Columnist Kate Maddox: Goulet joins C2K melodrama

Kate Maddox

Friday, May 11, 2001 | 8:55 a.m.

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

To get a little Seinfeld-ian for a minute: What is the deal with C2K?

The club/showroom has had troubles from the start and just when the dust begins to settle on one scandal, it creates another.

H & H of Nevada operates the C2K Showroom, which is home to Andre-Philippe Gagnon and Melinda, the First Lady of Magic (and once upon a time to that nightmare of a production, "Nebulae.") But Gagnon is being squeezed out, Melinda is going big guns and Robert Goulet is moving in.

This week Melinda finally agreed to a deal that will add two more 8:30 p.m. performances, bringing her weekly tally to 10. Gagnon, however, is still fighting his schedule reduction -- unsuccessfully, it appears.

H & H, although in the middle of "conversations" with Gagnon, recently released a memo to ticket brokers and the Venetian box office stating that Gagnon would begin a three-nights-per-week schedule at the end of this month. One source says the impressionist will only be able to perform Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. And, yes, he's still being forced to use the basement loo as a dressing room. Yikes.

Gagnon's camp has remained relatively quiet, perhaps under the impression that saying anything would mean having to decipher the odd behavior of their landlords at H & H. Can't say I blame them.

However, Gagnon's handlers did release this petit statement: "While we're going through peculiar times with the management of C2K, Andre-Philippe Gagnon feels a personal affinity to the Venetian hotel." H & H says the new schedule is a done deal but it looks forward to a long relationship with Gagnon.

As for Goulet, he's close to finalizing an eight-week deal in the Showroom slated for the summer. Melinda and Gagnon will cancel shows to accommodate King Arthur.

One Las Vegas resident might be taking a cue from multimillionaire and part-time astronaut, Dennis Tito.

Robert Bigelow is rumored to be in talks with foreign governments to negotiate a deal that would blast him into the final frontier. Bigelow, who made his millions as owner of the Budget Suites hotel chain (among other ventures), has been obsessed with the Beyond for the past several years and has reportedly been saying that he is planning to follow in Tito's footsteps. If you recall, Tito forked over about $20 million to tag along with Russian cosmonauts and urged others in his billionaire boys' club to do the same.

Bigelow is said to be looking outside the U.S., since NASA strongly opposed the kind of space tourism that Tito touted upon his return to our atmosphere. Bigelow is still trying to develop Translunar Cruise Ships, a company that will take guests to the moon.

Affleck's back. Before beginning the cycle of TV talk shows, interviews and touring that actors must endure prior to the release of a new flick, Ben Affleck let off some steam at the tables. And lost. Again.

The "Pearl Harbor" heartthrob reportedly blew $50,000 at the Bellagio, according to the New York Daily News. He was also spotted losing at the Mirage.

Another chic nightspot on the Strip? Say it isn't so.

SEVEN (the name, not how many) opens on the Strip this summer in the space once occupied by the Country Star restaurant. The "ultra-hip, ultra-modern, blah, blah, blah" spot will feature an outdoor patio, zero-gravity waterfall and fire torches. SEVEN will also take advantage of the bed-as-couch concept popularized by V Bar, so guests can recline while they schmooze. (Personally, I find I spill more drinks down the front of my best party clothes when forced to drink in the lounge position.)

But for the glamtastic, dribble-free types, SEVEN sounds cool. It will open this summer.