September 2008 Archives

An international slate of productions highlight the 46th New York Film Festival, September 26 - October 12, which this year might just be called A Tribute to the Cannes Film Festival. Some entries are short; a couple extremely long. But don't be disappointed. Get thee to the box offices, as the Festival sells out quickly.

With construction ongoing at Alice Tully Hall, the 28-film main slate will screen at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the Walter Reade and Avery Fisher Hall.

Among the anticipated films are France's Entre les Murs/The Class, winner of Cannes' Golden Palm, an unusual opening night [September 26, Ziegfeld and Avery Fisher] choice since it's a totally improvised film featuring a cast of multi-ethnic unknowns; the Festival's centerpiece, Clint Eastwood's Changeling [October 4, Z], starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich; and, closing night's much-heralded return of bad boy Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky's "raw and raucous" The Wrestler [October 12, AF].

A newly-restored print of Max Ophuls' Lola Montès will be the Festival's Retrospective [October 4, Z]. The NYFF is saluting Nagisa Oshima, the Japanese director and "one of the essential figures of modern cinema," with a retrospective. A free panel, The Place of Oshima, will take place October 1 at 6:30.

In addition to HBO's Films Dialogues, panels with directors and stars and the annual showcase of avant-garde films, there will also be premieres of 17 short films, some with quite provocative themes [Love You More by playwright Patrick Marber and directed by Sam Taylor-Wood; Jia Zhangke's Cry Me a River; and Wait for Me from Oscar-winner Ross Kaufman (Born into Brothels)].

You thought American public schools were bad! Just wait until you see Entre les Murs, directed by Laurent Cantet, which follows a teacher through an explosive year in an unconventional, undisciplined public school as he battles to teach and challenge a rowdy [to say the least] class. The film, though much too long and often a bit unfocused, eventually becomes a grabber - especially toward the end when some real drama arises.

Cantet [Human Resources, Heading South] shot multiple takes of students [a few whose necks you'd like to ring] and real teacher, François Bégaudeau, who wrote the book the film is based on. There is a breakout performance from Franck Keita, whose lack of respect and laziness lead to expulsion and, perhaps, turmoil for his Mali family. If he has a command of English, he could emerge as an American teen superidol.

Changeling, running almost two-and-a-half hours, stars Jolie in the based-on-a-true-story set in 1928 L.A., written by J. Michael Straczynski, of a slandered mother's search for her son against corrupt police and a skeptical public; Malkovich co-stars an activist minister. Rourke returns to the screen in a "blistering" performance in The Wrestler, written by Robert D. Siegel. as a once-popular tumbler now on the skids and rethinking his life after a heart attack and attempting to reconnect with his daughter as he begins a relationship with a stripper, played by - surprise! - Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei.

In addition to the above two, the U.S. is represented by Antonio Campos's Afterschool, the story of a tribute for two prep school students who overdosed; Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams, is a follow-up to her acclaimed Old Joy, as Wendy searches for Lucy - her dog; and The Windmill Movie, in which Alexander Olch, using material from late filmmaker Richard Rogers' attempt at a film autobiography, attempts to make sense of his mentor.

France is well-represented this year with four films and eight co-productions. Alongside Entre les Murs , there's Un Conte de Noel/A Christmas Tale, starring the still-stunning Catherine Deneuve in Arnaud Desplechin's story of a dysfunctional family [a French one, for a change of pace!] gathering for the holidays; Parlez Moi de la Pluie/Let It Rain, Agnès Jaoui's story of aspiring filmmakers following a female politician; and Olivier Assayas's L'heure d'Eté/Summer Hours, with an ensemble cast headed by Juliette Binoche in the story of a famous family's dealing with their legacy on the death of their mother.

Attempting to follow in the footsteps of last year's sleeper, Persepolis, is a co-production [with Israel]: Ari Folman's autobiographical anime doc Waltz with Bashir, about Israel's 1982 war with Lebanon.

Career paths and families are at the center of several of the foreign entries, such as Bam guan Nat/Night and Day [South Korea], directed by Hong Sang-soo, the story of an artist who goes to Paris for enlightenment; A Corte do Norte/The Northern Land [Portugal], directed by João Botelho, about a woman's search for the truth about her life; Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata [Japan, Denmark], the story of a family struggling stay together after the father loses his job; and Voy a Explotar/I'm Going to Explode, from Gerardo Naranjo [Mexico] and the story of two naughty teens who go into hiding to see what reaction it will stir from their family.

The NYFF is welcoming such alumni back as Steven Soderbergh [with his controversial two-part, four-and-a-half-hour biopic Che [October 7, Z], in Spanish, co-produced by France and Spain, and starring Benicio del Toro, who won Best Actor at this year's Cannes.

Also returning are the U.K.'s Mike Leigh [Happy-Go-Lucky, the story of a 30-something teacher who's not really as happy on the inside as she is on the outside - It stars Sally Hawkins, who took Best Actress honors at the Berlin FF; and has two outstanding, scene-stealing featured actors, Eddie Marsan and Karina Fernandez; Jia Zhangke [the semi-doc Er Shi si Cheng ji/24 City, about the fall of a factory town]; and Wong Kar Wai [Ashes of Time Redux, an update of his Chinese martial arts tale].

Of interest to cinema buffs are four more Cannes prizewinners: Italy's Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah [Grand Prize], about the modern-day Neapolitan mafia; U.K.'s Steve McQueen's Hunger [Camera d'Or]; Sergey Dvortsevoy's Tulpan [Un Certain Regard Prize], financed by five countries including his native Russia; and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata [Jury/Un Certain Regard Prize].

Hunger marks the feature film debut of controversial black British political visual artist McQueen in "an uncompromising look at the 1974 hunger strike led by IRA prisoner Bobby Sands."

In the NYFF's tradition of presenting restored classics, this year's Retrospective is Ophuls' dazzling 1955 widescreen color romp Lola Montès, starring Martine Carol as a circus artiste who becomes the notorious courtesan "to kings, knaves, [supposedly] King Ludwig and Franz Liszt." Peter Ustinov, Oskar Werner and Anton Walbrook [as Ludwig] co-star.

