Friday, Nov. 29, 2002 | 8:56 a.m.
J.Lo is moving to Las Vegas.
In a manner of speaking.
Representatives of Jennifer Lopez met Wednesday with execs from the Hard Rock Hotel about opening a Las Vegas branch of her Pasadena, Calif., restaurant, Madre's.
Other casinos looking to land the sure-fire hot spot are the Palms, Bellagio and Caesars Palace, say Lopez's colleagues in the Vegas venture, Joey Battig and Ed Fishman.
"She is the world's No. 1 recording star, movie star and is on the cover of every magazine in the country," Battig told VegasBeat. "Can you imagine what the lines will be like outside of the place?"
The restaurant will be called Madre's, as is the Pasadena eatery, which opened in April, and will feature similar Cuban-American cuisine. The Pasadena restaurant, run by Lopez's first husband, Ojani Noa, has been doing gonzo business. Lopez is a regular presence there.
"J. Lo loves Las Vegas and would be here all the time," Battig said.
He turned mute, however, when asked if Lopez would possibly have her wedding reception in Las Vegas or have a Vegas wedding. Lopez is engaged to Ben Affleck and their relationship is the buzz of the entertainment world.
'X'-posure
If they are good enough for Leonardo DiCaprio ...
The women of "X" at Aladdin have been personally invited by Mick Jagger to the band's party at Simon Kitchen & Bar at the Hard Hock Hotel after the Stones perform at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel tonight.
The showgirls were invited by DiCaprio to his "Real World" suite party at the Palms earlier this month.
Rich pageant
Casino hosts -- the folks who guide "whales," or very large bettors, toward a particular property -- have circled May 8 on their calendars.
That is because a few very rich people are coming to town, as part of Jim Bickford's American Dreams seminar.
The event is a unique day of activities, and concludes with a talk from Rudy Ruettiger, who was the subject of the 1993 movie "Rudy," based on the diminutive athlete's successful quest to play football for Notre Dame.
These days Ruettiger gives motivational speeches and runs his own company.
Also set to appear is John Paul DeJoria. He rose from being homeless on the mean streets of east Los Angeles to eventually meet and form a partnership with Paul Mitchell.
Today John Paul Mitchell Systems is a hair-care empire with hundreds of millions in annual sales. One of DeJoria's business interests is the House of Blues.
Also coming to Las Vegas is Linda Alvarado, the first female Hispanic ownership partner of a major league baseball team (Colorado Rockies), and self-made multimillionaires including Tom Harken, Terry Giles and Joe Sugerman.
Individually, their net worth is more than most Third World nations.
We don't know their gaming preferences, if any. But some interested casino hosts are going to do their best to find out.
Lion purrs
The IMAX version of Disney's "The Lion King" opens Christmas Day on Luxor's giant screen.
Friends who caught a screening at the theater Wednesday morning report that it is dazzling.
With the voices of Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons and Whoopi Goldberg and songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the film roars to life, especially with its large format.
"It was better than 'Beauty and the Beast,' " offered Christina Braccio, a 13-year-old fan. Pretty high praise indeed.
Splash ripples
The cast of "Splash" had a few folks in to see their show the other morning.
From time to time shows invite other performers to their venue for a late-night performance and get together when they are all off work.
So at 1 a.m. Friday more than 750 performers from "La Femme," "Skintight" "Chippendale's," "Crazy Girls," "Lord of the Dance," "O" and at least a dozen other shows jammed into the Riviera's Splash Theater.
"Many of the shows have other casts in from time to time," Splash's Gretchen Alger Lin said. "Performers tend to know each other from all the different things they have been in and it is generally a fun evening."
Leo's return
Speaking of Christmas movies, Leonardo DiCaprio has left these parts to promote his upcoming holdiay releases, "Catch Me if You Can" with Tom Hanks and "Gangs of New York," with Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis.
But DiCaprio will return to town.
He is going to team with "Gangs" director Martin Scorsese for what is tentatively called "The Aviator" -- a biopic on Howard Hughes.
Although Las Vegas has changed dramatically since Hughes lived here, some scenes will likely be shot around town starting in the spring. The scheduled release date is late 2003, in time for Academy Awards consideration the following year.
Name fame
The Rio has officially named its main showroom after the headliners, The Scintas.
The new name went up on the 700-seat Scinta (formerly Masquerade) Showroom at a big party recently.
"We are very proud of the Scintas' (pronounced SHIN-TAHS) success and popularity and I am pleased to dedicate this showroom in their honor," Rio General Manager Tom Jenkin said.
Joe, Frank and Chrissi Scinta and Peter O'Donnell have played the property since 2001, and recently re-upped through 2006.
Their production includes singing, humor and impressions and is one of Las Vegas' most popular family shows.
Lighting the lamp
Tyri Squires is the new public relations director at Aladdin.
Squires was at R&R Partners immediately preceding, and she had previously spent four years in a similar position at The Rio.
Live! From New York!
Today's regular KNUU 970-AM (K-NEWS) VegasBeat radio appearance will be via remote, from New York City. We spent part of Thursday at the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Peter Fernandez, who created and voiced the famous "Speed Racer" cartoon theme, precedes us on Andy Vierra's "Las Vegas Today" show at 3 p.m.
Rhonda Shear, who opens tonight at Le Bistro Theatre at the Riviera, follows.
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