When Imus's eyes are smiling

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff  |  March 18, 2008

Pulitzer-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave back to radio blabber Don Imus as good as she got yesterday. "Why do I only get in trouble when I'm on your program?" Goodwin said during the annual "Kiss Me I'm Imus" show at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common. The four-hour show, which usually airs from New York, was hosted by WTKK-FM (96.9) and included local Irish rockers Gobshites and a parade of local politicos and WTKK hosts. John Kerry didn't fare as well. During a soliloquy about Barack Obama's virtues, Imus shot the senator down. "You're over-selling the guy," Imus said but added that he's an Obama fan. When the subject of Obama's minister came up, Imus wondered aloud how the Illinois senator could have missed some of the more controversial remarks made by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Kerry joked that maybe Obama had slept through a sermon or two. To which Imus retorted: "How many interviews have I slept through?"

Kate Bosworth has a problem many actresses would kill for: too many movies. In an interview with Men's Vogue conducted on the New Zealand set of "Laundry Warrior," Bosworth was reminded by her handlers that she was supposed to talk about her movie "21," which opens March 28, and not any other project. "No, let's talk about books," the 25-year-old former Cohasset resident tells the mag. Bosworth tried to start a discussion about Cormac McCarthy and Jose Saramago but eventually came around to "21," the film about MIT student blackjack players who beat the casinos. That, and how she's avoided being typecast. "I guess I don't do comfort zones," Bosworth says in the April issue of the mag. "But then, at the beginning of the film - well, pretty much all the time - I always feel I can't act. . . . It keeps me on my toes. I don't ever want to think, 'Oh, I'm just great.' "

If not for the testimony of Dr. Samuel Shubrooks, the LA doctors sued by John Ritter's widow for malpractice might have been found liable for the actor's death. An expert witness for the defense, Shubrooks, a cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, testified that radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee did not act negligently in diagnosing and treating the former "Three's Company" star. "There's no question that [Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck] disagrees, but the doctors made the right call," Shubrooks told us yesterday. "Dr. Lee is a very competent cardiologist who was being sued for something that was not appropriate." Lotysch and Lee, who were being sued for $67 million, told "Inside Edition" last night that Yasbeck's motive was money. "I'm very glad I could help," said Shubrooks.

Blogging has been very very good to Mike Birbiglia. CBS has ordered a sitcom pilot, "Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal," based on the Shrewsbury native's weekly blog in which the comedian chronicles his daily life. Birbiglia, who created the project with Andrew Secunda, will star as a stand-up comedian who lives with his girlfriend in Brooklyn and struggles to do the right things. Birbiglia, 29, e-mails his "Secret Public Journal" entries to 30,000 fans. The blog also is a feature on the nationally syndicated radio program "The Bob & Tom Show."

"Secrecy," a documentary about the government by Harvard film professor Robb Moss and Harvard science historian Peter Galison, will be screened next month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Also showing at the 12-day Big Apple gathering that opens at the end of April: the drama "War, Inc." Directed by Tufts alum Josh Seftel, whose previous work includes the documentaries "Taking on the Kennedys" and "Ennis' Gift," "War, Inc." was co-written by and stars John Cusack. The cinema fest cofounded by Robert De Niro is also hosting Cambridge documentarian Errol Morris for a special screening of his "Standard Operating Procedure," which won the silver bear at the Berlin International Film Festival last month. Morris will have a local premiere on April 17 at Brandeis for the documentary about the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal in Iraq.

Boston Ballet will lose principal dancers Romi Beppu and Reyneris Reyes after this season, the company confirmed yesterday. The news comes soon after the ballet, struggling with its finances, announced it had laid off 11 dancers. Beppu and Reyes were not among them. They chose to leave.

Guitarist Tom Scholz is heading out on a summer tour with his band Boston. Details of when and where the band will be performing are scarce. But Scholz did outline who will be touring with him: Michael Sweet (vocals/guitar), Tommy DeCarlo (vocals), Gary Pihl (guitar), Kimberley Dahme (bass, vocals), and Jeff Neal (drums, vocals).

A local freelance cellist and a clarinetist from Kansas City are among the new members joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the 2008-09 season. Michael Wayne, who now performs with the Kansas City Symphony, was appointed as a second clarinet, the BSO announced yesterday. Following cello auditions this winter, the orchestra selected three cellists who will rotate their performances. The three new BSO cellists are: Blaise Dejardin, a France-born musician who recently received a graduate degree from New England Conservatory; freelancer Alexandre Lecarme, who has played with the BSO as a substitute; and Adam Esbensen, who has performed with the Oregon Symphony since 2003.

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