The director called his final masterpiece "a meditation on time and the evanescent nature of fame and riches." Several attempts to restore prints of Lola Montès weren't exactly pristine, due to Ophuls' use of the relatively unstable Eastmancolor process. The new restoration incorporating long-lost footage and color correction, courtesy of the Cinémathèque Française, is stunning.

On October 6, at 6 and 8:30 P.M. [WR], the Festival offers cinema buffs a delectable treat: a remastered 35mm print of Josef von Sternberg's 1928 classic The Last Command, starring Emil Jannings and William Powell. Jannings, as a once-decorated Russian general reliving the Revolution as a Hollywood extra, won the first Best Actor Oscar. The film will be accompanied by a new score by the three-member Alloy Orchestra [which also composed the new score for the restored Metropolis].

Martin Scorsese will introduce a restored Technicolor print [courtesy of George Eastman House] of 1951's Pandora and the Flying Dutchman on October 10 at 6:15 [WR]. Directed and adapted by Albert Lewin, with a celebrated production design by Clive Donner with some assist from Man Ray and magnificently shot on the Spanish coast by renowned cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

It stars a very seductive Ava Gardner and James Mason, Nigel Patrick, Juan Montalvo and Marius Goring. Cardiff went on to directing. Lewin, all but forgotten today, was a Brooklynite who had a brief stint as film critic before heading West where he became assistant to Irving Thalberg. He produced such highbrow fare as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Moon and Sixpence. But later he was regulated to writing for such TV fare as My Favorite Martian and Diff'rent Strokes.

Comprising the NYFF selection panel are Film Society chair/program director Richard Pena, LCFS associate program director Kent Jones [Film Comment], L.A. Weekly critic Scott Foundas; VV critic J. Hoberman; and Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum.

Among the sponsors of the 46th New York Film Festival are Chopard, The New York Times and Sardinia Region Tourism.

Tickets for screenings are on sale at Avery Fisher Hall and online at filmlinc.com; and, beginning Saturday, at the Ziegfeld. For showtimes and information the numerous other NYFF events, visit the web site.

Remembering a Forgotten Heroine

Four-time Tony Award-nominee and two-time Drama Desk-winner Tovah Feldshuh is channeling the spirit and heroism of an unsung WWII Polish woman in Irena's Vow, by Dan Gordon. It officially opens tonight at Baruch Performing Arts Center [55 Lexington Avenue, at 25th Street] with a cast of 10 under Michael Parva's direction.

This is Feldshuh's first New York stage appearance since her triumphant DD-win and Tony nod for her turn in Golda's Balcony, which moved from Off-Bway to become Bway's longest-running one-woman show and then to the West End.

She describes Irena's Vow as "a riveting, life affirming story about one of wartime's most courageous heroines. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Irena Gut Opdyke, a Catholic, was forced to work as housekeeper for a Nazi major. Over two years, she hid twelve Jewish refugees.

"There are over 50,000 recorded acts of heroism by Polish citizens who reached out to save victims of the Nazi terror," she continued. "This is the extraordinary story of one woman, who chose to do good in the midst of evil. Her story is a searing testament to the bravery of those who risked their lives to save Jews from certain death."

Feldshuh is known for her incredible roster of accents and stage personalities which she develops through intense research. In preparation for Irena's Vow, she embarked on a journey to locate the places "graced by Irena Gut. As luck would have it, in searching for her, I found the best of myself. I found the part that nurtures, the part that's just, the part that's brave against daunting odds, the part that reaches out to those in need, the part that's the best of America."

Before the war and German occupation, there were 3.5 million Jews in Poland - about ten percent of the population. Only 100,000 somehow survived the death camps.

On her trip, Feldshuh felt obligated to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. "When I walked through the gates of Birkenau, my legs gave out. I fell to my knees because I couldn't even see to the end of this ground - this factory of death, developed for the annihilation of human beings."

She reflected for a moment and stated, "Thirteen is a lucky number in the Jewish religion. Irena's heroism saved 13 lives and thus 13 universes. She did it in the flower of her youth and by giving herself over to a high-ranking officer. Most amazing is the fact that she never spoke of it for 35 years. Well, this is her season, and I am so honored to be portraying her and to stop for a moment in time and cast a light on a young woman who was a light unto the nations."

She adds, "Of course, our goal is to use this drama in the hope of inspiring the very best in ourselves and that we may follow in Irena's footsteps."

Morton Goes Metro

Broadway's favorite Scot, Euan Morton brings his new show, Stranger in a Strange Land, "an evening of song and poetry," to the Metropolitan Room [34 West 22nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] for three consecutive Sundays, October 5, 12, 19 at 9:30 P.M. He will using material from John Lennon, Julian Lennon, John Denver and Nik Kershaw, as well as some of his signature material from Taboo [in which he portrayed Boy George]. Bryan Reeder is music director.

Morton was in a very introspective mood when asked to describe his concert's theme. Morton said, "Have you ever felt like an outsider, even amongst your dearest friends? Do you sometimes ask, 'how the hell did we get here'? Then, indeed, you might just be a stranger and maybe this is a very strange land indeed." I know!

"After a near death experience [from a burst appendix]," he says, "it's time to bring something serious to the table. I'm older, wiser. It's time to ask some deep questions."

Admission for Euan Morton at the MR is $30 with a two drink minimum For reservations, call (212) 206-0440 or visit www.metropolitanroom.com.

Also appearing at the Metro in October is Neile Adams [original Kismet and Pajama Game] on the 1st at 7 P.M. and the 2nd - 4th, at 7:30, with a show "dishing on my early New York days as a hoofer and how I was courted by and married to Steve McQueen." Yes, that Steve McQueen - she was his first wife. Adams made her Bway debut at 17. Her cover is $20, etc.

On three consecutive Saturdays, October 4, 11, 18 at 9:45 P.M., Gay Marshall [ACL, Jacques Brel...] will preview her new Piaf CD. She notes, "Unlike Yvonne Constant [also playing the MR in October], who does a more continental take on Piaf, mine is raffish, rascally and a different shade of dark." And with no regrets! A $20 cover, etc.


