Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 4:06 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
WEEKEND EDITION
September 18 - 19, 2004
Now that a series of ugly lawsuits have been settled, the "X" show is set to return to the Las Vegas Strip.
The dispute has been between show producers Angela Sampras and Bobby Boling and business partners Ed Fishman and Steven Meistrich.
The latter pair had opened some doors for the former pair to get their show into the Aladdin. The legal wrangling has been over how much money Sampras and Boling had to continue to pay Fishman and Meistrich.
The innovative show had a year-long run at the Aladdin. The Sahara then announced "X" was coming there, but it pulled out when it, too, was threatened with legal action from Fishman and Meistrich.
On Aug. 24, District Court Judge Sally Loehrer ruled that Sampras and Boling had to pay $300,001.36, plus various lawyers fees, court costs and interest.
However, "Since that time the case has been settled," according to Richard Schonfeld of the law firm Goodman & Chesnoff, who repped Sampras and Boling.
A confidentiality agreement prohibited any of the parties from officially commenting about the situation.
The show matters because when it opened it signaled a more serious push by the casinos to host more racy shows, which keep guests on the property to see adult entertainment instead of going to a more traditional strip club.
A road version of "X" is now playing at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, a Harrah's hotel. And the show is expected to be part of the new entertainment lineup at Planet Hollywood, which recently acquired the Aladdin.
Star Chef Hubert Keller gave his new Mandalay Bay culinary neighbor Chef Charlie Palmer of Aureole a tour of his Fleur de Lys kitchen Friday.
The work area of the new restaurant was designed by famous kitchen designer Mark Stech-Novak and features large picture windows, unusual for a work area.
In addition to the usual Keller delicacies, the restaurant has a prix fixe vegetarian menu that is sure to please several of our friends. It consists of five delicious and entirely meatless courses (including risotto, lasagna and a vegetable tart).
The Las Vegas location of the famed San Francisco restaurant opens Thursday.
Anna Nicole Smith dropped a few hundred bucks at the Hard Rock Hotel's retail store Thursday night.
She bought some Rehab (that's the hotel's Sunday pool party) tanks and tees, a stack of Hard Rock logo sweatshirts and a couple of trucker hats with the Pink Taco restaurant logo on them.
Patti Page, who began her Las Vegas career in 1949 at the Thunderbird Hotel & Casino, will be among the inductees into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame on Oct. 31 at the Tropicana.
From 1950 to 1961 she performed at the Desert Inn. The following year she made a move to the Sands. She also made appearances at the Dunes, the Frontier, the Flamingo and the Landmark.
Patti LaBelle had dinner Thursday at Crustacean (Desert Passage at the Aladdin), chowing down on garlic noodles and crab.
The British press is reporting that Jennifer Lopez has asked Madame Tussauds, the interactive attraction on Las Vegas Boulevard, to separate models of herself and former fiance Ben Affleck.
A new tableau at the museum has Affleck playing poker with Lopez glaring at him from a distance.
Calls to the museum were not returned by press time.
Save the Date cards are now in the mail for "A Celebration of Life, Honoring Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn on his 60th birthday."
The event is slated for Oct. 3 at The Mirage.
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