Las Vegas Weekly

October 8, 2008 · 1:05 PM

Strip Scribbles: Celebrity sightings and tonight’s tips

By Robin Leach

*Movie actress Heather Graham took time out from filming her scenes in the new The Hangover film to see Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles musical LOVE at the Mirage. The film’s director, Todd Phillips, escorted her to the show and both went backstage afterward to meet the cast and congratulate them. The Hangover is a set-in-Las Vegas comedy “centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-married buddy during their drunken misadventures -- then must retrace their steps in order to find him."

Photo: Ana Dobrijevic

Heather Graham with Love dancers.

Photo: Ana Dobrijevic

Daniel Ortiz, Ekenah Claudin, Heather Graham, Marco de Santi and Bernhardt Mattes.

Photo: Ana Dobrijevic

Todd Phillips and Heather Graham

Heather Graham with LOVE Cast

*Zak Bagans is a Vegas-based "ghost sightings investigator" and he is executive producer and host of a new Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures which premieres Oct. 17. You can also check out the show’s Web site at www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Ghost_Adventures. Zak will be the first to tell you that he’s had many ghostly encounters right here in Nevada.

*Vegas will take another shot this Dec. 5 at grabbing the Guinness World Record for “most Santa’s ever in one place” when Opportunity Village holds the 2008 Great Santa Run again. Last year we fielded almost 8,000 Santas, beating the 2005 record in Liverpool with 3,291 participants. We’re still waiting for the Guinness announcement from last year but it’s doubtful we won because an entire Irish town turned out in Santa outfits. This year an Australian town "down under" is joining the fray! Check out www.LasVegasSantaRun.org and register to race so we can claim the title.

* Star Surveillance: Bette Midler took three friends for sushi, sake and green tea at Sushi Roku in the Forum Shops before she walked back to the Colosseum theater for her show ... champion Olympic boxer Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver, was at color king Michael Boychuck’s AMP Salon in the Palms for a full pedicure in advance of his light heavyweight championship battle against Chad Dawson at the Pearl Theater in the Palms on Saturday. Tarver starred as heavyweight champ Mason "The Line" Dixon in Sylvester Stallone’s last Rocky Balboa movie … Michael Johns from this season's American Idol show stopped by BOA Steakhouse in Caesars' Forum Shops for cocktails. The Australian contestant wound up in eighth place but many fans and critics said he deserved to be one of the top three competitors.

*Congratulations to actor Kevin Burke, who labors nightly as the solo star of "Defending the Caveman" at downtown’s Golden Nugget. He’s just been honored as Entertainer of the Year at the fifth-annual Meatball Awards! Congratulations also to Vegas-based alternative rock group Left Standing, who signed contracts with TomKat Records after they performed a live acoustic showcase at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. The group has been juggling the studio recording and is on tour with Papa Roach and Stone Temple Pilots. They return to the House of Blues again on Nov. 13.

*You’d better rush if you want to be in the VIP section of the annual wildly outrageous and risqué Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball on Oct. 25. I’m told only 65 more couples tickets are left for sale from the original 500! Visit www.halloweenball.com for the complete info!

Tonight's tip

I’ll be at the wild and wacky audience-drenched Point Break LIVE! show which is underway tonight through Sunday in its second week at the V Theater in Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile. It's already winning major celebrity acclaim and participation. I’ll have the full up-close report on all the hilarity from under my protective rain-gear here early next week ... it’s a triple-punch from Opeth at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay as they add High on Fire and Baroness to the lineup.

Tomorrow's tease:

Hotel mogul Steve Wynn pulls a Jackie Chan-Criss Tucker Rush Hour movie stunt to film the new Encore commercial and 40 chefs get ready for the March of Dimes weekend fine-dining event, plus more than 500 priceless cars are now lined up for the debut Vegas auto auction.

COMING NOVEMBER 1: Our brand-new multimedia website, Vegas DeLuxe, is on its way with daily 24/7 breaking news updates for all the luxury lifestyle secrets of Vegas, plus all the latest celebrity happenings all over the Strip.

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