Ginnifer Goodwin and Hilary Swank attend the Saks 5th Avenue Unforgettable Evening in Beverly Hills. (photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.com)

The Show Must Go On

Two weeks ago, John Doman (Acting Police Commissioner William Rawls on 'The Wire') got a phone call from a playwright he'd never met, Brett C. Leonard. Leonard informed him that his play, 'UNCONDITIONAL,' was in rehearsals with LABryinth Theater Company and scheduled to start previews the following Wednesday at the Public Theater in New York. There was one problem: the show had lost one of its lead actors. Would Doman be interested in stepping into the role? "I told him to send me the script," Doman recounts. Doman liked what he read but had a potential movie role conflict that couldn't be sorted out until Monday. He offered to come in and rehearse on Saturday and Sunday, and if they found someone else or he booked the movie gig, they'd all walk away on Monday.

One of the other lead actors in the play, 'Wire' co-star Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (State Senator Clay Davis), reports: "Maybe things happen for a reason." Doman ended up staying on. So with less than a week of rehearsals (even though previews had to be pushed three days due to tech difficulties) the show opened on time. Doman was used to preparing quickly for film and television, but he points out that there's a crucial safety net if you flub a line in those situations — you can do another take. Not so with live theater: "There was a lot of pressure involved as far as that was concerned. It really forces you to concentrate and focus and that's always a good thing."

"John has been terrific," says Whitlock. "I couldn't see anyone else doing the part now...but it was hard for awhile...in some ways it made everyone band together even more and make sure as long as you took care of your end of the bargain, things would turn out fine. We had a great opening on Monday."

The two actors never shared the screen during their tenure on 'The Wire,' but they appear together in a final scene in the play. We won't give away the particulars, but suffice to say that it's a bar conversation that even the wily Davis and Rawls would never dream of having. (photo: Monique Carboni)

[For tickets to UNCONDITIONAL]

Uptown Anthem

When Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling in 1938, billed as a showdown between the United States and Nazi Germany, the people of New York City went ballistic. "Harlem was in stereo," says Representative Charles B. Rangel, who was 8 years old on fight night. "Everyone had on the same station, the same fight. You heard the same screaming and yelling when he was winning, and the same sighs when he got hit."

In conjunction with the documentary 'Joe Louis: America's Hero ... Betrayed' (premiering Saturday at 8 pm in the East and after World Championship Boxing in the West), HBO and Everlast have brought some of the champ's excitement back to the city, opening the Joe Louis Boxing Gym in the basement of the Police Athletic League building in Harlem. "I think it's a wonderful tribute to my father," Joe Louis Barrow Jr., the boxer's son, says. "It will continue to keep the Joe Louis connection to New York, and specifically Harlem." (photo: Monte Isom)

[New York Times]

Revenge of the Nerd

Rainn Wilson may have been a self-described "chess-playing, acne-speckled loser" in his teenaged years, but having been featured in People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue last year, he's getting the last laugh. When asked by Elle magazine whether he hoped his three-year-old son would be in the nerd clique or the popular clique in high school, Wilson said: "Nerds are everywhere. Now there are these mopey rock bands filled with nerds. You might be made fun of for a few years, but later on, all the popular kids will be detailing your car." (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

[ELLE]

Luke Perry and Jennie Garth arrive at 'Chevy Rocks the Future' at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. (photo: Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage.com)

Three-for-One Deal

Could all the head shrinking she's getting from Gabriel Byrne on 'In Treatment' be doing Melissa George more harm than good? The actress is in final negotiations to star in the supernatural thriller 'Triangle,' as a woman with multiple personalities. If she comes aboard, George will be playing a yacht passenger who not only experiences extreme weather on the big seas — she has to relive the harrowing experience as each of her three alter-egos. (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

[Reuters]

The Doctor is Out

Lorraine Bracco hung up Dr. Melfi's shrink shingle to play a ruthless book editor on the new series 'Lipstick Jungle.' In a recent episode, she goes head to head with Brooke Shields' character, who pleads with her to kill an unflattering book written by an ex-nanny. Barks Bracco: "You must have me confused with your shrink." (photo: Mark Von Holden/WireImage.com)

[lohud.com]

Brooke Shields, Dominic Chianese and Deanna Dunagan attend 'August: Osage County' at The Imperial Theatre in New York. (photo: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com)

Split Personalities

After hustling to keep up with his three prime-time series, 'In Treatment' star Blair Underwood may be ready for some real therapy. Then again, he could just look on the bright side: "I'm happiest when I can try different styles," Underwood says. "And all of these shows are different speeds. 'The New Adventures of Old Christine' is something new; I haven't done a lot of situation comedies. What I love about my character in 'Dirty Sexy Money' is his ambiguity. I like characters with complexity and dimension. Otherwise, it gets boring to watch and, obviously, to portray." (photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com)

[Redbook via NY Daily News]

Ain't Easy Being Green

As if David Strathairn didn't have enough to worry about when he was sneaking into Carmela Soprano's bed, the actor's latest turn in 'The Spiderwick Chronicles' has introduced a new brand of anxiety: Coming to life on the green screen. "The mark where you are placed on the set is measured and related to something that's going to happen way down the road, so there are more constraints as far as action is concerned," he says. "You're relating to a giant griffin, which is actually a piece of white tape on a grip stand. All of this becomes a real test of the actor's imagination and concentration." (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[L.A. Times]

Adam Beach and his guest arrive at the 39th Annual NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles. (photo: Maury Phillips/WireImage.com)

Troupe Beverly Hills

First Luke Perry starred in 'John From Cincinnati,' and now Jason Priestly's ex-girlfriend is turning up on HBO, too? Christine Elise McCarthy — forever known as Emily, the edgy love interest of Brandon Walsh on 'Beverly Hills 90210' — appeared as a fertility specialist on 'Tell Me You Love Me.' Her prenatal services don't end with helping Carolyn conceive, however; she also named the daughter of her on-screen (and real-life) ex: "I am good friends with Jason's wife (Naomi) and she called one day after seeing the ultrasound and told me that it was a girl and that she was about the size of an avocado," McCarthy says. "So, I said, 'Well, why don't we call her Ava for now, you know, short for avocado. And whaddaya know, the baby came (last July) and they named her Ava Veronica Priestley." (photo: Fred Hayes/WireImage.com)

[Boston Herald]

History Lesson

While shooting an epic like 'John Adams' that spans multiple continents and hundreds of years, any actor is bound to learn a thing or two. For Laura Linney, who plays Adams' tough wife Abigail, the months spent in colonial America imbued her with a bit of practical wisdom: "We are spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. We would not survive. I wouldn't survive. I admire her fortitude. And I admire her strength. And that Yankee-fresh kind of 'get to it' attitude." (photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage.com)

[HBO Films]