Friday, Dec. 5, 2003 | 5:06 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
WEEKEND EDITION Dec. 6 - 7, 2003
"Trump vs. Wynn" is coming to the small screen.
It'll be a film that takes an "affectionate look" at a fictional competition between casino titans Donald Trump and Steve Wynn as they battle to build a hotel in Atlantic City, producers say.
HBO will air the film, and they've asked Danny DeVito to direct.
The script was written by Rick Cleveland, supervising producer of "Six Feet Under." No casting decisions have been made yet, so we called the particulars to see who they'd like to see portray them on the screen.
"I question whether HBO can find anyone magnetic enough, powerful enough, handsome enough and wonderful enough to truly capture me," Wynn, tongue planted firmly in cheek, told VegasBeat on Friday.
"But if they have to do this, I can see either George Clooney or Brad Pitt playing me," Wynn said.
Trump offered up his choice: Johnny Depp -- recently named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."
Not an exact resemblance, The Donald conceded, but consider the mutual good looks, charm and charisma.
Okey-dokey, guys.
Barry Shulman knows his business. The Shulman Media LLC chairman (which publishes Card Player mag and CardPlayer.com) won the first event at the Bellagio's 2003 Five-Diamond Poker Classic on Dec. 1.
He won a huge trophy, a $25,000 buy-in to the championship event next month -- and $234,798 in cash.
Some food for thought was provided Friday by the Wall Street Journal, with two Bellagio restaurants listed in a piece by WSJ food critic Raymond Sokolov ranking among the most overrated and underrated restaurants in the country.
The good news for the hotel is that the Buffet at Bellagio was listed among the paper's 10 most underrated spots. But listed as overrated was Le Cirque, which was joined by Emeril's New Orleans, The Ivy in Los Angeles and Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, among others.
No rest for Penn Jillette. During his down time from his Rio show Dec. 16 to Dec. 25, he'll be appearing in the San Francisco company of "The Exonerated" -- a play that tells the true stories of six innocent survivors of death row.
The rotating cast includes Robin Williams, Stockard Channing, Brian Dennehy and Peter Coyote, who will appear with Jillette.
Earlier this year Jillette appeared in the show in New York opposite Mia Farrow.
On Dec. 26 it's back to work, times two. In addition to his Rio show, he and Teller start production on the second season of their Emmy-nominated Showtime series, "Bull----."
Las Vegas Weekly writer Steve Bornfeld is branching out.
Starting Monday at 5 p.m., he'll do a weekly one-hour radio gig on KNUU 970-AM (K-NEWS), where he'll wax prophetic on, among other things, his favorite topic: television.
Bornfeld wrote the popular Dial File column in the Las Vegas Sun from 1997 to 2000, during which time he was also the Sun Accent editor. His current column in LV Weekly is called sTeVe.
Frank Marino turned 40 last month, but the milestone birthday is being celebrated tonight.
The soiree is open to the public, and will be held at Risque, the Paris Las Vegas nightclub.
Marino, of course, is the noted Joan Rivers impersonator and longtime star of "An Evening at La Cage" at the Riviera.
"Rockin' Holiday," the first-ever live holiday production show at the Fremont Street Experience, begins Tuesday evening.
It stars Las Vegas resident and up-and-coming singing star Todd Joseph, who will perform a version of "Jingle Bells" with adult lyrics, among other offerings.
A total of 11 production numbers will take place on two live stages.
The show will go on four times each evening, starting hourly at 6:10, through Dec. 21.
Hottest tickets in town this week: the Wednesday night "Billboard Music Awards" afterparty at ghostbar, atop the Palms, sponsored by Interscope Records.
Tied for second: two pre-Billboard parties on Tuesday night, but only because they are being held in larger venues so more people can get in. One is Carmen Electra's event at Baby's, downstairs at the Hard Rock Hotel, after Grammy nominee Amy Lee's (Evanescence) private show at The Joint.
The other is the VEGAS Magazine-sponsored party at Studio 54, which mag cover girl Paris Hilton is expected to attend.
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