That’s Why They Call Them Actors

Here’s the big question on everyone’s mind in Hollywood this week: Will movie audiences accept actress Anne Heche--one of the two most famous lesbians in America--as a heterosexual romantic lead in a major motion picture? That question could be answered this weekend when box-office returns begin rolling in on the new Touchstone Pictures’ comedy “Six Days, Seven Nights.” To be sure, Heche isn’t shouldering the burden of opening the movie all by herself. She co-stars with one of Hollywood’s biggest draws, actor Harrison Ford. In the Ivan Reitman-directed film, Heche plays a sharp, driven New York magazine editor who becomes romantically involved with a roughhewn cargo pilot played by Ford. They are forced by a sudden squall to crash-land on an unchartered island and, as they say, danger and romance ensue. Heche herself has said in interviews that she is nervous about whether she can create the reality of being with a man on the screen. It was only last year that Heche and her lover, actress-comedian Ellen DeGeneres, went public with their relationship. That disclosure came right after Heche (pronounced haysh) agreed to appear in “Six Days, Seven Nights” with Ford. The news initially worried Disney executives, who wondered whether the public would accept Heche in a heterosexual romantic role. But the filmmakers say there was amazing chemistry between Ford and Heche on the screen, and Hollywood sources add that the film is tracking well with test audiences.

Change Their Name to Smashing Tortoises?

Recording industry observers expecting a tight rap-versus-rock showdown may be disappointed Wednesday when SoundScan reports first-week sales totals for new albums by New Orleans rapper Master P and the Chicago-based alt-rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. The initial-week figure for Master P’s “MP Da Last Don” is expected to be as much as three times higher than the number attained by the Pumpkins’ “Adore,” perhaps exceeding 500,000 copies. By the time the albums run their course, however, the Pumpkins could end up smashing Master P. “It appears that Master P will be the big winner this week, and I underline this week,” says Gary Arnold, vice president of marketing for the Best Buy retail chain. “As happens frequently with rap records, you have this huge groundswell of fans who show up in Week 1 to buy the album. It’s part of being in fashion, but that usually lasts only a few weeks.” Acts such as the Pumpkins, on the other hand, are built to last, according to Arnold. “They’re about to start a tour and a long-term relationship with the consumer in connection with this album,” the executive says. “Don’t discount them from being the overall winner in this sales battle when all is said and done. It’s kind of like a tortoise-and-hare thing.”

A Ballet Company Parts Way With Namesake

As Roland Petit’s Ballet National de Marseille arrives for a seven-performance engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center beginning Tuesday, French lawyers are negotiating an end to Petit’s 26-year directorship of the company. After recent elections, Petit says he decided the differences were too great between his vision and that of newly elected officials in city government in Marseille, which supports the ballet. “It wasn’t about politics--left, right or center,” he told The Times Thursday from Paris. “It was about people who are now in charge of culture in the city.” What’s left to determine is who owns the “50 or 60” ballets that Petit estimates he created in Marseille. Reportedly, the dances will belong to the choreographer, but the physical productions will remain with the company, whose newly appointed leader is top-ranked Paris Opera Ballet dancer Marie-Claude Pietragalla. Now 74, Petit has been a symbol of French classicism ever since he formed Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees at the end of World War II. But he became even better known internationally as a choreographer for Hollywood musicals starring Renee “Zizi” Jeanmaire (his wife) and Leslie Caron. His ties to motion pictures are also represented in the full-evening ballet to be seen in Costa Mesa this week--”Chaplin Dances” (original title: “Charlot Danse Avec Nous”), a tribute to the Little Tramp featuring Marseille’s Luigi Bonino and guest ballerina Altynai Asylmuratova. And Petit’s future? He’ll restage his ballets all over the world and possibly start a new company. “I know what to do and will simply do it another place,” Petit said. “After all, Martha Graham was still choreographing in her mid-80s. I’m in good shape, so maybe I’ll last just as long.”

Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors