Celine to Play Vegas

By Stephen M. Silverman

03/23/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Celine Dion plans to return to performing in March 2003, headlining at a $65 million, 4,000-seat amphitheater at Las Vegas's Caesars Palace that is being built to resemble the Roman Coliseum. According to a statement released by L.A.-based Concerts West, Dion, 33, will perform 200 nights per year in the venue for at least three years. Her show will be produced by her husband René Angélil's Creations du Dragone and will be designed by Franco Dragone, creator of three Cirque du Soleil shows. The new amphitheater will replace the hotel-casino's famed 1,000-seat Circus Maximus showroom, which was demolished last September amid talk that live acts were no longer big draws in the gaming capitol. (Frank Sinatra had opened the Circus Maximus in the '60s.) Dion, who stopped performing last year to try to get pregnant, gave birth to her first child, a boy who was named Rene-Charles, on Jan. 25.