The Nat Center is preparing a Millennium eve show to rival Gloria Estefan’s Y2K gig in Miami.
Insider hears The Bee Gees are scheduled to ring in the year 2000 in the House That Wayne Built. Miami residents Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb will announce the big show on June 1.
The brothers have made themselves scarce over the past decade. This will be their first concert in the States since a Vegas date at the MGM Grand in November 1997. But it won’t be the first Bee Gees visit to the Sunrise arena. They joined Celine Dion on stage for one tune at the building’s opener last year.
Has a ring to it
Two months after the death of baseball great Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper’s lawyer and confidant — who hid from the world for months that Joltin’ Joe suffered from cancer — is coming clean.
Hollywood attorney Morris Engelberg said he recently relinquished a prized 1936 World Series ring that DiMaggio gave him on his death bed, a gift that angered the slugger’s family.
“Joe used to say: ‘Morris, this ring is yours,”‘ Engelberg said. “But I always knew it was in his will for his granddaughter.”
Engelberg said he returned the $35,000 gold-and-diamond ring when Yankees owner George Steinbrenner promised he would have a replica of a 1951 ring made for him.
“I didn’t like the 1936 ring that much,” Engelberg said. “It was too big. And it didn’t mean that much to me, since I wasn’t even born. But I love the 1951 one. It’s got the blue stone with the Yankees logo. If I had to pick a second hero, Mr. Steinbrenner would be it.”
Engelberg also admitted for the first time that he knowingly withheld DiMaggio’s condition not only from reporters, but also DiMaggio’s family. He remembered an altercation with Dom DiMaggio, Joe’s brother.
“Dom demanded that I tell him what was wrong with Joe,” the lawyer said. “I couldn’t tell anyone, including my own wife, because Joe made me promise. Cancer was a dirty word for Joe.”
Phantom switch
Critics who claim the new Star Wars is tedious should have been at the sold-out, 12:01 a.m. showing of the flick at Regal Cinemas in Cypress Creek Wednesday.
The projectionist mistakenly used the wrong reel an hour into the movie. And instead of correcting the mishap immediately, he let the film go on, showing 300-plus viewers the third reel instead of the second.
“It was a real mess,” said Adam Glass, a Fort Lauderdale software engineer. “In mid-sentence, a quiet dialogue switched to a battle on another planet.”
Minutes after the snafu, two dozen spectators gathered in the hallway to confront employees. It was about to get ugly when the rebels were given a choice: jump into an adjacent theater, where the movie had started 15 minutes later, or leave and get reimbursed. Most, though, stayed till the end.
Regal officials did not return calls for comments.
Stuck in London
Looks like SoBe nightlife fixture and mega-loaded developer Thomas Kramer won’t be seen in these parts for a while.
A friend of the controversial German says Kramer was nabbed by British cops after his secretary accused him of raping her in his posh London pad.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer,” the friend said.
Kramer posted a $400,000 bond but cannot leave England.
And finally . . .
Democratic state lawmaker Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 32, had twins last week at Memorial West. Names are Rebecca and Jake. Mom and kids are fine If you happen to look good and are be between 18-25, MTV wants you to be a contestant in a game show. Just show up at the Chili Pepper in Lauderdale Sunday at noon.
South Florida Insider appears Tuesday and Thursday. To contact Jos, call him at 954-356-4529 or e-mail him at jlambiet@sunsentinel.com. On Thursday, listen for Jos on the Brooke Daniels Show, 3-6 p.m. SuperTalk 940.
