'Waitress' producer remembers Shelly

Producer Michael Roiff's freshman film, "Waitress," opens in the area today , but other projects will keep the Boston native and Harvard alum from returning home. "I'll be thinking about it. I can't believe that the same theaters where I watched movies are going to be showing a film I worked on," said Roiff, son of Boston developer Paul Roiff, owner of XV Beacon hotel and the restaurant Mistral. While the young producer is happy for the movie's success, he's always thinking about the writer, director, and actress Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered in a New York apartment shortly after they had finished working on the film, which also stars Keri Russell and Cheryl Hines. "We keep coming back to the word 'bittersweet,' " Roiff said. "But I keep thinking of how happy Adrienne would be. This wasn't just her last movie; it was the movie she always wanted to make. This is her movie."

Filicia has his ‘Eye’ on Boston again

The last time Thom Filicia was in Boston, he and his "Queer Eye" cohorts were called "fruitcakes" by WEEI morning men John Dennis and Gerry Callahan. (D&C, you'll recall, were up in arms about the Fab Fives's makeover of Johnny Damon and the other Dirt Dogs and blasted Sox brass for letting them "sashay" around Fenway.) Nevertheless, Filicia is looking forward to tomorrow , when he'll be back in Boston for a design workshop at the Kennedy Library. "Last time, to be honest, we didn't know what to expect," said Filicia, whose appearance is sponsored by carpet-maker Karastan. "We thought, 'Oh my God, should we be wearing bulletproof vests?' " The fifth and final season of "Queer Eye" debuts on Bravo this summer, but the Sox episode from 2005 still rates high with Filicia. "I saw Johnny [Damon] not too long ago in New York, and he came over and said, 'Hey, how are you?' " Filicia said.

Hey, they sound just like the Police

If tickets for the Police at Fenway Park proved too pricey for you, don't sweat it. You're not missing much. So says Miles Copeland, who used to manage the band and is the brother of drummer Stewart Copeland. "Would you rather see them in a stadium or in a club?" he says. If you answered the latter, Copeland says the Police tribute band playing in Plymouth tomorrow is your best bet. "If you close your eyes, it's the Police," says Copeland, who formed Fallout: The Police Experience before the real thing decided to hit the road again. A pioneering record exec whose late, great label I.R.S. was home to R.E.M. and the Go-Go's, Copeland says cover bands are big business, and he wanted a cut. "It was a vehicle to keep the Police thing alive, and to keep people from cashing in on our business," he says. "Why should someone else live off the Police when we could?" Tomorrow's show at Memorial Hall will be filmed by a Canadian TV station for a documentary. As for this summer's Fenway shows, Copeland doesn't have high hopes. "Stadiums are a whole other trip," he said, "but it helps my royalties, so it's good."

A week after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, WBZ-AM (1030) talk-show host Paul Sullivan was expected to make a brief return to the airwaves last night. Sullivan, who also is a columnist and political editor at the Lowell Sun, was expected to check in with last night's fill-in host, WBZ-TV (Channel 4) reporter Dan Rea. "[Paul's] going to call in and talk with Dan as long as he feels like it," WBZ news director Peter Casey said yesterday. "If [Paul] feels like taking a call, he will. He's going to play it by ear." Sullivan's surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital was his third since he was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma in November 2004. Casey said there is no timetable for Sullivan's return. . . . Mark Wahlberg was out enjoying the warm weather, dining with family at the patio at Armani Cafe on Newbury Street last night. . . . The Anti-Defamation League honored Suffolk Construction's John Fish at its gala Wednesday . Normally outgoing, Fish seemed overwhelmed by the accolades. More than 650 people turned out for the sold - out event at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel that raised more than $1.6 million. On hand were Cardinal Sean O'Malley, New England Patriots player Troy Brown, WBUR's Paul LaCamera, developers and Celtics brass Bob and David Epstein, Mandarin Hotel developers Steve Weiner and Robin Brown, and Boston Culinary Group's Joe O'Donnell, back from the White House dinner with Queen Elizabeth II. . . .

The region's favorite reality TV couple, Amber and "Boston" Rob Mariano, were the guests of Modern Bride editor in chief Antonia van der Meer at its "trendsetters" awards dinner Wednesday night in New York.

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