Columnist Kate Maddox: Gallery feels right at Holmes

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 8:32 a.m.

Holmes, the younger, has two paintings on display at the gallery -- but they're not cheap. One is going for $2,700 and the other for $4,750. "I don't know what to say when I see his work except 'Wow!' " proud papa Holmes said. "Art has always been his passion and he's very, very creative."

Holmes hasn't been shy about promoting his son's work, either -- he's been telling audiences to head over to the gallery to check it out for themselves. "I'm just pleased for him about this because he's so low-key and very non-showbiz," Holmes continued. "It's just like now there's a painting hanging (in the gallery) for a lot of money that just yesterday was in our garage."

And don't pooh-pooh the young artist's price tag. His are some of Art of Music's less-expensive works. A painting by the late Jerry Garcia, titled "Blue Iceberg," is on sale for a mere $85,000.

Only two weeks have passed, but Wayne Newton felt it was time for a reunion. So Newton and his wife, Kathleen, hosted a star-studded Thanksgiving at their multi-acre Casa de Shenandoah compound.

Clint Holmes, The Scintas, Bob Anderson and Lance Burton were just a few of the headliners celebrating Turkey Day with the King of Las Vegas. The tight group of celebrity pals were the brains behind the Nov. 11 sold-out charity USO concert at Mandalay Bay Events Center, and the experience seems to have made them, well, war buddies. One insider said the dinner-time talk was less about egos and more about what's been going on in the world since Sept. 11.

Newton, who had only just returned from an exhausting USO tour overseas, told stories about ongoing dangers on U.S. military bases and explained how tight security was for himself and fellow USO entertainers.

Talk about a star on the rise. He didn't quite make the grade in such films as "House Party 3" and "How To Be A Player," but now Bernie Mac, one of the original Kings of Comedy, has a hit TV show on Fox and a co-starring role in "Ocean's 11." So why not add a hosting gig to the lot? Mac will do the honors at the Dec. 4 Billboard Music Awards live from MGM Grand Garden Arena. The comedian will intro acts including No Doubt, Incubus, 'N Sync, Janet Jackson, Creed, Lifehouse, Blink-182, Mandy Moore, Nelly, Destiny's Child ... all right, pretty much anyone you hear on FM radio will be there.

I hear the long-running off-Broadway show "Tony & Tina's Wedding" is a likely candidate for the Rio. The interactive musical about an Italian-American wedding is rumored to be headed for the hotel's Samba Theatre.

It's not too late to get a home-cooked meal from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Tonight Puck is serving up shrimp tempura, salmon and caviar pizza, Chinois salad, sushi and more for the official Spago re-opening bash. (I know. They just had one a few weeks ago, but this one's bigger ... and Puck's doing the cooking himself this time.)

If you're worried all that mingling and eating might not do good things for your holiday hips, bear in mind that the party is for a good cause. Fifty dollars gets you in and the money raised will go to Child Haven, The Animal Foundation and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nevada.