Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: A new CSI: Charity scenes inspired

Las Vegas resident Michael Shulman is a scenester with a cause.

Saturday afternoon he makes the scene at the beginning of the World Shoe Association convention at Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

He'll be joined by Michael Fuller, Justin Hoffman and Eddie McDonald as they man the turntables at the GBMI Booth (GBMI is the licensor for the fashion footwear lines of Diesel, Nautica, Mecca and XOXO).

Later that evening Shulman turns his attention to a good cause.

He will be attending the black-tie gala at Neiman Marcus with his socialite mother, Jan Shulman.

The high-end retailer is holding a grand reopening party and fashion show hosted by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana -- who are making their first Las Vegas appearances.

The evening will feature Elaine and Steve Wynn introducing honorees Susan and Irwin Molasky. Mark Schorr will lead a live auction and Neiman's own James Beard Foundation Best Young Chef nominee Jacques Van Staden will cater the party.

There, Shulman is going to follow up his recent five-figure pledge to Nevada Ballet Theatre (made on behalf of his family's charitable trust) with a similar pledge to the evening's beneficiary: Nathan Adelson Hospice.

Shulman, 29, and his father, Barry Shulman (publisher of the poker bible Card Player magazine), oversee the Las Vegas arm of the Alex Shulman Family Trust, which is named after Barry's late father.

The trust is a multimillion-dollar philanthropic fund that will be annually donating substantial sums to various Las Vegas charities that the Shulman family selects.

Alex Shulman made significant coin with three separate endeavors: first as a restaurateur and then with Alaska Distributors (now Alaska Distributors-Western Washington Beverage Association). Finally, he made a killing in Pacific Northwest real estate.

For example, he sold Jeff Brotman the land where he built the original Costco in Redmond, Wash.

According to Shulman, the Trust will be focusing on institutions and organizations that deal in health care, the arts, and children's and women's welfare.

Shulman told us, "My grandfather spent his lifetime building a fortune, which is being used in great part by his surviving relatives to aid those less fortunate. His was a keenly analytical mind and he possessed a business acumen second to none that I've ever encountered before or since.

"My only regret is that he spent so much time making money that he never stopped to enjoy the fruits of his labors. His legacy is a devotion to philanthropy that he carried with him through his final days -- a vision my family intends to carry out to the best of our abilities."

Finally, after the Neiman Marcus event, it is back to the scene for Michael. He'll bop down the Strip to the Bellagio for a trio of parties.

First he'll partake in the revelry surrounding the opening of "Andy Warhol: The Celebrity Portraits" at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art.

Then it is off to the opening of the new hipster lounge Carmel and the one-year anniversary party for the exclusive club Light.

Pretty busy day for a guy who is often accused of doing nothing.

Smooth

Now that her perfume deal is set, someone ought to call Celine Dion about a skin-care package.

"It is so hard to get used to the dry skin I get here," Dion told VegasBeat after her Celine Dion Parfums launch the other night at Caesars Palace. "I am still trying different ways to keep my skin moisturized."

As we reported earlier, she also is concerned about what is called Vegas Voice. To make sure her singing is not affected, she had a multimillion-dollar humidifying machine installed over her stage at The Colosseum where "A New Day" opens March 25.

Camera action

One of the nation's favorite television shows comes to life today at The Venetian.

Scenes from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" will be filmed on the casino floor. All the show's stars will be glimpse-able: William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Paul Guilfoyle and George Eads.

Monday they filmed scenes downtown on Fremont Street and in front of the Plaza.

VegasBits

William Shatner entertained a party of 18 in a private dining room at Aureole in Mandalay Bay on Sunday night. He spent half the meal huddling with Wine Director Andrew Bradbury, who made some special wine pairings for the group ...

We might not know much, but we are good at reading a clock. So we immediately knew it was ABBA-solutely wrong when we read elsewhere that "Mamma Mia!" was 3 1/2 hours long. It clocks in at a tight two hours and 10 minutes. Previews started Monday night at Mandalay Bay; the show opens Feb. 13 ...

"CSI's" Petersen was partying at Studio 54 inside MGM Grand Saturday night ...

The new Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas was featured in the Sunday New York Times as a new choice destination. The resort opens its doors Feb. 14 ...

It is celebrity impersonator week on "Hollywood Squares." Look for Las Vegas -- Celebrity Impersonator Central -- to be well represented. Stephen Sorrentino is scheduled to appear tonight in his Elton John disguise ...

Dion's husband and producer, Rene Angelil, and Las Vegas Food Service magazine publisher Michael Politz were comparing notes on Strip steakhouses as they strolled the casino floor at Caesars on Saturday ...

Tickets for Collective Soul go on sale this weekend. They play at Rain in the Desert at the Palms on Feb. 26 ...

There are few better spots to celebrity watch than from a seat on the railing at Spago inside the Forum Shops at Caesars. Passing by recently: Tara Reid, Ice-T, Curt Schilling, John Ruiz, Josh Hartnett and Mike Tyson.

Even more

Careful readers may have noticed that there is now more VegasBeat in your week. Today we officially add Tuesday to our lineup.

So now you can find your favorite gossip column in the Las Vegas Sun five days per week: Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If events warrant, as they did last week, we'll be here Thursday, too. VegasBeat will also be the place for national and international celebrity news (see below) on the weekdays.

Thanks for reading, and keep those calls, cards and letters coming.

From Sun wires

Acclaimed music producer Phil Spector was arrested for investigation of murder after police found a woman shot to death at his castlelike mansion in Alhambra, Calif., authorities said.

Spector, 62, whose "Wall of Sound" technique transformed 1960s pop music, was freed Monday night after posting $1 million bond. He had been arrested before dawn after the body of 40-year-old Lana Clarkson was found, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Richard Westin said.

Clarkson was believed to have been a TV and film actress. Authorities wouldn't comment on her occupation or what her relationship was to Spector.

Love affair: Singer-actress Courtney Love was detained by police today as she arrived at Heathrow airport in London, an airline said.

Love was "verbally abusive" to the cabin crew during a Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles, a spokesman for the airline said.

TV channel Sky News showed pictures of Love being escorted by two officers from the plane to a police van parked on the runway. She smiled sheepishly at the camera and covered her face with her hand before getting into the van.

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