John Katsilometes reports on the quick, chance meeting between Paul McCartney and Roy Horn on the red carpet at Friday’s ‘Love’ gala opening

Sunday, July 2, 2006 | 7:43 a.m.

Friday night's star-studded red carpet arrivals at "Love" might have seemed like the last place to experience moments of poignant human interaction. But amid the jostling of journalists, celebs and assorted PR reps, one such moment unfolded as Roy Horn stood from a wheelchair to meet Paul McCartney face to face.

Horn and longtime performing partner Siegfried Fischbacher had just finished their arduous trek across the carpet and Horn (who had been leaning on a cane) settled to an awaiting wheelchair with a bit of help from the duo's assistant, Lynette Chappell. Several feet behind them, McCartney was moving swiftly across the carpet and actually breezed past the Goulets (Robert and Vera) while calling out, "I've got to run ahead of you guys."

Just as McCartney was about to veer toward the theater, he was pointed in Horn's direction. "Hello, Roy!" McCartney said loudly, leaning closely over Horn. "How you doing, man?"

Horn grabbed the arms of the wheelchair and began to stand. McCartney's eyebrows arched as he said, "Oh, it's all right. We're cool. Take it easy, Roy." But Horn continued and stood up to shake McCartney's hand.

"Wow!" McCartney said. "Let's get a photo, OK?" And the three posed for a few impromptu shots.

Horn said returning to the theater (which has been completely gutted and overhauled over the past three years) where he and Fischbacher performed more than 5,700 shows in 13 years, was, "Bittersweet. Very bittersweet." Fischbacher added, "We are very, very excited. We were for 13 years an opening act for the Beatles - it doesn't get any better. We tried to give love to our audiences, and they are doing the same."

In the theater, just before the gala premiere performance, Mirage President Scott Sibella dedicated the show to Siegfried & Roy, whose introduction was met with a standing ovation. After the flawless performance, the production's owners and creators - including McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, Guy Laliberte, and George and Giles Martin - strode to the stage for a victory lap. When the troupe halted to pose for photos and flash peace signs, McCartney (with no microphone at the ready) shouted, "This is for John and George!"

The audience erupted, and McCartney turned to his right to find Ono, a vision in a white pantsuit and a giant foppish hat. So he grabbed his frequent antagonist and kissed her - twice. Once on her cheek and quickly again near her mouth. And for all of "Love's" magic imagery of sight and sound, nothing matched that moment.

NoteMart

Love fest: A note medley from the show: A beaming Sibella said the excitement generated by the show was "like the opening of the Mirage. We have never seen this type of excitement here." He noted that more than 4,000 fans took in two performances of "Love," another 1,200 saw Wayne Brady at the Danny Gans Theatre and 4,000 converged on the nightclub Jet, all in one night. "It's the new Mirage," he said ... Employing a Lennon-esque treatment of the language, Ono said the cooperation of the extended Beatles family was the result of "a very, very good come-togetherness. We were surprised that we weren't fighting." ... Almost totally lost in the whirlwind event were John Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon, and son Julian ... seated together in the royal row of Beatles figures were Ono, Dhani Harrison (George Harrison's spitting-image son), Olivia Harrison, Barbara Bach, Starr, McCartney and the Martins ... Taking in the performance was Doors drummer John Densmore, who said he was on hand as a fan and also because he is investigating a similar Vegas production "whether with Cirque du Soleil or whoever" based on the Doors' music ... I asked Little Steven Van Zandt if he thought Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would ever be the focus of a Cirque production. He laughed and said, "Well, one never knows. Probably some part of Bruce's music might work for that. He's very versatile and writes about so many different things. You never know." ... Rock legend Brian Wilson, who inspired much of the music in "Love," walked unnoticed (well, almost) through the Mirage retail promenade a couple of hours before the show ... More than 300 fans turned out to observe the red carpet arrivals; the more avid were in place when ushers reported to their posts at 1:30 p.m. ... The show's comic relief, the Fool (played by a guy listed ! as Jo lly Goodfellow), ran into Ringo in a theater walkway minutes before the show. Ringo reached for the Fool's ever-present flower bouquet and demanded, "Gimme one of those!" The Fool, not knowing how to react, simply froze ...

Circus circus: In the face of stiff criticism and well-organized media campaigning by animal-rights groups, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' recent run at the Orleans Arena was deemed a huge success by officials from Feld Entertainment, which produces the shows. Feld executives made that point to their counterparts at the Orleans Arena after the circus pulled up and left town following nine performances from June 22 through June 26. It was the first time Feld toured the circus through Vegas in consecutive years since 1995-'96. Upcoming Feld shows to visit the Orleans are "Disney Live 2 - Mickey's Magic Show," "Disney on Ice - The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure" and the "Doodlebops Live!" ...

Hi, karate: A reader spotted a vanity plate on a new Lexus sports car reading BLKBELT.