People talk 5/21

Heche third actress to star in 'Proof'

NEWYORK -- First Mary-Louise Parker. Then Jennifer Jason Leigh. Now Anne Heche will star in "Proof," the Tony-winning drama about an enigmatic young woman and her relationship with her mathematical genius father.

Heche will make her Broadway debut July 2 in the play that opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre in October 2000 after an off-Broadway run at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Leigh will end her run in the show June 30. Heche, whose autobiography, "Call Me Crazy," was published last year, has appeared in such films as "Wag the Dog," "Donnie Brasco" and the Gus Van Sant remake of "Psycho."

"Proof" won not only the 2001 Tony Award for best play, it also received the best American play award from the New York Drama Critics' Circle and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. A production starring Gwyneth Paltrow opened earlier this month in London.

Board wants to name bridge for Taylor

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. -- James Taylor's got a friend who wants to put his name on a bridge near a creek where he grew up.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will vote Tuesday night on a resolution asking the North Carolina Board of Transportation to name a bridge after the singer. The bridge on U.S. 15-501 south spans Morgan Creek in Chapel Hill, N.C., where Taylor grew up in a home overlooking the waterway.

Taylor even refers to a day spent "half a mile down Morgan Creek" in his song "Copperline" on his "New Moon Shine" album.

Chapel Hill resident Alan E. Rimer initiated the request to name the bridge after the man whose hit "Carolina in My Mind" has become the state's unofficial anthem.

Rimer made the request on behalf of the Chapel Hill Museum board of directors, on which he serves. The museum plans an exhibition about the 54-year-old singer and hopes to coordinate it with a bridge-naming ceremony.

Capacity crowd cheers symphony premiere

LOS ANGELES -- A capacity crowd cheered the United States premiere of Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen's "Foreign Bodies" symphony, a work that depicted how a decade-long stay in Southern California has influenced the Finnish-born composer.

The 21-minute piece drew a standing ovation Sunday and prompted Salonen to take three bows, one for each movement of the symphony he wrote while on sabbatical from the orchestra in 2000-2001.

"I very much enjoy the energy and joy of my adopted hometown of Los Angeles and yet I feel foreign, a misplaced shy Northerner amid extroverted and confident Californians," Salonen, 44, wrote in the program notes about the symphony, which is scored for the largest orchestra he's ever used.

'Survivor' cast gathers to help children

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Several former "Survivor" cast members are coming together for an AIDS benefit.

More than 25 contestants from the hit CBS television show have committed to "Survivor Fest," a benefit for Camp Kindle near Lincoln, Neb. The nonprofit organization benefits Midwest children who are directly or indirectly affected by the AIDS virus.

Participants in the July 13 event will include Rudy Boesch, Gervase Peterson and Jenna Lewis from the original "Survivor," Amber Brkich and Michael Skupin from "Survivor: The Australian Outback," Lex van den Berghe and Diane Ogden from "Survivor: Africa" and John Carroll from "Survivor: Marquesas," the finale of which aired Sunday night.

Silent and live auctions of signed memorabilia are planned, and the crowd will be able to meet the former cast members, who also will appear throughout Lincoln during the day.

'Sopranos' actress addicted to exercise

NEW YORK -- In August 1997, when Jamie-Lynn Sigler was cast as Meadow Soprano, Tony's teen-age daughter on HBO's "The Sopranos," she was a size 4 or 6. Nearly a year later, when shooting on the first season began, series creator David Chase didn't recognize her.

Sigler had an eating disorder, she tells People magazine for its May 27 issue. The 5-foot-6-inch actress dropped from 120 pounds to 90.

"It's hard to pinpoint when I went from exercising 20 minutes in the morning to exercising for four hours a day and not really eating. I would have two egg whites for breakfast, and lunch was a scooped out bagel and a Diet Coke. Dinner turned into a fat-free yogurt," Sigler said.-- From wire reports

Sigler recalls Chase telling her mother in June 1998, "What's going on? We love her, but Jamie's got a lot to do in this show, and she has to be physically able to handle it."