"She hears the muse. I've worked with some great women -- Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn -- and they heard the muse. I don't know how else to put it. Working with Reese was like working with them." That's Bob Newhart talking with Vogue about the hotter-every-minute Reese Witherspoon. Newhart acts opposite Reese in the coming "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde."
Reporter Jonathan Van Meter sits with Reese, the $15-million-a-film star, and he observes: "The overall effect of the Witherspoon package -- the clothes, the office, the personality, the colors -- is that of a modern Doris Day. Sharp, bright, blonde and rat-ta-tat funny. She's also virtuous and modest, even a little prudish." On sexy clothes and image, Reese, expecting her second child later this year, says, "I don't know, I just have this idea ... that when you sell yourself as a sexy thing -- 'I'm a sexy actress!' -- there's going to come a time when you're that used-to-be-sexy actress."
Smart girl. But also smart enough to know a little cleavage and a little glamour aren't to be despised. She is all tricked out on the June cover, photographed by Steven Klein, looking, well, like "a sexy thing."
And just in case you've been living under a rock, Reese, only 27, is married to the very good and very attractive actor Ryan Phillippe, about whom she raves: "He is intensely creative, well-read and intellectually stimulating ... I'm always picking his brain, and he always has a great answer. Beyond that, he's fun!"
ACROSS THE POND, we hear that "Taboo" writer Mark Davies-Markham wants nothing to do with what he calls "the camped-up" New York production of his play, slated to open on Broadway this fall. "It's going to be a hairdressers' convention!" he let slip. Well, perhaps that is the intent of producer Rosie O'Donnell, Boy George ("Taboo" is his life story) and writer Charles Busch, who retooled the book. These talented people are not famous for subtlety.
...A STAR-STUDDED CROWD screamed its appreciation of Chita Rivera's two dance numbers in the Broadway Cares "Latin Rhythms" fund-raiser Monday. Not only does this limber legend do eight shows a week in "Nine," but she hosted the Drama Desk Awards Sunday. Chita is ageless energy personified. Seen at the Latin-fest was Frank Langella, escorting opera's gorgeous Renie Fleming. Romance, or just salsa fans out for a hot time?
...MY GAL FRIDAY, Diane Judge -- a woman of strong opinion -- wants you all to know that as much as she admires the current hit productions of "Nine" and "Gypsy," she wonders why more people are not shouting the praises of "La Bohhme." She thinks it's one of the most fabulous nights in the theater. This Baz Luhrmann production is a highly original concept with multitalented casts and, of course, the most glorious music. Don't make MGF tell you again. She doesn't suffer fools gladly.
WHAT'S HIS NAME, former "ace" reporter of The New York Times, better hope there's no such thing as karma, or that what goes around, comes around. His plagiarism, inaccuracies and deceptions are no laughing matter, except, apparently, to him. His jovial attitude talking to the New York Observer set heads aflame in offices and cubicles high and low at the Good Gray Lady on West 43rd Street.
And this is just the beginning. If this story becomes a flagellating book and inevitably a TV or even a feature film, with the man himself giving more interviews, chuckling and mocking his former employers -- well, it'll be a tsunami of tsimmes at the Times. It already is.
Tina Brown writes in the Times of London, "The spring media betrayal season has arrived, and it's the best in years." She cites not only the Times liar, but also "The newly minted novelist Stephen Glass, cashing in for the second time on the extravagant fabrications that got him bounced from The New Republic. Then there is 'The Devil Wears Prada,' the bitchy roman a clef by Anna Wintour's ex-assistant from hell at Vogue ... and now the 800-page memoir of the former journalist and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, in which his erstwhile friend Christopher Hitchens (boo, hiss!) plays the role of Whittaker Chambers. My head is spinning with cries of 'J'accuse!' "
NOW, YOU'VE ALL GONE to the movies and watched Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts or Kate Hudson, and thought, "I could do that ... they're not so special ... I've got better legs ... a brighter smile ... a bigger chest ... more talent." You have. Don't deny it.
Recently, a California moviemaker had a novel idea to give young hopefuls a chance to become stars. Or at least working actors. Screenwriter David Thomas auctioned roles on eBay, raising money to make a "quality, low-budget" movie along the lines of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Winning bidders were also offered a percentage of the movie's profits. "Why should the movie industry be reserved for the few who move to L.A. and struggle for years, then maybe never get a break?" Thomas says. So now, we'll wait and see the results of this unique concept. Coming soon to your local cineplex?