Dancers Salute a Renowned Choreographer

In a rare appearance, Dick Cavett will host Chita Rivera, Marge Champion and members of Dancers Over 40 on Monday, October 13 at 8 P.M. at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space [2537 Broadway at 95th Street], when that org pays tribute to a renowned and influential Broadway and Hollywood hoofer and choreographer in Jack Cole: Alive and Kicking. Also appearing will be a group of veterans who danced under Cole - Alan Johnson, Ethel and George Martin, Dana Moore - and NYC Dancemakers, a group dedicated to preserving stage, TV and film choreography.

Cole went from Bway gypsy to choreographer of such shows as Jamaica, A Funny Thing...and Man of LaMancha. His roster of movie choreography includes Gilda [Rita Hayworth's torrid "Put the Blame on Mame"], Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business [working with Merman and Marilyn Monroe], Kismet and Les Girls..

Rivera said, "Jack was brilliant. He gave Broadway, film and television a vocabulary and style of movement that is still imitated. His protégés Gwen [Verdon], Carol [Haney], Bob [Fosse] and me have passed down his legacy. His influence can still be seen. Dancers of a certain age, those of my generation, are greatly indebted to him."

The spirit of Gwen Verdon, one of Cole's original company members and who was featured in almost every Cole movie, will be recalled by Dana Moore [Dancin', Fosse], who'll perform a Cole-inspired piece with NYC Dancemakers.

There will be clips from TV shows choreographed by Cole. One, from 1955's Three for the Show, features Rivera and Miss Champion. DO40 member Gemze de Lappe, who assisted Cole, and Stuart Hodes will discuss working with Cole in a revival of Kismet.

The Dancers Over 40 mission is to preserve the history, legacy and lives of dancers and choreographers from the golden years of theater and dance. The org also assists dancers in need. They donate annual support to Dancers' Resource, the Actors' Fund program spearheaded by Bebe Neuwirth.

The evening will be videotaped and donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.

Advance tickets are $15 for DO40 members, $35.00 for non-members; $50 at the box office. They are available by calling Symphony Space at (212) 864-5400 or by visiting www.symphonyspace.org. For more information on Dancers Over 40, check out their web site, www.dancersover40.org.

Save the Date...Order Tickets Now

October 17, 18 and 19 Town Hall presents its Fourth Annual Broadway Broadway Cabaret Festival, hosted by Scott Siegel [Broadway by the Year]. The respective programs are A Tribute to Lerner & Lowe with, among others, Max Von Essen; a rare concert appearance by Colm Wilkinson [Les Miz, POTO]; and the always eagerly-anticipated Broadway Originals!, which brings back stars, such as Lucie Arnaz [They're Playing Our Song], Stephen Mo Hanan [Cats], Karen Morrow [I Had a Ball] and Pamela Myers [Company], singing songs from show they were in. Tickets for a three-show package are $150, with individual tickets at $55, and are available at the Town Hall box office.

One of the most anticipated dance events annually is Career Transition for Dancers' tribute to dancers in all fields. The 23rd anniversary show, On Broadway!, A Glittering Salute To The American Musical, presented by Rolex, is Monday, October 27 at 7 P.M. at City Center with Angela Lansbury hosting. Tommy Tune will receive the Rolex Dance Award. Among participating special guests are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kelly Bishop, Jane Krakowski, Bebe Neuwirth, Noah Racey, John Selya and Karen Ziemba; participating dance companies will include the American Ballet Theatre [Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo]. There'll also be a film montage of Broadway musicals choreography. A supper dance follows. Show tickets, at $45 - $130, are available at the City Center box office and through CityTix, (212) 581-1212.

Leslie Uggams, celebrating over 50 years in show business, is not showing her age.

In Thoroughly Modern Millie, you waited an hour for her entrance. But what an entrance! The set parted and there she was in a jaw-dropping white fox coat. When Uggams [replacing Sheryl Lee Ralph], as 20s vamp Muzzie Van Hossmere, opened that coat, it was as if time stopped. In that sequin-studded, tight-fitting black, white and silver dress, she looked as she did 30 years ago.

As she proved in King Hedley II, as Ethel Thayer in the revival of On Golden Pond opposite James Earl Jones and now in Ruben Santiago-Hudson's acclaimed, blistering revival of Leslie Lee's semi-autobiographicalThe First Breeze of Summer at the Signature, Uggams doesn't have a problem playing older.

In the role of Gremmar, the beloved matriarch of the Edwards family who had a shady past, Uggams is padded and wigged. Amazingly, as she exits arm-in-arm with cast members, once again it's as if time stopped. Catch this incredible performance while you can, for Uggams will be headed to the West Coast at year's end to portray Lena Horne in Stormy Weather, a bio-drama, at the Pasadena Playhouse in January. [Read on for another six-degrees-of-separation link to Ms. Horne.]

The journey traveled by the younger Lucretia, portrayed by Yaya DaCosta, who has a habit of falling for the wrong men [and having children by then] and then having her relationship with "the right man" destroyed because of her past. "It's a great study in contrasts," says Uggams. "It raises the question is it better to hold on to secrets or admit you're human and have made mistakes."

Uggams, seemingly, has done it all: best-selling recording artist, ground-breaking TV star, Vegas headliner, concert tours, daytime TV, stage drama and musicals. She's been nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards. In fact, Uggams has even been a cover girl - TV Guide and Newsweek.

A "born and raised New Yorker," as she likes to say, Uggams grew up in a four-room apartment in Washington Heights. Her father was a singer, elevator operator and maintenance man; her mother, a waitress and Cotton Club chorus girl. "We had a modest but stable life," she says, "where somehow my parents always made ends meet."

Early on, Uggams was exposed to music. Her father was a member of the Hall Johnson Choir - "but," she points out, "in their pre-movie days."

As a tot, Uggams sang along to records, impressing family and their friends with a remarkably mature voice. At age six, Uggams made her "professional" debut, singing in church. Tap lessons led to appearances on NBC's Milton Berle show. At 10, she had best-selling records, such as "Missus Santa Claus," "Every Little Piggy Has a Curly Tail" and "Easter Bunny Days." Soon, she was opening for Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. In 1951, she made her acting debut on TV's landmark Beulah.

"I played Ethel Waters' niece and the producers wanted my hair in 'pickaninny' braids," she recalls. "Miss Waters said, "Absolutely not! You see the way her hair is now. She has beautiful curls. That's how it is going to be on the show.' I was impressed with her even at six years old. She invited my mother and me to see her in Member of the Wedding. It was an extraordinary performance and made quite an impact on me."

