Columnist Kate Maddox: Episode at Ra burns Deep Dish

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 8:27 a.m.

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

Sean "Puffy" Combs' reach apparently stretches as far as the Strip. This weekend P. Diddy reportedly wanted to go clubbing with a rather large posse of pals in tow, so his people called some people and those people called their people and soon Puffy and his people were grooving at Ra, the nightclub at Luxor.

Trouble was, it was electronica night and hundreds of club-goers were raving on to Deep Dish, a popular techno DJ team that is just about as hot as it gets on the nightclub dance circuit right now.

But Puff Daddy couldn't get with them.

After complaining to management about the need to hear freestyle hip-hop ASAP, the Puffster was apparently about to walk out on Deep Dish when the DJs got the boot and Puffy and Co. got their rap.

Deep Dish, which can command $25,000-$30,000 per club appearance, was reportedly less than pleased that a Vegas nightspot filled with hundreds of happy customers would bow to celebrity demands.

One club promoter argued that Puff Daddy wasn't even in the house this weekend and re-told the story, substituting a group of NFL players for the rapper and his people. The promoter added that Deep Dish merely "took a break" from its scheduled spinning to accommodate the hip-hop request.

Cast members and stage crew from "Chicago" are chatting on the Internet about preparations for the upcoming production's second coming in Las Vegas.

Seems the deal is set for the musical to play the Venetian (in the C2K Showroom) for six months. Word is producers are trying to keep the musical down to 90 minutes in order to accommodate the Showroom's schedule -- when "Chicago" ran at Mandalay Bay it was 2 hours, 45 minutes, with intermission. Insiders are also saying there will be no "A-listers" in the new version -- unlike last its last run when such stars as Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Marilu Henner, Hal Linden and Jasmine Guy rotated in and out of starring roles.

The ax is falling at Las Vegas CityLife and Las Vegas Business Press. Late last week CityLife Senior Editor Hugh Jackson was let go, reportedly because of budgetary cutbacks. And Jeff Burbank, a senior reporter at the Business Press, was also handed his walking papers.

Both Burbank and Jackson were two of the highest-paid writers at the publications and speculation is that was the reason they were among the first to be unceremoniously dumped. Staffers at CityLife, which is a weekly alternative newspaper, and the Business Press are reportedly minding their p's and q's. Rumor has it more employees are scheduled to be let go as the cutbacks continue. Both publications are owned by Arizona-based Wick Communications.

Remember that mint condition 1955 Chevy Bel Air that Danny Gans donated to the Lili Claire Foundation benefit back in May? Well the car, which was won in a drawing by local attorney Audrey Levinson, is now up for auction, with proceeds going directly to the charity.

If you recall, Levinson just happened to be sitting in the lucky seat when Gans read the winning number during his benefit performance. And, in an act of paying it forward, Levinson turned around and donated the $50,000 show car back to the Lili Claire Foundation.

Details were worked out to get the car, one of several lovingly restored by Gans, on the auction block. KVBC Channel 3 is helping the cause by posting information and a link to the ebay website on kvbc.com.

As of Monday the Chevy was still up for grabs at $20,000. The auction ends Friday.