Columnist Kate Maddox: ‘Phantom’ doused as ‘Storm’ reigns

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2001 | 8:13 a.m.

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

The multimillion-dollar Mandalay Bay production was rumored to be closing in the next six weeks, according to cast members, to make room for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." But one insider said the deal "just fell through" after weeks of "back-and-forth contract negotiations." Another source said "Phantom" didn't get the green light because of the costly business of closing one show and immediately opening another.

Most of the cast, many of whom were hit hard by post-Sept. 11 pay cuts, expect "Storm" to reign for at least six more months.

The producers of "Tease," the new musical moving into Blue Note Las Vegas, will attempt to skirt the issue of clothing requirements. Apparently the new theater, which just underwent a quickie $150,000 renovation, isn't zoned for topless entertainment.

The cast, mostly female singers plucked from various productions around town, will have give the illusion of nudity without actually going there. "It will definitely be sexy," producer David Saxe says. "But they're not actually going to show anything -- they'll wear pasties or something during the numbers."

Saxe adds, "Tease" is a titillating "musical comedy" with mostly original tunes. (Here's a preview: One number is a duet between a stripper and the man she's lap dancing. Charming.)

"Tease" and Insomnia, the post-performance nightclub which also sounds like a classy night out (evenings include Thursday's "Naughty Fashion Night," Friday's "Spanish Fly" event and a weekly Saturday party called "Gyration,") open Dec. 26.

Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates was just being a good mother when she took her two kids to New York City recently. Atkinson Gates merely wanted to show her 19-year-old son Brian the NYU campus -- the 15 minutes of fame he nabbed as a result were his own doing.

While wandering around lower Manhattan's Washington Square Park, Atkinson Gates noticed a bunch of hidden cameras, as well as undercover police officers. Concerned, the commissioner started to hustle her brood away from the area, certain they had just stumbled upon a drug bust. Just then, a woman in a bright red suit came out of nowhere and started dancing vivaciously through the throng of onlookers. To complete the very "New York minute" moment, the myterious high-octane singer grabbed Brian from the crowd and started to boogie with him.

Atkinson Gates says it was right around then that she realized the red-suited singer was none other than Macy Gray. A production crew for the Mountain Dew commercial Gray was shooting gave Atkinson Gates' son five bucks on the spot but promised him more if his impromptu dancing made the ad.

A few weeks later he got $500 in the mail and a contract -- now he makes money whenever his duo with Gray hits the airwaves.

One of Las Vegas' society doyennes married her longtime companion last week. Toni Clark, the widow of Desert Inn founder Wilbur Clark, tied the knot with her beloved of 28 years, Larry Finuf in a private ceremony.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, Channel 3's Kendall Tenney, Channel 8's Jon Summers and The Scintas are scheduled to eat live crickets with radio personalities Mark & Mercedes on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

The local celebs are trying to stay on KMXB 94.1-FM's "Survivor" island and apparently having crickets for breakfast is worth this, um, honor.