Friday, March 14, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.
I love a man in a uniform.
Well, actually, I don't care that much one way or the other. But the other 500 or so people in the room, mostly female, seemed to go especially nuts for the sketch with the guys in the sailor suits.
Since VegasBeat has weighed in on several female revues in Las Vegas, I figured that fair is fair, and ventured out Thursday night to see the Chippendales show at The Rio on its one-year anniversary performance.
It has been at The Rio for just a year, but the first production was in Los Angeles in 1978.
My only previous experience with Chippendales was viewing the hilarious "Saturday Night Live" skit where Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley competed for a part in the troupe.
So, how was Thursday's show?
I am man enough to admit I loved it.
The dancers are solid. The female fantasies they base routines around -- bondage, bad boys on bikes, good boy Wall Streeters, cowboys, construction workers, young studs and, of course, men in uniforms -- are disarmingly sexy, yet tasteful, erotic and mesmerizing.
But the key is audience participation.
These women were into it.
"I think we're all repressed -- and this is a chance for us to get a little wild without our husbands, boyfriends or fathers here," said a female friend who somewhat less than reluctantly attended the show with me.
Indeed, there was a lot more dancing in the aisles, hand-waving, shouting and cheering from the peanut gallery than there is at any female revue.
Also, the dancers hang around afterward for photos.
I almost wanted to get my picture taken with one of them. Almost.
Countdown begins
Justin Timberlake will host the CBS special being broadcast live from the red carpet outside The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Celine Dion's opening night, March 25.
He probably won't be nearly as entertaining -- or mean-spirited -- as red-carpet veterans Melissa and Joan Rivers would have been.
Timberlake returns to Vegas June 21 when he and Christina Aguilera play the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
By design
Is it still news when Las Vegas is ahead of the national curve on a particular theme or trend?
Probably not, as it happens on a such a regular basis.
This week Vegas is being depicted -- correctly -- as one of country's leading high-design incubators.
The New York Times on Thursday ran a half-page color photo of Roger Thomas' pool and patio at his Summerlin home and held it up as a paradigm of modern cool. Thomas is Steve Wynn's design guru who has the interiors of Le Reve on his drafting table.
The Times article focused on Unica Home, a spectacular new store and showroom on Industrial Road owned by Hugh and Bonnie Fogel.
Also complimented was Adam Tihany's design for Aureole, the kitch banquettes at the steakhouse at Binion's Horseshoe, the kidney-shaped Panevino restaurant and some lamps inside the Palms.
Separately, in American Style, a national glossy, writer (and occasional Las Vegas Sun contributor) Lynn Goya weighs in with a nice piece called Arts Walk, which shows that Vegas is far from the cultural backwater that some think it is.
And finally, Bellagio Executive Chef Grant MacPherson will be on hand next Friday at the opening of ... a new design store.
Kiss Cabinet and Design opens a new showroom on West Patrick Lane, and MacPherson will work his magic in a show kitchen.
Pier 1,000
The Pier One store in Summerlin celebrated its 1,000th customer Thursday night.
She turned out to be a producer for Steven Bochco Productions and a producer for the hit ABC drama "NYPD Blue."
Store Chief Executive Officer Marvin Girouard was on hand to present JoeAnn Fogle with a $1,000 Pier One gift certificate.
Fogle has homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Pier One made similar donations to mark the event to Classrooms on Wheels, Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow and Shade Tree Shelter.
Animated
When Howard Stern and his crew arrive in Vegas next month for a few days of broadcasts, we hope he talks about his new cartoon.
According to the trade journal Television Week, The New TNN -- a fledgling network with the exact same demographics as Stern (men who think that loudly passing gas in public is funny) -- is planning a new animated series about the teenage Howard.
It'll either be called "Howard Stern's High School Years" or "Howard Stern: The Teen Years."
He'd be in good company at TNN at least. Kelsey Grammer has said that he is going to do the voice of "Gary the Rat," an animated New York attorney who is such a part of the rat race that he becomes one.
Pamela Anderson is also doing a voice for a show called "Striperella," about a woman who is a stripper by night and a superhero later at night.
Steppin' out
The party was Wednesday at the trendy Melrose Avenue locale Fred Segal Feet in Los Angeles. But the goods are in Las Vegas.
Cole Haan's new G Series shoes from designer Kenneth Cole were first available earlier this week at the Cole Haan store at Fashion Show mall.
Now the funky, unisex line of slides and sandals -- both Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez received them early -- is also available at Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom at Fashion Show.
VegasBits
San Diego Chargers quarterback Doug Flutie was spotted at the Palms race and sports book Thursday, clad in a Boston College jersey, watching his alma mater beat St. John's in the Big East basketball tournament ...
Corrina Ryan leaves The Firm Public Relations today and on Monday joins Nevada Ballet Theatre as director of PR and marketing ...
Reps for Don King recently met with officials from several Strip properties to discuss a new boxing hall of fame. Don't be surprised to see it end up at the Strip's premier host for boxing events, Caesars Palace ...
From Sun wires
A Santa Barbara (Calif.) County jury has ruled that Michael Jackson must pay a German concert promoter $5.3 million for backing out of two concerts planned to celebrate the millennium on New Year's Eve 1999.
Concert organizer Marcel Avram sued Jackson for $21 million, alleging breach of contract. Final arguments in the case were on Feb. 28.
"The jury believed Avram; they did not believe Michael Jackson. That's what the whole thing comes down to," Avram's attorney, Louis "Skip" Miller, said.
The divorce clause: Tim Allen and his wife have reached a divorce settlement, avoiding a trial that was to have begun Thursday.
Laura Deibel, who married the actor in 1984, filed for a legal separation in 1999 in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple share custody of their 13-year-old daughter.
Allen, who played Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor on TV's "Home Improvement" from 1991 to 1999, has starred in such films as "The Santa Clause" and "Galaxy Quest."
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