May 13, 2004 |
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"It would be so much better for everybody if I played the role of Cora. So much better theater, too."
So said Anne Baxter, neatly blackmailing hapless Celeste Holm, in "All About Eve."
IT PASSED like a ship in the night when the ubiquitous Jane Rosenthal, pushing her Tribeca Film Festival, dropped a hint in an interview with The New York Times. Although the Times didn't follow up and doesn't seem to care much, we're here to tell you that this little "hint" was big news.
The successful Tribeca Film gang is busy creating a Tribeca Theater Festival to take place every October in New York and give fledgling and not-so-fledgling playwrights a chance to do their stuff without the sturm und drang of Broadway. Robert De Niro and Jane have asked the nonprofit Drama Dept. folks under Michael Rosenberg to help in this creation. What a boon this could be for dramatic stage talents! Maybe some of the festival's magic will rub off on Broadway.
And the "readings" from author's works that the Drama Dept. kiddos have been doing have created a tidal wave of interest. Everybody is talking about them and, June 8, they'll go to Los Angeles to read Dorothy Parker in the home of the liberally converted political analyst Arianna Huffington. Carrie Fisher and Patricia Heaton have agreed to read, and proceeds from the $500 tickets will go to benefit this nonprofit theater company. You're going to hear lots more about the Drama Dept.
MANDY PATINKIN has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The singer-actor will undergo surgery tomorrow. His doctors say the prognosis is good. Mandy is taking two weeks off from "Dead Like Me," the Showtime series he's shooting in Vancouver, Canada.
MIRAMAX'S MOGUL DELUXE Harvey Weinstein will donate all the profits of his coming HarperCollins autobiography to The Robin Hood Foundation, Paul Newman's Hole in The Wall Gang Camp and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The as-yet untitled tale of Harvey and his brother Bob's rise from lower-middle-class Queens to film giants is to be edited by David Hirshey, with a pub date in 2006. The most gossiped-about film exec in the world is going to have his say, at last!
TONIGHT AT 8, Renee Fleming, Marilyn Horne and VIPs such as Faith Popcorn and Ralph Rucci will be at Bergdorf Goodman for the launch of Countess von Doz's signature perfume "Lucienne." All profits go to The Singer's Development Foundation, which supports young opera singers ... FANS of the R.S.V.P. Cafe up on Lexington Avenue across from Swifty's can rejoice, because this laid-back informal breakfast/lunch/takeout spot will now be open for dinner . YOU CAN buy a tenacious tiger, elegant elephant, lithe leopard or prime panther table - or just a ticket for the fabulous "Safari!" night at the Central Park Zoo May 26 to benefit the Wildlife Conservation Society. Allison and Leonard Stern are the honorary chairs, and this one honors the National Geographic's John M. Fahey Jr. and photographer Nick Nichols. Who can resist their giraffe invitation? Call 212-921-9070 . SISTER ROSE THERING, 83, was the hit of the Tribeca Film Festival's awards ceremony last weekend. She was the subject of opening remarks by director Peter Scarlett and stole the show with her closing benediction and kisses onstage with Robert De Niro. Director Oren Jacoby won the best documentary short film award for "Sister Rose's Passion." The hubby of CBS titan Betsy West, Oren is a popular guy in the vineyards of documentary.
I CAN'T WAIT to see "The Day After Tomorrow," the disaster movie about icebound New York after the polar ice caps melt. This stars Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum and Sela Ward. There's a big premiere May 24 at the American Museum of Natural History.
This maybe-not-so-sci-fi thriller comes as the screenplay for a film titled "Freeze" landed back on my desk with a thud this week. About 20 years ago, my pal Patti Goldstein and I wrote this treatment about an instant ice age. (You know, heroine comes downstairs in August to find her swimming pool skimmed over with ice. A polar bear wanders into a yard up in Pittsburgh.) Patti found it buried in her files last week. Years ago, we took our idea to our friend, producer David Brown, who opined that "Movies about snow and ice are never popular." When we pointed out that Howard Hughes' favorite movie was "Ice Station Zebra," David just harrumphed and said, "Well, that was Hughes!" Then, we met with the famous producer Jennings Lang, who was charming and acted as if he adored us but sent us away with our idea for "Freeze" dangling as he advised us to "Write something you know - write about life for the girls who work at Cosmopolitan." So we never got our movie made. We'll see if "The Day After Tomorrow" overcomes the Brown-Jennings dogmas.
© 2004 Newsday Inc.
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© NEWSDAY INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.
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