Correspondents event draws locals
A handful of Las Vegans were among the 2,700 attendees at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Elaine Wynn got face time with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at a private reception.
Chef Julian Serrano and girlfriend Frances Martin posed for photos with the Obamas and sat next to a table that included Nicole Kidman and Hollywood heavyweights Barry Diller and Harvey Weinstein.
Lisa Marchese, chief marketing officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and Amy Rossetti, vice president of public relations at The Cosmopolitan , were there, with D.C. star chef Jose Andres, who has several restaurants at The Cosmopolitan.
The Cosmopolitan partnered with The Atlantic Media Company to underwrite their official events the weekend of the correspondents dinner.
After attending the star-filled soiree, Wynn capped her evening at the Bloomberg-Vanity Fair party at the French ambassador’s residence.
Her group included Fox News Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry, president of the White House Correspondents Association, and his wife, Shirley, a CNN producer.
BIG BREAK
Talk about starting at the top.
Las Vegas publicist Tanesa Whiting caught up to Robert De Niro at the Nobu Hotel opening on Sunday night at Caesars Palace and thanked him for his career boost in an indirect sort of way.
When she left Blue Man Group as marketing director in 2004 to start her own company, the first client she landed was a powerhouse production company owned by De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.
After interviewing with Rosenthal, Whiting, a graduate of Chaparral High, was hired when De Niro and Rosenthal’s Tribeca Theatricals brought Queen’s “We Will Rock You” to the Paris Las Vegas.
She has a framed $1 dollar bill, signed by Queen’s Brian May, prominently displayed in her home as a reminder of that career-boosting first job.
Clients of Whiting’s marketing and public relations company Mixed Media Entertainment now include Wynn Las Vegas, The Cosmopolitan, Caesars Entertainment (Las Vegas region), Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Shania Twain and the Mob Museum.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
University of Nevada, Las Vegas theater professor Nate Bynum has landed a cameo role in the upcoming blockbuster “Iron Man 3,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Ben Kingsley. Bynum, who has appeared in nine movies and 14 TV shows, plays a senior television supervisor. The film opens worldwide on Friday.
SIGHTINGS
Actress Elisabeth Shue, working on her tennis game with Andre Agassi at the Red Rock Country Club on Tuesday while her husband, Davis Guggenheim, watched the action. Shue co-starred in “Leaving Las Vegas” with Nicolas Cage, who won an Oscar for his role as an alcoholic in a death spin. She played Sera, a prostitute. ... Wynn celebrating her birthday at Honey Salt in Summerlin on Tuesday with her brother, Michael Pascal, a casino marketing executive at Wynn Las Vegas. ... At Prince’s concert at The Joint on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel: NBA great Magic Johnson, Agassi and Steffi Graf, actor David Arquette and golf coach Butch Harmon. ... Party girl Paris Hilton, being asked to call it a night after getting rowdy in the MGM Grand casino in the wee hours Sunday. She had been partying at Hakkasan with sidekicks Brandon Davis and Jeff Beacher.
THE PUNCH LINE
“Washington Wizards center Jason Collins has become the first American athlete in a major team sport to come out as gay. Do you know what a breakthrough this is? Finally an NBA player who won’t have any illegitimate kids.” — Jay Leno
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke. “Norm Clarke’s Vegas,” airs Thursdays on the “Morning Blend” on KTNV-TV, Channel 13.
