William F. Orr opened the mail... another rejection letter from a major publisher. His novel, "Any Other Season," was collecting many such letters. One such note advised Mr. Orr that "no one is interested in the theatre" and another asked, "have you thought of writing a romance novel?"

Undaunted, William's agent tried for two years to get the book published but for all his efforts all he got was an impressive collection of laudatory rejection slips. "Any Other Season" began in 1987 as a take-off on certain unpersonable drama critics, who shall remain nameless here, but blossomed into a novel of immense proportions.

It's one big hilarious read about drama critic, Rudy Dedescu, whose witty but decidedly nasty reviews appear interlaced with his private ruminations on his checkered past from his native Romania, through Europe, and his rise to journalistic infamy over the fallen bodies of those near and dear to him. William also includes three tongue-in-cheek appendices and approximately a hundred illustrations.

Now, I don't know why someone doesn't publish the book. I'm having a ball reading it, and so can you. Like a modern day Charles Dickens, Mr. Orr dashes to complete each chapter before hoards of readers catch up to him. You see, he has published his book on the internet and currently there are 12 of 27 chapters published. He claims some character by the name of V.J. inspired him to publish this way. Head over to his site and join the fun.

Tidbits: An audible gasp was heard from the audience at the Shubert Theater the other night at the L.A. Ovation Awards when Ned Beatty was announced as the winner in the Best Acting category. While Mr. Beatty certainly gave a fine performance in Showboat, everyone assumed Brian Stokes Mitchell was the shoo-in for Ragtime. Perhaps, the nomination of two actors from the show, the other being John Rubinstein, cancelled each other out with voters. Still, Ragtime received eight awards as expected. The only other surprise, to some, was that Judy Kaye won in the featured actress category beating out LaChanze. No gasp, but it raised an eyebrow or two.

Rumors are flying about Forum. Continuing or closing? Well, there's no official word yet. It all seems to be centered on the role of Pseudolus, currently being played by David Alan Grier. His contract Ends on Nov. 30 th and it's up in the air whether he will extend. I hope he doesn't because if he moves on then Bob Amaral, who plays Lycus, will move into the role of Pseudolus and Bob is one helluva funny actor. I've been following him for years ever since he appeared in The Blind Junkie at 13th Street Theater, and his riotous turn at Actors Playhouse in the 1970's off-Broadway hit "Boy Meets Boy." I hope it's "Amaral's Turn."

If you read InTheater like I do, then you'll recall the wonderful article they did on Ward Morehouse III, the New York Post theater column writer that producers love to hate. He's known for his inaccuracies, however, he occasionally comes up with the scoops, especially his excellent reports on the Liza feuds at Victor Victoria last season. His latest scoop predicts Anthony Hopkins coming back to Broadway in Equus. I wouldn't bet on this happening as Hopkins is quoted by Morehouse as saying, "I find the prolonged run in a stage show a very boring experience." Well, that being said, why would a wealthy actor like Hopkins wish to bore himself on Broadway? And to mount a Broadway show for a star to appear in for only four to six weeks, well, that's unlikely, even for someone of Mr. Hopkins stature. Still, Morehouse is great fun to read.

David Mamet's new play opened and we had Christina on the aisle. Uh-oh, just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater! It's all in this weeks continuing saga of Christina's World.

We're gathering memorabilia for a Talkin' Broadway auction to be held in January. So far, we have some pretty interesting "stuff." If you have a memento, perhaps autographed, or anything theater related that you would like to donate to our auction, please e-mail me. All proceeds will be going to charity.

Two new interviews with Broadway "stars" coming at you very soon and also the debut of a new section at Talkin' Broadway (in addition to our store, Shoppin' Broadway, currently in rehearsals). Stay tuned!

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