Plays for pleasure

Actor Michael T. Weiss knows he'll have to work tonight in the reading of Valerie Martin's play ''Property," which is part of the Huntington Theatre's Breaking Ground Festival of New Readings. But his trip to Boston is mostly about pleasure. ''For something like this, it's just a chance to work with playwrights at an early stage in the work," said Weiss, who appeared in two Huntington productions in the last two seasons. ''It's the opportunity. It's not the same as a full production, so it can be more fun than work." He added, ''I really like Boston. I really like the Huntington." Weiss is probably best known as the star of TV's ''The Pretender." He will appear along with Pamela Gray and Will LeBow in the reading of Martin's play, which is based on her 2003 novel of the same name. The festival, at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, concludes tomorrow with two more readings, one starring Campbell Scott.

Streep pays tribute to late actress

Oscar winner Meryl Streep capped her two-day visit to town with a stop at the spring gala of the New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center, where she paid tribute to the late actress Dana Reeve. Dr. Deborah Morosini-Huschle, Reeve's sister, accepted the award on behalf of her sibling, who led the Christopher Reeve Foundation and worked on behalf of those with spinal cord injuries until her death from lung cancer last month. Also on hand at the event at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston, was Newton native Dana Adam Shapiro, whose documentary ''Murderball," about quadriplegic rugby players, was nominated for an Oscar this year. . . . The screening of ''A Prairie Home Companion" and festivities to honor Streep at the Coolidge Corner Theatre marked a first for a Boston area movie premiere. All the stars arrived not in black limos but in new Prius hybrids from George Grey Jr.'s Lexington Toyota. . . . And while at a lunch at the Eliot Hotel as part of the events honoring Streep, actor Kevin Kline proved his improv abilities. When told by the hotel's staff that the kind of sandwiches being served were ''ham and turkey," Kline responded: ''That's a dangerous combination for a roomful of actors."

The Cask gets ready for its opening day

Dana Van Fleet, co-owner of the Cask 'n Flagon, swears you can see at least four TVs from any seat in the recently renovated sports bar next to Fenway Park, at the corner of Lansdowne Street and Brookline Avenue. And by recently, we mean the new sign went up on the front of the building yesterday. This weekend was to be spent bringing in furniture and stocking the restaurant and bar in time for Tuesday's Red Sox home opener. The Cask's space has been expanded from 8,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet; in the rear, a nightclub/function room that will open in mid-May includes a second bar, a DJ booth, and a stage. ''It will look different," said Van Fleet, ''but the atmosphere is the same." The additions and renovations include moving the main bar, installing 60 high-definition plasma TVs, and hiring executive chef Kurt Vogel, who held that title at Durgin Park. Van Fleet and his brother and co-owner, Bruce Van Fleet, have been at the Cask for a combined 37 Sox seasons.

Randal Pinkett, the Rhodes scholar and MIT alum who won the fourth season of Donald Trump's ''The Apprentice," will be the guest speaker at the Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts's 17th annual Andrew J. Davis Unity Breakfast on April 22. ''Sadly, we find that many of the conditions that led to the founding of CBMM in 1989 -- a rise in crime and violence in the Boston area -- are with us once again," said the organization's president, Frederick Johnson II. . . . ''Jurassic Park" author and TV producer Michael Crichton stopped with friends for dinner Thursday at UpStairs on the Square's club bar while on a college-hunting trip with daughter Taylor. . . . Comedian Lenny Clarke instigated a bidding war between automobile moguls Ernie Boch Jr. and Herb Chambers at the ninth annual Joshua Frase Foundation Gala on Thursday night at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The prize -- a shiny black guitar signed by Johnny Cash -- was won by Chambers with a $14,000 bid. The event raised close to $1 million for the charity. . . . Wackadoodle comic Pauly Shore crashed Allison Sproul's public relations class yesterday while at Boston University's radio station to plug his gigs at the Comedy Connection in Quincy Market. Shore turned the class into an impromptu press conference. . . . And at the Banned in Boston event to benefit Urban Improv at Avalon last night, a slew of politicos were joined in the antics by Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and his wife, Stacey, ''Car Talk" hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi, and some of the New England Patriots cheerleaders.

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