John Katsilometes talks to a Las Vegas woman who was absolutely bubbly over the chance to meet with her soap opera heroes in New York City

Sunday, July 16, 2006 | 7:48 a.m.

Six months ago Las Vegan Andrea Lou won a trip to New York to visit the stars of her favorite soap, "As the World Turns." But she quickly discovered that the stars were just as interested in meeting her - a vintage Vegas native - as she was in meeting them.

"I got there and they were all like, 'You're from Vegas? Wow! How cool. You grew up there?' " said Lou, a 29-year-old Bonanza High School and CCSN grad who has been a fan of "As the World Turns" since she was a little girl. "I kept saying, 'It's not that cool. To me, it's home. New York - this is cool!' But they thought it was great that someone who lived in Vegas won this big prize and left town to collect."

The prize was a three-day, four-night trip to New York, where Andrea and her husband, Tom, were escorted behind the scenes of the long-running CBS soap. Andrea won the trip through a contest sponsored by the show's producers, in conjunction with the show's 50th anniversary, at www.daytimedollars.com. She won the prize in January and took the trip last week.

To enter the nationwide contest, Andrea registered on the site and was given a code number that might be read during an upcoming episode. A couple of days later, while watching the program on TiVo (where all soap operas seem to reside in perpetuity), she heard her code number announced and hit the Web site to see what she had won.

"Tom was home and I hit pause and he checked the number to make sure I wasn't going crazy," said Andrea, who might not be crazy but has become "addicted" to the show since she started watching with her mother, Laura Niemeyer .

During the visit, Andrea chatted with cast members Zach Roerig, Jesse Lee Soffer, Paolo Seganti and Van Hansis. She also witnessed a rarity for daytime TV - a scene featuring an actual explosion.

"It was great for me, as a fan," said Andrea, an office technician in the engineering department at University Medical Center (which celebrated its 75th anniversary over the weekend). "When you watch the show you don't know what goes on behind the scenes."

NoteMart

Legendary comic Red Buttons died Saturday at age 87 in Los Angeles. Buttons had a brief history in Las Vegas - he headlined at the Fremont Hotel in the late '70s Alice Cooper is returning to town Aug. 13 for a date at the House of Blues. So here's my favorite Alice Cooper story, as related by a friend who years ago worked at the LV Hilton: Cooper attended a performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Starlight Express" at the Hilton showroom, but bolted in the middle of the show. "This sucks!" Cooper said as he stalked out of the performance. "You should see 'Splash.' That's a good show!" Dave Berns interviews comic Rita Rudner on Monday's "State of Nevada" talker on KNPR 88.9-FM. The show airs live at 10 a.m. (repeats at 8 p.m.) and listeners can call at 258-3552 or e-mail at www.son@knpr.com. Rudner is headed to Harrah's this fall Segueing deftly into more comedy news, one of the Strip's funniest productions is the upgraded "Second City" revue at Flamingo Las Vegas. The show sticks more to the script than its predecessors, but is still very sharp and far more consistent than a full-improv comedy show. Amanda Blake Davis, Paul Mattingly, Katie Neff, Andy St. Clair and Craig Uhlir are the stars. In one great moment the cast tries vainly to come up with a new slogan for Las Vegas; one (dismissed) suggestion is, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas - unless it's gonorrhea." ... Celebs - especially celeb athletes, who really take to the place - are able to move about fairly free of fan interruption at GameWorks on the Strip, just north of the MGM Grand. If anyone approaches for an autograph or photo, the star simply gazes into the machine or gestures toward the son/daughter who is playing the game as if to say, "I am busy here." Last week we noted two kosher kitchens on the Strip - at the Ve! netian a nd V Theater and Event Center. We left out a third: Four Seasons Lounge lizard and living legend Richard Cheese, who owes his inspiration to the great Vegas lounge acts of years gone by, has had to cancel what would have been a triumphant return to our city on Thursday at Sunset Station. Family illness was the stated reason Still worth noting from last month's opening gala for "Phantom: Las Vegas Spectacular" was yet another chance encounter (this would be my third) at a beverage table with former Nevada governor and U.S. senator Richard Bryan. I asked him what he thought of the show; he said, "Oh, I'm really not an expert on this type of thing," and that would mark the one facet of Nevada of which Bryan is not an expert Caesars Palace turns 40 next month (note to self: Pick up toga from dry cleaners) Styx fan? A reader spotted a dark blue Toyota 4Runner with the vanity plate SAILAWA (along with a "Got Tuna" sticker on the rear window).