VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Raucous LV weekend not for the meek

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

VegasBeat can now close the laptop and retire, secure in the knowledge that we've seen all that one weekend can possibly offer.

Sunday night it was sitting alongside Demi Moore, David Spade, Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, Fred Durst, Mike Tyson, David Blaine and Cyndi Lauper as Prince sent a purple haze over the Strip with a pair of stunning performances, first at Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, and later at a private after-concert show at Studio 54 inside MGM Grand.

On Saturday it was Las Vegas weirdness personified as a TV sitcom star performed a pair of marriage ceremonies at the Hard Rock Hotel -- after he became ordained as a minister over the Internet.

And it started on Friday night with a Guns N' Roses reunion onstage at the opening of the world's largest topless club.

At Aladdin on Sunday, His Purple Majesty asked if Las Vegas was ready to get funky.

Apparently it was, as a star-studded crowd -- which was on its feet for nearly three hours -- excitedly took in the show by Sheila E. and the diminutive Minnesotan (see Spencer Patterson's concert review on page 6E of today's Accent section).

"I am an obnoxious, cynical, critical, and a judgmental person -- but there is nothing bad I can say about this guy," Spade said before leading the celebrity parade into Studio 54 around 1 this morning. "He is just phenomenal."

At the Hard Rock Saturday, KISS 101.9-FM sponsored pretend bachelor and bachelorette parties for "That '70s Show" star Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy (Eminem's girlfriend in his biopic "8 Mile") -- who star in the film "Just Married," which opens Jan. 10.

After some outdoor cavorting for the cameras with the women from the Aladdin show "X" at the Hard Rock beach (Fox TV and "Entertainment Tonight" were there to film upcoming segments) Kutcher produced his King James.

He summoned "That '70s Show" co-stars and impromptu witnesses Wilmer Valderamma and Danny Masterson and proceeded to legally marry two couples: Las Vegas residents Ismael and Veronica Heredia, and John and Miranda Kennedy.

Hiding in a dark space, incredulously watching the scene, was Tori Amos, who performed Saturday night at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

On Friday night we lost our Vegas virginity, so to speak, when we made our maiden voyage to a local topless emporium, for the opening of Sapphire on Industrial Road.

Oh, my goodness! That about sums up the place.

"That used to be where I played basketball," Hard Rock exec Yale Rowe marveled as he gazed at enough silicone-enhanced dancers to fill a medium-size cruise ship.

The 71,000-square-foot club is in the old Sporting House health club space.

I like naked girls as much, if not more, than the next guy, but I think the best moment of the evening was when I saw Mark-Paul Gosselaar in attendance -- only days after seeing the "Saved By the Bell" episode of E!'s "True Hollywood Story."

Gosselaar, who is now Dennis Franz's sidekick, Detective John Clark, on "NYPD Blue," is still well known as the charming troublemaker Zach Morris on the long-running kids series.

Most of the crowd, however, seemed to prefer seeing the mini-Guns N' Roses reunion.

The all-star jam band Camp Freddy was the announced muscial entertainment; members include Dave Navarro, Billy Morrison, Scott Ford, Donovan Leitch and former GNR drummer Matt Sorum.

The crowd, including Carmen Electra and "Good Morning, Miami" star Mark Feuerstein exploded when they recognized former GNR guitarists Slash (with his trademark stovepipe hat) and Duff McKagen joining Camp Freddy, so they could all rock just a bit longer.

We spoke to Slash, who had a succinct response when we asked about his former musical compadre, Axl Rose, whose GNR tour had been called off 24 hours earlier because of canceled shows.

"Irony, man, irony."

Flattery

You know you have hit the big time when "Saturday Night Live" makes fun of you.

On the "Weekend Update" segment on Saturday, anchor Tina Fey said that while she enjoyed seeing "The Sopranos" finale on Dec. 8, she really liked the show that followed it, "Cathouse" -- a documentary about the Moonlite Bunny Ranch produced by Henderson's George Ciccarone.

Then two faux working girls from the Ranch joined Fey and Jimmy Fallon for a hilarious interview.

Gourmet gang

No matter how rich, beautiful or successful are most people, they still revert to kids in a candy store when the folks from the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group are passing out free samples.

That was the case at the 10th anniversary party for Spago at the Forum Shops at Caesars the other night when Puck's Las Vegas team of Tom Kaplan, David Robins, Matt Dickerson and John LaGrone threw open their kitchen doors.

Guests Terri Lanni, Barbara Molasky, Mike Sloan, Robin Leach, John Bonds, Michael Wilkins, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority veep Rob Powers, Spago alum and Wild Sage partner Laurie Kendrick, ad man John Schrader and Tiffany's exec Suzy Nagle did not feast on pigs-in-a-blanket, Cheese Whiz or partially thawed tater tots.

Instead, they devoured Chinese duck sandwiches, blini with smoked salmon and sturgeon, grilled foie gras costini, Cote du Boef with Madeira sauce, a variety of sushi and tempura, and then washed it all down with champagne.

Snip and tuck

Usually Frank Marino is the one doing the cutting up.

Instead, today, the longtime "La Cage" star and Joan Rivers impersonator is going under the knife -- for the 10th time.

"This time it is for a laser peel, collagen, some work on my eyes and botox," Marino told VegasBeat. "In the past I have had cheek and chin implants, a nose job and liposuction, among other things.

"It is getting to the point where if I stand too close to a candle I will start to melt. But anything for my art!"

We then tried to hang up the phone, but Marino continued talking. And VegasBeat is nothing if not polite.

"My doctor, Goesel Anson -- she is a genius. Everyone who I work with is a woman -- my seamstress, my gardener, my assistant, everyone except my broker."

As previously reported in this space, Marino is suing his brokerage firm, Dain Rauscher, claiming a variety of "deceitful and unsound financial practices" that led to his $750,000 account virtually drying up.

Twisted

Jennifer Collins, the contortionist who adorns the stage at the start of the Aladdin show "X," just got a new gig.

The show is dark Monday nights, so she has been asked to perform at the GODSPEED party on Monday nights at the House of Blues' Foundation Room atop Mandalay Bay.

archive