VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Love: Two chips that pass in the night

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

Roses are red, violets are blue -- and if you can't find something fabulous to do in Las Vegas for Valentine's Day, then shame on you.

Perhaps the funniest souvenirs offered to mark the day are a pair of commemorative chips being issued by the Riviera.

On Friday it is issuing 1,000 $5 marriage chips, featuring a Claddagh-type wedding band with a pink satin background on one side and "We Tied the Knot in 2003" inscribed on the other.

On Feb. 25 it is issuing a divorce chip, mainly black, with an inscription suitable for the occasion.

A neat gift you can buy this year is a place on Sazio's Wall of Fame. Gustav Mauler's Orleans eatery has its walls covered with giant color images of local celebrities. For $500, a portion of which goes to Shade Tree Shelter, you can hang an image of your loved one. When you take that special one to a romantic dinner there, he or she will be happily surprised to see themselves on the wall.

The poster-size color images stay up for two months, and then you can take them home.

In the Silver Ballroom at Bally's, 107 couples are getting married Friday as part of a promotion by a California radio station.

Those 214 folks -- as well as anyone else with a marriage license dated Feb. 14 -- can get free admission to "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" at The Rio. Tickets to the interactive dinner theater show usually go for $77.

BiKiNiS Beach & Dance Club, also inside The Rio, is having a "My Naughty Valentine" party Saturday night. Guests are encouraged to attend in pajamas and lingerie. It is offering a $2,000 prize to the "femme in the sexiest lingerie."

Speaking of naughty, the edgy "X" show at Aladdin is donating most of its Friday proceeds to the American Heart Association.

"Being that our show is so romantic and sexy, Bobby Boling and I thought Valentine's Day marked the perfect day and the American Heart Association the perfect charity to donate to," "X" co-producer Angela Sampras said.

The MGM Grand is offering some Valentine's Day weekend specials. One package includes a two-night stay in the Celebrity Spa Suite, champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries via room service and dinner at NOBHILL or Craftsteak.

A special wedding package includes "all minister fees," an overstuffed gift basket, portrait photos and tickets to the sexy "La Femme" show.

The Cannery, the new North Las Vegas destination, is having a Sweetheart Dance. Frankie Randall entertains and KJUL 104.3-FM's Duke Morgan hosts an evening of music, dancing and romance.

America Online, meanwhile, has named Las Vegas one of 2003's "Ten Best Cities for Singles."

However, its rankings seem about as reliable as its stock price. Such traditionally madcap cities as Milwaukee, Baltimore, Detroit and Columbus, Ohio, edged out Sin City.

As if!

How Swede It Is

Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad hit town today. They were half of the Swedish group ABBA and will attend the premiere of "Mamma Mia!" on Thursday at Mandalay Bay.

One thing Las Vegas lacks and that I miss about New York is all the gala film premieres and Broadway openings. Hopefully this show will mark the start of a new Vegas entertainment -- legit theater that succeeds.

A good sign so far: Ticket sales for "Mamma Mia!" have been strong at the 1,760-seat Mandalay Bay Theatre for the show's open-ended run.

Beneficial

Jacques Van Staden, the James Beard Foundation's Best Young Chef nominee from Mariposa and the Neiman Marcus Cafe, is refreshingly honest, if sometimes wrong.

"With so many people to cook for, the food won't be so good," he said moments before about 600 well-dressed society types flooded Neimans for the party after the "A Flair for Care" Dolce & Gabbana show at Fashion Show mall Saturday night.

"He is right -- this isn't good. It is fabulous!" Neiman veep Terri Monsour gushed.

Among those in the A-plus list crowd who seemed to agree: the evening's honoree Susan Molasky, Elaine and Steve Wynn, Gianni Orlandi Buchanan and James "Bucky" Buchanan, Barbara Greenspun and her son, Danny Greenspun, Susan Fine, Marc Schorr, Michael Shulman and his mother, Jan Shulman, Gary and Monique Frey, Vicky Fertitta, Chantal and Stephen Cloobeck, Heather and Todd DeBoeff, Mariam and Rock Afshai, Julie Cane, Bob Arum, Anthony Deering, JoAnn Sturm, Kathleen Spurney, Angela Janklow Harrington, Don Marrandino, Mike Sloan, Rino Armeni and Lynn and Bill Weidner.

Bill Richardson Jr., whose father Bill Sr. runs Mandalay Bay, placed the winning $25,000 bid on a first-class trip to Paris to see the Chanel spring (or fall) collections.

Check out ...

Donald Trump having some hush-hush meetings at the Riviera last week in anticipation of his Nevada gaming license being approved ... A solo Mike Tyson dropping off his Mercedes at the valet at The Venetian on Sunday night ... Meg Ryan dining twice last week with a scruffy-looking gentleman at La Veranda at Four Seasons ... Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Colorado's Gary Barnett and Mack Brown from the University of Texas at Palace Station over the weekend for Nike's Coach of the Year Football Clinic ... Ronn Lucas checking in guests at the opening party for Gaylord's Indian restaurant inside The Rio Friday night. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and owner Kishore Kripalani cut the ceremonial ribbon ... Sugar Ray Leonard at Sam's Town. He promoted the Omar Weis vs. Emanuel Augustus J r. welterweight bout there Friday night.

From Sun wires

When he is selling Dell computers on television, he calls everyone "dude." But on Monday he was calling a New York judge "ma'am."

After a night in jail Benjamin Curtis, 22, who plays Steven, the Dell dude, faced a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession.

Curtis was arrested at 11:30 p.m. Sunday after police said he bought a small bag of marijuana on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He was wearing a navy blue plaid kilt, a tuxedo jacket, beige knee-length socks and black shoes, police said.

Desperately seeking peace: Madonna is courting controversy again -- this time with a violent music video that her publicist says depicts the "catastrophic repercussions and horror of war."

"It is an anti-war video, but the purpose of the video, as with a lot of Madonna's work, is to be thought provoking," publicist Liz Rosenberg said Monday.

The website The Drudge Report reported Sunday that the "American Dream" video was "the most shocking anti-war, anti-Bush statement yet to come from the show business industry," complete with images of Iraqi children and bloody limbs.