Vegas glitz makes '21' an instant

Like so much that goes on in Vegas, Wednesday night's premiere of "21" - about a team of MIT students who beat the casinos at blackjack - was big. Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, who produced the movie and stars in it, stopped at Bally's Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas Hotel to introduce overflow screenings of the movie before arriving for the official hoopla at Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino. Bringing cheers from the fans crowded for a glimpse of the glitter were the film's young stars Jim Sturgess and Cohasset's Kate Bosworth. Laurence Fishburne was there with his wife, actress Gina Torres, as were several other members of the cast, including Josh Gad, Aaron Yoo, and Liza Lapira. Back Bay author Ben Mezrich, whose bestseller "Bringing Down the House" served as the basis for the film, walked the red carpet with his wife, Tonya. The after-party, hosted by the ShoWest Convention, drew 5,000 people. Yesterday the cast and director Robert Luketic were all up early to do interviews for the movie, which opens March 28.

Gisele Bundchen and LeBron James make an odd couple on the April cover of Vogue. The pair were shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in the NBA star's hometown of Akron, Ohio. Why Gi and King James? The influential fashion mag is featuring athletes and models in an issue devoted to size and shape. "He doesn't really make you feel small, even though he is big," Tom Brady's girl- friend says in the magazine. "I think my leg is like the size of his shoe." There are several other athlete-model pairings in the issue, including swimmer Michael Phelps with Caroline Trentini; snowboarder Shaun White with Daria Werbowy; and speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno with Doutzen Kroes.

Boston psychologist Dr. Anthony Rao and Natick writer Michelle Seaton had a dozen major publishing houses trying to get their hands on the duo's highly anticipated book "Odd Boys Out: Protecting Our Youngest Boys From Today's Climate of Unfair Expectations, High Demands, Quick Diagnoses and Pills." But it was acquired in less than 72 hours in a preemptive bid by HarperCollins. The deal, terms of which were not released, was brokered by Grub Street founder Eve Bridburg of the Boston office of the literary agency Zachary, Shuster, and Harmsworth. The book is expected to be in stores by fall 2009.

Less than a month after PR maven George Regan resigned from representing the Boston Harbor Hotel, his firm has lost another high-profile account: The Boston Herald. No word on why Regan and Herald publisher Patrick Purcell parted ways after many years, but both sides say the split was amicable. "We left on very good terms," said Jim Borghesani, Regan's director of news operations. "We wish Pat and the paper the very best."

Hollywood's not waiting around for Tom Perrotta to write his next novel. It's optioning the Belmont author's old books. Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, the producing partners who brought Perrotta's suburban satires "Election" and "Little Children" to the big screen, want to make a movie of "The Wishbones." Published in 1997, the book was originally sold to Fox and later to New Line. Berger and Yerxa are looking for a director to update the script with Perrotta.

Lucas Caleb Rooney (inset) stayed late at Wednesday's shindig celebrating the theatrical release of "On Broadway," but the 36-year-old actor eventually beat feet back to New York because his new gig is - you guessed it - on Broadway. The Tabor Academy grad has a plum part in the Broadway revival of Clifford Odets's "The Country Girl," directed by Mike Nichols and starring Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand, and Peter Gallagher. "It's a clinic working with [Nichols]," Rooney told us before boarding an Amtrak train. "He tells some amazing stories. I have a notebook full of stuff he's said." Seems the casting director for "The Country Girl" noticed Rooney in a David Henry Hwang play at New York's Public Theater and asked him to audition. "It was old-school, like you see in the movies," said Rooney. "Mike was sitting in the house and I was on the Shubert stage. . . . I was [expletive] my pants." He said the play, which opens April 27, is a big break, but working "On Broadway" was a blast. "Hanging out with Will [ Arnett], [Mike] O'Malley, Peter Giles - it was like a little family," Rooney said. "It's pretty rare to find a group with that kind of humility."

'Tip' of the cap
At last, we're about to get a look at "According to Tip," Dick Flavin's play based on the life and times of the late House Speaker. The New Repertory Theatre announced yesterday it's staging Flavin's much-anticipated play about Tip O'Neill this summer, from June 27 to July 13. A political satirist who was once referred to as "the bespectacled Beelzebub of Boston politics," Flavin has been writing and rewriting the "Tip" script for seven years. (In 2005, the ART had plans to stage it.) The star of the one-person show will be Tony Award winner Ken Howard. "Ken's going to be great," Flavin told us yesterday. "He's been very, very loyal to the project." While it's not a musical, the play does include six songs, including a few tunes Tip used to sing, like "Apple Blossom Time" and "If You're Irish Come Into the Parlor." Meanwhile, there was a famous face in the crowd at Thursday's performance of "Pieces" at New Rep. Actress Kyra Sedgwick stopped by to see Zohar Tirosh, who wrote and stars in the show.

Celts Kendrick Perkins, Tony Allen, and Eddie House joined team CEO Wyc Grousbeck in visiting the Perkins School for the Blind yesterday as part of the C's "Read to Achieve" program. The group read with students utilizing special Dr. Seuss books that feature both printed and Braille pages. "I enjoyed not only reading to the children, but having them read to us as well," said Perkins.

Ken Oringer's Uni Sashimi Bar, located inside the chef/owner's Back Bay restaurant Clio, is ranked among the 100 best restaurants in the country, as voted on by the users of opinionatedabout.com. Other locals earning a spot on the roster are Troquet on Boylston Street and Fore Street in Portland, Maine. The survey, which was conducted online for 10 months, picked chef Hiro Urasawa's eponymous nine-seat sushi bar in Beverly Hills as the best in North America.

Former secretary of state Colin Powell will deliver the keynote address at Starry Starry Night, the annual City Year soiree on City Hall Plaza May 22. Previous speakers include Patriots QB Tom Brady, former president Bill Clinton, and NBC's Tim Russert.

A couple of environmentally conscious Kennedys showed up at the New York premiere of "Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D." Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, was there with his wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, as was Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy. Narrated by Robert Redford with music by the Dave Matthews Band, the giant-screen film combines river-rafting action and the first-ever IMAX 3D images of the Grand Canyon. Also at the premiere were actresses Glenn Close and Donna Dixon Aykroyd.

He's only 'Human'
Actor Alan Alda will be at Harvard today to interview evolutionary biologist Marc D. Hauser on his theory "Humaniqueness" for a PBS documentary "The Human Spark." Hauser has become a bit of a media darling for making convoluted scientific topics easy to understand. But he's not getting too comfortable with the limelight. "Sometimes they want to touch up my forehead," the scientist said. "But no, I won't be getting full makeup."

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