Columnist Kate Maddox: Show rumor sealed with Kiss

Kate Maddox

Friday, May 4, 2001 | 9:05 a.m.

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

There were few things that scared me more as a child than the band Kiss. (The Wicked Witch, the Incredible Hulk, clowns, painted faces of any kind -- you get the point.) So I probably won't be at the concert the band is rumored to be planning in Las Vegas.

According to a well-placed Kiss insider, the metal rockers in all their middle-aged glory are organizing yet another farewell gig. Apparently they feel Vegas is the best place (read: most profitable) to kiss off live concerts once and for all.

Management for the group is reportedly seriously considering using one of the Strip's largest venues for a pay-per-view special it promises will be the this-is-it, we're-hanging-it-up-now Kiss event of a lifetime.

One source who worked on the band's most recent tour and also heard the pay-per-view news, says Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, a frequent Vegas visitor, is dead-set on having Sin City be the scene of the band's final, final, and really, final resting place.

The Lili Claire-UNLV Life Skills Center is still benefitting from Saturday's auction/show/party at the Mirage, which raised more than $300,000. Danny Gans donated a classic car and gave it away to unsuspecting audience member Audrey Levinson during the charity performance -- but she gave it back.

Now comes word that Levinson's prize, a mint-condition 1955 Chevy Bel Air, will indeed go up for auction online with the profits going right back to the Lili Claire Foundation. Call it paying it forward.

KVBC Channel 3 will host the bid-a-thon and feature the car in newscasts over the next couple of weeks. Check out kvbc.com for details.

Recent backstage bickering at the Flamingo Las Vegas has elevated to feud level. The affable crew of "The Best of Bottoms Up" is having turf issues with the management and cast from "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus."

The two shows run almost back-to-back, the topless "Bottoms" takes the stage in the afternoon and "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" goes on in the early evening, so time spent by either company in a shared meeting and changing area is crucial. The earlier show got mad when a bossy "Men Are From Mars" manager told them to clear out early one too many times.

Now nobody's speaking, threats are flying and hotel management has had to step in to control the situation.

"I guess you could say I had to run interference," Flamingo Vice President of Marketing Randy Sears said. "The meetings ("Men Are From Mars") were holding in the backstage area got tempers flaring."

Presently, however, things have yet to be settled. One cast member said there's a "you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone" attitude circulating.

"Everyone's jockeying for power and using that tiny space to do it. It's really pathetic," said the snitch, who claims to be fed up with the grade-school antics.

This squabble is just the more bad news for "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." Last week Wendy Talley, who plays Frances in the show, got the boot for being tardy and the troubled production is currently on its fourth company manager. The last three have reportedly quit in huffs after battling with producer Billy Cohen.

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