John Katsilometes on an amazing show to celebrate Kennedy Center Honors

Friday, Dec. 8, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.

Steve and Elaine Wynn were not the only prominent Las Vegans to join in the weekend events at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Also mixing with national leaders and entertainment superstars were Larry Ruvo and his wife, Camille. Ruvo is senior managing partner of Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada.

Earlier this year Larry Ruvo was named to the Kennedy Center's Presidential Advisory Committee. Over the summer Steve Wynn was selected to the center's Board of Trustees. President Bush and first lady Laura Bush make the final call on who will serve on those committees and invited the Wynns and Ruvos to a weekend filled with powerhouse events, including Sunday's taping of the "29th Kennedy Center Honors," to be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26.

On Saturday the foursome took in a dinner at the State Department and an event at the home of the Swedish ambassador to the U.S., Gunnar Lund. Ruvo returned raving about Sunday's four-hour performance honoring the five new Kennedy Center Honors recipients: Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson, Steven Spielberg and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"I have been blessed to live in Las Vegas all my life, and I have seen a lot of shows," Ruvo said during a phone interview Wednesday. "But even by Las Vegas standards this was amazing. Extraordinary."

The night featured appearances by Aretha Franklin, Itzhak Perlman, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with violinist Pinchas Zuckerman, Sarah Brightman (who paid tribute to Lloyd Webber, her ex-husband), Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, George Lucas, Liam Neeson, Tom Hanks, Reba McEntire and a clearly affected Jessica Simpson (who struggled with her vocals, composure and attire while singing Parton's "9 to 5").

Ruvo was moved by the tribute to Spielberg, which began with Neeson and Hanks introducing a film montage of Spielberg's career. That segment was followed by a Holocaust survivor and five medal-winning World War II veterans, including a former serviceman who was shot four times at Normandy during D-Day - and a fifth time while being taken away from the battlefield on a stretcher.

"I looked over at Spielberg, and he was crying," Ruvo said. "It was just an unbelievable tribute."

NoteMart

Recognizing good works from the best of its field, the Clark County Bar Association and Clark County Legal Services will hold a luncheon at noon today at the Rio to give out its annual Pro Bono Awards. The fundraiser will pay tribute to attorneys who have provided nearly 10,000 hours of free legal services for low-income Clark County residents.

The event will feature Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose as emcee. He will be joined by several newsmaking speakers and award presenters, including Nevada Supreme Court Justices Nancy Becker, Michael Douglas, Mark Gibbons, James Hardesty, Bill Maupin and Ron Parraguirre; 8th Judicial District Judge Elizabeth Goff Gonzalez; State Bar of Nevada President Rew Goodenow; CCBA President Elana Hatch; CCLS President Dean Hardy; state Sen. Valerie Weiner; outgoing County Commissioner Myrna Williams; CCLS Executive Director Barbara Buckley, who also will become speaker of the Nevada Assembly, and Clark County Pro Bono Project Director Kimberly Mucha Abbott.

Other guests of prominence include U.S. District Judges Philip Pro, Lloyd George, Roger Hunt and Peggy Leen; Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry and Justice-elect Nancy Saitta; Attorney General-elect Catherine Cortez Masto; state Sen. Dina Titus; and Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine

On Saturday, Vegas PBS (the new, hip title of what was once KLVX Channel 10) is airing what it has dubbed "Vegas Day," a series of Vegas-centric specials as part of its membership drive. Airing throughout the day will be an appearance by Blue Man Group, and the concert specials "An Evening With Clint Holmes," "Music and Passion Starring Barry Manilow," "Andrea Bocelli: Amore Under the Desert Sky" "Voces: Noches de Mariachis" and "Yanni Live" (all of which were taped in Vegas)

Wackiness continues to permeate Imperial Palace. On Tuesday hotel officials arranged for a photo-op with an entity known as Zorro the Steer at the Legends Theater as part of a National Finals Rodeo promotion. The beast was taken up the freight elevator to the backstage entrance of the theater, led to the showroom stage, through the ballroom (upsetting the employee blood drive), and out through the ballroom back door. Zorro narrowly steered clear of the Emperor's Buffet

Pass the Rolls: A commemorative Vegas centennial vanity plate on a long, clean, black 2004 Rolls Royce reads RR04.