VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Is Dion’s show locked in a sell block?

Monday, Feb. 24, 2003 | 8:41 a.m.

In the immortal words of Public Enemy, "Don't believe the hype."

Ticket sales for Celine Dion's upcoming Caesars Palace show "A New Day" might not be as spectacular as the publicity machines behind Dion and Caesars would like the ticket-buying public to think.

How does VegasBeat know for sure?

We logged onto ticketmaster.com on Sunday to see if there were tickets to be had.

There were -- including plenty for the first day that ducats are available to the general public. The show opens at The Colosseum on March 25. Tickets for that performance are by invitation only. But there are seats available for March 26.

Ticketmaster offered a pair in Section 4 -- dead center -- Row D of the second mezzanine. Seats 417 and 418 cost $87.50 each, plus an $11 surcharge, plus a delivery fee.

Was this an aberration? A mistake? We entered all the information again.

Ticketmaster.com then offered seats 503 and 504 in Row C, also the second mezzanine.

We checked a few other dates among Dion's first 60 shows, for which tickets are currently being offered.

Thursday, March 27: Tickets available in both the first and second mezzanines.

Friday, March 28: Tickets available. Lots.

Saturday, March 29: Tickets available -- including single seats on the floor, in the orchestra section. Seat 427 in Row K was available for $150, plus a $13 service charge, which, strangely, is $2 more than the service charge for the mezzanine seats.

There are no performances for the following three days. The next performance is Wednesday, April 2.

Tickets are available.

Each of the three additional dates in April and six in May that we randomly checked all had seats available.

Regardless, Caesars insists that ticket sales are strong.

"We have sold 90 percent of the 240,000 tickets placed on sale for the show's first three months," Caesars spokesman Mike Coldwell told VegasBeat on Sunday.

"Yes, there are single seats available, but the system we have put in place, with rolling holds and timed releases, ensures that Celine's fans have some access to the shows," Coldwell said.

"Considering that she has been onstage for exactly zero time and we haven't yet reaped the rewards of a positive word-of-mouth, we are absolutely pleased with the sales figures."

Separate from the ticket issue, the current edition of Forbes magazine expresses skepticism about Dion's three-year, $100-million deal with Caesars.

The story says that Caesars will not get any money from ticket sales, but is relying on incremental spending from the show's patrons.

It quotes Merrill Lynch analyst David Anders as estimating Park Place Entertainment Corp. -- Caesars' corporate parent -- needs a couple not staying at the property to "spend over $400 in an evening" for Park Place to achieve its goal of a 20-percent annual return from its investment in Dion.

The article also quotes a Park Place spokesman as saying the Merrill Lynch analyst is "ill-informed," and that it can achieve its revenue targets if each Dion customer spends only $50 in an evening.

Coldwell vigorously disputed the national magazine story.

"We are very pleased with the way the numbers work. Celine is doing 200 shows per year in a 4,000-seat venue -- plus there will be other entertainers in the room on the other days," Coldwell said.

"That means a potential 1 million extra people going through Caesars every year, which makes us feel very comfortable."

Food factor

The outrageous Frank Marino -- who stars as Joan Rivers in the camp drag revue "An Evening at La Cage" at the Riviera -- is a picky eater.

"They offered me $10,000 to appear on 'Celebrity Fear Factor' -- and $100,000 if I won," Marino, dressed in an elegant white ball gown, told VegasBeat after his show Saturday night.

"But no way I was going to eat those bugs or whatever else they do on that show. My mouth has been a lot of places, but I wasn't going there."

Yada yada

Jerry Seinfeld is likely coming to Las Vegas.

We hear that he is this close to inking a deal to perform a new stand-up act at Caesars Palace -- possibly in Dion's new showroom, The Colosseum -- in early May.

A Caesars spokesman said the property was "committed to bringing in A-list entertainment," but that there were no imminent announcements planned.

A rep for the comedian was not reachable Sunday for comment.

Mobbed up

It doesn't serve much Italian food, but Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel is quickly turning into the Vegas hangout for "Sopranos" players.

VegasBeat spotted Federico Castelluccio -- Furio Giunta -- having dinner there Saturday night.

Leslie Bega (Valentina La Paz) is a Simon regular and James Gandolfini and Steve Van Zandt (Silvio Dante) dined there last time they were in Vegas.

VegasBits

Rob Lowe and Kenny G. were part of a party of nine at Charlie Palmer Steak at Four Seasons on Saturday night. Who knew they were even friends? ...

Officials at Las Vegas Motor Speedway are talking to Jennifer Love Hewitt about her singing the national anthem at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Sunday ...

Former quarterback Warren Moon played some blackjack at the Hard Rock Hotel before he left around 11:30 Saturday night in a limo. He ended up at Rain in the Desert at Palms. He was joined there by NFL-ers Jerome Bettis and Joey Porter. Former University of Nevada, Las Vegas and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Keenan McCardell was at Rain on Friday ...

Treach (real name: Anthony Criss) of the group Naughty By Nature was marveling at the women at Venus, the nightclub at The Venetian, on Thursday. "There is a lot of talent in this town," he told his pal, club disc jockey Mark Lewis ...

Chicago blues legend Bobby Jones took the stage unannounced to join the regular Santa Fe Station blues group Blue Storm on Saturday night in the Memphis Lounge.

From Sun wires

A grass fire started near a railroad bridge in Scotland as crews filmed the latest Harry Potter movie, disrupting production of the popular series.

Authorities extinguished the fire Sunday after it burned across more than 100 acres of scrub near the Glenfinnan Viaduct in northwest Scotland.

No one was injured in the blaze.

Polanski win is key: "The Pianist," Roman Polanski's searing film about a young Polish musician's fight for survival during the Holocaust, won Best Film Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards in London. Polanski also took Best Director.

Nicole Kidman and Daniel Day-Lewis won top acting prizes for their performances in "The Hours" and "Gangs of New York," respectively.

Two other Oscar hopefuls took "Baftas" in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories: Christopher Walken for "Catch Me If You Can" and Catherine Zeta-Jones for "Chicago."