VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Exhibit paints fond memories

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 5:11 a.m.

When you walk into the foyer of my parents' apartment in New York, you are greeted by an original Andy Warhol silkscreen of his famous 1967 New York Film Festival poster.

It is signed, "To Fred" (my dad) ... "Andy," and there is a drawing of a heart between their names.

A living-room wall is covered in Campbell's soup cans. My favorite was always Pepper Pot.

In the 1960s, when the iconic pop artist was starting his meteoric rise to global celebrity, he often called my father, who worked for an alternative weekly that was friendly to the arts (Village Voice), to take his photo at various openings, parties and at The Factory, Warhol's studio.

My dad would often drag me along.

So when I see all the personal memorabilia that Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum is bringing to the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts in conjunction with the big Warhol show that opens Feb. 7, it will bring back some fond memories.

"Andy Warhol: The Celebrity Portraits" features Warhol's giant colorful mug shots silkscreens of such famous faces as Michael Jackson, Jackie Kennedy, Gertrude Stein, Chairman Mao, Gianni Versace, Dennis Hopper, Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka, Mickey Mouse, Dolly Parton, Debbie Harry, Martha Graham, Marlon Brando, Golda Meir, Aretha Franklin, George Gershwin, the Marx Brothers, and the Studio 54 crowd, including Liza Minnelli, Rudolph Nureyev, Giorgio Armani, Sylvester Stallone and Mick Jagger and several Warhol self-portraits.

The show opens the same weekend the Rolling Stones play at MGM Grand Garden Arena; expect Jagger and Hopper to top the list at the opening party.

While the art will surely be engaging, everyone has probably seen it in one form or another. It is the personal props that promise to make the show memorable.

Gallery president Andrea Bundonis said Warhol's famous platinum wig will be on display, as will a Polaroid camera that he used to snap celebrities at parties. Another interesting artifact will be a pair of paint-spattered shoes.

Also on display will be one of his tape recorders. In addition to the celebrity chats he conducted for his Interview magazine, Warhol would talk into the tape recorder every night for his diaries, which were edited by Pat Hackett and published in 1989.

The show promises to hold a viewer's interest for a lot longer than Warhol's famous 15 minutes.

The Bee Gees' Maurice Gibb, who sadly died last week in a Florida hospital, was an occasional Vegas visitor.

His mother, Barbara Gibb, is a Las Vegas resident, as was his late father, Hugh, a noted bandleader.

Barbara Gibb and her surviving sons Barry and Robin Gibb remain in Florida, making plans for a public memorial service.

Artie Lange, the former "Mad TV" star who is now a regular on "The Howard Stern Show," checked in with VegasBeat the other day to remind us he is coming to town.

Lange is doing his stand-up act -- with a few new Vegas bits tossed in -- at the Suncoast on Jan. 24 and 25. Then he's staying in town to watch the Super Bowl.

Lange added that talks are under way for the radio show to return to Las Vegas for a third consecutive year. The last two years the Stern crew spent a few days after the Super Bowl broadcasting from the Hard Rock Hotel.

This year, the Palms is bidding for the show, too.

"Howard absolutely loves Vegas. Everyone on the show does. They're still talking about making the trip. I hope it happens." Lange said.

"All I ever do in Vegas is gamble and party. But this time, I want to see some of the shows. I heard that Siegfried & Roy and that "O" thing are both great."

Rock pioneer Chubby Checker will play Teen Angel in the upcoming Las Vegas stage production of "Grease" which opens at the Aladdin Theater Jan. 28.

The role was popularized when Frankie Avalon played it in the 1978 movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.