What happens in Vegas …

Las Vegas – Elton John will extend his show, “The Red Piano,” at Caesars Palace through 2008.

John had committed to 75 shows over a three-year period beginning February 2004. But the hotel-casino accelerated the performance schedule due to demand, completing it in less than 18 months.

“We are delighted with the runaway success of ‘The Red Piano’ and Elton’s agreement to extend his association with Caesars,” Caesars Palace President Mark Juliano said in a statement Wednesday.

The agreement calls for another 150 shows through 2008 at the 4,100-seat Colosseum theater built for Celine Dion.

In 2003, Dion began a three-year engagement at the Colosseum, performing about 200 shows a year. Her run at Caesars has been extended into 2007.

New film for Eddie Murphy

New York – Eddie Murphy, the voice of Donkey in the “Shrek” films, is joining the cast of the upcoming screen version of “Dreamgirls.”

The film, an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical that first ran on Broadway in the early 1980s, will be directed by Bill Condon and also star Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles.

“Dreamgirls” follows the rise of a trio of women who form a group called The Dreamettes in the 1960s. Murphy will play James “Thunder” Early, a singer for whom the Dreamettes sing backup before taking over the spotlight themselves, DreamWorks said this week.

Murphy’s screen credits also include “Trading Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop” and “The Nutty Professor.” He has released several albums of soul and pop music.

PETA star power

Oklahoma City – Former “Golden Girls” actress Rue McClanahan is trying to prevent four elephants from being transferred from Chicago to Hugo, Okla., because they were exposed to another animal with tuberculosis.

McClanahan, an honorary director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), wrote a letter to state Rep. Ray McCarter, asking him “to introduce an emergency resolution recommending against the importation of any elephants who have been exposed to TB in Oklahoma.”

McClanahan, an Oklahoma native, said she would prefer the elephants be sent to the Elephant Sanctuary, a 2,700-acre preserve in Hohenwald, Tenn.

The Hawthorn Corp. in Chicago is scheduled to give the elephants to the Endangered Ark Foundation, which keeps retired circus elephants on an 80-acre tract, said Barbara Byrd with the nonprofit foundation.

None of the four elephants has tested positive for tuberculosis. But they will be isolated from the rest of the herd for about a year as a precaution, Byrd said.

A Wayans park?

Oakland, Calif. – Hollywood’s comedic Wayans brothers are a step closer to opening a theme park and movie studio on a defunct Army base.

A plan endorsed by the Community and Economic Development Committee Tuesday allows Oakland to negotiate exclusively for a year with the Wayans brothers. Keenen Ivory, Damon, Shawn and Marlon Wayans want to build a major film and television production studio with amenities on 70 acres of now-vacant land.

“We see Oakland as a sleeping giant,” said Keenen Ivory Wayans. “We want to get in early before everyone realizes how great it is.”

Several people told the council the project had the potential to restore residents’ pride in their city and reduce poverty, crime and blisght.

In case you hadn’t heard

Berlin – Tom Cruise says his romance with Katie Holmes is the real deal.

While in Berlin for the European premiere of his new movie, “War of the Worlds,” Cruise dismissed speculation by tabloid newspapers and celebrity gossip columns that their relationship is a stunt to promote their new movies.

“Come on, it’s just ridiculous,” Cruise, 42, said Tuesday. “Something magnificent has happened to me. … She’s really an extraordinary woman, and I’m really, really happy.”

Holmes was in London earlier this week to promote her new film, “Batman Begins.” She also dismissed those who have accused the couple of staging a relationship for publicity.

“It doesn’t hurt me at all,” the 26-year-old actress said. “There are a lot of people really, really happy for us. It’s really exciting. We are so happy.”

Forget method acting

New York – Rick Schroder, who plays a surgeon on Lifetime’s “Strong Medicine,” gets squeamish around blood.

“I can’t stand it,” the 35-year-old actor tells People magazine in its June 20 issue, now on newsstands. He recently joined the medical drama, co-starring Rosa Blasi-Finn, now in its sixth season.

“My hands will be inside a bloody, prosthetic stomach, and it all looks so real that I’m staring like I’m in shock,” Schroder says. “Then I remember, ‘The camera’s rolling – I’ve got to do something.”‘

Schroder co-starred on television’s “NYPD Blue.” His screen credits include “The Champ.” He made his directorial debut in the 2004 independent feature, “Black Cloud,” a story about a young American Indian boxer.