[Trivia: Dooley Wilson, Sam in Casablanca, was Uggams' boyfriend in her Beulah appearance; and Uggams and Brandon De Wilde, who played John Henry in Member of the Wedding were friends in elementary and high school.]

Her first Broadway show was Porgy and Bess. "I was enthralled by Leontyne Price, William Warfield, Cab Calloway and my aunt Eloise Uggams [Blackbirds of 1929] in the ensemble and that incredible Gershwin music. That's when the bug bit!" She says that her aunt wanted her to study opera "and become another Marian Anderson, but I wasn't leaning that way."

After third grade, Uggams attended Professional Children's School, where she became friends with Mary Martin's daughter Helen "and got to see tons of Broadway shows." Soon, she was "going to auditions. I got lots of kiddie roles. I grew up with Gregory and Maurice Hines. We were the token black kids."

At 14, she won $25,000 as a contestant on Name That Tune. She laughs, "The excitement in the neighborhood was like in the movies when everyone opens their windows and shout the news!"

In 1961, while studying at Julliard, Uggams got the break that made her a household name. Bandleader Mitch Miller broke color-barrier taboos and cast her on his weekly Sing Along with Mitch. When stations in the South complained and refused to air the show, Miller held his ground. "Mitch was told either I go or the show goes," reports Uggams. "He said, 'She stays or there's no show.' He loved that show, and had been trying to sell it for years, so to do that was heroic."

Uggams' infectious smile and vocal talent made her America's sweetheart. Sammy Davis, Jr., whom she "fell madly in love with when I saw him on Broadway in Golden Boy," said in an interview: "Everybody identifies with Leslie. She's bridged a very important space. The first great step has happened with her."

TV stardom came at a price. "Being an African American performer on TV," she says, "was a great honor but also a heavy load. A lot was expected of me." In 1963, "when I was finally able to vote!, I was invited by President Kennedy to sing at the White House!" [She later did a command performance for President George H.W. Bush].

In the late 60s, Uggams starred in her own variety series. Slotted opposite Bonanza, it lasted a season.

Uggams found it all frustrating. She was singing, singing, singing, "but, more than anything, I wanted to act. No one realized I'd been studying since I was eight. All through my teens."

That dream became a reality when she starred out West in The Boyfriend. "My notices were wonderful," says Uggams, "and word filtered back to New York where gossip was spreading that Lena Horne had bowed out of a show and David Merrick was looking for a leading lady."

Appearing in Atlantic City, Uggams suddenly found "all these Broadway folks coming to check me out. Then I got a call to audition. While I was reading, Mr. Merrick fell asleep. I thought, 'I'm never going to get this part.' But, next thing I knew, he was out and there were new producers. And I got the part."

That was 1967's Hallelujah, Baby!, a cavalcade of African-Americana from the turn of the 20th Century to the late 60s with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden and book by Arthur Laurents. "I was 23 and on Broadway in a show written by legends. I couldn't believe it." She won the Tony.

Then there was playing Kizzy in one of TV's biggest hits, 1976's TV mini-series Roots. "That was extraordinary. Getting to know Alex Haley was thrilling." The role won her an Emmy nomination for Best Leading Actress.

Other career highlights: the short-lived, much under appreciated musical Her First Roman [1968] as Cleopatra and Jerry's Girls [1985] with Dorothy Loudon and Chita Rivera. She appears in Rick McKay's Broadway:The Golden Age...

Uggams says she's "fortunate that things seem to naturally come my way. It helps that I'm receptive to the right projects. So many talented actresses have had a difficult time, I consider myself blessed that in every decade to be doing something exciting."

And it's been a good, exciting life. "I wasn't denied anything by being in show business. I feel just the opposite. I look at what it's given me. One thing it did was save me from being a thug. I lived in a tough neighborhood! Back then, I had no idea I'd ever be in such a wonderful place and still doing what I love most: theater.

"I love going out to a different audience every show and having to win them over," she says. "It's deliver or else. You're up there with no place to go. You're challenged every performance. When the light hits me, the adrenaline is pumping like a biggest Texas oil well. But, I have to admit, doing it eight times a week for months, it's not a job for sissies!"

Broadway Flea Circus

There'll be more stars than in the night sky [stage, film and TV] and more bargains than you can find at Conway or Costco! In fact, it will boggle your mind what a buck or a thousand dollars can buy. Every sale at Sunday's celebrity-studded 22nd annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction in Shubert Alley from 10 A.M. - 7 P.M. benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' outreach programs.

Push those tourists aside [our money is still good!], jump the barricades and get thee to the Celebrity Photo Booths, where you'll leave with a snap and an autographed frame! [I know!] [$10]. Treasures of a lifetime can be found on over 50 tables filled with theatrical memorabilia, DVDs and CDs at fire sale prices, autograph tables, silent auctions, live auction [bring lots of cash!], Playbills, scores and posters.

The Flea is the annual opportunity to get even A-List "I don't sign autographs!" to sign autographs. Everyone is in a reach-out-and-touch mode [because they're doing a good deed!].

DVDs of The Leading Men II and III concerts, Broadway Bares, the Easter Bonnet Competition, Gypsy of the Year and Nothin' Like a Dame will be on sale [$25]. Michael Crawford fans from all over the U.S. and abroad come into town to man his table of memorabilia.

Posing with big smiles after you pays your money will be Laura Benanti, Tituss Burgess, Kerry Butler, Mario Cantone, Gavin Creel, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Bailey Hanks [Legally Blonde's new Elle Woods], Christian Hoff, Cheyenne Jackson, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, Norm Lewis, Priscilla Lopez, Rebecca Luker, Bebe Neuwirth, Lynne Redgrave, as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda and the In the Heights cast and Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen and [title of show]cast.

This year, there will be the opt for multiple fans to pose with cast members and stars of TV daytime soaps.

For more information on the Flea Market and other BC/EFA events, visit www.bcefa.org or call (212) 840-0770.

Lost and Found

The Paley Center for Media [25 West 52 Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] has partnered with the New York Musical Theater Festival to screen rare television musicals during the festival run.

