VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Marines help ‘Men’ find target audience

Monday, Aug. 11, 2003 | 10:36 a.m.

Sadly, American troops serving in Iraq are risking their lives on a daily basis.

There are several other global hot spots that the government and military continue to monitor, from North Korea to Liberia.

However, the U.S. Marines were still able to find time -- and taxpayer money -- to send drill teams from Quantico, Va., to train male strippers in an adult show at the Riviera. The Marines visited Las Vegas last month to train the performers in the new show "Men, The Show" on the finer points of how to twirl big guns.

Following a month of performances at the Riv, the show had its official opening Friday night and VegasBeat was there.

After performing "Y.M.C.A." dressed as the Village People and stripping almost totally nude (socks are strategically placed), the cast shifts to the only number in the program that doesn't incorporate stripping -- a tribute to those who lost their lives on 9-11.

Two dancers dressed as Marines were joined by those dressed as a sailor, firefighter, Air Force pilot and a soldier dressed in fatigues. All carried real-looking rifles, and one of the performers proudly announced from the stage that they received training from an actual Marine contingent, which was confirmed by a Riviera spokesman after the show.

A Marine spokesman -- who could possibly answer questions about how the training was arranged, the transportation and other costs incurred or if the Marines had previously given such lessons to professional dancers of either sex -- was not reachable Sunday night.

Meow

Jill and Tony Curtis have four new kittens to go with several other dogs and cats in their Henderson home.

Contortionist Jennifer Collins, who performs in the "X" show and at the new club ICE, found the abandoned little things and took them in, nursing them along with a diet of Gerber's baby food.

But Collins was unable to keep them. She shared her plight with a friend, who thought that the Curtises might be interested. They were, and recently adopted the kittens.

Friday night the couple saw Collins perform in "X" and met with all the women in the show afterward.

"Tony and his wife were two of the nicest people I have ever met," Collins said.

Election

The Associated Press reported over the weekend that George Gorton, Arnold Schwarzenegger's top political strategist, said about the actor's entrance into the California gubernatorial race: "I feel like I've got a tiger by the tail."

When Siegfried & Roy saw the quote, they promptly sent a telegram to Gorton, inviting their old friend Schwarzenegger to come to Vegas to touch a real tiger tail.

"Whenever he visits us, he talks politics, and what is lacking in California government," Roy told VegasBeat via e-mail Sunday. He added he was not surprised Schwarzenegger decided to run.

Added Siegfried: "He has always been outspoken when it comes to politics."

The Mirage headliners said they had not been asked to formally campaign for Schwarzenegger, but expressed support for his run and said they would do whatever they could to help.

Vegas West

A weekend VegasBeat sojourn to see the Los Angeles Dodgers play the Chicago Cubs did not mean any kind of an escape from Las Vegas.

Vegas resident Susan Anton sang the national anthem before Saturday night's game. A celebrity baseball game featured Vegas regulars Phil Maloof, Tony Danza, George Lopez and Frankie Avalon.

VEGAS.com sponsored the seventh-inning blooper reel. Ads in all El Lay papers touted Harrah's headliner Clint Holmes' Saturday concert at the Cerritos Center.

And there's a giant billboard near the Whiskey a Go Go club on the Sunset Strip advertising Risque, the Paris Las Vegas hot spot.

Also, Rita Rudner was in Los Angeles Friday, finalizing the adoption of her daughter, Molly.

VegasBits

Singers: Marie Osmond took in Celine Dion's show Friday night. Beforehand, Bradley Odgen gave Osmond a personal tour of his eponymous Caesars Palace eatery ...

Funny: Dat Phan, the winner last week of the NBC show "Last Comic Standing,' plays the Improv at Harrah's tonight ...

Night: The usual star-studded crowd filled ghostbar (Palms) on Saturday night, including Carson Daly, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, and Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, who had given a private concert earlier Saturday night at Rain in the Desert at the Palms.

Date: Also tonight, but much later, Monte Carlo headline magician Lance Burton will appear on "The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn." It airs locally at 12:30 a.m. on KLAS Channel 8 ...

Malcolm magic: "Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz and 13 crew members from the show saw Penn & Teller (Rio) Thursday night ...

Hot stuff: Miami Heat guard Travis Best got the full treatment Saturday at the Canyon Ranch Spa (Venetian) ...

Show: The Black Eyed Peas have been inked to do a private concert at Light (Bellagio) on Aug. 26 in connection with the MAGIC clothing convention ...

From Sun wires

Mike Newell, the British director of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," will direct the fourth Harry Potter movie, Warner Bros. Pictures announced.

Newell will begin work on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in April, the company said Sunday. American Chris Columbus directed the first two movie versions of J.K. Rowling's hugely successful series on the boy wizard.

Heroes to Nelson: Country singer Willie Nelson says he thinks the 11 Democratic state senators from Texas who have been holed up in Albuquerque to break a quorum over congressional redistricting are heroes.

Nelson invited his fellow Texans to Saturday night's sold-out concert at the Isleta Casino south of Albuquerque.

Two of the senators, Gonzalo Barrientos and Mario Gallegos, took Nelson up on the offer and met with him backstage before the concert began.

"I think they're great," Nelson said. "I think they're heroes, and we're all very proud of them."

Barrientos said he and Gallegos planned to stay for only a couple of songs.