Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 8:59 a.m.
Kate Maddox's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at 259-2309 or [email protected].
You can't blame him for trying to spruce up the tent/showroom at the Lady Luck, but "Forever Plaid" producer Richard Martini may have pushed a little too hard. The deal to bring the popular "Plaid" show downtown didn't get signed this week, after the Lady Luck's corporate parents, Isle of Capri, decided that revamping the showroom to Martini's liking was not a top priority.
Martini and Danny Gans' producer, Chip Lightman, are once again shopping "Plaid" to other hotels. According to Lightman, two properties are very interested, although one is off the Strip and caters mostly to locals. But the prospects are looking better than they were a couple of months back when "Plaid" was unceremoniously displaced by incoming Flamingo Las Vegas comedy revue "The Second City."
Lightman expressed some disappointment over missing the Lady Luck opportunity, but feels a new deal will be secured for "Forever Plaid" "within two weeks."
Howard Stern and his crew won't be seeing Siegfried & Roy this weekend after all. Siegfried still hasn't regained his strength after a nasty bout with the flu, and the duo's Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows will be dark, bringing the grand total of cancelled shows to an unheard of 24.
Stern was scheduled to see Siegfried & Roy on Saturday, before he parties the night away at a local strip joint. On Thursday the shock jock told listeners that S & R was the only show he was interested in seeing while in town (mainly for the "goof" factor; sidekick Robin Quivers only seemed interested in checking out the magicians' notorious codpieces). Stern pooh-poohed trying for tickets to "O" or any other popular production or attraction.
Siegfried's illness has also forced the postponement of a scheduled Monday press conference to announce "historic" future plans.
Amid a few delirious days and nights spent covering the celeb situation at this week's NAPTE convention, I found myself in the House of Blues' VIP area squashed between Judge Judy Sheindlin and "Survivor's" Richard Hatch. (She, very short. He, very tall. Me, somewhere in the middle.) Hatch and Sheindlin were part of "Entertainment Tonight's" 20th anniversary bash.
Also safely ensconced in VIP land were Ted Danson, Ahmad Rashad, Caroline Rhea, Maury Povich, Mills Lane, and the "ET" posse of Mary Hart, Bob Goen, Julie Moran and Leonard Maltin. Chic, with Nile Rodgers, and George Thorogood provided the entertainment, and at one point, so did Montel Williams. Williams jumped onstage and performed two songs. I hate to use the old "keep your day job" line, but, um, keep your day job.
The next night I was boogeying at Studio 54 at Pearson Television Enterprises' party with the cast of something called "Baywatch Hawaii." (See, they do the same stuff as the original show -- slo-mo beach jogs, outrageously bad rescues and inter-beach romance -- but this time it's all in Hawaii. Get it?)
One of the stars, Playboy playmate Brande Roderick, was there. She plays a lifeguard on the show, but really earned her claim to fame as one of Hugh Hefner's gal-pal trio, along with identical twins Sandy and Mandy Bentley. Roderick says she's long since left Hef and is concentrating on her acting career. No word on whether she keeps tabs on the twins. But, I digress.
Also at the Studio 54 fete were Andrew "Dice" Clay, Michael Bergin, Antonio Sabato Jr., Louie Anderson, John O'Hurley, Meshach Taylor and Paula Poundstone.
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