Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | 8:12 a.m.
Adrian Zmed.
Maybe you remember him as officer Vince Romano in the TV series "T.J. Hooker" (1982-'85).
Or as Johnny Nogerelli in the 1982 film "Grease II."
Or as Danny Zucko in the road show version of Broadway's "Grease," which played in Las Vegas in 1996.
But for the next few weeks you will know him as the host of the Las Vegas Hilton's "Dance Mania" contest, to be held at 11 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 10.
"I may be the featured star and the host," said the 50-year-old, all-around entertainer during a telephone interview in Los Angeles, "but the average person will be the star of the show it will be like 'American Idol,' only with dancing."
He says he will begin the contest with a song and a dance and then an explanation about the event.
"It's going to be a very loose show," Zmed said. "I may want to do another song and dance as judges decide the winners.
"It's structured exactly like 'Dance Fever.' Winners of the weekly competition will come back for the finals, with one grand prize."
The competition will take place at The Nightclub at the Hilton.
Weekly cash prizes include $250 for first place, $100 for second and $50 for third. The winners of the finals will receive $2,000 in cash, dinner for two at The Hilton Steakhouse, a weekend stay in a luxury suite and a 12-week paid dance contract from Hitz Productions.
Doors open at 10 p.m. The first eight singles, couples or groups to sign up will be selected to compete. Contestants who finish in first place during the weekly competition may not compete in subsequent weekly competitions, but second- and third-place contestants may.
All contestants must have 90 seconds of music of their choice queued on CD.
This won't be the Chicago native's first venture into hosting a dance show. He had those duties on the TV series "Dance Fever" from 1985-'87.
Zmed's career in film, television and stage stretches back almost 30 years, to around the time he was a guest on the "Starsky & Hutch" TV series in 1975.
Since then he has appeared in dozens of films, plays (on and off Broadway) and countless TV series as a guest star.
Today he has added producer to his credits. He's working on his own Las Vegas production.
"The show I want to create is more of a Broadway show," Zmed said. "It could be at the Hilton, they are looking. I will be at the center of the show, which has a theatrical theme throughout the show -- people's stories will revolve around things coming out of my head.
"There will be unbelievable dance numbers."
While his own production is in the developmental stage, he said he is preparing to star in "Saharem Nights," a new show at the Sahara he says is scheduled to premiere in the fall.
"I will be a genie granting wishes," Zmed said. "It has a desert fantasy theme to it -- it's kind of a cool show with a moral at the end, in addition to being quite entertaining. We're still working on the magic carpet."
And he is pitching an idea for a Vegas-based reality show, one that follows the production of a show from beginning to end.
"Vegas is hot right now," Zmed said.
As if his Vegas ventures aren't keeping him busy enough, Zmed is still into films. In addition to co-writing a producing a film about sorority vampires, he is into pre-production of a movie about a boy band on its way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
And there are a couple of TV projects on the horizon.
"One of them is about a high school for teen angels," Zmed said.
And he is working on a rock opera based on Robin Hood.
Zmed seems to becoming more and more involved in Las Vegas.
"I'm excited," he said. "In my life something has always happened that came out of nowhere and pulled me in the direction I should go.
"It seems to be pulling me again in a direction that I never expected."
Zmed's first trip to Las Vegas was when he starred in "Grease" at the Aladdin in 1996. He says he was surprised, and initially disappointed, by the crowd's reaction to the production.
"I didn't know what to expect," he said. "When doing 'Grease,' people did not respond like people in Cleveland or Atlanta.
"As a performer, doing 'Grease,' I was not pleased. I'm used to having the attention, the reaction from the audience. I was a little surprised by Vegas."
But he says he gets it now.
"I know what's going on," Zmed said. "I see now what the audiences in Las Vegas want.
"People come to Vegas to spend money, gamble, go to a show, do a lot of different things. But in Atlanta, an evening at the theater is the evening -- while in Vegas an evening at the theater is only part of the evening. In Atlanta there are no other distractions."
He compared Vegas to a Chinese meal, which has a lot of different items that the diner wants to sample.
"There is so much variety in Las Vegas," Zmed said. "Everybody wants to grasp everything. A little from here, a little from there."
And so shows that come to Vegas have to be streamlined.
"The kind of show that is most popular there is the show that gives you the hour or 90 minutes of exciting entertainment, and then you are free to go to the next course of the meal," Zmed said.
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