Drag star Marino glad for surgery
The gall of it; Frank Marino taking a day off. Two weeks shy of celebrating the 25th anniversary of performing his drag show in Las Vegas, Marino finally gave in to pain and made a rare trip to a hospital.
"For me to schedule a surgery appointment that didn't involve plastic surgery and waking prettier is a miracle," Marino said, "but it's a good thing I did."
He scheduled gall bladder surgery for Friday, which truly was a good thing.
His doctor found a gall bladder so inflamed "that he told me 'one more day and you would have been coming in for emergency surgery,'" said Marino, the star of "Divas Las Vegas" and before that, "An Evening at La Cage" at the Riviera.
Marino's gall bladder and the pain are gone, but his signature sense of humor is still intact.
"I was in such pain the doctor asked me, 'How were you walking?' I told him, 'I worked for (producer) Norbert Aleman for 25 years. I know pain.' "
As his condition worsened, Marino said he finally decided to see a doctor. "He said I needed surgery. I said, 'I'm sorry, I can't fit it into my schedule right now.' "
He'll miss a week, before returning to the Imperial Palace on Saturday.
The day of his surgery, a stressed-out Marino decided to call off the Sept. 23 celebrity roast that was planned for the night of his anniversary.
"Everybody still coming in -- family and friends -- and we'll do something small and do the roast some other time. Roastmaster Vinnie Favorito had lined up some headliners to heap some pain on Marino.
His 20,000th show would have occurred that week.
"The first 17 years I did three shows a night, over 10 million people. I've had over 350,000 costume changes.
"I change more times than Cher."
MARKING A MILESTONE
Nevada Week in Review celebrates its 30th anniversary Monday with PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Judy Woodruff joining NWR host Mitch Fox on hand.
The occasion will be marked at the Vegas PBS Educational Technology Campus from 6-8 p.m.
Fox, who has been hosting the show for 20 years, said the most memorable shows were the "special editions" when the guest lineup deviated from the usual format.
On one of those occasions he had four previous Nevada governors on together, including Mike O'Callaghan, Bob Miller, Richard Bryan, and Robert List.
Legend has it, Fox said, that one reporter didn't own a sport jacket but "borrowed" one from a local mortuary before coming on the show.
Managing turf battles was sometimes challenging, Fox said.
Acrimony occasionally erupted during tapings and they "got pretty nasty and very personal with lots of name calling."
Some reporters refused to go on if a rival was scheduled to be on the panel, he said.
SIGHTINGS
Mario Lopez, in town to film his reality show, had to leave the Top Rank boxing event at the Palms Saturday because his girlfriend went into labor. ... Ray Romano, making a surprise 30-minute appearance Friday during Brad Garrett's show at the Tropicana. After Garrett joined him onstage for a question-and-answer session, Romano told the audience that the venue was the first room he played in Vegas about two decades ago. ... Chef Kerry Simon, chatting with actress Megan Fox on Friday after a reception for "Passion Play" at the Toronto International Film Festival. Simon was at the film festival to design "Las Vegas"-style cast experiences. ... Actor Christian Slater, celebrating a friend's birthday Friday at Eva Longoria Parker's Beso steakhouse (Crystals at CityCenter). ... Pro wrestling powerhouse Vince McMahon, drinking Silver Oak wine at Blush (Wynn) with friends in a VIP area.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Las Vegas has you as an 83-point underdog." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Signs Your Football Team Is Not Ready to Open The Season
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