Of special note is a new addition to their treasure trove: Junior Miss, an original musical written for TV and the only collaboration of Burton Lane [...Clear Day] and Dorothy Fields [Annie Get Your Gun, Sweet Charity, so many more], long considered lost until unearthed last summer in the archives of the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington.

Starring Don Ameche, Joan Bennett, Paul Ford, Carol Lynley, Diana Lynn, Jill St. John and David Wayne, it will have its first public screening in over 50 years Sunday at 3 P.M. at the Center.

The musical was produced in a live 1957 telecast. The show's score contains "I'll Buy It," which Miss Fields always claimed was one of her favorite songs.

The Hagley is dedicated to business, but according to the Paley's Jane Klain, "Apparently Dupont donated all of its kinescopes and stills from TV programs they sponsored. Amazingly, we were also able to secure copies of several other Dupont Show of the Month specials."

At 2 P.M. Sunday, the Center will debut another new acquisition, Cole Porter's Anything Goes, "highly truncated," says Klain, "yet highly enjoyable presentation" broadcast in 1954 with Merman reprising her Reno Sweeney). The co-stars aren't too shabby either: Frank Sinatra and Bert Lahr.

There is a suggested donation of $10; $8, seniors and students; $5, children under 14. For more information, visit www.paleycenter.org or call (212) 621-6800.

Nobody Does It Like They Do

Jim Caruso's Cast Party and TheaterMania.com present Tony-winner and DD-nominee Betty Buckley and Tony, DD and Emmy-nominee Michele Lee next week in two don't miss concerts.

Lee's show, Lights, Broadway, Action!, Monday at 7 P.M., is a concert benefiting the Actors Fund as part of the long-running, Nightlife Award-winning Broadway at Birdland series.

She starred on Broadway in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Seesaw and in the cast of the original How to Succeed... Lee will be forever known, of course, for her starring role in TV's Knots Landing.

The incomparable Betty Buckley's concert is The Music @ Birdland , running Tuesday - Saturday, with shows nightly at 8:30 and 11.

She'll be accompanied by her jazz quartet: Clifford Carter, keyboards; Billy Drewes, sax; Tony Marino, bass; and Anthony Pinciotti, drums.

Admission for Michelle Lee is $40, with special orchestra seating at $75. For Buckley, $40/$50 with beverage/food minimum. To book, visit www.BirdlandJazz.com or call (212) 581-3080.

Here's Looking at You, Kid

Eighty-five years of cinema history at Warner Bros., the studio that introduced sound movies and a roster of great stars, morph through the documentary You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, on PBS' acclaimed American Masters series is Tuesday - Thursday at 9 P.M.

Clint Eastwood, who also was exec producer, narrates. The five-hour series is directed, written and produced by award-winning filmmaker/critic Richard Schickel. American Masters is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York.

There is archival footage from the films of the studio's A-list stars from Hollywood's Golden Era: Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, James Cagney, the kaleidoscopic escapism of Busby Berkeley, James Dean and Bugs Bunny.

In addition, there are interviews with Scorsese, Spielberg, Lumet and such stars as Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, George Clooney and Eastwood trace the history of the studio from the silent era, Jolson talkie/singie that changed movies forever to their widescreen epics.

Gems from WB - all in glorious B&W - include Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Now, Voyager, The Letter, Mildred Pierce, Jezebel, To Have and Have Not, Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Streetcar Named Desire [heavily sanitized for the screen adaptation, but a classic nonetheless], Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and, in breathtaking color, The Adventures of Robin Hood, A Star Is Born, Giant, My Fair Lady and the Harry Potter and Batman franchises.

The series is the centerpiece of a year-long celebration of WB's 85th anniversary. A stunningly-illustrated companion book of the same title, written by Schickel and George Perry with an introduction by Eastwood, is just out from Running Press.

Song Fest Tribute

Tuesday and Thursday, the New York Festival of Song honors two "guiding lights" of the acclaimed series, Leonard Bernstein and William Bolcom, "quintessential American composers and great spirits who have long provided wisdom, guidance and music to the world." The concerts will be at 8 P.M. in Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center [129 West 67th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue].

Bernstein and Bolcom were mentors to NYFOS co-founders Steven Blier and Michael Barrett. This 20th Anniversary celebration coincides with Bolcom's 70th birthday and what would be Bernstein's 90th.

Pulitzer Prize-winner, Musical America's 2007 Composer of the Year and multiple Grammy-winner Bolcom and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joan Morris are guests with soprano Sari Gruber, mezzo-sopranos Rebecca Jo Loeb and Renee Tatum, tenor Alex Mansoori, baritone William Sharp and bass Marc Webster.

Songs from Bernstein's Peter Pan, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wonderful Town, On the Town and Arias and Barcarolles; and Bolcom's Cabaret Songs, I Will Breathe a Mountain and McTeague will be performed.

Tickets are $40 - $55, with half-priced student tickets [as available] a half hour before curtain. To purchase, call (212) 501-3330, or visit www.kaufman-center.org.
The NYFOS concert series is funded, in part, by the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

Free at Last and Coming Home

Hairspray film star Nikki Blonsky returns to New York - after incidents way South of the border - hopefully, safely and without incident, for her debut at high-tone Feinstein's at Loews Regency [40 Park Avenue at 61st Street] from Tuesday - October 4 with her aptly-titled show, Coming Home, which will feature songs from Broadway, pop classics and, of course, Hairspray.

Shows are Tuesday - Thursday at 8:30 P.M and Friday and Saturday at 8 and 10. All shows have a $60 cover and a $40 food/beverage minimum. Jackets are suggested but not required. For reservations, call (212) 339-4095 or visit online at feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Of course, she was the last to arrive, but since she was the main event - the drawing card, why shouldn't she make an entrance? And Patti LuPone did - past one of the largest crowds ever gathered for a CD launch at Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Triangle [over 400!]. Those that came as early as 2 P.M. for the 5:00 event certainly weren't disappointed.

LuPone wore an outfit so colorful it was good that the day had been so hot and humid with a blazing sun and so many had their shades. It was not only colorful but complimented by comfortable beach pumps with a red-ribbon that wrapped up The LuPone's shockingly unstockinged legs. And, one might add, an effusive LuPone, who seem genuinely impressed at the turnout.

