Seen: Regis, Susan Lucci + More

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Leah Michaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

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Star power: Regis Philbin & Susan Lucci. Photo: Mohegan Sun

It was a huge weekend at the Mohegan Sun, as celebrities from around the county came to celebrate the casino's 15th anniversary. On Friday, the weekend started with a tribute to the "hardest working man in show business," Regis Philbin, who wanted everyone to understand that he was not retiring, just "moving on." Others who attended the private dinner included All My Children's Susan Lucci, Boardwalk Empire's Vincent Piazza, and Cake Boss Buddy Valastro, who created a special cake for the 15th anniversary. After the dinner, there was a late night club party with Ronnie, Sammi, and Deena from Jersey Shore. Then on Saturday there were appearances and book signings by star chefs Bobby Flay and Todd English and Mary Murphy from So You Think You Can Dance? And on Saturday night, Jennifer Lopez performed a special one-time-only sold-out concert with an after party attended by such celebs as Glee's Lea Michele, Nick Lachey, and Jamie Pressley. As long as they’re visiting casinos, Twin River isn’t too far away…

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Celebrity chefs Todd English & Bobby Flay. Photo: Mohegan Sun

It was a little early for Halloween, but this season-appropriate band still put on a great show at Lupo's in Providence last week. Rock icons of the 1990s The Smashing Pumpkins played to a packed crowd on Wednesday night. The only original member of the band there was frontman Billy Corgan, and he was not lacking in ego. He knew the crowd loved him, so he put on his big rock star attitude, choosing to play less popular songs that he wanted to play instead of the big hits (there was no "1979" or "Tonight Tonight"). But the bald man from Chicago still entertained the people, choosing "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" as the last song in the encore. It would have been fun if he actually smashed some pumpkins though…

This past Sunday DownCity restaurant welcomed its latest guest in its series of gay icons. Drag queen Lady Bunny, the "Dean of Drag" of RuPaul's Drag U on LogoTV (a spinoff of the hit show RuPaul's Drag Race), performed a comedy set at the restaurant. His fast-paced and raunchy humor was a hit with the audience, some of who had maybe seen him before, as he used to perform regularly in Providence. He spoke out recently about his strong political beliefs, making sure to throw in a jab at fellow drag star Hedda Lettuce, who appeared last week at DownCity. Well, what would a big-time drag queen be if she didn’t throw a little shade on her fellow queens?

A little girl from Johnston has been getting some big exposure lately. Isabella Barrett appeared on Anderson Cooper’s television show Anderson with her mother Susanna Barrett to share her experiences as a child pageant star. She was one of the three girls from TLC’s Toddlers in Tiaras to appear on the show. And back in August, she was filmed by a German TV crew for the international version of Toddlers in Tiaras- they filmed her preparing for and competing in a New England pageant. Although the child pageant world is often criticized, it seems like this Rhode Island five-year-old is having the time of her life…

And in other nearby Halloween news, actor Dan Aykroyd of Ghostbusters and Saturday Night Live fame was seen at Yankee Spirits in Attleboro. He was meeting with fans and signing bottles of Crystal Head vodka. I’m sure he was also happy to share some of his beliefs about the paranormal and UFOs with visitors…

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