Loose Lips

What becomes a television star most? How about a chance to show off his or her stage chops? This spring will find a veritable host of television favorites making their Broadway debuts, including Robin Givens and John O’Hurley in Chicago, Harry Connick, Jr. in The Pajama Game, Bradley Cooper in Three Days of Rain, Oliver Platt in Shining City, and David Schwimmer in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. (Maybe this will become the next new Tony Awards category?)

Before any of the above happens, two former primetime players will be hitting the stage again next month: Dan Butler, who played the not-always-lovable Bulldog on Frasier, is part of the cast of Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty‘s new work, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler at South Coast Rep. Sharon Lawrence, who was so good as NYPD Blue‘s Sylvia Costas, will star in the drama Dialectics of the Heart at Santa Monica’s brand-new Edgemar Center for the Performing Arts. And, in March, former Maude star Adrienne Barbeau will return to the New York stage for the first time since she created the role of Rizzo in the original production of Grease more than 30 years ago; she will be playing singing legend Judy Garland inThe Property Known as Garland at the Actors’ Playhouse.

Also: Fans of the NBC sudser Days of Our Lives may be seeing a little less of heartthrob Matthew Ashford in the coming weeks, while he stars in Bruce Kimmel‘s new thriller Deceit at L.A.’s El Portal Theater. Meanwhile, one of that soap’s former hunks, the still-oh-so-sexy Michael T. Weiss will take the stage at Boston’s Huntington Theater as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. And you have just three weeks left to catch yet another Days alum strutting her stuff on stage: Christina Applegate, who is scheduled to depart Sweet Charity on December 31, got her start on the soap when she was an infant!

CHITA’S LIFE COACH
Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life is not just a culmination of the legendary Broadway star’s 55-year career; it’s also a reflection of the decades-long friendship between Rivera and the show’s director/choreographer, Graciela Daniele. “The first time we worked together was the original production of Chicago,” says Daniele. “I played Hunyak, and the first time I saw her on stage, I fell totally in love with her. I was also the dance captain; can you imagine having to give notes to Chita and Gwen Verdon? But it wasn’t the first time we met. Some years before, I went to a party at her house in Los Angeles with Alan Johnston. She still remembers that I wore a blue dress.”

Daniele feels that she and Rivera are spiritually connected in many ways. “I was living in Paris and, one night, I decided to go see this touring production of West Side Story,” she says, referring to the musical in which Rivera rose to stardom. “I don’t know why I went; I was disconnected from the American musical and I didn’t even speak English. But the minute the overture started, I was mesmerized. After it ended, I remember sitting by the Seine and thinking, ‘I have to go to New York and learn how to do this.’ ”

Putting together the enchanting retrospective that’s now on view at the Schoenfeld Theatre was a yeoman’s task, admits Daniele: “Chita has done so much in her life that, if we weren’t careful, we’d be there for three days. The hardest thing was to structure the piece.” Another challenge was getting Rivera to say anything negative or downbeat: “She never likes to do that. Even when we convinced her to talk a little about the accident that shattered her leg, she insisted that she wanted to go straight to a joke about how the screws they put in affect metal detectors at the airport. That’s just the way she looks at her life.”

It was also a challenge to re-create some of Rivera’s most famous on-stage moments, such as the “Dance at the Gym” from West Side Story and “Nowadays” from Chicago. “I didn’t want to strictly reproduce any of these dances,” explains Daniele, “because the audience’s memories were always going to be better than anything on the stage. And, in the end, it’s not about the steps or the 5-6-7-8 or the fingers. It’s about why you move the fingers.”

PARTY PEOPLE

If only the tablecloths could talk! At the opening night bash for Abigail’s Party, playwright Neil Simon sat with Tony Roberts, one of the stars of the upcoming Barefoot in the Park revival, and Penny Fuller. (Both actors starred in the original Broadway production of the Simon comedy.) Also on hand to salute Abigail star Jennifer Jason Leigh and her castmates was Barefoot‘s leading lady, Amanda Peet, plus Claudia Shear and former Hurlyburly stars Parker Posey, Elizabeth Berkeley, Josh Hamilton, and Wallace Shawn.

There were also tons of celebs in attendance at the opening performance of Rope on December 4; among those who were happy to zip over to the Zipper were actors Matthew Modine, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Frechette, and Dylan Baker, along with award-winning playwright Warren Leight.

The next night, Baker and his wife, Becky Ann Baker, came out for the Williamstown Theater Festival’s gala in honor of Blythe Danner. Also on hand at the Sheraton New York to salute the beloved Tony and Emmy winner were Hank Azaria, Dana Reeve, Faith Prince, Kate Burton, Marge Champion, Roger Rees, Bebe Neuwrith, Tony Goldwyn, and Carol Woods. Danner has a lot to celebrate; her Oscar-winning daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, is reportedly expecting her second child and just received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Proof.

CHERRY ON TOP
Audiences at the Gypsy of the Year event on December 6 got a number of wonderful surprises, including appearances by Rosie O’Donnell and Cathy Rigby. And presenter Jason Ritter got a nice surprise of his own when Ann Harada and Christopher Sieber took a moment to pay tribute to Jason’s late dad, John Ritter. But perhaps the best surprise of all was Tony Award winner Cherry Jones unexpectedly jumping onto the stage to accept the award for Doubt, which beat all other plays on the Great White Way by raising a remarkable $105,715 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. By the way: The incredible Ms. Jones, who’ll leave Doubt on January 8, is set to resurface on Broadway in the spring opposite Ralph Fiennes in Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, provided that the much-anticipated drama can secure a theater in this incredibly crowded season.

GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS
The absolutely amazing concert performance of The Secret Garden on December 5 had fans of the 1991 Broadway musical in tears, and those who had never before warmed to the Marsha Norman–Lucy Simon score had to reconsider their objections. The cast could hardly have been bettered. Among the standouts in a cast full of them were youngsters Jaclyn Niedenthal and Struan Erlenborn as Mary and Colin, and the always-radiant Laura Benanti as Lily.

Making the special evening even more special was the sight of Rent supercouple Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel cheering on best pal Steven Pasquale, magnificent as Archibald Craven; the always adorable Jesse Tyler Ferguson lending support to co-stars Celia Keenan-Bolger (who gave a dynamite performance as Martha) and Deborah S. Craig; and All My Children stars Bobbie Eakes and Michael T. Knight, there to enjoy castmate David Canary‘s performance as an appropriately gentle Ben. Hearty congratulations to all who were involved in this once-in-a-lifetime event.