'Graduate' moves on to Broadway stage

'Graduate' moves onto Broadway stage
NEW YORK -- Mrs. Robinson is coming to Broadway.
Kathleen Turner will play the seductive older woman in a stage version of "The Graduate," adapted by Terry Johnson from the cult novel by Charles Webb and the hit 1967 movie that starred Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman.
Jason Biggs of "American Pie" fame will portray Benjamin Braddock, the young man she seduces. Alicia Silverstone co-stars as Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine, the role played in the movie by Katharine Ross.
The stage production will begin a pre-Broadway tour in Baltimore in January before moving to Toronto, Ontario, and Boston. "The Graduate" begins preview performances in New York on March 15 with an opening set for April 4 at a theater to be announced.
Turner, star of such movies as "Body Heat" and "Peggy Sue Got Married," originated the role of Mrs. Robinson in the London production of "The Graduate," which opened in April 2000 and is still running. In England, the show has gone through a variety of Mrs. Robinsons including Jerry Hall, Amanda Donohoe and Anne Archer. It now stars Linda Gray, best-known as Sue Ellen Ewing of television's "Dallas."
Travolta: Film strikesa nerve with parents
LOS ANGELES -- John Travolta says he can relate to the plot of his new film "Domestic Disturbance," which is about a child in danger.
Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, have two young children. The 47-year-old actor told reporters: "Being a parent ... you feel very protective of your family -- and your friends -- especially at a time like now. ... So this plugged right into I think that innate feeling that we all have to protect the ones we love."
In "Domestic Disturbance," Travolta plays a boat builder who gets along with his ex-wife (Teri Polo) and remains close to their 12-year-old son (Matt O'Leary). When his ex-wife remarries, he tries to be supportive -- until his son tells him he saw his stepfather (Vince Vaughn) commit a murder.
'The Search' mustgo on, Tomlin says
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner proved the show must go on when they debuted their play in San Francisco two days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" opened Sept. 13 as planned at the Theater on the Square.
"We didn't really know what to do. But I always felt that the play is so loving and so affirming and so embracing," Tomlin said. "And people did receive it like that."
Tomlin, the actress, and Wagner, the writer, hoped that in some way, their play could help ease the country's pain and promote thought -- at least in one city.
One line in the play reads: "The start to a better world is the belief that it is possible."
Ballerina whirlsinto record book
LONDON -- Leigh Zimmerman, an American ballet dancer and star of the musical stage, earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records on Monday by completing the highest number of consecutive fouettes, whipping turns that take both strength and stamina.
Guinness officials confirmed that the 32-year-old Zimmerman, who is currently starring as murderer Velma Kelly in the musical "Chicago" in London's West End, had completed 38 fouettes at a dance studio in central London.
Hers will be a new entry to the Guinness Book as she is the first to try for such a record. It was not immediately clear when her record would be included.
"It is great to have [made] the Guinness record," Zimmerman said afterward. "Even though I am starring in 'Chicago,' my ballet training held up after 10 years."
She said she hoped her achievement would "inspire people to take up ballet."
Today's birthdays
Evangelist Billy Graham is 83. Opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland is 75. Singer Mary Travers is 64. Actor Barry Newman is 63. Singer Johnny Rivers is 59. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is 58. Singer Nick Gilder is 50. Actor Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch") is 44. Actor Christopher Daniel Barnes is 29. Actors Jeremy and Jason London are 29.