MGM Mirage has announced plans to add a third 925-room hotel tower to its Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The Bellagio is the most expensive property for MGM Mirage in Las Vegas and the company's largest cash flow generator fetching some of the highest hotel rates on the Strip and maintaining a 90-plus percent occupancy. Work on the $375 million expansion will begin in mid-2003. Completion is expected by December 2004.

The project will also include an expansion of the Bellagio spa and salon, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, 5,000 square feet of retail and a restaurant.

The tower will be located south of Bellagio's main pool and courtyard and have direct access to the spa and salon via a classical garden. The rooms will be wired with fiber optic cables for high speed Internet access.

Other major Strip building projects are underway at the Venetian and Mandalay Bay. The Venetian has begun construction on a 1,000-room hotel tower atop its parking garage. The expansion also includes 150,000 square feet of meeting and conference space. Mandalay Bay is constructing a 1.8 million-square-foot convention center along with a 1,125-room hotel tower.

Changes are happening again at The Venetian. "Beats of Passion" opened a second run in the showroom on July 29 and now it will close Sept. 10. According to the show's producer, he's planning on moving the show somewhere else on The Strip.

David Saxe, who successfully produced his sister's show "Melinda, First Lady of Magic" at The Venetian, will take over the vacated 8 p.m. time show on Sept. 12. His plans call for a seven-act variety production show with everything from comedy to magic to music. He will rotate the acts to keep the show fresh.

In addition, "Sourire," an international revue created and directed by Claude Thomas, has opened at the Showroom at the Venetian in the 10 p.m. slot. A cast of 20 transports audiences through vignettes to settings in Venice, Paris, Egypt, Mexico and Las Vegas. Tickets are $48, $59 and $69 for VIP seats with taxes and charges included.

Thomas is known for producing the revue "Les Folie's de Paris" in Lille, France where it continues to play today, 17 years later. In 1998, he opened a second "Les Folie's de Paris" in Quebec where it is continuing its success. An American version of the show had a six-month run at the El Dorado in Reno last year.

Singers / songwriters Bonnie Raitt and Lyle Lovett are a musical pairing booked at the Aladdin Theatre on Sept. 10. Tickets are $32, $47 and $62, call 1-877-333-WISH (9474).

Raitt is the daughter of Broadway star John Raitt. She began her profession by playing back-up guitar for some of the greatest blues stars including Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Mississippi Fred McDowell. The eight-time Grammy winner made her debut album in 1971 and her latest album "Silver Lining" was released in April of this year.

It's been almost 18 years since Lovett hit the Nashville scene and before his career could boast nine hit albums and more than four million in sales. In addition, he began a movie calling in 1991 when he was cast in Robert Altman's film "The Player." Since then, he's appeared in nearly a dozen other films.

"BOO!" is the new late-night improvisational show sharing the Cabaret Theatre at New York-New York with comedienne Rita Rudner. Show times are 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $29.95, call 702-740-6815.

A cast of four main on stage performers from the Los Angeles Theatresports troupe manage to create fun and laughter by combining skits, storytelling, improv antics and humor. The central theme to the whole 70-minute show is scary tales, creepy stories and horror movies promoting a dark sense of humor. Some of the scripted material is by producer Martin Bergman, who is Rudner's husband.

Audience participation comes in the form of offering suggestions for the improv sections and booing or cheering at certain show segments. A couple times audience members are brought on stage for skits and their animation can make a big difference.

"Faberge: Treasures From the Kremlin" has opened at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and will run through Jan. 26. Hours for the self-guided audio tour are daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. General admission is $15 and $12 for students, call 702-693-7871.

This exhibit is all Faberge with 200 works represented and compiled from four lenders. Peter Carl Faberge was the top goldsmith and craftsman in the world, and many of his works were commissioned by Czar Nicholas II for his wife, Alexandra, in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Faberge made 50 eggs, of which 38 are still in existence, and three are in this show. The show's centerpiece is the Moscow Kremlin Egg with a depiction of the Uspenski Cathedral where the czars were crowned.

Other items on display include costumes and jewelry, cigarette cases, figurines, dresses from the Imperial wardrobe, clocks, picture frames, flowers, desk clocks and more.

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The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum's new exhibit at The Venetian is "Art Through the Ages: Masterpieces of Painting from Titian to Picasso." The showing highlights 40 works covering six centuries of the art of painting from the 15th century to the 1960s.

