Nicolas Cage Tickles the Ivories as Liberace
Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has never been afraid to play flamboyant characters on the big screen, so perhaps it's no surprise that the star has announced that he'll play bejeweled gay pianist Liberace in an upcoming film. Cage says he also wants to direct the film, which will explore Liberace's public fame and private closet full of secrets—the musician was beloved by housewives across America in the 1950s and '60s, but none of them ever suspected that the candelabra-mad piano-pounder had a series of male lovers. If the project from Date Movie writers Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg gets the green light, don't be surprised if Cage—who was once Leaving Las Vegas—winds up returning to Sin City wearing a million sequins.
Zadan and Meron Soar with Peter Pan
It's been 50 years since Mary Martin charmed the then-young medium of television with her performance as Peter Pan, but the musical about the flying boy who never grows up will get a new look in 2007. Gay producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron—whose musical credentials include TV's Cinderella, the Oscar-winning Chicago, and the upcoming Hairspray movie—are preparing a new Peter Pan for ABC, featuring a new script to go with the classic Jules Styne score. ( The producers have had an eye on the material since 1993, when they worked with Styne on a TV version of Gypsy. ) No word yet on casting, so there's plenty of time for pixie-sized actresses who can sing to decide if they look good in green.
O'Donnell, Deneuve Make
Appointment for Nip/Tuck
Romeo has already reported the appearances of Brooke Shields, Larry Hagman, and Kathleen Turner on the new season of FX's plastic surgery drama, Nip/Tuck, but more major queer faves have now stepped up to the operating table. The legendary Catherine Deneuve, who's had sapphic moments in The Hunger and 8 Women, will play a woman who wants her dead husband's ashes placed inside her breast implants. Lesbian icon Rosie O'Donnell—who gave Star Jones Reynolds a very public grilling about the former View star's alleged gastric bypass surgery—will turn up as well. Openly gay actor Richard Chamberlain, as well as Jacqueline Bisset and Peter Dinklage, are also set to appear on the show, which has apparently become the new Will & Grace—or the new Love Boat—when it comes to attracting big names.
Lance Bass and Joey Fatone:
A Gay-Straight Odd Couple?
Buried a few paragraphs down in the recent not-so-earth-shattering news that former 'NSync member Lance Bass is a Friend of Dorothy was the revelation that Bass and one-time bandmate Joey Fatone are pitching a TV sitcom in which the two of them would play Odd Couple-esque roommates. Bass, in keeping with his new outness, would play gay on the show. Romeo remembers—but he totally forgives those of you who don't—that Bass and Fatone played comical roommates in the flop romantic comedy On the Line a few years ago, but it appears unlikely that the series would be based on that flick. Don't be surprised if the show features a cameo role for Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, a.k.a. Bass' main squeeze.
DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .
