VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Would you pay $62,500 to see Celine?

Monday, March 17, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

The Muhammad Ali Parkinson's Research Foundation dinner and auction didn't take place in Las Vegas, but some locals -- specifically Celine Dion, Andre Agassi and Robin Leach -- completely stole the show.

The Saturday night event at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix featured one stunner after another, all prompted by auctioneer Leach. The topper: Four Celine Dion tickets went for a cool quarter of a million dollars.

First, Arizona Diamondbacks pitching stars Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling got into a bidding war over a dinner with comic Robin Williams.

Leach knew how much the teammates hate to lose, and how the charity would benefit -- so he sold them both a dinner with Williams, for $120,000 each.

"That is a lot for a plate of chicken, perhaps, but it will certainly be a memorable plate of chicken," Leach told VegasBeat.

Then Leach persuaded an anonymous bidder to cough up $100,000 for a trip to Vegas for private tennis lessons from Agassi and his wife, Steffi Graf.

But jaws really started to drop after Leach sold four front-row tickets to the opening-night performance of Dion's upcoming Caesars Palace show "A New Day" for a whopping $250,000.

"That is $62,500 per seat, which I believe is a record for a show-business ticket, thank you very much," Leach said.

"Celine is not only the No. 1 singer in the world but this proves that she is about to become No. 1 at the box office, as well."

The ticket buyers were Discount Tire Company founder Bruce Halle and his wife, Diane, and MoneySoft Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bob Machiz and his wife, Carol.

Paul Anka will take them to dinner before the show and afterward producer David Foster will take them backstage to meet Dion. She donated the tickets after a phone call from Ali.

Leach, perhaps best known for "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," clearly knows that demographic.

"Robin was breathtaking -- the way he got people to make those tremendous bids was unbelievable," event Chairman Jimmy Walker said.

Altogether, the evening raised more than $5 million.

"Muhammad Ali loves Robin Leach for all he has done for the Foundation. Make sure you get that in," Walker said.

Done.

Birthday boy

VegasBeat called entertainment legend Jerry Lewis at his Las Vegas home Sunday morning to wish him a happy 77th birthday.

"I am having a terrific day," Lewis told me. "I am spending it with (wife) Samantha and my lovely daughter Danielle, who turns 11 next week.

"There is no greater joy than to be surrounded by those bookends."

Lewis said he had a cake that was enough for about 100 people.

"And since I am a famous Jewish movie star I overindulge. So there will be 33 pieces for each of us."

Later in the day he was to fly to Vancouver to see a friend who shares the same birthday, Michael Greenberg. Greenberg produced the television show "MacGyver."

"Then it is back to the happy life of being a local in Las Vegas," Lewis said.

Fire out

"There are some things we couldn't do here tonight," Kiss frontman Paul Stanley told nearly 2,000 members of the Kiss Army on Sunday night during the band's concert at Rain in the Desert at the Palms. (See Sun music critic Spencer Patterson's concert review on page 2E of today's Accent section.)

He was referring to the band's usual pyrotechnics display.

"But you can't stop rock and roll!"

The band started a little late and there were a few last-minute changes to the playlist to accommodate the slightly altered stage show.

But nobody seemed to mind, including Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx and George Maloof.

Ozzy Osbourne was on the guest list but we didn't actually see him inside.

On Saturday night Osbourne's daughter, Kelly Osbourne, tried to enter Rain -- but was denied admission.

"She is 18, and you need to be 21 to get in, no matter how famous you think you are," a N9NE executive told me.

Getting closer

In other Dion news, we were flattered to see the venerable Los Angeles Times make mention of the Sun in its massive takeout section on Dion and her show in Sunday's editions.

The 1.37-million circulation Sunday newspaper noted our Feb. 24 VegasBeat column documenting a visit to Ticketmaster.com to check on availability for Dion ducats.

The L.A. Times story was supremely important to Team Celine as its readership includes a large number of Vegas visitors.

Overall, it was a positive look at Dion and her show, despite not glossing over some serious issues, such as husband Rene Angelil's affinity for gaming, and the show's relatively high ticket prices.

Steve Wynn, in fact, weighs in that he thinks there should be little problem filling the Colosseum's 4,000 seats on a regular basis.

Also, USA Today ran its Dion preview piece -- generally upbeat -- in Friday's editions.

In case you have been in hibernation, "A New Day" opens one week from Tuesday.

Gal pals

Last week we noted that designer Shoshanna Lonstein, Jerry Seinfeld's ex-girlfriend, had a bachelorette party dinner at Simon and Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel, among other local activities.

We had a few calls asking who the other guests were, so here goes: Jen Meyer (Tobey Maguire's girlfriend, who is also the daughter of movie mogul Ron Meyer); socialites Mandy Stein and Charlotte and Samantha Ronson; Fabiola Beracasa Hearst (her mother, Veronica Hearst, is also Patty Hearst's stepmother); and Tessa Benson.

Tessa's father, Harry Benson, is a world-famous photographer known for his shots of The Beatles taken when the Fab Four first came to America in 1964.

Lonstein is marrying investment banker Josh Gruss this year.

From Sun wires

Oscar-winning "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe will celebrate his 39th birthday by tying the knot.

Publicist Wendy Day said Sunday that the actor would wed Danielle Spencer in the family chapel on his property, in New South Wales state in Australia.

"It's definitely April 7 on his property at Nana Glen," Day said. "It's not a Hollywood, star-studded affair ... it's a family-and-friends affair for about 80 guests."

The negotiator: "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini and HBO are considering a deal to drop their dueling lawsuits and proceed with contract negotiations, a newspaper said today.

The dispute stems from a breach-of-contract lawsuit that Gandolfini, who plays mafia boss Tony Soprano on the award-winning series, filed against HBO earlier this month.

The network has said the lawsuit was linked to Gandolfini's demand for a salary increase.

Network executives involved in the negotiations told The New York Times that Gandolfini, who had previously sought a $20 million annual salary, has now lowered his request to about $16 million a year.