VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Las Vegas to pay tribute to Queen

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.

Move over, ABBA. A Queen musical is coming to Las Vegas.

Vegas Rhapsody, anyone?

The creators of the smash West End musical "We Will Rock You" -- based on the songs of Freddie Mercury's influential group -- plan to open a production in Las Vegas.

Brit scribe Ben Elton, who penned the stage story of a future with no musical instruments (music is all generated by computers and performed by girl and boy bands), told the BBC last week that the U.S. debut of the show would not be on Broadway, but in Las Vegas.

The original show opened in May 2002, and a Sydney, Australia, production opened in August. A Madrid, Spain, production is in previews for a Nov. 3 opening.

The show recently sold its 1 millionth ticket at London's Dominion Theatre.

Elton did not mention a possible Vegas locale, but it is known that The Venetian is looking to bring in a legit stage show or two, in addition to Tommy Tune and Jerry Herman's "Miss Spectacular," for which auditions have started.

Elton also said that he and Queen guitarist Brian May will soon be visiting Vegas to meet with properties interested in the show.

The musical "Mamma Mia!," which is based on the the songs of the 1970s Swedish quartet ABBA, has sold more than 10 million tickets in Australia, England and in the United States.

The Vegas production opened to rave reviews in February and has routinely been selling out the 1,600-seat Mandalay Bay Theatre.

Museum show

Picasso is coming. So is Chagall, Cezanne, Pollock, Monet, Matisse, Van Gogh, Motherwell and more.

They're all part of "A Century of Painting: From Renoir to Rothko," the next show at the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum at The Venetian.

The show opens Nov. 7 and is expected to run through May. The current museum show, "American Pop Icons," remains up until then.

Shake it up

Steve Wynn and Bernie Yuman were literally dancing in the aisle -- doing a muted conga, actually -- at Gloria Estefan's show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Sunday night.

But away from the concert, they were still filled with sadness.

"Our emotions are entirely in one place right now, and that is with Roy Horn," said Yuman, speaking for Wynn and himself, at a poolside post-concert party at the Garden of the Gods.

"Sure, the concert was a welcome release from everything that has happened, but we do not forget Roy and what he is going through for even one second." Yuman's BOX Entertainment produced the Estefan show, which runs through Sunday, and he has been Siegfried & Roy's manager for 28 years.

"It is with great pleasure that we see Gloria here tonight and this is a wonderful evening, but Roy's recovery is the only thing that is on our radar," Yuman said, adding that he had seen Roy earlier in the day and that his continuing recovery is nothing short of "miraculous."

The fabulous garden party, which featured a live band, assorted Cuban delicacies, a mountain of cracked crab and a fountain spewing white chocolate, was co-sponsored by VEGAS Magazine -- which features in the October issue the last joint interview given by Siegfried & Roy before the Oct. 3 attack.

It also features several pages of stunning black-and-white photos of the duo and their tigers taken by Bruce Weber, one of the art and fashion world's most respected, sought-after and praised lensmen.

Especially notable is the back page ad for the "Siegfried & Roy" show. Smack in the center of it is a circular sticker, which reads: "Yours is a light that cannot be dimmed. Keep your spirit burning, Roy. Our best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery and thoughts of comfort to both Siegfried & Roy and the entire cast and crew."

"The subscription copies went out before we could do anything, but we ended up hand-affixing those stickers to about 30,000 copies," VEGAS Magazine co-publisher and Greenspun Media Group President Michael Carr told VegasBeat. "It was something we felt was a relatively obvious thing to do. Everyone here wanted to make some kind of a statement about this awful tragedy.

"We couldn't let it pass without some kind of acknowledgement. I mean, those guys are royalty in this town."

New station

VegasBeat got a sneak peek the other day at the classified, glossy brochure previewing the planned Red Rock Station Casino, slated to rise on a 67-acre plot near Charleston Avenue and Interstate 215.

Wow. The Strip-worthy design of the sleek, 30-story tower and all the high-end amenities are impressive by anyone's definition.

Station execs and the community are still going back and forth over concern from area residents regarding the height and density of the project.

VegasBits

Rocker: Vince Neil joined Night Ranger onstage during its Saturday night show at Boulder Station. Las Vegas resident and former Great White keyboardist Michael Lardie is touring with the band ...

On him: Former Philadelphia Eagle pro bowl linebacker Frank Le Master was happily buying drinks for four young women at Red Square (Mandalay Bay) Friday night ...

Congrats: Famous impressionist and Las Vegas resident Rich Little is getting married Wednesday to longtime girlfriend Marie Marotta. They headed off Monday to Maui, Hawaii, for the big event ...

Love match: Andre Agassi will help Cox Communications launch the Tennis Channel at 4 p.m. today on the courts at the Agassi Boys and Girls Club on North Martin Luther King Boulevard. The network will air on Cox digital channel 333 ...

Raise funds: The downtown Icehouse Lounge will host the ALS Walk Kickoff Fund-Raiser at 5 p.m. Thursday. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and KVBC Channel 3 anchor Kendall Tenney will be on hand. The actual walk is Saturday at Police Memorial Park on West Cheyenne Avenue ...

Out of town: Robin Leach was in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday interviewing Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne for his upcoming ABC sweeps special, "Life of Luxury." Leach was in a delightful mood when we saw him at the Estefan party Sunday night: His syndicated "Penthouse Vegas" program scored boffo Nielsen numbers Friday night, airing after the highly rated extra-inning Cubs-Marlins game.

From Sun wires

Former childhood actor Gary Coleman didn't win California's recall election, but he'll still get a political platform on the new Hollywood-based All Comedy Radio network. Coleman, 35, has been tapped to become the network's political analyst.