Riegel says soap role was right move
Most aspiring actresses would jump at the chance to play Susan Lucci's daughter on ``All My Children." Not Eden Riegel. She'd already been on Broadway in ``Les Miserables " and was studying at Harvard when the soap opera's casting director called six years ago. ``The snob in me never wanted to do a soap," Riegel (inset) says. ``I didn't want to be just another girl jumping in and out of the sack with every shirtless hunk." As it turned out, she wasn't. The actress, who's in town to star in the Reagle Players' production of ``Thoroughly Modern Millie," played the lesbian daughter of Erica Kane, a groundbreaking role that won her acclaim -- and an Emmy in 2005. ``It was a much bigger deal than I expected," she says. ``And I felt a greater sense of responsibility because there were kids writing letters telling me this was their story." To prepare for the role, Riegel says she asked her stepsister, who is gay, a series of stupid questions. ``I said, `How does a lesbian walk? What kind of shoes do they wear?' " she recalls, laughing. ``And `Do they listen to Melissa Etheridge?' " Riegel, who still makes occasional appearances in Pine Valley, lives now in LA. ``It was the best experience anyone could ask for on a soap," she says. ``Thoroughly Modern Millie" plays at the Robinson Theatre in Waltham July 19-23.
Reaching out to catch Crisp?
What's a guy gotta do to get an endorsement deal? Even after Coco Crisp credited Red Bull -- on national TV -- for his game-saving grab against the Mets, the makers of the energy drink haven't offered the Sox center fielder a deal. Not yet, at least. ``My inbox was flooded after that. ESPN ran that catch a gazillion times," Red Bull spokeswoman Patrice Radden told us. ``You can't buy that kind of advertising." No, you can't, so why not give Coco a contract? ``We do plan to reach out to him," she said. More than 100 athletes endorse Red Bull, including Revs player Taylor Twellman. . . . Crisp's predecessor, meanwhile, owns up to his pot-smoking past in the latest Men's Journal. About marijuana, Johnny Damon offers this pearl of wisdom: ``It's part of life, it's natural, it's from the earth."
Crow flies in Braintree
Her bike-riding boyfriend Lance Armstrong isn't around anymore, but Sheryl Crow still keeps fast company. The singer and 40 friends went racing at F1 in Braintree before the first of her two Fenway Park gigs. We're told Crow, who scored a hit with ``Everyday Is a Winding Road," crashed her go-cart on the very first lap but improved with some instruction. Afterward, the gang gathered in the billiards room at F1 for food and drinks. . . . Crow supped at Patrick Lyons's place Sonsie after Saturday's show.
Tennis temptress Anna Kournikova was in town yesterday, and she did a meet-and-greet before her match against the Boston Lobsters. The Russian beauty, who dates singer Enrique Iglesias, swats balls for the Sacramento Capitals these days. . . . The night after making his triumphant return at Tanglewood, BSO boss James Levine attended the closing night performance of the Berkshire Theatre Festival's production of ``Amadeus."
Talk-show host Montel Williams drew a crowd at Faneuil Hall, where he flacked for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance. . . . The Institute of Contemporary Art hoped to get filmmaker Jim Jarmusch for its speaker series entitled ``What New Is." But seems the ``Broken Flowers" director is too busy with his day job, so the ICA has had to enlist punk poetess Patti Smith instead. We're told that the NYC scenester will talk and read, but not perform at the Feb. 21 event. The series also includes architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and choreographer Mark Morris.
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