Columnist Kate Maddox: Smith, Theron land on Fairway

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

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

Will Smith and Charlize Theron were just two of the celebrities hitting the links Monday for VH1's annual Fairway to Heaven celebrity golf tournament. Smith and Theron added some star power, but usual Fairway suspects rocker and tourney champ Alice Cooper and actor Joe Pesci were sorely missed, replaced with kinder, gentler types such as Jane Seymour (snore) and Hootie and the Blowfish (double snore).

Smith and Theron were on hand to play and promote their upcoming flick, "The Legend of Bagger Vance," but all tall/blond Theron managed to do was rile up her fans. Along with her mother, Gerda, Theron vigorously wagged her finger in the faces of autograph hounds and marched off ahead of the pack.

Smith wasn't exactly Mr. Personality himself. The star of "Men in Black" and "Independence Day" was all smiles from afar in flashy knickers and argyle socks, but no one could make it past his imposing bodyguard, who was also done up in goofy old-school golfing attire.

Smith avoided most of the fans, photographers and press. Maybe he'd just heard the stories out of Hollywood stating his Muhammad Ali biopic is about to get the ax. Seems the film, for which Smith has been relentlessly training, is well on its way to being over budget, and Sony Pictures Entertainment plans to pull the plug before the movie even finishes filming.

And Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean, who last year was chased around the course by a staggering posse of pre-teens, got a taste of the other end of the popularity spectrum. No security required this time around for McLean, the only Backstreet-er to make it to this year's tournament.

Rounding out the celebrity list were Damon Wayans, Scott Wolf, Alfonso Ribero, Bon Jovi's Tico Torres, David Bryan, Brandford Marsalis, Dweezil Zappa, Lisa Loeb, Bret Michaels of Poison, ESPN's Dan Patrick, and pro golfers such as Craig Stadler, Jim Colbert, Gary Nicklaus and Jim Thorpe.

VH1's Fairway to Heaven is scheduled to air on the music channel (Cox cable channel 33) Nov. 11.

Looks like the next inhabitant of the Mandalay Bay Theatre is going to be a Latin-themed musical called "Storm." True to rumor, former Menudo poster boy Ricky Martin will be involved with the show, which is being produced by his business partners.

There is no opening date at this point, but insiders suspect things will be up and running by early next year. A spokeswoman for Mandalay Bay would only confirm that "Storm" is indeed the front-runner for the theater, but insisted that there is "nothing concrete" to date.

Seattle grunge Pearl Jam, which performs at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, plans to throw a 10th anniversary party while in town. Eddie Vedder and company have invited their rock 'n' roller VIP guests to the bash at Mandalay Bay's exclusive House of Blues Foundation Room, immediately following the concert.

Even though things look rough for the future of the Las Vegas-based musical showcase Emerging Artists & Talent in Music (EAT'M), the principals are still planning to put on the event next year.

"It will be something the lawyers will have to take a look at," says EAT'M publicist Jo-Ann Geffen. "But we have confidence that things will be back in our hands by the first quarter of 2001."

Geffen speculates that the possibility of getting the showcase together by June, when EAT'M usually takes place, doesn't seem feasible and instead the producers are looking toward October 2001.

The company that bought the music festival, Solutions Media Inc., went bust last week. The original investors are hoping to reacquire EAT'M if it comes up for sale as a result of Solutions' bankruptcy.