An exhibit catalogue is $30 in softcover and $40 in hardcover. Museum admission is $15 for adults, $11 for students, $7 for children 6-12, and free for members and children younger than 6.

Frank Sinatra Jr. and his 36-piece orchestra performing "Sinatra Sings Sinatra" has been such a tremendous hit at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre that another date has been set, Oct. 4-9. Tickets priced at $47.50 plus tax and handling fee are on sale already, call 1-800-929-1111 or 702-891-7777.

The funk and soul of The Commodores will return to the Las Vegas Hilton, Sept. 10 through Oct. 6., with 8 p.m. shows except on Mondays and Sept. 12. Tickets are $30 and $40 plus tax and handling fee, call 1-800-222-5361 or 702-7322-5755.

The Commodores kick-started their success in the early '70s when they opened up for the Jackson Five worldwide. For two decades, The Commodores were Motown's largest-selling act with more than 60 million albums.

For the past decade, the group has been recording new albums under their own label, Commodore Records and Entertainment. Most recently, they released "Commodores Live" in CD, VHS and DVD formats.

Latino laugh-master Paul Rodriguez will perform at the Las Vegas Hilton, Sept. 13-15 at 10:30 p.m. in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. He will be joined by the Crown Royal Comedy Jam, featuring Joey Medina, Marilyn Martinez and Alex Reymundo. Tickets are $25, $35 and $45 plus tax and handling fee.

Rodriguez's first big break came while doing comedy warm-ups for Norman Lear's TV show "Gloria." Lear ultimately wrote and developed a weekly series for Rodriguez called "a.k.a. Pablo," which was recognized as the first mainstream TV sitcom centered around a Mexican-American family.

Since then, Rodriquez has appeared in more than 30 films and countless television shows with "Idiots and Armadillos," which he wrote and produced, being his most recent. This summer, he had a co-starring role with Clint Eastwood in the film "Blood Work."

The "Crazy Girls" are celebrating their 15th anniversary at the Riviera this month. During the '90s when Las Vegas had a movement taking some resorts towards the family theme, "Crazy Girls" went against the grain and stayed with adult entertainment.

One big change recently was introducing a male host and special guest star Joe Trammel a.k.a. "The Man of 1,000 Faces" verses featuring a female lead in the intimate 400-seat showroom. Tickets are $24.95 plus tax, call 1-800-634-3420 or 702-794-9433.

There's a new dinner/show that has started up at the WB Stage 16 Restaurant at The Venetian. "The Godfather Wedding" features Gianni Russo who 30 years ago played the wife-beating son-in-law of Marlon Brando in the classic film "The Godfather." This show is not duplicating "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" that's currently playing at the Rio.

An upstairs dining room with eight tables that each seat eight people is decorated like a wedding reception. The intimate environment includes a four-piece band lead by Jimmy Mulidore. Comedian Joey Villa plays the godfather and Russo sings and schmooses guests as they partake of a five-course family style Italian meal. Dinner and show are at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 6:30 and 9 p.m. on Saturday through Oct. 5. Tickets are $79.95, call 702-414-1699.

Would you believe that Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with her newest gothic-horror film comedy, "Elvira's Haunted Hills," is actually Cassandra Peterson who made her Las Vegas debut in 1969 as a very young showgirl in the lounge show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel! Singing evolved into an acting career for the statuesque redhead, who, in 1981, created her famed glamour-ghoul persona.

Now Las Vegas has new nickel "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" video slot machines that are Spooky Slots Megajackpots Instant Winner games with a top award staring at $100,000.

After a two-year hiatus, the lounge in the Thunderbird Hotel at 1213 Las Vegas Blvd. South is open with karaoke on Thursday nights from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Walgreens plans to open an "urban-style" 9,200-square-foot outlet in the Fremont Street Parking Garage across from the entertainment mall Neonopolis next spring. It will be the first new tenant in the complex since the Race Rock restaurant closed in April 2001.

If you want to take in an interesting view of The Strip, visit the Eiffel Tower at Paris-Las Vegas. Tours are daily from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for children ages 6-12 years and senior citizens 65 and older. Hotel guests at Paris, Bally's, Caesars Palace, Flamingo and Las Vegas Hilton can get 2-for-1 passes.

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