Former New Kid in town

Don't rule out a New Kids on the Block reunion. That's the word from Joey McIntyre, who's back in town for tonight's theatrical release of "On Broadway." While Joey Mac was mostly mum on persistent rumors that Boston's mega-selling boy band is contemplating a comeback, he did offer this: Never say never. "I will say that it was really nice to see the positive reaction to the initial word that it might happen," said McIntyre, a successful song-and-dance man who recently became a father. "It's nice to know people are so excited." Along with Mike O'Malley, Eliza Dushku, and Will Arnett, Joey Mac is one of the stars of "On Broadway," director Dave McLaughlin's feel-good flick about an Irish-American playwright who stages a show in the back of a pub. "Anything I can do to help promote this movie, I'll do it," McIntyre told us. "It's not 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' but it's a really nice story."

Boston Ballet surprised the city's arts community yesterday with the news that Valerie Wilder (inset) will step down as executive director at the end of this season. Boston Ballet Board chairman Richard Davis will head the national search for a successor, and artistic director Mikko Nissinen will serve as interim executive director. In announcing Wilder's departure, the company pointed out that she increased the number of season ticket-holders by 30 percent since taking over the business operations in 2002. Reached yesterday, Wilder said word was leaking out that she was looking for a new gig so they decided to make it official. "It's been my intention to leave at the end of this season . . . but the news of my departure was spreading, so we decided to release the news," Wilder told us, adding that she was not forced out. "I think it's a wonderful company. I'm actually pursuing several opportunities - including things outside of the US - so there will be a part two to this announcement."

Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund got a tour of Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday from Dr. David Herzog, who runs the hospital's Harris Center for Education and Advocacy in Eating Disorders. Last night the two participated in a public forum at Harvard called "Redefining Perfection: Beauty, Fashion and Body Image" that also included "The Science of Sexy" author Bradley Bayou and blue jean company owner Paige Adams-Geller, who is a former Miss California.

Not that we care, but the success of Boston sports teams is making the city - and its fans - wildly unpopular around the country. Just check out Jeff Pearlman's piece in the new issue of Maxim. The sportswriter - a native New Yorker, by the way - says Boston fans have become "the loudest, most obnoxious, most ornery fans" in America. "Everyone in this great nation of ours has joined together in a visceral dislike of Boston - for good reason," writes Pearlman. He goes on to belittle everyone from Bill Belichick - "the Dick Cheney of football coaches" - to Tom Brady to Kevin Garnett, whom Pearlman describes as "just another over-priced carpetbagger brought in for a ring (see: Moss, Randy; Allen, Ray; Beckett, Josh)." And Pearlman's hostility toward the Hub isn't limited to sports. He also bashes Dane Cook, Dunkin' Donuts, and Boston rock: "What is there to say about a city whose biggest contributions to popular music are Aerosmith, Boston, and New Kids on the Block?"

The producers of "21," the big-screen version of Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House," must have been pleased to read Variety's review yesterday. Critic Joe Leydon calls the film starring Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth a "better-than-even-money bet to be an important player in the spring (box-office) tournament." While he concedes that the film has some problematic plot twists, Leydon says dirctor Robert Luketic has crafted a "slickly polished package that should appeal to anyone who's ever dreamed of beating the odds." The movie, shot largely in Boston, has it Vegas premiere tonight. It opens nationally March 28.

Boston artists Catherine D'Ignazio, Rania Matar, Andrew Witkin, and Joe Zane are the finalists for the Foster Prize, the Institute of Contemporary Art's biennial award. The four - whose work ranges from performance art to photography - will be part of an exhibition that opens Nov. 12. The winner will be announced in January. Named for Charles River Laboratories chairman and ICA trustee James Foster and his wife, Audrey, the award comes with $25,000 cash. "This program is an opportunity not only for the artists to advance in the field," ICA director Jill Medvedow said in a release, "but for audiences in Boston and beyond to appreciate the artistic innovation happening in our community."

When a pianist of Leon Fleisher's stature has to cancel a performance at the last minute - as he did last night on the Boston Symphony Orchestra - that usually means there's a gap in the evening's program. But BSO assistant conductor Julian Kuerti just happened to have a backup available: his dad, renowned Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti. In Boston to see his son's first four concerts conducting the orchestra at Symphony Hall, the elder Kuerti subbed for Fleisher to play Beethoven's "Emperor Concerto."

Ben Affleck apparently likes the books he transforms for the big screen to be gritty and urban. Affleck is reuniting with his "Gone Baby Gone" producer Sean Bailey and screenwriter Aaron Stockard to film Marcus Sakey's debut crime novel, "The Blade Itself." Miramax, the studio behind "Gone Baby Gone," is also backing "The Blade Itself." . . . Ben and his better half, Jennifer Garner, will take a break in their filming schedules to host a fund-raiser for Barack Obama at Rumor on Sunday. But neither the Illinois senator nor his wife, Michelle, will be in attendance.

Ben's kid brother Casey Affleck was one of the VIP guests at a fund-raiser hosted by John Varvatos. Held at the designer's West Hollywood boutique, the annual John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit attracted an eclectic crowd, including Affleck, rocker Alice Cooper, supermodel Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber, Cheap Trick, actress Angie Harmon, and former Boston police commissioner Bill Bratton and wife Rikki Klieman.

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