MORNING REPORT - News from June 24, 2000

STAGE

‘Dinner Party’ in D.C.: Neil Simon’s latest play, “The Dinner Party,” which had its world premiere last December here at the Mark Taper Forum to decidedly mixed reviews, appears to be bringing both audiences and critics to the table in the nation’s capital in its first stop since Los Angeles. “Dinner Party,” which opened Thursday night to a full house at Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, is sold out through the end of its run, July 16--and at least two major East Coast newspapers, the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, weighed in with glowing reviews Friday. The play is “Simon in a new, dangerous personal territory. . . . ‘The Dinner Party’ is laugh-out-loud funny. It’s also Simon’s emotionally richest play,” said the Post. The Sun called Simon’s 31st play a “highly enjoyable divertissement that, while light, leaves you pondering the complexities of love and romance.” Los Angeles cast members John Ritter, Henry Winkler, Veanne Cox and Anette Michelle Sanders remain in the Kennedy Center production, joined by newcomers Len Cariou and Penny Fuller.

TELEVISION

‘Survivor’ Assists ‘Early Show’: Just how popular is the summer reality series “Survivor”? So popular that it has improved ratings for CBS’ struggling “Early Show” with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson. Since “Survivor” debuted three weeks ago, “The Early Show” has brought in each contestant voted off the island on the previous night’s episode for an interview Thursday morning. As a result, morning-show viewership during the past three weeks has been 13% higher than during the previous three weeks--and, on Thursdays, the increase has been 15%, according to Nielsen Media Research. That said, “The Early Show” still lags well behind in the morning race; last week, the CBS show averaged 2.2 million viewers, compared to 6 million for “Today” and 3.9 million watching “Good Morning America.” Next month, “The Early Show” is sponsoring its own “Big Apple Survivor Contest,” sending three teams out on a New York City scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, an estimated 24.2 million people watched the fourth installment of “Survivor” this week, a modest increase over the previous week and the program’s biggest audience yet. Tune-in for the show exceeded combined viewing totals for the other major networks in its time slot.

Rats, No Water: And what’s the latest news from the island? Speaking Thursday on “The Early Show,” Ramona Gray, the latest to be voted off the island of Pulau Tiga, offered this culinary review of the well-publicized meal of rats she and her island mates consumed last week--a menu that drew squeaks of protest from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “They have their own special flavor--rat taste,” Gray said. “It wasn’t chicken. It was really good, though.” Gray is the fourth to be voted off the hit show, leaving 12; the last one will win $1 million. Although she had no difficulty snacking on rodents, Gray said she’s not much of a water drinker and avoided it so much she became dehydrated and sick her first few days on the island.

Rats, Too Much Water: Ivana Trump is madder than a wet hen. She is suing an Italian television station for $3 million, alleging that employees of a show on which she appeared dropped a large quantity of water on her as part of a stunt for the program. Trump says in court papers that the dousing made her sick, ruined her $3,000 dress, made her lose a pair of $25,000 earrings and caused her to spend $400 on emergency medical treatment. Trump appeared in July 1999 on a “Candid Camera”-style show called “Scherzi a Parte.” She contends that producers never told her that she would be doused with water, a stunt that caused “bodily harm, shock, chills, nervousness, high fever, nausea, embarrassment and severe emotional distress.” The Italian company that produces the show, RETI Televisive Italiane, has offered no comment.

POP/ROCK

Soraya Ill: Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Soraya, who records in Spanish and English and has toured with Sting, Michael Bolton and others, announced she is canceling all tour dates after learning she has breast cancer. The young Colombian American singer was on a promotional tour for her new album, “Cuerpo y Alma,” on Universal Latino. She says she will stay home in Miami to fight the disease. Soraya’s first album featured a song in which she described her own mother dying of breast cancer in her arms.

QUICK TAKES

Jazz trumpeter and film composer Terence Blanchard will take over in September as artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music, the university announced Friday. . . . “Zoot Suit,” the Luis Valdez play that originated at the Mark Taper Forum, is back on stage at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. The drama, which enjoyed great success at the Taper in 1978, stars USC graduate Marco Rodriguez as El Pachuco, the role popularized here by Edward James Olmos. . . . “Freud, Groucho and Me,” an afternoon with comedian David Steinberg, scheduled for Sunday at the Skirball Cultural Center, has been canceled due to a filming schedule conflict. The program will be rescheduled in the fall. Ticket holders will automatically be reserved for the rescheduled performance. . . . KISS fans can bid on original costumes, instruments and other KISS stuff at an auction at Paramount Pictures today and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. . . . One of Florence’s most popular tourist attractions, the bronze statue of Perseus, is back on display in the Renaissance Piazza della Signoria after almost four years of restoration work. Benvenuto Cellini’s depiction of mythological Greek hero Perseus trampling Medusa is widely considered to be his masterpiece.