidy said, "despite the clientele at the Sahara, the show was still pulling in $15,000 to $20,000 in profits each week."