VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Palms’ race, sports book is Rose garden

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 10:30 a.m.

He's baaack. Not that he ever really went anywhere.

Pete Rose was spotted at the Palms on Sunday afternoon, but he wasn't paying that much attention to the little football game that everyone else was tuned to.

He was mainly in the race and sports book, watching races from Santa Anita. A witness said Rose did not place any bets on the horse races, but he did see Rose's associates make several wagers.

Rose also checked out the Palapa Lounge, where the Super Bowl was being broadcast.

Charlie Hustle, of course, is trying to get reinstated to Major League Baseball, which exorcised him nearly 15 years ago for betting on the game.

The all-time major-league hits leader is on a nationwide book tour promoting his autobiography, "My Prison Without Bars," where he belatedly admits he gambled on the national pastime. His publishing company, Rodale Press, says there are no Las Vegas stops on the book tour it has scheduled, but added Rose has scheduled some stops on his own -- including a visit Saturday to the Foxwoods casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Rose's most-recent documented Vegas visit was for the James Toney/Evander Holyfield fight in October at Mandalay Bay. Elsewhere at Palms, Joe, Gavin, Phil and George Maloof hosted a private Super Bowl party at ghostbar along with N9NE group heads Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff, and high-end cigar maker CAO hosted events throughout the hotel.

Among CAO's guests were Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Jamie Foxx.

Driven

A stretch of West Sahara Avenue had to be shut down Saturday night to accommodate the overflow crowd at the grand opening of the new Fletcher Jones car dealership.

At one point, an estimated 2,000 guests were on the scene. Bigwigs in the crowd included Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo, MGM MIRAGE Chairman Terri Lanni, KLAS Channel 3 General Manager Gene Greenberg and former Sen. Richard Bryan.

Yellow show

Last week it was reported that "Yellow Submarine" -- the 1968 animated Beatles film, heavy on the psychedelic -- was possibly going to be the basis of a new Cirque du Soleil production at the Siegfried & Roy Theatre at The Mirage. So, over the weekend, VegasBeat rented the movie to see if it was Cirque adaptable, at least in our humble opinion.

The verdict: This could be a perfect match.

The "Submarine" plot is minimal, in keeping with the other Cirque productions. Pepperland, a peaceful place, is attacked by the Blue Meanies. One man makes it out and finds his way to England and the Beatles. The group travels back to Pepperland, crossing through the surreal Sea of Green, Sea of Time and Sea of Monsters.

Finally they arrive in Pepperland and attack the Blue Meanies with their music.

But making sense of the story is secondary to getting pleasantly lost in the sights and sounds of the film.

Just like a Cirque show.

Plus, the music is timeless. Tracks from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" dominate.

Cirque officials won't officially say if the project is a go, but they could hardly find a better starting point for a new show than this.

Out-of-town gig

Rio headliners Penn & Teller were dark over the weekend, but they were busier than usual.

The duo headlined a charity event at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., benefiting the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care. Harrah's Chief Executive Gary Loveman is heavily involved with the charity.

Such guests as Michael J. Fox, Dennis Leary, Donnie Wahlberg, Ken Howard, Peter Wolf (J. Geils band) and Neely helped raise more than $900,000.

Proclaim

Gov. Kenny Guinn and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt have both issued special proclamations marking the fifth anniversary of the Casino Legends Hall of Fame inside the Tropicana, which the hall celebrates Wednesday.

To mark the occasion, all Nevada residents with a valid ID get into the museum for free during the month of February.

This year's induction ceremony is tentatively set for Oct. 31 and we hear that Debbie Reynolds will be one of the inductees.

VegasBits

Opener: Henderson resident and Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater is the debut performer tonight at the opening of Le Jazz au Bar, a new New York City jazz club from nightclub impresario Howard Stein (Xenon, Au Bar) ...

Gas: Former Guns 'N Roses frontman Axl Rose purchased a restored, 5-foot Mobil neon Pegasus flying horse from Antiquities (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Saturday. It cost $5,500 ...

Sweeps: Jean-Claude Van Damme guest stars on Monday's episode of the NBC casino drama "Las Vegas." Dennis Hopper is the special guest on the Feb. 16 episode ...

Success: More than 1,200 paid admissions were recorded Friday, the first day of the blockbuster Claude Monet exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, a record for the space, according to a gallery spokeswoman. A little more than 1,100 tickets were sold on Saturday ...

New: Producer Adam Gentile's male revue "Men the Show," which played for a few months at the Riviera last year, reopens Friday at Club Seven on the corner of Harmon Avenue and The Strip ...

Dinner: Playboy and MTV personality Jenny McCarthy had the macadamia nut-encrusted sea bass for dinner Friday night at BullShrimp (Green Valley Ranch) ...

Survivor: Joey Bishop, the only surviving member of the original Rat Pack, turns 86 today. He plans a quiet celebration at his Palm Desert, Calif., home.

From Sun wires

Gest blames tabloid: Liza Minnelli'sbreakup with David Gest was caused by a tabloid article, not alleged physical abuse, the producer said in an interview to be broadcast Friday.

Gest, who has been staying in Hawaii since the split, told "Dateline's" Stone Phillips that Minnelli "beat me and hit me everywhere," but it was a National Enquirer article portraying his estranged wife as an alcoholic that led to the relationship's end.

"She got the magazine on a Wednesday morning and on Thursday announced our marriage was over," Gest said in the NBC interview, according to a news release from the network.

Prestwood indicted: Songwriter Hugh Prestwood was indicted Monday on a felony weapon charge following his arrest last month at Long Island, N.Y., MacArthur Airport for allegedly carrying a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage.