• February 23, 2004
• Vol. 61
• No. 7

Friday Night Fever...

And a Caliente Saturday Too, as John Travolta Turns 50 with a Two-Day Star-Filled Fiesta

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From PEOPLE Magazine

Oprah Winfrey knocking back tequila shots. Scarlett Johansson burning up the dance floor to "Stayin' Alive." Tom Cruise, Barbra Streisand and Meg Ryan cheering on the blind-folded birthday boy as he whacked an airplane-shaped piñata. Celebrities Gone Wild: Part XIV? Not quite—but John Travolta's 50th-birthday bash Feb. 6 and 7 at the luxe One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, did encourage some of Hollywood's biggest stars to let loose. "It is off the hook!" said an ecstatic Travolta, whose wife, Kelly Preston, planned the surprise party. "We pulled? it off perfectly," she exulted. Just a week after celebrating until the wee hours at Winfrey's 50th, Travolta delighted in his own over-the-top festivities. "My birthday wish? I've got it," said the actor, surveying the scene. "This is it."

Surprise!
A chartered plane whisked Travolta's celeb pals to Los Cabos, where the birthday boy—who had been told to expect a small family gathering—was greeted by a mariachi band and friends. "It was very emotional for him," says pal Jerry Inzerillo.

Fiesta Travolta

FRIDAY, FEB. 6

2:30 p.m.
A celeb-filled charter jet leaves L.A. for Mexico.

5 p.m.
Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand, Sean Penn and Carly Simon surprise Travolta by walking out from behind a fountain at the resort.

7:48 p.m.
Streisand eyes a waitress's fruit-piled head-wear: "What is this, some kind of Carmen Miranda-type thing?"

8:45 p.m.
Carly Simon croons 'You're So Vain" while backup singers Roberta Rack, Patti Austin and Natalie Cole chime in, "John, you fly planes."

4 a.m.
"I'm partying more than I did in my teens!" declares Winfrey.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7

2 p.m.
On a fishing trip Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson and Jenna Elfman spot whales.

8:30 p.m.
Chef Charlie Trotter serves up dinner amid an airline-themed setting.

10:05 p.m.
Tony Bennett sings "Fly Me to the Moon" as moon man Buzz Aldrin looks on.

6 a.m.
Travolta, Preston, Winfrey and Quincy Jones finally leave the dance floor and get coffee.

More From This Article

Party Central

"Welcome to my hotel!" said a joking Kelly Preston at her husband's throw-down. For two days, Kerzner International Ltd.'s One&Only Palmilla might as well have been Casa Travolta. Revelers took over the entire luxury resort (rooms cost $475 to $1,450 a night), which reopened just one day before the party after a yearlong renovation. Past guests—including Mel Gibson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Costner and President George W. Bush—have savored the resort's views of the Sea of Cortez, round-the-clock butler service—and in-room telescopes for checking out the other sort of stars.