Fun and 'Game Plan'

Yesterday's charity event in Malibu was the first chance Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the cast of "The Game Plan" had to get together and have a little fun since the movie wrapped filming in Boston last fall. The event was hosted by The Rock and Disney to benefit his foundation, which helps underserved, at-risk youth and children hospitalized for medical disabilities, disorders, and illnesses. "The Game Plan," starring Johnson as a brash Boston pro football QB who finds out he has a daughter, is slated to open in September. Among those on the guest list for the festivities planned for Malibu Pier, which was transformed into a summer playground, were most of the cast including Roselyn Sanchez, Hayes MacArthur, Morris Chestnut, Madison Pettis, and Brian White, the Boston-bred son of Celtics legend JoJo White. Also among those to get invited to the bash were Marlborough native Marcia Cross and Neal McDonough, who grew up on Cape Cod.

No need to fear, the limo is here

"Underdog" co-creator Buck Biggers feels a little like a 40-year overnight sensation, but he doesn't mind the late attention. "There was always talk about turning it into a movie," said Biggers, a Plymouth resident. "And now, of course, they can do so many different things with a film. It's very flattering that they wanted to make it into a movie today." Disney has turned the iconic 1960s Saturday morning cartoon into a live-action film and hasn't forgotten the contributions of its originators. "They are using my music, which means a lot to me," said Biggers, a former ad exec, who also is an author and a composer. And Disney is making sure Biggers and his gal, actress Nancy Purbeck, get to tonight's "Underdog" premiere in New York and get there in luxury. "They're sending a limo for us," said Biggers, who just returned from Los Angeles, where he and Purbeck, who has a role in the film, did media interviews for "Underdog," which opens on Friday. "It's all been very interesting," said Biggers, who did not visit the set while the big-budget flick was being filmed in Rhode Island last year. "I'm glad I can see it on the big screen, though."

Actor Delroy Lindo and Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad are among the celebs who will be on hand when the fifth annual Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival gets underway next week. Rashad's TV film of a few years ago, "The Old Settler," will be part of the festival and will be followed by a discussion about getting that project made and Rashad's success on TV and Broadway. Lindo, whose credits include "Malcolm X" and "The Cider House Rules," is slated to participate in a "My Philosophy" panel about African-Americans in the film industry.

Several hundred celebrants sacrificed prime beach time Saturday afternoon to mark the recent headline-grabbing accomplishments of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders at GLAD's 25th annual Summer Party at the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown -- and to fete Stephen Mindich, publisher of The Boston Phoenix, the event's honoree. Keeping with the festive mood, drag queen Miss Richfield 1981 (Russ King, right) rattled off a patter song about presidential wives (including Laura Bush, "so plain, I'm surprised she turns up on film"), and spirited amateur auctioneer Jaclyn Friedman loosened wallets by starting off selling a $20 bill for $50. "Civil rights can be bought," she cajoled -- "for a price."

Flying high with Fiction Plane

They've been opening for the Police, including last night and Saturday at Fenway Park, but Fiction Plane, featuring Sting's bass playing, singing son Joe Sumner, was the headlining act at the Paradise on Friday night. Although many in the crowd were watching for the proud dad or his bandmates -- Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland -- to show at Fiction Plane's gig, Summers told us earlier that evening it wasn't likely. "I don't think so," Summers said. "We see them every night before we go on stage." One person who did get up close to the band is Sam Pearce, a trumpet player who will soon be a sophomore at Milton Academy. Pearce was invited by sax player Aaron Gelb to join Fiction Plane's Boston horn section at the Friday night gig. The performance went so well that Pearce, who had met the Fiction Plane frontman at a music camp, was invited by Sumner to play with Fiction Plane at Fenway for both concerts. . . . Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, was out and about and despite the threatening weather was located right in the seventh row wearing a Police T-Shirt, as the reunited band rocked Fenway Saturday night. Styler, an environmental activist, was the subject of a New York Post item yesterday spanking her for being a no-show at the July 21 opening of the Project GreenHouse Hamptons. Styler's reps denied the snub, telling Page Six she had a stomach flu.

A gala for Grub Street

Some 8,000 writing students have passed through Grub Street since it began 10 years ago as a one-night fiction workshop with five students. To mark the milestone and the independent creative writing center's growth, a couple of hundred authors and supporters passed through Grub Street's Boylston Street headquarters on Friday night for a birthday celebration. Among the authors on hand were Stace Budzko, Steve Almond, Tracy McArdle, Darci Klein, Lisa Borders, Matt Frederick, and Chris Castellani (inset), who also is Grub Street's artistic director.

Globe correspondent Sandy MacDonald contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.