Las Vegas Weekly

June 16, 2008 · 3:28 PM

Born on the Bijou: Phillips center of the action at Palms Pool party

By Jennifer Grafiada

Photo: Allison Duck

Following the screening of the noir musical Dark Streets, set in 1930s New Orleans, the film’s cast and crew—along with the cast and crew from Big Heart City and Happy Birthday, Harris Malden—joined members of the media for an after-party at the Palms Pool. To tell you the truth, it was more of an after-get-together, the type where people stand around or sit with drinks in their hands.

The big event of the night was Bijou Phillips singing a couple songs onstage; she is both aurally and visually appealing. Her life reads like a noir musical. She is the daughter of John Phillips, lead singer of The Mamas and the Papas, and a South Africa model (hence, the aural and visual appeal). Her name means “jewel” in French and she was a child equestrienne champion. She started modeling at 13, emancipated herself from her parents and at 14 was living on her own in New York City. Still at 14, she was the youngest model ever to appear on the cover of Vogue and appeared in a controversial Calvin Klein ad, and then checked herself into rehab for running up a large credit card bill in her father’s name.

The story gets even juicier: her four-year relationship with Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon, ended when Lennon found out that Phillips had been cheating on him with his childhood best friend, Max Leroy, who lived down the hall in their NYC apartment building. LeRoy’s family owned the renowned restaurant Tavern on the Green. Soon after Lennon discovered their affair, LeRoy died in a motorcycle accident.

Someone should write a script for next year’s CineVegas about Bijou’s life. After reading her Wikipedia entry, I was aghast at how comparably dull and banal my life appeared. Why do celebrities get all the glamour? After Bijou’s cameo, the band that provides the lovely music of Dark Streets, City Lights, took residence on the open-air stage. The heady, velvety jazz and blues made us feel like we were down-home in Louisiana, saturated in humidity, ready for romance. There was even a tambourine and charismatic singer and Dark Streets co-star Toledo, dressed in a black top hat and tight red tuxedo. The band raised $50,000 for New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. The goodwill vibe combined with high-caliber, exotic music provided a pleasant infusion of ambiance. The backdrop, albeit as far from New Orleans aesthetic as you can get, was nonetheless a Vegas kind of beautiful. Cool and shallow water to dip your feet in and wade around in, as many finely-dressed ladies and gentlemen did. A 10-foot-high orb rested delicately in the water and changing color, imbuing the water with green, blue and red. The colossal and commanding Palms tower and that famous bunny insignia watching over us all. A crowd peppered with men puffing on stogies and women that look like models. A dark Vegas summer night set to the most perfect possible temperature. Just like Dark Streets, the party was big on soundtrack and setting, small on plot.

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