VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Paris hopes Queen makes winning hand

Thursday, June 24, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

Despite the fact that by the end of this year there will be six simultaneous worldwide productions of the Queen musical "We Will Rock You," the founding members of the legendary rock group say that global theatrical rock-show domination is not their goal.

"Please don't compare us to 'Mamma Mia!' " Queen guitarist Brian May told VegasBeat backstage Wednesday at the Le Theatre des Arts at Paris Las Vegas. May was on hand for a media event announcing details of the upcoming Las Vegas production of the musical, which has played to sold-out houses in London since 2002.

"We are not looking to rubber-stamp the shows. We stay involved in all of them, tweaking and changing things all the time," May said. "Once the personal touch is gone, so is the fun."

Added drummer Roger Taylor: "Even in the Moscow and Madrid shows, we work closely with the translators to make the shows appropriate to the audience."

The Vegas version starts previews Aug. 16; tickets are now on sale from $80.50 to $113.50 and are available at the Paris Las Vegas box office. Other "We Will Rock You" productions are being staged in Australia and Germany.

In each venue, the script is tailored to the local clientele. For example, references in the London version to Wembley Arena will be replaced by Yankee Stadium references for American audiences.

So why is the first U.S. show being staged in Las Vegas instead of on Broadway? Depends on whom you ask.

May says that it was an obvious choice, as "Las Vegas is the nation's entertainment capital." Taylor says it was to bypass the "vitriolic" New York media, which he said hate everything because they don't understand popular culture.

Jane Rosenthal, whose company Tribeca Productions is behind the show (and whose business partner is Robert De Niro), attributed the locale to what she termed the "changing economics" of Broadway -- meaning it is a lot cheaper to launch the show from Las Vegas.

Fact is, they are all right.

The show is a romantic comedy, according to scriptwriter Ben Elton, who, while largely unknown in Las Vegas, is widely regarded as the second-biggest British comedy talent after Monty Python.

Elton said the show is set in the future, where Big Brother has eliminated music. The plot loosely revolves around a couple seeking the last guitar in the world, which has been embedded deep in the earth, a rough approximation of the myth of King Arthur pulling out the sword, Excalibur, from the stone.

When the guitar is freed, the music will return, and the people will rejoice.

Tommy talks

We got an e-mail Wednesday from Tommy Lee, responding to our item on Tuesday about what transpired at Light (Bellagio) the other night when Lee was a guest DJ.

"Hey Tim, As you know there's three sides to every story ... His side, my side, and the truth!" the former Motley Crue drummer began.

"The truth is ... Security NEVER escorted me out, the security that was there are part of my team. I had the shear (sic) pleasure of doing it myself ... Couldn't wait to get out of there actually. We were hired to perform that night, what Sean (Christie, a Light veep) never told you was that Light is hardly a dance club ... It's a lounge with a pathetic sound system that my car stereo destroys!!!

"All they were interested in was us playing hip-hop top 40 tunes, and that is not what we do. Tell Sean thanks, but no thanks on returning there anytime soon!

"I could go on, but it's pointless!!!

"Peace n Big Ass Beats -- Tommy Lee."

Christie said he stands by his account, which is that a rude and obnoxious Lee was playing "lousy" music, refused to leave when asked and had to be escorted out by club security.

And despite all that, Lee is booked to return as a Vegas DJ. The Forum Shops at Caesars club OPM has Lee booked for a July 4 gig.

Back on top

Vegas icon Dean Martin has scored his first Top 40 album.

"Dino: The Essential Dean Martin," from Capitol Records, debuted at No. 28 last week on the Billboard album chart, outselling current releases from Britney Spears, Beyonce and Jay-Z, among others. It is expected to jump several notches this week.

Martin had 36 Top 40 hits -- all singles -- between 1949 and 1963. The album features 23 of them.

Multi-interest

Reality show guru Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice") is using his latest project to extend his reach into the music business.

Burnett is featuring Canadian jazz singer Matt Dusk on the new Fox show "The Casino" and will share in the profits from Dusk's debut album, according to the artist's record label, Reuters reports.

Dusk ruffled some feathers when he was critical -- on national television -- of the vocal skills of Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt. Dusk is touring in his native Canada with no firm return date to the Nugget.

The show is set at the Golden Nugget and follows around its rookie owners Tom Breitling and Tim Poster.

The Dusk tie-in with "The Casino" is not Burnett's only foray into the music business. He also is developing a reality show called "Rock Star" that will follow the band INXS as it searches for a singer to replace Michael Hutchence, who died of an apparent suicide in 1997.

Meanwhile, mixed reviews and so-so ratings have plagued "The Casino" so far. The first episode of the show, which aired June 14, averaged 5.8 million viewers -- far fewer than the audiences drawn by Burnett's other shows, Reuters reports.

The second episode drew even fewer viewers, an estimated 4.9 million people.

VegasBits

Relax: Blink 182 bandmembers spent most of Tuesday afternoon at the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel before having a late lunch at the Pink Taco restaurant there. They performed Tuesday night at The Joint ...

Hang: Celebrated Picasso (Bellagio) Chef Julian Serrano ended his evening Tuesday with a quiet drink at the bar at Aureole (Mandalay Bay) ...

Party: NBA star Jermaine O'Neal and actor Taye Diggs were on the dance floor at the same time at Body English (Hard Rock) on Saturday night ...

Decade: To mark the 10-year anniversary of Buffalo Bill's in Primm, tickets for the Aug. 7 Hootie and the Blowfish show there all cost $10. They are now on sale ...

Errors: We had some bad info here on Wednesday in an item about the Food & Beverage Directors Association of Nevada gala, which was held Saturday night at The Venetian. For the record, Lloyd Wentzell is the Food & Beverage veep at the Riviera, and Bill Hiers has that position at the Tropicana.

From Sun wires

Reagan criticizes Bush: Ron Reagan, the younger son of the late President Ronald Reagan, criticized the Bush administration's foreign policy, saying he believed Bush misled Americans to gain support for the war in Iraq.

"We lied our way into the war," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Wednesday, referring to allegations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and direct connections to al-Qaida. "It's a terrible mistake, a terrible foreign policy error."

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