Dreyfuss casts vote; Oscar state of mind
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Forget "The Passion of the Christ," Richard Dreyfuss is excited about the dispassion of the Democratic presidential front-runner. "John Kerry may not be everything you want in a candidate, but we have to unite behind him," said the activist actor, chatting us up at the "Sly Fox" after-party at Blu. Despite his alarm at people's "hypnotic surrender" to President Bush, Dreyfuss said there isn't a chance he'll vote for Ralph Nader, whose candidacy he called "dangerous, not quixotic." Of the play, which is headed next to Broadway, the actor acknowledged it's still a work in progress. "[Wednesday] was one of the most historic free falls of my career, but [Thursday] was good," he said. "The reality is we have to thread the needle of The New York Times." Not talkin' politics, or saying much of anything, were the show's leading ladies -- leggy Elizabeth Berkley, who moved around the room as if on roller skates with her hunky husband Greg Lauren -- Ralph's nephew -- and radiant Rachel York, who huddled with her actor boyfriend, Ayal Miodovnik. Crashing the party, or at least crashing the lobby, was Anthony Calandra, one of the more memorable Boston bachelors on "Average Joe: Hawaii." "Hey, that's Richard Dreyfuss," said Tony, fresh from a workout at Sports Club L/A. "I was tending bar the other night at the Encore Lounge, and he came up and said, `Tell me about that show you were on' . . . Imagine that, Richard Dreyfuss asking me a question."
TAKING HER SHOW ON THE ROAD
Director of Boston Ballet's Center for Dance Education since 2001, Rachel S. Moore is leaving to become executive director of the American Ballet Theatre in New York. "We're so excited for her," says Valerie Wilder, Boston Ballet's executive director. "Rachel's made a great contribution, and we're sorry to see her go. But we're confident that all the good work she's done at the school will continue."
SAY WHAT?
Reading the names of this year's Academy Award nominees on his talk show yesterday, Mike Barnicle inexplicably referred to two of the actors -- Shohreh Aghdashloo and Djimon Hounsou -- as "terrorists." Aghdashloo, who's Iranian, is nominated for best supporting actress for "House of Sand and Fog," and Hounsou, who was born in Africa and grew up in France, is nominated for best supporting actor for his role in "In America." Barnicle, a former Boston Globe columnist, didn't return a phone call yesterday, but a WTKK spokeswoman and Globe sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy confirmed Barnicle made the remark. Shaughnessy was in the studio at the time. "We haven't heard from anybody. It happened so quickly," said Leslie Cipolla, marketing director for WTKK. "It was a passing comment."
ADVERTISEMENT FOR OURSELVES
The folks at HTK Pictures -- Jenn Heffernan, Glenn Kesner, and Christo Tsiaras -- are doing their part to promote moviemaking in the Bay State. At the Massachusetts Film Bureau's Oscar bash tomorrow at the Wang, they'll roll film of "Mystic River" star Kevin Bacon, and Oscar-winner Chris Cooper and his wife, Marianne Leone Cooper, extolling the virtues of shooting movies, TV shows, and commercials in the Boston area.
THE WIND BENEATH HER WINGS
She thinks of it as a dance, albeit in midair. "It was a little rough at first," says Paola Styron, one of the flying fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which closes today at the American Repertory Theatre. "Once we all got the hang of it . . . it's like a dance." Styron, whose dad is author William Styron, said she and her castmates have been taking good care of the folks who hold the harnesses that keep the actors suspended: "Yes, we leave them presents and make sure they're having a good day."
Names can be reached at names@globe.com or 617-929-8253.
