April 6, 1999

GRANDE DAME EYES MGM
GRAND GIG

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

A WHOLE HEAP OF AULD LANG SYNE: Most urgent entertainment word is that Barbra Streisand's people are in the midst of nailing down a deal whereby the premier chanteuse will perform a couple of New Year's sets at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas come December/January to the tune of $20 million.

The New York Daily News columnist who disseminates this scuttlebutt explains that Babs' previous idea of performing at Madison Square Garden for New Year's got belayed because the Vegas venue is so much closer to her home in Malibu, meaning, we assume, that she can ride her bike to the show.

“We have no signed contract yet,” says Marty Erlichman, who manages the Streisand woman's performance engagements. “Could it fall apart at the last minute? Yes. Do I think it will? No. Then can we move on to the next item? Good.

DONALD TRUMP'S SEX LIFE: Assuming our subhead hasn't got you turning to the lunar tables in the sports section, be advised that a gal named Melania Knauss wants the world to know (via a statement she made to USA Today) that she is not only steady dating the Trumpster of her own free will but thinks she is wise to do so.

“He's the smartest, sexiest, funniest man," she says, with what we have to assume is a straight face.”… The connection between us is unbelievable."

We wish this were all, but it’s not.

“We are both busy through the day” Melania says, “but we always and time to talk to each other. And then we're together at night.” Adios, appetite.

A SPACE ODYSSEY, SORT OF: Are you wondering why Madonna hasn't made any plans this year to bring some kind of mega-spectacular touring show to a football stadium near you? Someone puts that very question to Parade mag's Walter Scott, who, in turn, gets an unnamed “friend” of M’s to provide the following explanation.

“There simply wasn't enough time between the film and preparing to go on the road,” this person says, with reference to a motion picture Madonna is lensing with Rupert Everett. “When Madonna tours, it's a tremendous undertaking - very taxing. She really creates all the concepts from start to finish, does all the choreography and gets involved in the stage design. If she does tour, it won’t be until the year 2000.” And by then we’ll have a man on the moon.

MONDO MADONNA, REVISITED: Speaking of Rupert Everett, that thespian tells W magazine that Madonna has gotten an unfair shake in terms of her movie career.

“I totally believe in her as an actress and as this character in the film; he says. "She's been disparaged as an actress because we're all so conscious of her other image." So it’s our fault she can’t act?

CELEBRITY ALIMENTATION: In other blonde bombshell news, Sharon Stone was spotted in the company of her husband, Phil Bronstein, and a couple of friends eating pea soup at a Manhattan restaurant the other day.

CELEBRITY CASTING NOTES: In the wake of the fantastic box-office success of “The Mod Squad,” someone is going forward with plans to make a gigantic movie version of “Charlie's Angels" starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Angelina Jolie.

A RELATED ITEM: Speaking of Angelina Jolie, here's a report saying she backed out of starring in a movie about supermodels because she was leery of the "talent' she might be teamed with.

“Angelina was worried about acting opposite models who can’t act," a “spy” tells a “reporter." “Even though she's already a great actress and she’d look even better by comparison, she balked.” A remake of “Charlie’s Angels," then, is the only sensible alternative.

A BIT Of BRITISH VERBIAGE: Those of you who don't believe that our English cousins speak more eloquently than we do should give a listen to something Helen Mirren recently said to two of gossip dowager Liz Smith's underlings, who asked her if she likes visiting New York.

“Oh, yes" says the star of “Prime Suspect,” who soon will take the title role in an Ayn Rand biopic. “Every time I enter Manhattan I see this clutch of steles, like some great fortress, sitting before me. The light is never the same. Sometimes it is misty, or foggy. Often the sun is setting behind those towers. But most times, everything glistens in the clear sunlight casting Edward Hopper shadows - so indigenous to New York.”

If you're wondering what “steles" are, we can't help you, but we're pretty sure Edward Hopper is the guy who used to live upstairs from the Cramdens in "The Honeymooners.”

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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