Las Vegas Weekly

January 27, 2009 · 11:56 AM

Photo Gallery: Mad Men stars launch revue as TV program execs arrive in town for NATPE

By Robin Leach

John Ferriter of the William Morris Agency, Chef Ludo Lefebvre of Lavo and Ben Silverman of NBC.

Photo: Grace Rakich

Several stars of the award-winning AMC series Mad Men, including Tom Hanks’ son Colin and Broadway actor Robert Morse, will debut A Night on the Town for one performance this evening at the MGM Hollywood Theatre, and it’s not just to kick off the annual National Association of Television Program Executives convention at Mandalay Bay.

The cast and crew of the Emmy-, Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild-winning series are hoping that it might mean a permanent gig on the Strip. Mad Men’s Joel Murray, the brother of Bill Murray, will emcee the comedy musical. The 1960s revue takes the sense and style of the Madison Avenue advertising world depicted in Mad Men. A rotating cast of 15 will appear in the revue if it’s picked up.

NATPE President Rick Feldman says: “It’s definitely one of the highlights of this year’s conference, and we’ve invited several hotel entertainment bookers to watch it and hopefully sign it to the Strip.”

The convention exhibits open today through Thursday will unveil the latest in digital products and services designed to produce, distribute and monetize program content. The industry’s major media stars and players arrive in town today for the convention.

Additionally, today and tomorrow, a TV celebrity chef kitchen will be set up featuring our local stars Iron Chef Kerry Simon, Paul Bartolotta of the Wynn, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of Border Grill and Charlie Palmer of Aureole. They will be joined by The Food Network’s Jeff Henderson, Bravo’s Brian Malarkey and Richard Blais of Top Chef, Nathan Lyon from TLC’s Real Simple and Lifetime’s Steve Spitz.

Tonight, Jennifer Simonetti, one of only four women to hold the Master of Wine title, will demonstrate her skill at opening magnums of Piper Heidsieck champagne with a saber! Tomorrow, Modern Mixologist star Tony Abouganim will preside over a celebrity signature cocktail contest.

NBC head honcho Ben Silverman is one of NATPE’s honorees this year. Ben played host to the industry’s power players with a private dining room dinner at Lavo in the Palazzo. His guests included partners of the creators of The Biggest Loser and The Office; MTV program chief Tony DiSanto; and John Ferriter, worldwide head of reality TV for the William Morris Agency. Even our favorite Polish violin trio the Alizma triplets made the scene. Ben and his guests were so impressed with the unique Mediterranean menu that they requested Chef Ludo Lefebvre leave the kitchen and get a standing ovation in the restaurant!

We’ll be on the exhibit floor at Mandalay Bay this afternoon and again tomorrow afternoon for a full Vegas DeLuxe report later in the week.

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