Harvey Fierstein reviews Las Vegas Ruth Brown visits cast of "Hairspray" Brian Setzer takes in Forty Deuce Actor-director Sean Penn is taking on a film adaptation of author Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild."

Sean Penn was on a scouting expedition this week when he roamed the area around Boulder City with film executives.

They checked out the Hacienda hotel-casino on Monday and outdoor options around Lake Mead, sources said.

"They're making a movie that would start in late June or early July," a spy said. "We were told they mentioned river rafting."

Penn, who won a best actor Oscar for "Mystic River" three years ago, is directing a film adaptation of Jon Krakauer's best-selling book, "Into the Wild."

The book chronicles the fatal altruistic journey of Christopher McCandless, who rejected his upper middle class existence for a nomadic test of character -- some said death wish -- that ended in the wilds of Alaska.

In Krakauer's book, a passage recounts McCandless' visit to Lake Mead in July 1990, when his car broke down. He buried all of his possessions and burned the last of his money, about $160. From Lake Havasu, he paddled down the Colorado River, hoping to reach the Pacific.

FIERSTEIN'S SIN CITY

Broadway icon Harvey Fierstein found himself in a new role this week, one that didn't require cross-dressing or sharing the spotlight with the world's largest can of hair spray.

He was a guest theater critic Wednesday for the New York Post's vacationing Michael Riedel.

"Greetings from the miracle in the desert, the vaudeville of the sand dunes, the mother of all strip malls Las Vegas," Fierstein opened.

He couldn't resist tweaking Vegas venues, including "a height-challenged Eiffel Tower, a pirate ship at sea in a green concrete lagoon ... and a mini faux Venice providing the charms of canal life, sans smelly water."

Still, he said, "theater is theater wherever it's played, and being back in Edna's bras and the arms of the ever-adorable Dick Latessa remains as divine as ever," wrote Fierstein, who agreed to a three-month stint as Edna Turnblad when "Hairspray" opened in February at the Luxor.

With shows running almost 24-7, Fierstein came to the conclusion that "in a city that never sleeps but does pass out quite often, there's certainly no wrong time to bare bizarrely augmented breastacles onstage."

The four-time Tony Award winner closed with a big finish, as usual.

"Well, I've got to get back to shaving my legs, chest and eyebrows. Edna's work is never done. Take good care of the Rialto, and don't worry about me. The only gambling I've done thus far was on an iffy piece of sushi (I lost)."

SIGHTINGS

Almost two dozen Los Angeles Dodgers, attending Blue Man Group on Wednesday at The Venetian for a commercial being shot for KCAL-TV, the team's TV partner. ... Sting, in the VIP section of Pure in Caesars Palace, sharing Dom Perignon with Hooters Calendar girls. ... Rock 'n' roll hall of famer Ruth Brown, backstage with the cast of "Hairspray" at the Luxor. Brown played Motormouth Maybelle in the 1988 film "Hairspray."... Gladys Knight, shooting a video Tuesday at Drai's in Barbary Coast for her new CD. ... Brian Setzer, at Forty Deuce in Mandalay Bay on Monday night. ... Kathy Griffin and the cast of "Queer Eye," dining at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Paris Las Vegas. ... Michael Jordan, with former Chicago Bears star Richard Dent, at Stack in The Mirage on Monday, punking their server by saying she brought the wrong order, before fessing up.

THE PUNCH LINE

"I go to some games, but I'm not a season ticket holder." -- David Letterman, when asked by Ray Romano whether he was a Catholic.

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.