Acting legend Al Pacino’s plan to launch a lavish stage show in Las Vegas has been dashed.

The “Godfather” and “Scarface” star, who has a home in Beverly Hills, hoped to bring culture to the desert by mounting and starring in a decadent production of Oscar Wilde’s biblical play “Salome” on the Strip.

“But I was told that Oscar Wilde just wasn’t right for Vegas casino audiences, for some reason,” explained the screen great at a screening of his film version of the same play at Soho House West Hollywood.

Pacino starred as King Herod in a production of “Salome” at Westwood’s Wadsworth Theatre eight years ago and later made the yet-to-be-released film version. While he hoped to next make it a very different kind of entertainment experience in Vegas, the rejection came as little surprise.

“I realize the play isn’t for everyone, but the challenges of it have been a very creative experience for me and Herod is not a role audiences would normally think of me in,” added the 74-year-old Oscar winner.

“Salome,” written in 1893, is Wilde’s take on the biblical femme fatale who, in the play, demands the head of John the Baptist after performing the dance of the seven veils for lusty stepfather King Herod.

Pacino, who did not disclose which Vegas venues had rejected his idea, now plans to stage his production for the more traditionally literate audiences in London, with a West End theater opening set for next year.

Back Online

Almost 10 years after becoming an Internet sensation as “Lonely Girl 15,” Jessica Rose is back in the spotlight with a new business idea.

The L.A. actress is one of the co-founders of We Rehearse, a website allowing actors to run through their lines ahead of rehearsals with other actors via live video chat. They agree on a fee between themselves and the company gets 20 percent of each transaction.

“Lonely Girl 15 didn’t lead to huge movie roles for me,” Rose said of the web series that made her an early YouTube celebrity. “But there have been a lot of auditions since and for all us actors tired of asking their friends and family to run lines with them, this chance to prepare with other performers seems a great opportunity.”

She recently moved to Australia for love – apparently Lonely Girl isn’t that lonely anymore – but returned to Los Angeles to join her business partners, entrepreneur Darren Darnborough and actor Richard Cambridge, for an April 15 launch party for WeRehearse.com at West Hollywood’s Vaucluse Lounge, which was packed with actors – that is, potential customers.

Bazillion Viewers

“Community” showrunner Dan Harmon is still struggling to get his head around the former NBC sitcom’s new online home on Yahoo.

After years of closely following his show’s Nielsen ratings, which were all-important to keeping it on the air, it’s a big adjustment for the producer to be on an Internet portal that does not release viewership data.

“Suddenly we’re out of the Nielsen system and there’s no public record of our audience,” said Harmon, whose show about misfit community college students was dropped by NBC after season-five ratings sank to 3 million. Now streamed online via Yahoo, episodes from its sixth season are released weekly.

Harmon added: “It’s going really well and I’m told we now actually have a bazillion viewers.”

Jesus’ Six-Pack

Beverly Hills tennis coach to the stars Stephen Bauer now has a thriving business teaching backhands and drop volleys to Hollywood A-listers including Jim Carrey and athletes such as Los Angeles Lakers players.

But he remembers a time when his skills weren’t always so appreciated in celebrity circles.

After switching from coaching Wimbledon champions to Hollywood stars, one of Bauer’s first actor clients was Jim Caviezel. Caviezel took on fitness and tennis training from Bauer to get buff as he prepared to play Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ.”

“When he turned up on the set looking ripped, that film’s director, Mel Gibson, was very angry with me because he didn’t think it would look good to have Jesus showing off a six-pack on the cross,” said Bauer. “But then Jesus was a carpenter and physical work like that does build muscles.”

Staff reporter Sandro Monetti can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 226.