Columnist Kate Maddox: Golden performers get golden chance

Kate Maddox

Sunday, May 14, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

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

There's a little bit of buzz on the Las Vegas entertainment scene surrounding the return of some old-school acts and new venues.

Over at the currently dark Mandalay Bay theater one of the quintessential musicals of all time will make a brief stop during a 100-city national tour. "Annie" will take the stage from June 14-18; tickets went on sale Friday.

(Why they let that place stay empty most of the time is the $64,000 question -- are the casinos doing so well they don't need the entertainment?)

Jerry Lewis will follow up his successful appearance at the Orleans in April with a return to the stage in September, just three days after his mega-telethon for MDA. Lewis, who has recently had some trouble in the press and on the homefront -- his stalker was jailed last week after more threats -- will hopefully continue to enjoy the creature comforts of his hometown crowds when he returns to the Orleans Sept. 7-10.

Steve Wynn is hoping that the popularity of old-time entertainers will draw them in at the Desert Inn when he takes over. Wynn reportedly sent his good friend, crooner Paul Anka, to check out the sound system and the acoustics at the hotel's Crystal Showroom, long before the deal to buy the property was completed. Hoping to cash in on the resurgence of the "golden years," headliners like Anka, Tony Bennett and Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme are all lined up to work for Wynn at his newest venture.

Lark Williams' outfit at Thursday night's "Battlefield Earth" premiere already included an $8,000 necklace once worn by Jennifer Aniston. But the people at the Ca'd'Oro jewelry store, who donated the piece, thought that Williams still looked a little bare. So they did what any accommodating jeweler would do -- they threw in some earrings. The $8,000 pair had also been worn by Aniston at one point (not even going to speculate on the whole hygiene issue, just assume they were polished-up clip-ons) and matched the necklace, natch.

Williams partied the night away after the premiere (the movie was bad, and I'm being kind) donning $16,000 worth of jewels and not a security guard in sight.

Things at the Las Vegas division of the FBI have been pretty slow of late. Seems that with most of the papers and local newscasts filled with tales of the Binion trial, our local agents have been getting a nice break.

The office usually gets about 70-80 media inquiries a month on anything from bank robberies to search warrants to organized crime, but last month during the height of the trial, calls fell off by 50 percent to a mere 35. Although the agents admit to enjoying the respite, they're gearing up for things to return to normal after the verdict.

Geraldo Rivera comes to town this week to shoot part of a documentary for NBC News. Although the topic is still under wraps, the project is part of a series that Rivera does for the network -- his deal allows him three to four news specials a year. The crew from his nightly CNBC show, "Rivera Live," has to therefore pick up and follow their host to his documentary destinations. "Rivera Live" will shoot Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights here in Las Vegas.

According to next week's Star magazine, wacked-out bride Angelina Jolie spent a few days in an L.A. psychiatric ward just before her last-minute nuptials to Billy Bob Thornton. Citing exhaustion due to a tumultuous cross-country drive (Thornton hates to fly) with her betrothed, Jolie apparently checked herself in for a three-day stay -- only to check herself out and hightail it here 24 hours later to get hitched.

If there's any justice in the world, millionaire ex-bride Darva Conger will stop in Vegas to promote her recent Playboy spread. Conger, who has already done her posing -- for an alleged $400,000 -- is currently setting up a promotional tour schedule. Let's hope this bid to get her privacy back helps her on the road to achieving a "normal" life once again.