Who's got the (betting) pool in Vegas?" George Wallace's manager, Christopher Pratt, asks jokingly.

If Pratt and Wallace don't know whether Sly Stone will show up for Saturday's concert with the comedian -- an odd and surprising booking, even for Las Vegas -- it's safe to say nobody does.

"I had a dream about it last night. He showed up three days early," says Wallace, who plans to open the special engagement with Sly and the Family Stone that replaces his usual Flamingo late show on Saturday.

Interest in the show snowballed this week, as reporters woke up to the fact that it promises Stone himself, not just family members who tour behind variants of the name.

The 64-year-old R&B pioneer is a reclusive character who hasn't performed live since 1987. He has made a couple of brief appearances in recent years, most famously the 2006 Grammy Awards. Stone sported a giant white mohawk for a tribute performance with his band, but left the stage before the end of one song.

"We don't expect him to screw up this gig. This is going to be the announcement that he's back," Wallace says, explaining the band has a European tour lined up and seeks to build confidence with promoters of U.S. dates. "We're looking to make history here and I just hope it works out well."

Wallace says he doesn't know Stone, unless you count being in "the top row" of a 1974 Madison Square Garden concert that included the singer's short-lived marriage vows. The name was just one on a wish list of people Wallace always has been a fan of, and now is inviting to share his stage with.

"We had to work hard but we made it happen," he says. "We want people to use our place as a studio to try out new material. (Stone) is getting ready to go out for a big tour and he might as well start it here."

During his three years at the Flamingo, Wallace has moved from unbilled walk-ons by celebrity friends such as Jerry Seinfeld and Cedric the Entertainer to advertised co-stars, most recently, Earl Turner.

"I think he's the best entertainer in Las Vegas. Unfortunately nobody knows who he is, or else I would produce a show with him," Wallace says of Turner. ...

As if magicians don't have enough secrets to keep. Dixie Dooley now has to sit on the location of Michael Jackson's new house in Las Vegas, after doing a private show for the singer, his children and a few others who were apparently part of the household staff.

Dooley says he has no idea how his agent was contacted about the gig, beyond the fact that Dooley knows the singer's sister, Rebbie, and his estranged father, Joe. Afterward, he and Jackson, a known magic buff, talked shop and discussed a potential return visit for lessons.

Others will have a more conventional means to see Dooley when he reopens a theater at the Westin Casuarina on April 27. The Westin is geared to business travel and seemed to be out of show business once "Forbidden Vegas" pulled up stakes in May 2005.

"I really didn't have to do a lot of talking (to convince them)," he says. "They were ready for it."

His past shows included a Harry Houdini tribute and one geared toward escapes. The new one, "Dixie Dooley, Master Mystifier," will go for a lighter tone with comedy and three female dancers. ...

Not long after the Riviera dissolved its publicity department -- letting go longtime staffers George Staresinic and John Neeland -- it announces a new show, "Ice: Direct from Russia."

Then again, most shows hire outside publicists these days, so it won't be much different for the Russian skating show that follows "Splash," overseen by former Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Brown.

The ice equipment is installed for an April 25 opening with 42 Russian performers. ...

A previous column noted producer David Saxe was sprucing up his V Theater at Desert Passage to keep up with the new Steve Wyrick theater in the same mall.

Saxe now announces the new stage design will be done by Andy Walmsley, who did the sets for "American Idol," "America's Got Talent" and "So You Think You Can Dance." ...

Last week's item about upcoming concerts at Lake Las Vegas noted one was "apparently" -- based on the wording of press materials -- a June 30 reunion of the three original Three Dog Night singers. A spokeswoman for Chuck Negron says this is not the case, and that he will perform on his own at The Cannery in August. ...

Finally, a note from the "Fire My Booking Agent" department. The new Polly Esther's club in the Stratosphere posted a schedule of occasional live attractions at the new club. Most of them are campy, in keeping with the club's tongue-in-cheek retro theme: hair metal survivors, '80s tribute bands, etc.

But, as Mr. Rogers used to sing, "One of these things is not like the other": Dramarama, due on Friday night. I don't remember much about the group beyond the anthemic rock hit "Anything Anything (I'll Give You)." But I'm sure I saw them at some point over the years, and I don't remember any peroxide hair or anything campy about their sound.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.