The event was the launch of the Time Life 2008 cast recording of Gypsy. Not only was the Tony and Drama Desk-winning star there - animated, laughing, genial and kicking up her legs, but she was joined by Tony and DD-winning co-stars Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti and almost the entire revival cast.

There was no performance but rather a discussion of their roles and their first discovery of Gypsy, moderated by theater journalist Patrick Pacheco [NY1, L.A. Times]. Sondheim and director/book writer Arthur Laurents weren't present, but a special guest was Margaret Styne, widow of composer Jule Styne. The CD is produced by multiple Grammy-nominated Robert Sher.

Once again, LuPone heaped praise upon Laurents for guiding her shattering performance as Mama Rose. "I didn't do this alone," she said. "Whatever I've accomplished, I owe it all to Arthur. I brought Patti LuPone, but it's Arthur who's responsible for what Patti LuPone is doing. It has been one of the most satisfying and incredible journeys of my career working with Arthur in creating Rose. Throughout the entire process he was very focused, especially on bringing something new to this production."

Part of that "something new" is a bit of sexual chemistry between Rose and Herbie, which LuPone said was easy to accomplish since there is a bit of history - only onstage! - with long-time friend four-time Tony and two-time DD-winner Gaines, whom she's known since their Juilliard School days. "Rose was an incredible woman, capable of wiles when it came to getting a man."

Interestingly, Benanti revealed two almost unbelievable things about her past: that growing up in New Jersey, she was introverted and far from the stunning beauty she's become. This info brought a jaw-dropping reaction from LuPone, who stared at Benanti in total disbelief - as did probably everyone lucky to be seated for the discussion.

Benanti added that though she listened to a lot of Broadway cast recordings, she's never listened to Gypsy, and hadn't listened to the new one. You may recall that she was literally just out of high school when she was cast as a postulate in the 1998 Sound of Music revival, where she understudied and eventually replaced Rebecca Luker.

Growing up on L.I., LuPone was meserized by the Ethel Merman cast recording, saying that she fell in love with Dainty June's opening "Cow Song." However, she didn't have eyes on playing June. "It was Mazeppa! I loved her gravely voice and the way she played the trumpet." The role was played by Faith Dane in her only listed Broadway role.

LuPone did go on to play Louise. At age 13! It was in a Northport school production. "I was stripping in front of my teachers," she recalls in the CD liner notes. "There I was pulling the panels off my costume staring straight at my science teacher, thinking 'How do you like them eggrolls, Mr. Goldstone?'"

She discussed the relationship she discovered in her research between Louise, later Gypsy Rose Lee, and her mother and drew parellels to her relationship with her mother and son Joshua.

For the revival, she remembers Laurents telling her, "I want this to be different from all other productions. I want to cast it with actors." And so it was.

The result is "a company unparalleled in my theatrical experience," LuPone said, as she lavished praise on her co-stars. "I'm so proud to work with this finest and most dedicated group."

The cast includes Marilyn Casey, Alison Fraser, Leigh Ann Larkin, Leonora Nemetz and Tony Yazbeck, all of whom where there to participate in the signing.

The CD features never-before-recorded songs that were cut from the original production, including "Three Wishes for Christmas," "Mama's Talkin' Soft," "Nice She Ain't," "Mother's Day," "Smile, Girls," "Who Needs Him?," and an alternate version of "Mother's Day." They are sung by the appropriate cast members with newly-created orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.

She's Back and Hangin' at the Bar

Now through September 16, MM, no, not that one but award-winning cabaret star and Grammy-nominee Marilyn Maye returns for her fifth Metropolitan Room [34 West 22nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] engagement in a show she's titled Love on the Rocks. If past performances are any indication, the veteran chanteuse will concoct a veritable and volatile Molotov cocktail.

MM claims, "It will be a show with songs of passion, sex and romance, in an unblinking look at all the ways we find and, so sadly, lose the objects of our desire."

Since returning to New York after a 16-year absence in October 2006, Miss Maye's return engagements have been SRO. Last April, she was awarded the Back Stage Bistro Award for Lifetime Achievement; but, says the elegant, but still feisty Miss Maye, "I'm still here and I'm going to blast some great old chestnuts that will have the room rocking."

She's not kidding. In spite of reaching the milestone of her 80th decade, MM possesses a vocal stamina remarkable for a performer of any age and one that younger singers can only dream of.

Miss Maye's 2007 Metro Room engagement, her first in New York in 16 years, stirred quite a groundswell of excitement and acclaim. Now New York can't get enough of her, "and I can't get enough of New York," she says. "I'm excited about being back. There's a lot of love from the audiences there. They are, if I may use an old-fashioned word, hip; and cognizant of every little thing. They just get it. Elsewhere, that's not always the case."

What impresses her is the age of her fan base, "which ranges from very young to, shall we say, mature. Some are so young, I assume they're discovering me for the first time. Incredibly, they seem to know more about me than I do myself so I think some of them are historians. They're certainly true music lovers. They've either researched a lot or paid attention to the singers of the past. When young folk show up with an old album. I often wonder, 'Where did they get that? At a garage sale?' It's recycling!"

For Love on the Rocks, Miss Maye will be accompanied by Tedd Firth on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass and, on drums, her long-time associate Jim Eklof.

Shows are at 7 P.M. The music charge is $30 with a two-beverage minimum. For reservations, call (212) 206-0440.

Gone But Not Forgotten

PBS's award-winning, acclaimed Great Performances celebrates the life and artistry of one of opera's most cherished voices, Luciano Pavarotti, in Wednesday's 9 P.M. premiere of Pavarotti: A Life in Seven Arias, a documentary with interviews with two of the three tenors, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. The broadcast marks the first anniversary of Pavarotti's passing.

Presented by the BBC and Thirteen/WNET New York, the 90-minute special features rarely-seen performance footage assembled by producer/director David Thompson.

Carreras and Domingo are joined by tenors Kim Begley and Juan Diego Florez, conductor Richard Bonynge, Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto and Dame Joan Sutherland.

"Luciano had the sun in his voice," says Carreras. "It was such a bright, pure sound." Adds Domingo, "It was one of the greatest ever. And Luciano was always such a joy to work with."

