Columnist Kate Maddox: S&R make a Darren move

Kate Maddox

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 8:59 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at 259-2309 or kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

Word has it Darren Romeo is about to launch his new Siegfried & Roy-backed show on the Strip. The twentysomething Romeo has been waiting patiently for more than a year to get back onstage, and now it appears his magic/music showcase will open as soon as February.

Romeo, who performed privately for musical maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber in October at The Mirage, is staying tight-lipped on the details of "Siegfried & Roy Present Darren Romeo." "Yes, we are in intensive rehearsals," Romeo said. "And let's just say that when Siegfried & Roy are committed to something, they do it."

The illusionists are said to be playing a very active role in their protege's production -- both attend every rehearsal and amend or revise each scene. Siegfried even canceled his annual December vacation plans to be with Romeo while the finishing touches are completed. Rumor has it longtime Las Vegas musician Pat Caddick will also be attached to the project.

Romeo got lucky after being noticed by S&R in June of last year -- just before his split with Flamingo Las Vegas. Since then Romeo's career has been in the hands of the magicians, manager Bernie Yuman and producer Kenneth Feld.

Good thing the raucous bachelor party that CART racer Dario Franchitti had here in November didn't upset his nuptial plans. On Wednesday the hunky Scottish speedster wedded actress Ashley Judd, but loose-lipped locals are still telling stories about Franchitti's Vegas party. Perhaps because it was thrown by two pals who know a thing or two about our city's best places to blow off steam. Las Vegans Paul Tracy and Jimmy Vasser, also CART drivers, were behind the weekend-long bachelor buh-bye. No word whether it was deemed safe enough for the duo to attend the wedding.

On Tuesday the New York Post's Page Six ran a blind item asking which "top actress" seduced her Vegas co-star by "slipping him her room key while he was gambling in a casino." The actress then told the actor in question to come up to her room in a half hour -- to which he replied, "Make that 15 minutes."

Well, the answer is a no-brainer to the numerous Bellagio spies who kept an eye on George Clooney and Julia Roberts during the filming of "Ocean's Eleven." The duo reportedly went somewhere north of friendship after just a week or two in town, according to hotel insiders. Apparently, Roberts' big worry wasn't about bagging notorious flirt Clooney, but rather keeping then-boyfriend Benjamin Bratt in the dark about her Vegas winnings.

Don't expect hotel-hopping to be any easier this New Year's Eve. Despite what will no doubt be a kindler, gentler (read: emptier) Las Vegas celebration, I'm hearing the FBI has already issued strict guidelines for the festivities. Most hotels have reportedly gotten word to be on high alert.

And if you don't want to deal with all that New Year's fuss, or you're content with being a mousey homebody, stick with the Top. Carrot Top gives AMC (Cox cable channel 78) a tour of his Las Vegas bachelor pad on the 29th floor of MGM Grand. Scott Thompson (I know, their real names are always dull. Hello, Elton John? Reginald Dwight, ladies and gentlemen.) spends a good part of the year living in his Vegas suite. The segment, part of a "Behind the Screen" special, airs on New Year's Eve.