CRYING 'WOOLF' By BARBARA HOFFMAN

As phrases go, "hump the hostess" is pretty hard to forget. But it's hardly Edward Albee's favorite line from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

COLOR CHANGE By RUSSELL SCOTT SMITH

Bernie Mac is the new Spencer Tracy. James Earl Jones is the new Henry Fonda. Ving Rhames is the new Telly Savalas. And Denzel Washington is the new Laurence Olivier.

'SHADOW' CAST BRIGHT By FRANK SCHECK

IT isn't often these days that one gets to see Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh onstage, but such is the joy of "Orson's Shadow," Austin Pendleton's new play.

WORDS WOULD HELP By CLIVE BARNES

'SPAMALOT' BOFFO AT BOX OFFICE By MICHAEL RIEDEL

Sales hit $2 million, putting the show in fourth place when it comes to top single-day Broadway box-office takes.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM: THE MARATHON MAN By BARBARA HOFFMAN

They've done it for Bach, Brahms, Porter and Gershwin. So it was only a matter of time before Symphony Space presented "Wall to Wall Sondheim."

PAGE SIX

CALLING all horny hipsters: You still have a chance to have sex on-screen in John Cameron Mitchell's "Short Bus."

OPENING KNIGHT By MICHAEL RIEDEL, ILAN KAYATSKY and ED ROBINSON

And now for something completely different - a hit.

LIZ SMITH

GRAND SLAM-ALOT By CLIVE BARNES

BLOODY fantastic. Gorgeously silly. Superlative and better.

LIZ SMITH

Hugh Jackman interview (second item).

PAGE SIX

"THE only really useful thing about aging is, you can legitimately forget everybody's name," Monty Python alum Eric Idle, 62, tells Men's Health.

APPLEGATE TOUGH TO CORE By MICHAEL RIEDEL

MAYBE she'll do it in cast. Or maybe she'll do it on crutches. Either way, Christina Applegate is determined to open on Broadway in "Sweet Charity" despite her broken foot.

THE STARR REPORT By MICHAEL STARR

Next stage for Clapp

CINDY ADAMS

THIS 'HURLYBURLY' IS FOR GYPSY WOMEN
Plus an item on Stewart Lane.

'PENIS MONOLOGUES' DOESN'T STAND UP By FRANK SCHECK

SHE'S FOOT LOOSED By MICHAEL RIEDEL

WHEN ONE'S WORLD IS COMING TO AN 'ENDGAME' by FRANK SCHECK

RIGHT IN STEP By CLIVE BARNES

THE Irish are coming! Well, in fact, they have already come, arriving handily in time for St. Patrick's Day, at Radio City Music Hall with the wondrous 10th anniversary edition of that Irish…

CINDY ADAMS

GOLDEN ACTOR FOR 'ON GOLDEN POND'

CINDY ADAMS

'SPAMALOT' FEEDS A CRAVING FOR FUN

'WOOLF' HAS BITE By CLIVE BARNES

This is a play that seems, with a slightly revised text, to have deepened over the years.

LIZ SMITH

Cherry Jones interview (last item).

AZARIA'S GUIDE TO MONTY PYTHON

KNIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN By BARBARA HOFFMAN

Hank Azaria interview, with one tidbit that was new to me:
Come June, he's back to L.A. for a few months to film "Huff," the TV show in which he plays a shrink under pressure.
Then it's back to "Spamalot" for the holidays and on till next March, which is why he's looking to buy a place in New York.

A FINE CAST, BUT 'DRAWER' IS EMPTY By FRANK SCHECK

THE Canadian drama "The Drawer Boy" has been one one of the most produced plays in regional theater in recent years, but the Paper Mill Playhouse's production fails to show why.

MAKING 'MOUNTAIN' OUT OF A MOLEHILL By FRANK SCHECK

SOME writers can be too prolific for their own good. So it seems with Christopher Shinn, the rising young playwright whose numerous works � "Four" and "Where Do We Live," among them � have b…

LIZ SMITH

CONDOLENCES to the Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei. It was reported that Marisa left the cast of "This Is How It Goes" because of a family illness. The actress spent the last night at the bedside of her 86-year-old grandmother before she died of lung cancer.
Plus items on Jerry Orbach and the Mr. Abbott Award.

TENOR BRINGS 'GHETTO' HOME By FRANK SCHECK

"I'M a black Broadway bitch from the ghetto," sings Billy Porter in the opening number of his autobiographical musical revue, and that pretty much sums up the tone of the evening.

'NAME' GAME By TOM SYKES

A smart new show, called "The Name of This Play Is Talking Heads," is exposing the way TV commentators are spoon-fed their lines and jokes.
I've been there. I once participated in an episode of "The Fabulous Life" about Cameron Diaz.

TURNBLAD ON B'WAY By EDNA TURNBLAD

Michael Riedel is on vacation. His column today was to have been written by Bruce Vilanch, now playing Edna Turnblad, Baltimore housewife, in "Hairspray" at the Neil Simon Theatre.