David Lee Roth joins the Pops; Moore takes Nantucket
DIAMOND DAVE The next best thing to Steven Tyler? Former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, apparently. The combed-over crooner will join Jennifer Holliday as a guest performer at the Boston Pops annual July Fourth extravaganza. (Aerosmith was almost on the bill but canceled due to scheduling issues.) Backed by Keith Lockhart, not Eddie Van Halen, Roth will perform "California Girls" and "Jump," and Holliday will belt out a medley of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "When the Saints Go Marching In," and "America the Beautiful." The concert, to be broadcast nationally from 10-11 p.m. on CBS, and locally beginning at 8:30 p.m., climaxes, as usual, with the orchestra's signature performance of Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
HIS DOOR'S ALWAYS OPEN Told to us by someone who was there, the story goes like this: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was strolling down Arlington Street, his Secret Service detail trailing behind, when he stopped to shake some hands outside the Ritz-Carlton. After a few minutes, Kerry looked around and said, "Hey, where's Kenny Young?" Doorman at the Ritz for 14 years, Young has a new address, ushering in guests over at the Onyx Hotel. "John's been a dear friend for years," Young said yesterday. "At John's 50th birthday party, they got a huge cake for him. After he cut the first piece, he saw me in the crowd and said, `Get up here and take the first piece.' " Hmm. Maybe Kerry's not as out of touch as Republicans say.
HOMECOMING Long before Manny Ramirez called the Ritz-Carlton home, George Wyner wandered the halls of the old hotel. The veteran TV actor, best known for his role as assistant DA Irwin Bernstein on "Hill Street Blues," grew up on the 15th floor of the Ritz on Arlington Street. Seem strange? Well, his father, Edward Wyner, built the place, and his family was among the first to move in. This week, George Wyner's back in Boston and having a family reunion at the hotel.
FULL HOUSE If there's a ZIP code in this state where you'd think "Fahrenheit 9/11" might not play, it'd have to be Nantucket, that bastion of Republicanism 30 miles from the mainland. But Michael Moore's indictment of the Bush administration is doing boffo box office at the tiny Starlight Theatre and Cafe on Nantucket. "It's selling out all shows," said Jim Warwick, owner of the Starlight, which seats 92. "Nantucket's old guard is Republican, but if you polled the summer visitors, 90 percent would be Democrats, and I think that's who we're getting."
OY VEY Filmmaker Aviva Kempner calls the Bosox's two Jewish ballplayers, Gabe Kapler and Kevin Youkilis, "the boychiks of summer." Kempner, an ardent Sox fan who screened her new documentary at the MFA over the weekend, took time Saturday to interview Kapler and Youkilis for a piece in the Jewish mag Lifestyles. (During the dugout Q&A, Youkilis, the rookie third baseman, revealed that most people think he's Greek, and he's even been invited to play on Greece's Olympic baseball team.) Kempner's film, a tragic comedy called "Today I Vote for My Joey," depicts a group of feisty Jews in Palm Beach who go to vote for Joe Lieberman in 2000 but mistakenly cast ballots for Pat Buchanan.
INCOMING! A Brooklyn high school student initially denied a diploma after disparaging her school can go to Smith College in the fall without it. Tiffany Schley, the valedictorian whose gripes about overcrowded classes and lack of staff got her into hot water over the weekend, doesn't need a diploma to attend Smith, only a transcript, according to college officials. Schley, who was escorted out of the building after making the harsh remarks, learned yesterday that she'll receive her diploma after all at a ceremony on Thursday. She's attending Smith on a full scholarship.
DAMON DUO Our favorite action hero Matt Damon hosts a benefit screening of his new movie, "The Bourne Supremacy," in Boston next week. (Tix are available at 617-868-5050, with proceeds going to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.) Meanwhile, Damon's sculptor brother Kyle is prepping for a triathlon to benefit Educators for Social Responsibility. Asked which of the event's three legs he excels at -- swimming, running, or biking -- Kyle yesterday told us, "I'm hopelessly mediocre at each." Contributions can be sent to KD Ironman Fund, 23 Garden St., Cambridge MA 02138.
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