As the old rock song used to wail, "Mama, mama we're all crazy now."

An artsy girlie show that came to town as "La Femme" recently announced it is changing its name to "Crazy Horse Paris," the original name of the show's famous home base in Paris.

The MGM Grand cut a deal to replicate the 55-year-old Parisian club in June 2001. The show took the "La Femme" name to "make sure we had a clean and clear identity," a spokesman said at the time.

But new owners have since bought out the children of the show's founders and launched a new edition of the revue in Singapore. They wanted brand consistency in the bigger, international picture, says David Van Kalsbeek, the MGM Grand's vice president of sales and marketing.

"We embraced it, too," Van Kalsbeek adds. "Crazy Horse has some international recognition, and the vast majority of our customer base comes from outside Las Vegas."

For locals, at least, two other longtime enterprises poached the name so long ago they have brand recognition of their own.

The Riviera's "Crazy Girls" beat the real deal to town, using a similar title, premise and theme song since 1987. The "Crazy Girls" lobby still displays posters from the Crazy Horse Paris.

The Crazy Horse Too topless club also has used the name since at least 1984. When "La Femme" came to town, club owner Rick Rizzolo was bold enough to file an injunction against the MGM Grand asking that the Crazy Horse name not be used in the billing. The motion never made it to court.

Rizzolo ran into far bigger problems in time, losing his liquor license for the club after pleading guilty to several federal crimes last year. But Mike Signorelli, who is seeking approval to buy the club, has no plans to change the name, says his attorney, Steve Caruso.

"One reason the Crazy Horse is so valuable is because of the branding," Caruso says.

The MGM's show has "very different marketing positioning," Van Kalsbeek notes with some levity. The name hasn't been changed long enough to know if customers are confused, but the casino has "some fun things planned to develop awareness of the rebranding." ...

Two of Las Vegas' big diva residencies are family-driven: Celine Dion and Toni Braxton both liked the idea of an extended stretch on the Strip because they have young children.

Now you can add a male name. John O'Hurley says one reason he was attracted to the Las Vegas run of "Monty Python's Spamalot" is the time he will be able to spend at home with his 7-week-old son.

"He'll be a little backstage baby," O'Hurley says of son William. O'Hurley's wife, Lisa, "never missed any of the 125 performances" when he did "Chicago" about this time last year on Broadway. "She plans to do the same thing here with the little boy. I'm setting up the dressing room with the little playpen."

O'Hurley also plans to spend some of his days golfing and finishing up another book. "It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump: And Other Life Lessons I Learned from Dogs" was a best-seller last fall. ...

One of four planned productions has jumped ship from magician Steve Wyrick's much-delayed theater at the Desert Passage mall. "Defending the Caveman," a long-form monologue written by Rob Becker but now performed by others, apparently could not hold onto its creative team through any more delays in the schedule. Wyrick still plans to be performing by Feb. 9 and "Caveman" is shopping for another home on the Strip.

"We were really looking forward to mounting the show in Las Vegas. All of the elements for a successful run still need to fall into place," producer Chris Ritter said. ...

It sounds like Las Vegans can have an early look at Clint Holmes' new venture in a two-week workshop production at the Univesity of Nevada, Las Vegas starting May 21. The former Harrah's Las Vegas headliner has developed an autobiographical theatrical musical aimed at Broadway or London's West End. ...

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.