VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: ‘Rock’ debut sparks tour talk

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 2:52 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 3 - 4, 2004

Expect quite a Queen-sized promotional blitz surrounding the August opening of "We Will Rock You" at Le Theatre des Arts at Paris Las Vegas.

The two biggest news items surrounding the opening should be the release of a retooled greatest-hits album and the first Queen tour since the death of frontman Freddy Mercury in 1991.

"A tour would be the next thing for us to do after the show opens. It has been awhile," Queen guitar player Brian May told VegasBeat during a recent conversation.

Drummer Roger Taylor added that Mercury would not be replaced.

"Brian and I are both vocalists as well. But we'd certainly have friends of ours join us onstage from time to time to sing. George Michael, Elton John, folks like that."

Bass player John Deacon, who wrote such Queen classics as "Another One Bites The Dust," is "more into his privacy than public appearances" these days, May said. But both he and Taylor expressed hope that he'd join them for a limited tour.

The greatest-hits album is slated for an Aug. 17 release, the day after the production show debuts at Paris Las Vegas.

Henderson resident and TV football prognosticator Wayne Allyn Root is shopping a new reality show called "The King of Vegas." Its goal is to crown the best sports gambler in America.

Several networks -- and a pay-per-view company -- are seriously considering broadcasting the show, and Root is meeting with Vegas casino execs about their properties being the broadcast home of the program.

The winner on the show will get a cash grand prize plus a $100,000-a-year contract to become a professional handicapper for Root's TV show, "Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge," which airs on the Spike network.

Lyle Berman, co-creator and owner of the World Poker Tour, is one of Root's backers and will serve as a consultant to the show.

What does Elton John do when he is not performing at Caesars Palace? Plenty.

Last week he was at casting calls for "Billy Elliot -- The Musical" at a London theatre. Sir Elton is doing the score for the stage version of the 2000 movie about a boy ballerina.

And on Thursday night at his palatial home in the English countryside, John hosted his annual White Tie & Tiara Ball to Benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Guests included the entire Osbourne family, designer Tom Ford, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, supermodel Eva Herzigova, Elizabeth Hurley, Dhani Harrison (the son of the late George Harrison), Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Michael Caine and David Frost.

Elton returns to The Colosseum at Caesars on July 23.

In celebration of the Riviera's upcoming 50th anniversary, the hotel's John Neeland has located the very first showgirl to ever sign a Riviera contract.

Ruth Gilles, a Las Vegas resident, opened with Liberace on April 20, 1955.

Neeland also tracked down the very first nude showgirl, Lisa Medford.

Says Medford, "It was 1957. Back then we had showgirls that were just showgirls; the same for dancers and singers and then the nude aspect of production shows came along.

"I just stood still onstage and they paid me!"

The Clark County Public Education Foundation will honor Siegfried & Roy at its eighth annual Education Hero Award Dinner on Sept. 18 at the Four Seasons.

The award recognizes individuals and organizations "that have made significant civic and charitable contributions impacting public education."

The Foundation will also present a special Lifetime Achievement in Education Award to Claudine Williams in recognition of her "extraordinary accomplishments improving education and educational services in Southern Nevada."

Ticket prices are $750 per person. Call (702) 799-1042 for tickets and information.

Happy birthday, everyone. Today, Neil Simon turns 77, George Steinbrenner is 74, Bill Withers is 66, Geraldo Rivera is 61 and Mitch Miller is 93.

Louis Armstrong was born July 4, 1900. George M. Cohan ("Yankee Doodle Dandy") was born on July 4, 1878.

Activist Vietnam vet Ron Kovic was also "Born on the Fourth of July," in 1946, although the guy who played him in the movie, Tom Cruise, was born on July 3.

And also today, the United States of America is 228 years young.