Ready to show their stuff

A casting call for Season 4 of NBC's "America's Got Talent" drew hundreds of hopefuls to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center over the weekend. The show's C-list celebrity judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff were nowhere in sight, but that didn't stop folks from waiting in long lines to audition.

...and he can dance

It's been a decade since Richard Gere grabbed People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" mantle, but don't tell his fans, hundreds of whom showed up to see the silver-haired actor at "Swellegance," Saturday's fund-raiser for the teen dance program Boston Youth Moves. The UMass alum was in town to receive the Image Award for "heightening the visibility of dance." (Who can forget Gere's toe tapping in "Chicago" or his ballroom bravura in "Shall We Dance"?) At a VIP reception beforehand, we asked the 59-year-old actor if he'll make another dance movie. "I'm not a dancer, I fake it. I got to 'take two' during the filming," chuckled Gere, who told us waltzing is harder than tap because it requires so much control. Control was out the window later in the evening when the hunk received a friendly pinch in the tush by actress Mitzi Gaynor, another of the honorees. Gere responded by dipping the "South Pacific" star while escorting her to the podium to get the Boston Youth Moves Lifetime Achievement Award, handed over by last year's winner, Chita Rivera. Gere accepted his trophy from his niece, Carrie Leone, who is a BYM alum. Of her uncle, Leone said: "He made it cool to be a guy and move your feet."

Correction: Because of a reporting error, Richard Gere's educational background was misstated in Monday's Names column. The actor attended the University of Massachusetts, but did not graduate.

Two for the road

Cambridge kid Matt Damon (left) and his brother, Kyle (right), rode yesterday in the Cycling Cape Argus race in Cape Town, South Africa. Damon's in South Africa to shoot "The Human Factor," Clint Eastwood's movie about Nelson Mandela based on the book by John Carlin. In the film, Damon is playing former rugby captain Francois Pienaar, who also took part in yesterday's race.

The one at Brandeis
Brandeis film studies boss Alice Kelikian is bringing yet another big name to campus. We're told Marta Kauffman, the executive producer and co-creator of the hit TV show "Friends," will be at Brandeis March 30 to screen her new documentary, "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh."

Worcester's Hanover Theatre hosted a special screening of the made-in-Massachusetts movie "The Maiden Heist" Saturday, but a few of the expected VIPs were MIA. Neither of the movie's main men, William H. Macy and Christopher Walken, made it to the event, which was a benefit for the Worcester Art Museum. (Producer Bob Paris and director Peter Hewitt were there.) Why Worcester? Because the comedy, about three art-loving security guards, was partially shot at the museum in '07. But it could be awhile before the flick hits theaters. The film's distributor, Yari Film Group Releasing, recently declared bankruptcy.

Sonsie chef Bill Poirier cooked up a storm on CBS's "Early Show" Saturday doing a demo for hosts Chris Wragge and Erica Hill. . . . It was a party weekend for "America's Next Top Model" alums McKey Sullivan and Sheena Satana. Friday, the pretty pair shook it all night at Ed Kane's club Shrine at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, and afterward headed to the Hub to host a party at the Estate Saturday.

Matt Damon's former personal assistant, photographer Trinette Faint, dropped us a note last week to say she's got an exhibit of her pictures going up in April at Eat in Providence. The show will include a few of her celebrity shots as well as black-and-white landscapes and pictures of buildings and nature. You can see her stuff at www.trinettefaint.com.

Drawn to the arts
At a posh party at the Museum of Fine Arts Saturday, director Malcolm Rogers received a medal from Giovanni Castellaneta, Italy's ambassador to the United States. The shindig, to celebrate the opening of the MFA's new exhibit "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese," attracted more than 1,300 people, including a certain two-time Oscar nominated actor who calls Cambridge home. Yes, John Malkovich and his significant other Nicoletta Peyran toured the exhibit and talked briefly with Rogers. "I've rarely seen the museum so full of interesting people," said Rogers, who didn't immediately recognize Malkovich. "I've seen him act on several occasions, but he's aged and has a gray beard. . . . He looks more like a Titian portrait all the time."

June Wulff of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.