Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.
It is pretty easy -- and relatively commonplace -- to make fun of "Mamma Mia!," the Broadway extravaganza based on the music of ABBA, the old Swedish pop group.
But it becomes a lot harder to poke fun once you see the show.
The cast of the upcoming Las Vegas "Mamma Mia!" production performed a couple of numbers in a rehearsal studio Wednesday before a small invited audience and some media.
"When I first did this in the West End (London's theater district) several years ago, everyone said the result would be catastrophic," Robert McQueen, the show's associate director, said.
Catastrophe would be the last word used to describe the show's international success, or the electrifying preview performance offered by star Tina Walsh and the talented cast that surrounds her.
Walsh, a Las Vegas resident and former "EFX" and "Jubilee!" regular, blew the doors off the Chameleon Studios on Hinson Street when she performed "Winner Takes It All" and then "Money, Money, Money" -- without a microphone.
Perhaps the highlight of the event was the third song Walsh and cast sang, the smash ABBA hit, "Dancin' Queen."
After the first few bars, inimitable Vegas fixture Monti Rock III got up from his seat, started to shake his ample hips and said, "Finally! A song about me!"
Previews begin at Mandalay Bay on Feb. 3. ABBA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus -- who have not been to Las Vegas since 1979, according to McQueen -- are expected to attend the show's opening on Feb. 13.
Publicity score
You can't buy attention like this.
First, the National Football League nixes ads from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority from the Jan. 26 Super Bowl telecast -- and the resulting controversy draws coverage for Las Vegas in major newspapers across the nation, and several overseas.
Then, New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott -- far and away the most respected advertising writer in the country -- writes glowingly about the new VEGAS.com ad campaign in his e-mail newsletter.
The $6.5 million campaign features a mysterious Mr. V -- only his back is seen, sitting in a high-back desk chair -- humorously playing off local figures ranging from Wolfgang Puck to George Maloof.
"The campaign is fresh and funny," Elliott told VegasBeat. "The Mr. V character effectively conveys what the folks behind the website want visitors to think -- which is that the site gives them an inside edge to get hooked up and enjoy Vegas in style."
Howard Lefkowitz, VEGAS.com's president, said he was thrilled to be noticed "from a recognized leader in the field."
"Stuart Elliot is not a local or regional name -- he is a global leader in the advertising community. Having him tell you your ads were good is like having Babe Ruth tell you that you are a good hitter. It is coming from someone who knows."
VEGAS.com and the Sun have the same corporate parent, the Greenspun Media Group.
Hail, chief
The Hard Rock Hotel has a new president, Kevin Kelly.
He was a Station Casinos executive until this week. At Station, he was a close colleague of Don Marrandino. Marrandino left Station for the Hard Rock last year and recently left there to join Steve Wynn at Le Reve.
Kelly starts his new job Monday.
Legendary Latino
The ageless Charo has been selected as a recipient for the Latino Legacy in Hollywood award from the Screen Actors Guild.
The ceremony takes place Jan. 31 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles.
Her new show "Bravo 2003" opened Thursday night at the new Sevilla Steakhouse and Nightclub at the Aladdin. It was hosted by Cynthia Nunez, with a champagne toast offered by -- who else? -- Robin Leach.
Signature trick
Here's a Las Vegas first, we think.
Patrons to the new "Shock!" show that opens tonight at Bourbon Street have to sign a liability waiver before entering the showroom.
A cheap gimmick, yes, (and it worked because here we are writing about it!), but the show does offer some rather unsettling acts.
Among them is Tim Cridland, aka "The Torture King." His stomach-turning stunts have been featured on "48 Hours."
He sticks an 8-inch metal skewer through his bicep. Some nights he sticks a red-hot metal poker through his tongue.
"We just want to protect ourselves in case something happens to a patron who is what we generally call 'weak-stomached,' " show co-producer Dr. Scott Lewis said.
We consider ourselves warned.
VegasBits
The Magical Empire at Caesars Palace has officially closed. It was a unique and peculiar Vegas mating of dinner theater, theme park and nightclub. One story making the rounds is that the space was needed for Celine Dion's dressing room. The space is adjacent to the Colosseum, the new showroom where "A New Day" opens in March ...
Kiss -- Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss -- is coming to Las Vegas. They'll play at Rain in the Desert at Palms on March 16 ...
No, they weren't trading meals. The crew from the popular Learning Channel show "Trading Spaces" dined at Elements inside the Aladdin the other night. Host Paige Davis broke bread with Amy Wynn Pastor, Doug Wilson, Hildi Santo-Tomas and show producer Denise Cramsey. The episode just filmed in Las Vegas airs Saturday night (for a story about the show, see today's Accent section) ...
Here's a first: George Strait is 50, and just had his 50th No. 1 hit. His "She'll Leave You With a Smile" from his new "Road Less Traveled" CD set a record for No. 1 songs by a single artist in any genre. Strait hits the Mandalay Bay Events Center Jan. 24 ...
"Insomniac" host Dave Attell made the rounds in Las Vegas this week. He filmed bits for his Comedy Central show at the Riviera, Harrah's and Stratosphere, and spent some quality time at Tequila Joe's at Imperial Palace with adult film stars Tara Wild and Nicole Moore ...
William Shatner appears Wednesday as an EZ Stairs spokesman at the International Builders Show. Wonder if he'll walk across to the Las Vegas Hilton -- which is attached to the Convention Center -- and see the Star Trek Experience.
archive
