Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Have a cow!: ‘Zumanity’ acts up

Las Vegas is a city that, so far, has no parties interested in ponying up an estimated $35 million for a new minor league ballpark.

But the city is the site of a new $50 million theater for a show where one of the top acts features a man dressed as a 17th-century Puritan simulating intercourse with a cow. Loudly.

Viva Las Vegas!

The bovine sex scene was one of the tweaks added to "stabilize" the new Cirque du Soleil show "Zumanity" that had its gala red-carpet premiere at New York-New York's Zumanity Theater on Saturday night.

However, despite the many explicit sketches and the fact that Cirque founder Guy Laliberte concedes the show is not finished -- he refers to it as a work in progress -- the reaction was generally far more positive than it was following its first preview performance last month.

"I have no idea what I just saw -- but I liked it an awful lot," said David Faustino, who got an advanced degree in sexual innuendo and questionable taste while playing Bud Bundy on the bawdy sitcom "Married ... With Children."

"I loved it. Naked bodies. Vegas. It was fabulous," actress Jennifer Love Hewitt gushed.

"(Show emcee) Joey Arias was amazing. The choreography was amazing. It was a series of little scenes that just flowed so well from one into another," said Kenny Ortega, a man who knows a bit about choreography. He is producing Gloria Estefan's October shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

"No, it was nothing like 'The Brady Bunch' -- but can you imagine?" laughed Barry Williams (who played Greg Brady) when VegasBeat asked him if the two shows shared any similar characteristics.

"It was a human freak show. I like freak shows," said Vegas artist Ruby Mazur, who created the famous Rolling Stones tongue-and-lips logo.

Not a negative word came from anyone we approached, a group that included Tony Award-winning "Hairspray" star Marissa Winokur, Daryl Hannah, Neil Patrick Harris ("Doogie Howser, M.D."), Neil Sedaka, Vera and Robert Goulet, Brooke Burke, Rita Rudner, Frank Marino, Milli Vanilli's Fabrice Morvan, Rene Angelil, Christine Scinta, Clint Holmes, Ever Carradine ("Lucky"), Meredith Salinger ("Dawson's Creek"), Dennis Haskins ("Saved by the Bell"), Jeff Conaway ("Taxi"), Deborah ("Please don't call me Debbie") Gibson, and designers Roberto Cavalli and Thierry Mugler, who did the show's costumes.

Also in the house, and at the no-expense-spared, all-night party on the top floor of the hotel's parking garage: Chris Ciccone (Madonna's brother), artist Kenny Scharf, performance artist Ann Magnuson, Monti Rock III, Gianna and James "Bucky" Buchanan, PAPER mag publisher Kim Hastreiter with scenester Michael Shulman (who wrote several pieces on Vegas in the new edition of the trend-setting New York mag included in the celebrities' gift bags). Also on hand were Donna and Bobby Baldwin, Donna and Jack Wishna, Lieuchi, Adeana Shendal and KVBC Channel 3 anchor Jim Snyder, "Wigstock" creator Lady Bunny, Tommy Boy records founder Tom Silverman, Rick Garson (who produces the Fox network's New Year's Eve show "Live from Las Vegas") and, of course, Robin Leach.

Not everyone loved the updated "Zumanity," however. We spotted boxing promoter Bob Arum catching up on his sleep during the performance, and socialites Paris and Nicky Hilton made a conspicuous exit when they left their front-row seats about 20 minutes into the show.

Before the performance, hotel prez Felix Rappaport confirmed to VegasBeat that the Zumanity Theater carried a $50 million price tag, and that the show cost another $15 million.

"We are very happy with the show and expect it to be a big hit for at least the next 10 years," he said.

We would not bet against that.

Playboy weekend

Playboy celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend at the Palms, and the best moment was watching a gaggle of guys at ghostbar Friday night who were comparing notes on two women they saw standing and chatting near the buffet. The women were Jenny McCarthy and a friend of hers, Cher Calvin, the alluring KVVU Channel 5 morning news anchor.

Calvin, in a short black dress with a ruffled hem, seemed to have a lot more fans than McCarthy, who was dressed in low-rider camouflage pants and a halter top.

Overall, it was a diverse group that we spotted at the various Playboy parties. The celeb list included Carmen Electra, Christine Hefner, Vegas Magazine publisher Michael Carr (a former Playboy Publishing exec), KXNT Channel 13 weatherman Nate Tannenbaum, David Spade, James Caan, Usher and Tony Curtis.

VegasBits

Generous: Hugh Hefner tipped the men's room attendant $5 after paying the loo a visit during his dinner with George Maloof Friday night at N9NE ...

Late Start: The celebrity "Zumanity" performance started nearly 30 minutes late because producers were waiting for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne to arrive. MGM MIRAGE officials had flown them in from Los Angeles and installed them in a palatial Bellagio suite, but they never left the swank digs, despite pleading from producers ...

TV notes: Blue Man Group -- plus 90 of the 135 California gubernatorial recall candidates -- are on Jay Leno (KVBC Channel 3) tonight. Also tonight on NBC, the new casino-surveillance drama "Las Vegas" debuts ...

Party people: Josh Hartnett sat with some friends upstairs at Prana (Aladdin) Saturday night ... Charles Barkley, Jamie Foxx and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were among the revelers at ghostbar on Saturday night ... Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth were among those spotted at Tabu (MGM) on Friday night ... Amy and Desi Arnaz Jr. and Jeanne Martin were in the audience Saturday night at the Suncoast for the Gary Lewis (Jerry Lewis' son) and Ricci Martin (Dean Martin's son) co-headlining performance.

From Sun wires

Less than a year after retiring, Art Bell is returning as weekend host of the overnight radio talk show he founded about UFO sightings, arcane mysteries and conspiracy theories.

Bell, 58, who broadcasts from Pahrump, said in a statement through Premiere Radio Networks that his Saturday morning return to Coast to Coast AM would be "both mysterious and reassuring."

Miss America crowned: Practice makes perfect. The new Miss America can attest to it.

Ericka Dunlap, 21, of Orlando, Fla., who has been competing in beauty pageants since she was a child, saw the preparation pay off Saturday when she was crowned Miss America 2004 in Atlantic City.

Dunlap, a senior at the University of Central Florida, hopes to become a lawyer.

Vows exchanged: Grammy-winning singer Melissa Etheridge exchanged vows with her girlfriend, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, in a weekend ceremony in Malibu, Calif., the singer's publicist said.

The statement described the two as married, although homosexual couples cannot legally marry in California.

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