The "seven arias" represent chapters in the opera megastar's life. They include "Che gelida manina," from Puccini's La Boheme, the opera that marked Pavarotti's debut. An excerpt is featured from the 1965 performance in the tenor's hometown Modena, Italy, with Mirella Freni; "Pour mon ame," from Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment, the work he toured with Joan Sutherland and the opera whose astronomical high notes earned him the sobriquet "King of the High Cs"; "Nessun dorma," from Puccini's Turandot, the aria Pavarotti made his own in the series of Three Tenors concerts; and "Ingemisco," from the Verdi Requiem.

Strong Breeze Cast

Ruben Santiago-Hudson's production of Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer at the Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space [555 West 42nd Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues] has received its share of critical and audience acclaim.

Signature's 2008-2009 season salutes the work of the Negro Ensemble Company, which presented Breeze in 1975, when it won an Obie.

The play takes place over the course of a sweltering weekend in June as the struggles and indiscretions of three generations of the Edwards family collide. Family matriarch Gremmar, played lovingly by Tony-winner Leslie Uggams, recalls her past. As the temperature and tempers rise, choices affecting the future of the family in a changing world are confronted.

Ms. Uggams' poignant performance with its incredibly wide range of emotions is highly complimented by the large cast under Santiago-Hudson's keen direction: DD-winner Harvey Blanks [TableTop], Yaya DaCosta [as Lucretia, Gremmar of 60 years ago], Sandra Daley, Crystal Anne Dickinson, brothers Brandon and Jason Dirden, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Marva Hicks [Caroline, or Change, The Lion King], Tony-nominee John Earl Jelks [Radio Golf], Tuck Milligan, Gilbert Owuor, Brenda Pressley [Dreamgirls] and Keith Randolph Smith.

Though the entire cast is exemplary, Jason Dirden as Edwards son Lou, and Jelks as Lucretia's suitor Harper, a coal miner with aspirations to the ministry, are standouts.

There's another reason to attempt to see Breeze before September 28, although available tickets are quite limited: Tickets are $20.

In a ground-breaking effort to make theater more accessible, Signature A.D. James Houghton and exec director Erika Mallin struck a deal with Time Warner to subsidize 70% of the cost of full-price tickets. The program has additional support from American Express and Margot Adams.

After the 28th, for the extended run through October 19, Breeze tickets are $65. For tickets, visit www.signaturetheatre.org [seating chart available] or call (212)
244-7529.

Amargo the Beautiful

Spanish hunk Rafael Amargo and his 18 member flamenco company hit the Town Hall stage in Maestro Management's spectacular and sizzling Tiempo Muerto [Time Out]. Performances are Saturday, the 20th, at 8 P.M. and Sunday, the 21st, at 3 P.M.

Magazine coverboy and acclaimed flamenco titan Amargo, choreographer of the West End Zorro [music by the Gypsy Kings], is considered Spain's top male flamenco dancer. After training in Spain and working with Martha Graham, he flirted with modern dance, break-dance, "aerial theater" and cinema. Now, he's returned to his roots to create "the hottest and sexiest" flamenco show - his sixth original production, which stops in New York on its world tour.

Amargo has been honored with numerous Best Dance and Best Dance Show awards as well as Italy's Positano Leonide Massine Prize, the most important given to dance. Previous recipients are Bejart and Nureyev.

The score for Tiempo Muerto is by celebrated flamenco composer Juan Parrilla, who's expanded the band include a wind section, stringed instruments, bass, synthesizers and keyboards. A vital musical component of any flamenco show are the lyrics, which Amargo has written. Vocals are by Maite Maya, Carmina Cortes and Pedro Obregon.

Tickets for Rafael Amargo:Tiempo Muertoare $45 - $85, with premium orchestra locations at $95. They're available at the Town Hall box office, and through Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.maestroartist.com.

Sondheim Treasure Trove

Musical theater buffs rejoice! Releasing on the 30th is a comprehensive treasure trove of the works of Stephen Sondheim, The Story So Far, a comprehensive four-CD, four and a half hour + set [SonyBMG/Legacy Records; SRP $55]. It features 81 tracks with selections from Sondheim's 15 Broadway shows, film scores, TV specials, incidental music and demo recordings from his private collection [songs cut from shows or written for aborted stage and film projects].

Sondheim served as exec producer with A&R head Steve Berkowitz as producer. The set was prepared by veteran producers Didier C. Deutsch and Darcy M. Proper.

"Show buffs love nothing more than demos, out-of-print and private recordings," says Sondheim, "particularly cut songs - especially when sung by the composer. This has all of the above and more. I'm listed as co-producer, but the work and choices were Didier and Darcy's. They have packaged these buried and not-so-buried nuggets with care and lavish elegance."

Of particular interest, the box set includes 28 previously-unreleased tracks and such rarities as songs from Evening Primrose, the 1966 television musical starring Anthony Perkins and Charmain Carr, and demos from Saturday Night, the 1955 musical that would have marked Sondheim's Bway debut had it reached a NY stage. It remained on the shelf until a 1997 London production. In 1998, it finally received a professional recording, which was followed in 2000 by a production at Second Stage.

Other unreleased tracks in the set include demos of songs from Do I Hear a Waltz?; discarded tunes from Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and Pacific Overtures; and songs for an intended 1992 TV production of Into the Woods.

Artists in the set Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Barbara Cook, Victor Garber Dean Jones, Glynis Johns, Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Madonna, Merman, Minnelli, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Zero Mostel and Donna Murphy.

The profusely illustrated booklet features an introduction by Harold Prince, notes by Mark Horowitz, Library of Congress senior music specialist, as well as Sondheim's personal reflections.

Biltmore No More

As a result of what must be a most generous gift [the amount is undisclosed] from veteran press agent Jane Friedman, the daughter of pioneering late press agent Samuel Friedman, and the Dr. Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Foundation, MTC has renamed the stunningly-restored, landmarked Biltmore Theatre the Friedman.

At Thursday night's reception and lighting of new signage, it was also announced by MTC A.D. Lynne Meadow, back on the job after a year's sabbatical, and board chair Peter Solomon that the box office lobby was being named in honor of veteran press agents Shirley Herz and Bob Ullman, who worked with Friedman.

The Friedman/Biltmore, opened in 1925, reopened after years of neglect and fire and water damage as MTC's third and largest stage in October 2003 after a two-year, $35-million renovation.

