Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004 | 10:39 a.m.
Rock us, they did.
There isn't a roof on the pool deck at Paris Las Vegas, but if there was it would have been blown off.
If you have a cigarette lighter nearby, flick it and hold it up as you read the rest of this.
At the afterparty for "We Will Rock You," the musical that officially opened its Las Vegas production Wednesday night, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen -- and a host of musical guests -- delivered a blazing 50-minute set that sent shock waves through the 2,000 or so guests.
"It has been a long time since since we rocked and rolled," shouted an ebullient Taylor before he performed a raucous version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Rock and Roll."
Then May called for "Mr. Loaf -- is there a Mr. Loaf in the house?" before Meat Loaf took center stage, ripped off his leather jacket and launched into the classic "Johnny B. Goode."
Even Freddie Mercury, who is up there somewhere, must have heard the thunderous ovation after that one.
Is Queen king? "You could say that," Robert De Niro, a co-producer of "We Will Rock You," mumbled to us after he zoomed across the red carpet and before he entered Le Theatre des Arts for the show.
The crowd included Beatle Paul McCartney's half-sister Ruth McCartney and her husband, Martin Nethercutt, Monty Python's Eric Idle, "Absolutely Fabulous" star Jennifer Saunders, power lawyer Allen Grubman (father of the infamous Lizzie Grubman) and such local personalities as Robin Leach, Martin Nievera, Jeff Beacher, Harry Morton, Tony Sacca and Paris Las Vegas prez Bobby Yee.
From those, the consensus was that the show is perfect Las Vegas entertainment.
The pop-culture and current-events references -- all penned by show writer Ben Elton -- are hilarious. While Clay Aiken is a pretty easy target, lines such as how the bad guys in the show are not going to find "(musical) instruments of mass destruction" ignited the crowd.
The many jokes at the expense of Celine Dion, Cirque du Soleil and Wayne Newton are funny, but not mean-spirited.
And, if a heavily muscled black man with a mohawk going by the name Britney Spears and singing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" doesn't epitomize the unconventional and rebellious spirit of rock 'n' roll, well, we don't know what does.
The show is set in the far-off future, when music has been outlawed. The plot revolves around two young Bohemians and their search for the last guitar on Earth, which they eventually learn is entombed in the walls of Graceland.
It is a rough approximation of the myth of King Arthur pulling out the sword, Excalibur, from the stone.
But in this story, there's a lot more rocking.
"I was pretty happy with everything," May told us after the show. "The kids did a good job."
Tony Vincent, who stars as Galileo, and Aspen Miller, who stars as Scaramouche (they alternate with co-leads Jason Wooten and Kacie Sheik), are the main characters, and they earned well-deserved raves afterward, as did the rest of the cast, including Ty Taylor (Spears), Patti Russo as the evil Killer Queen and Douglas Crawford as her meanie sidekick, Khashoggi.
"Five thumbs up," Leach proclaimed at the afterparty.
Name brand
After reading our Tuesday item about the downtown Arts District, Anne Kellogg, a board member of the Las Vegas Arts District Neighborhood Association, e-mailed to say that the area does, in fact, have a catchy name.
"It is '18B, The Las Vegas Arts District,' " Kellogg said. "Originally, the neighborhood included 18 blocks," she explained, but it has since grown.
"We are going to unleash the name soon, in a big way, so be on the lookout."
VegasBits
No Queen: That was Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Donna D'Errico ("Baywatch") and local food mag publisher Michael Politz dining together at Prime (Bellagio) Wednesday night ...
Honor: Caesars Palace pianist David Osborne has a cool out-of-town gig coming up. He'll be at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Sept. 26 playing for Jimmy Carter at the former president's 80th birthday party ...
Bar boy: Rande Gerber of Whisky Bar fame is opening a second Las Vegas boite. He told Las Vegas Food & Beverage magazine that he is going to have a presence in the new Red Rock Station Casino ...
First casualty: Several stores have yet to open, but Portfolio, a women's clothing store, has already closed at The District at Green Valley Ranch, the new faux urban outdoor mall. Portfolio's original branch at Mandalay Bay remains open...
Honor roll: Tonight at the DragonRidge Country Club at MacDonald Highlands, In Business Las Vegas will recognize 22 of the most influential businesswomen in Southern Nevada. The group is composed of Elizabeth Blau, Selma Bartlett, Leah Bryant, MaryKaye Cashman, Suzanne Cram, Jackie DeLaney, Lou Emmert, Robbie Graham, Carol Harter, Jan Jones, Jeanne Richard Jones, Kara Kelley, Punam Mathur, Mary Ann Mele, Alice Molasky-Arman, Patricia Mulroy, Heather Murren, Gina Polovina, Linda Smith, Terri Sturm, Carole Vilardo and Elaine Wynn.
From Sun wires
Jennings' run ends? Has Ken Jennings ended his "Jeopardy!" streak?
A report posted Wednesday on TV Week's Web site said the brainy software engineer lost in a show taped Tuesday, walking away after his 75th straight game with about $2.5 million overall in cash and prizes. The magazine cited unidentified sources and said the show would air later this fall.
A spokesman for the show told TV Week that it would not disclose whether Jennings lost.
Jennings, 30, of Salt Lake City, began his record-breaking run June 2, with a six-week hiatus for summer reruns. After winning the show that aired Wednesday, his 41st, he had amassed $1,380,661. (For an in-depth look at Jennings' streak, see story, page 1E.)
Royal wedding: The future king of the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei married a 17-year-old half-Swiss commoner today at a wedding attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah -- the fabulously wealthy ruler of 350,000 subjects -- wed Sarah Salleh before 2,000 people in a traditional Malay Muslim ceremony at Brunei's giant main palace.
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