Columnist Kate Maddox: Copperfield reappears at MGM

Kate Maddox

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 9 a.m.

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

Like most of the Circus Maximus regulars, magician David Copperfield has had to look elsewhere in Las Vegas for a home for his disappearing act. Copperfield, who for years worked the stage at the soon-to-be-defunct Caesars showroom, would have been out of luck come September when the old stage closes its doors to make room for high-roller villas. But Copperfield isn't going to give up on Vegas, he's just going to move his gig to the MGM.

Copperfield will unveil a brand-new show at the MGM's Hollywood Theater in late August. Titled "Unknown Dimension," the show will include new stunts and routines. Copperfield, one of the world's most famous magicians, hopes his new Strip home will bring in the sellout crowds he had at Circus Maximus.

And with only 630 seats in the Hollywood Theater, the audience should have a much more up-close-and-personal opportunity to watch the magician do his thing -- the setting will be infinitely more intimate than the 1,000-seat Circus Maximus.

Copperfield will be at the MGM Aug. 24-30. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

For all the griping that current and former KVBC Channel 3 employees have been doing about their boss, station owner Jim Rogers, they can't say the guy isn't generous -- at least to others.

Rogers, who owns Sunbelt Communications (which owns KVBC and eight other TV stations around the country), was listed at No. 12 on Time magazine's list of the top 12 philanthropists of the technology boom. The hands-on bossman, who has been rumored to set strict regulations on newsroom behavior, has given or pledged $208.7 million to charity. Most of the beneficiaries have been universities, including UNLV.

Rogers rounds out the list, which includes MGM honcho Kirk Kerkorian at No. 10 with $250 million, media giant Ted Turner at No. 3 with $1.385 billion (that's with a "b" there, folks,) and the giver of givers, Bill Gates, at No. 1 with $22 billion. The impressively humbling list is in the July 24 issue of Time.

There are a few scheduled celebrity guests slated to attend tonight's boxing match at the Regent Las Vegas. The World Boxing Federation's No. 1 heavyweight, David Tua, will take on Robert Daniels in the hotel's Grand Ballroom, and spectators are looking to see the infamous Tua score a quick K.O.

Among the famous types who've asked for tickets to the almost sold-out event are: Andre Agassi, Garry Shandling, Mario Lopez, Judd Nelson, Mark Wahlberg, Serena and Venus Williams, Ice-T, Pat O'Brien, Robert Goulet and Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

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