It was a night when Meadow also saluted the league of press agents who labor behind-the-scenes to bring audiences into theatres, rarely drawing attention to themselves.

Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham, dressed as if he just left a luau; Tony and DD-winner and multiple nominee, the inimitable, prim and regal Marian Seldes [expressing excitement about seeing the Broadway revival of Equus, in which she co-starred in two roles during the run]; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank Gilroy; Kate Levin, commissioner of Cultural Affairs [presenting a citation from Mayor Bloomberg]; and the cast of MTC's upcoming revival of To Be or Not To Be, which includesTony and DD-nominee Jan Maxwell, David Rasche and Peter Benson, were among those attending.

Gilroy had the audience in stitches as he told stories of the "irascible" Friedman, whom people in the industry "either loved or hated," and a whirlwind, breathless 23-hour publicity trek in Chicago in support of the tour of his The Subject Was Roses." He added, "Whenever I was asked to speak on Sam, I'd always ask if they wanted something pro or con!" Veteran press agent Harvey Sabinson spoke on how Friedman worked with "the press - that's what we called theater journalists in those days. Media was a town outside Philadelphia" promoting shows and how everyone learned from him.

What Becomes a Legend Most?

Memories of a feisty movie diva will surely surface this month with the U.S. Postal Services issue of a Bette Davis first-class stamp on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Davis is 14th star to be honored in the Legends of Hollywood Series.

A 10-time Academy Award nominee, Davis won twice, for her roles in Dangerous [1935] and Jezebel [1938]. She shares the record for most consecutive nominations [with Greer Garson]: five years in a row: 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943.

In a bow to too much political correctness, Davis' ever-present cigarette has been airbrushed out of her hand.

Davis was the first female honored with the American Film Institute's lifetime achievement award. On AFI' s 100 Years of The Greatest Heroes and Villains list, her Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes [1941] ranks #43 and Baby Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? comes in at #44. She is #2 on AFI's Greatest Screen Legends actress list.

While promoting Baby Jane [1962], Davis, puffing away, told Johnny Carson that when she and Joan Crawford were first suggested to Warner Bros. head Jack Warner, he replied: "I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for either of those two old broads." The following day, she received a telegram from Crawford: "In future, please do not refer to me as an old broad!".

Davis and Crawford had cold relations through the years, beginning with B.D. whispering great dislike for J.C. after Marilyn Monroe confided to B.D. that J.C. "came on to me." Of Crawford, she alleged "she's slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie...She's the original a-good-time-was-had-by-all gal."

When they were both at Warner, Davis told me in an interview that she became "quite uncomfortable with Crawford fawning over me a little too much, often sending gifts to my dressing room, which I gave to my assistants without ever opening."

But now with Baby Jane, it was no longer a cold war, but an all-out feud.

For years, director Robert Aldrich told hilarious stories of the tit-for-tat machninations that went on during filming. In one incident, B.D. mischeviously had a Coca-Cola machine installed on the set to spite the press J.C. was getting because of her affiliation with Pepsi-Cola as widow of board chair Alfred Steele. Crawford got her revenge by putting weights in her pockets in scenes when Davis was to drag her across the floor.

Davis desperately wanted to win an unprecedented* third Best Actress Oscar for Baby Jane. Crawford, who wasn't nominated, led an anti-campaign.

[*Trivia: Walter Brennan had won three Oscars, but in the supporting category.]

Davis and Anne Bancroft [for The Miracle Worker] were the front runners, and J.C. made a deal with Bancroft, who was unable to attend the Oscars, that if she won she'd accept for her. At the Awards, B.D. figeted and smoked in the wings. The envelope was opened and Bancroft was the winner. B.D.felt an imperviously icy hand on her shoulder as J.C. pushed by, saying "Excuse me, I have an Oscar to accept."

It wasn't easy to get Davis to speak of Crawford, but she was quite blunt when she did, once stating that "I wouldn't p--s on her if she was on fire." Another time, she recalled that "the best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Baby Jane?"

But when Crawford died in 1977, I had occasion to be working with Davis at her home in Weston, CT. She was literally in her cups -- drinking Bell's Scotch out of a tea cup. She made sympathetic comments about J.C.'s long-fight with cancer and that, indeed, she had been a screen legend. At one point, she retorted, "I always felt her greatest performance was Crawford being Crawford." When reporters asked her of her opinion of J.C., however, the old bitterness returned and she told one, "My mother told me never to speak badly of the dead. She's dead....Good."

One of Hollywood's most jealous actresses was Miriam Hopkins, a notorious scene-stealer. Davis had an affair with her husband, director Anatole Litvak, so things were not exactly warm and cozy when they worked opposite each other.

In Old Acquaintance [1943], where B.D. and M.H. go from best friends to rival authors, Hopkins does everything but eat the scenery to upstage Davis. But Davis was on to her and would often stand between Hopkins and the camera. There is a volitile scene where Davis shakes Hopkins to her senses and, thankfully, it was done in one-take because B.D. grabbed M.H. and shook her so hard the soundstage rafters rumbled.

Davis claimed to have given the Academy Award the nickname "Oscar," stating that the statue's "bum" reminded her of her first husband Harmon Oscar Nelson.

She was a perfectioness who went to war against Warner for putting her "in so much drivel." Her reputation for being difficult is legendary. She stated, "I've been known as difficult for fifty years. And it's always because I want to make it the best film I can."

Some of her classic screen lines were "I'd love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair" [The Cabin in the Cotton], "What a dump!" [Beyond the Forest]; "Don't let's ask for the moon. We've already got the stars" [Now, Voyager] and "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night!" [All About Eve].

On Davis' tombstone at Forest Lawn, it's inscribed "She did it the hard way." She did.

Broadway Voices Series

Headling tonight at 7 P.M. in the Voices From the Great White Way series at the Laurie Beechman Theatre [407 West 42nd Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues] is Tony and DD-nominee Barbara Walsh.

Upcoming in the Monday night series are golden-voiced Christine Andreas, John Treacy Egan, Alison Fraser, Andrea Burns, Mary Testa, Alexander Gemignani and Judy McLane.

Beechman tickets are $25 with a $15 beverage or food minimum. For reservations, call (212) 695-6909.