Rob Lowe was one of the faces of the ’80s, an Adonis whose pin-up looks gave him a career start that would be echoed later by Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Channing Tatum. That career followed a trajectory not too far removed from a VH1 Behind the Music biography, with Lowe hitting the heights of his profession before tabloid coverage drew more attention than his acting, then finding redemption. It’s a tale best obtained from the source, and Lowe plans to oblige when he brings Stories I Only Tell My Friends to Planet Hollywood Resort.
It will be Lowe’s second tell-all appearance in Vegas. The success of 2011 memoirs Stories I Only Tell My Friends and 2014’s Love Life paved the way for him to regale audiences with anecdotes from his days running with the Brat Pack to his resurgence on The West Wing. It wasn’t just about getting publishing advances though. Lowe has an affinity for noting twists of fate and paths crossed. “Events are upon you in an instant,” he wrote in Stories I Only Tell My Friends. “Unforeseen and without warning, and oftentimes marked by disappointment and tragedy but equally often leading to a better understanding of the bittersweet truth of life.”
The bittersweet truth of life began in earnest for Lowe in 1983 when he starred as Sodapop Curtis in the adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders and Jacqueline Bisset’s boarding-schooled son in Class. Lowe was arguably the most popular and charismatic member of the Brat-Pack ensemble cast of 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire, by which time he was well-versed in the trappings of fame and the inner workings of Hollywood. He was also funny, a trait that would serve him well in later films and live storytelling.
Lowe was a new kind of teen idol in the pre-Internet era, when tabloids had more control over public images than the people they belonged to. He was also the first celebrity to have a sex tape leaked, in 1988, long before public figures learned how to turn scandal into publicity. Lowe fell off the A-list, although he never stopped working. His comic side came through strong as the villainous foil in Wayne’s World. He got to appear alongside childhood friend Charlie’s father Martin Sheen in The West Wing, a role that earned him two Golden Globes. And he got to play an actor many found reminiscent of Brad Pitt in Californication.
In other words, he has suffered and been redeemed, and has a million stories to tell about the path that led him to today. Both of his books made the New York Times best-sellers list, but when it became time to consider a third book, he decided to create a show he could take on the road instead. Lowe says Stories I Only Tell My Friends has the same feel of his memoirs and is augmented with a Q&A, film clips and photos. It’s also followed by a meet-and-greet that can be arranged for fans who can’t get enough of their first celebrity crush.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15, starting at $59 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
