I just love that first photo. Such a proud look. Makes me miss my Eskies, both here and gone.

Definitely wait for CS5 for noise reduction. If you download the beta for Lightroom 3, you can see the noise reduction in the new version of ACR right now.

I have been using Noise Ninja quite successfully with my D3 and D3s. The D700 is the same sensor as the D3, so you should give it a try. You can get a trial of Noise Ninja as well.

200mm is about as long as you are going to be able to use indoors at most venues on a D3. A 300 or 400 2.8 might work in some of the brighter ones.