Columnist Kate Maddox: Jimmy Hopper springs out of Luxor

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

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

What looked like a long run at the Luxor for entertainer Jimmy Hopper ended abruptly after only six weeks on Monday. Hopper, who prefers the title "vocal interpreter" rather than "impressionist," made a big move from the Rio's VooDoo Lounge to the Showroom at Ra -- leaving behind the stigma of "lounge singer" -- and moving up the ranks to showroom headliner.

Hopper's wife and manager, Sally Hopper, said that his decision to part ways with the Luxor was due to inflexibility with performance times. Hopper was playing the club hours before it opened to the late-night crowd. He had hoped for a later start time in order to bring in a younger, hipper audience to his eclectic show -- Hopper's impressions range from opera to rock and many places in between. However, the hotel wouldn't budge on the time slot.

But it seems that the real turning point came when Hopper was approached with an offer from another property. With that on the table, the singer was inclined not to renew with the Luxor for a 20-week extension option.

Sally Hopper says that on the whole, "the hotel was cool. Jimmy was cool. And we had a very positive experience with everyone there," but "the room didn't lend itself to live entertainment." A spokeswoman for the hotel would only say that Hopper had signed on for a "limited engagement" and that they had come to the "end of the agreement" with him.

Look for Hopper and his band to turn up at another Strip property very shortly -- with his own showroom and an earlier start time.

The man might be a billionaire, but he's not a stuffy rich guy. In fact, he's the life of the party. Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson put on quite a bash Friday night at the Bennett Ranch to celebrate Virgin's new Las Vegas-to-London nonstop flights. Not only did the daredevil Brit personally greet his guests upon their arrival, but he was also the last to leave the dance floor hours later -- he was spotted getting down with not one but four lovely ladies. Branson also entertained his guests by supplying free helicopter tours of the Strip, a performance of the Blue Man Group, two full bands, ice sculpture performance art, the Flying Elvi, Robin Leach (OK, he's everywhere) and food by Spago (which even got into the Vegas-meets-London theme by serving traditional English dishes). Imagine what this guy could do if he had his own casino to play with.

I'm not a big fan of the whole '70s thing (mainly because I don't remember them), but those who were a part of feathered-hair-and-bell-bottoms scene seem to stay pretty attached to the era. Just ask David Cassidy.

The singer and former teen idol threw the Totally Groovy '70s Polyester Ball at the Rio on Sunday to help raise money for Cassidy's KidsCharities.org program. Cassidy and a crowd of about 400 partyers turned out in their finest polyester to jam to Boogie Knights and watch Shirley Jones bust a move. Another highlight included Cassidy's wife, Sue, donning a vintage Cassidy jumpsuit rescued from storage. In fact, the rhinestone-studded jumpsuit (words that only emphasize the reason why '70s style has yet to make a return to fashion runways) was the very same ensemble worn by Cassidy when he performed at London's Wembley Stadium back in the '70s.

The charity event also included an auction emceed by Leach (him again). Items that weren't picked up at the party can be found at yahoo.com's charity auction website.

On an Australian television program this week, Las Vegas' Jerry Lewis dropped a surprise bomb by announcing that this fall he would direct a Robin Williams film project.