John Katsilometes anticipates to run into a celebrity or two at the gala event on June 30 at the totally renovated Siegfried & Roy Theatre at the Mirage

Friday, June 23, 2006 | 7:16 a.m.

I'll always remember two episodes from the night the Palms held its gala grand opening in November 2001. One was that the line to the bar was so deep that several prominent (and thirsty) VIPs could not get a drink. The other was that the red carpet was the only way for anyone to enter the hotel, so everyone invited to the party was given red-carpet treatment.

Consequently, I happened to walk in with Samuel L. Jackson on one side and my buddy Geoff Carter (who at the time was the Sun's movie critic and not Jack Black, for whom he was mistaken by a few onlookers) on the other. Some distance behind us, sashaying past the photogs wearing her $1 million casino chip dress, was Paris Hilton.

That red-carpet event was the topper until I received the list of celebrities expected to walk the red carpet at the gala opening of "Love" on June 30 at the Mirage. We'll just run the official list and let you, the reader, figure out who should walk with whom:

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, George Martin, Giles Martin, Julian Lennon, Sean Ono Lennon, Blair Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Cynthia Lennon, Siegfried & Roy, Megan Mullally, Eddie Murphy, Virginia Madsen, Elisha Cuthbert, Brian Wilson, Roberta Flack, Kevin Nealon, Wayne Brady, David LaChapelle, Paul Reiser, Eric Idle, Sheila E, Colin Hay, Richard Marx, Barbara Orbison, Billy Squier, Ann Sweeney, Little Steven Van Zandt, Maureen Van Zandt, Edgar Winter, Jeff Lynne, Camelia Kath, Nick Offerman, Dave Stewart, Gary Wright, Phyllis McGuire, Mitsou Gelinas, Ginette Reno, Andre-Philippe Gagnon, Corey Feldman, David Foster, Jason Patric, Lynette Chappell and Chad Rogers.

The inclusion of Siegfried & Roy prompted me to ask Bernie Yuman, the duo's manager, if the legendary illusionists had ever met the Beatles as a band, or McCartney during his solo career. Yuman said they may have met in Berlin in the '60s, and Starr did once visit Siegfried and Roy after a performance at the Mirage a few years ago.

But Yuman said the real news was the complete metamorphosis of the former Siegfried & Roy Theatre, which, he said, "was necessary. It had to be completely redone all the way through to make this work."

Agreed.

NoteMart

Plans delayed: The Smith Center for the Performing Arts has postponed its party to announce David M. Schwarz as the center's design architect. The event was scheduled for Wednesday, but has been pushed back to a date to be determined because of complex travel schedules and to make sure all contracts have been signed. This, according to Las Vegas Performing Arts Center President Myron Martin. A new date will likely be announced in the next month ...

Casting out: On Monday night, the third "Composer's Showcase" event was held at Suede Restaurant and Lounge. The club, which sits in the loop of alternative nightspots just south of Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road, hosts monthly performances from many of the city's top production shows. On Monday, Brent Barrett of "Phantom: Las Vegas Spectacular" (who alternates with Anthony Crivello as the Phantom in the Venetian production, which holds its gala opening Saturday) turned up along with members from many Vegas shows alive and defunct. The assembled talent performs the work of various music directors and composers living and working in Vegas.

Joining Barrett on Tuesday were Wayne Green of "Mamma Mia," Keith Thompson of "Hairspray" and Richard Oberacker of "Ka." The club is usually closed on Mondays, but is open specifically for these events. There is no cover.

Bodies of work: I took in "Bodies: The Exhibition" at the Tropicana on Wednesday, and it's an entirely captivating experience - until one of them winks at you (I joke, of course). But it is a comprehensive, clinical look at the human body from the outside in - and local educators are taking notice. On Wednesday night more than 70 science instructors from Clark County School District toured the show (which opens to the public today) and were reportedly impressed with the display. Field trips aplenty are in the offing

Blue bowl: The Hollywood Bowl opens its summer season tonight in Los Angeles and performing, for the first time with a full 80-piece orchestra, is the Blue Man Group. The night is to honor new Hollywood Bowl inductees Carlos Santana and Andre Watts. The Blue Men have just released a digital-only recording, "Live at the Venetian - Las Vegas" on iTunes

Summer in the city: One-time Disco queen Donna Summer, performing through the weekend at the Las Vegas Hilton, recently recalled her first performance in Las Vegas, around 1979 at the old MGM Grand (now Bally's). She said she encountered "Vegas throat," the dryness that hinders vocalists' ability to sing at full capacity. "It was weird. It's like a guitarist playing and all of a sudden having no electricity."

That was actually Summer's second visit to the city. She saw Helen Reddy, Neil Diamond, "and (Frank) Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin - the Vegas-y kind of shows" on her first trip through town, in 1974 or '75 by her recollection

A vehicular version of a famous social faux pas: A reader reports driving northbound on Interstate 15 behind a Las Vegas Rentals truck loaded with portable toilets. Sticking out of one was a long trail of toilet paper, which dropped to the street. OK, it might have been planned, but still pretty funny

Fish story: Stirling Club Sales Director Linda Anderson drives a black Mercedes-Benz with the plate CAVIAR.