VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: S&R photo tickles former VP

Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 | 5:08 a.m.

The downside of prowling the night for gossip is that we often miss "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Happily, A&E (Cox cable channel 32) rebroadcasts the previous day's show at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday night's killer show, Bruce Springsteen performed (E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg is also Conan's bandleader) and the guest was Al Gore.

The former veep was pushing "The Spirit of Family," a book of photography he and wife Tipper put together that celebrates family values. Several of the book's somber black and white images were flashed on screen.

"This last picture -- tell me about this family," a sincere and serious Conan said.

A large color image of Siegfried & Roy, surrounded by their white tigers, filled the nation's late-night television screens.

Gore burst out laughing and said, "I love those guys. I really do, you know."

Bill Miller, the veteran Las Vegas producer who died this week, had a daughter who went into another line of work.

Judith T. Miller is the chief Middle East correspondent for The New York Times and author of the recent best seller "Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War."

She is an expert on terrorism and the Middle East and a regular on CNN.

She has the same work ethic as her dad. Her byline was back on Page One of the Times on Friday over a story about America's pending military confrontation with Iraq.

"Spirit of the Dance" at the Golden Nugget didn't sell any tickets for its early evening performance Thursday. But the place was still jammed.

The troupe did a special performance for personnel and their families from Nellis Air Force Base, as well as for Metro Police, firefighters, EMTs and some area step-dancing students.

"It was just something the cast and crew wanted to do for the holidays for some very hard-working people," spokesman Ira David Sternberg said.

The Green Valley Ranch Station Casino is celebrating its one-year anniversary Friday. It will be a somewhat lower-key affair than the fireworks that accompanied the Palms' anniversary last month.

Leonardo DiCaprio is not going to be there, No Doubt will not be performing and there will not be foothills of sushi for invited guests.

Instead, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the casino will have random giveaways to players using Boarding Pass cards. There will be five $2,000 drawings spread throughout the day.

Heck, 10 grand is what George Maloof reportedly spent on Tobey Maguire's appearance fee for the Palms events.

A clean and sober Brett Butler is returning to Las Vegas. She just inked a deal for a May engagement at Riviera Comedy Club.

The former "Grace Under Fire" star had a well-publicized battle with prescription drugs, which derailed her meteoric rise. She is now starting to reclaim her career.

Our hat goes off to her.

Stefanie Hastings -- the former Playboy model and Prince's former girlfriend -- was apparently miffed to see herself identified in this space last Sunday as a person who does bikini waxes at the Dolphin Court Spa.

She is indeed an esthetician, but is also the executive director of the luxury facility inside the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino.

"Stef has worked very hard to be taken seriously for something besides her looks," a friend of hers told us Thursday night at the opening of Tod's, Meital Grantz' new boutique inside the Forum Shops at Caesars.

"I think she still has a good relationship with Prince and with Playboy, but she has a professional career of her own and wants people to know that."

Frank Sinatra would have expected nothing less.

So many people turned out for the birthday event Nelson Sardelli tossed on Thursday at Fellini's that they were literally being turned away at the doors.

The event, a benefit for thecastinc.com, the Las Vegas entertainers charity, drew a Rolodex of famous Las Vegans. Alphabetically (more or less): Bob Anderson, Bill Acosta, Lezlie Anders, Buddy Greco, Vinnie Falcone, Steve Lippia, Mafalda, Frankie Randall, Linda November, Tony Sacca, Joey Villa and Patricia Welch made the scene.