For Katie, they barred the door
Katie Holmes made her Broadway debut Thursday, and husband Tom Cruise thought it was a knockout.
“Did you see it? … It was extraordinary,” Cruise said of her performance in a preview of “All My Sons,” a revival also starring John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest.
Less impressed were roughly 30 protesters who stood behind a barricade and loudly chanted “Scientology kills!” in reference to Cruise’s controversial religion.
Some wore masks like in the movie “V for Vendetta,” and a poster read: “FREE KATIE.”
The audience collectively gasped when Cruise entered the theater moments before the curtain went up, and cheered when he hugged fellow theatergoer Dustin Hoffman.
Holmes, 29, who delivered her lines with confidence and projected her girlish voice so it could be heard loud and clear, received a standing ovation.
She wore a brown shoulder-length hairpiece to hide her trendy pixie cut for the role.
Accompanied by Lithgow, not Cruise, she stopped to pose for photographers afterward and called her performance “fine.”
Prosecutorial license
Britney Spears’ trial for driving without a valid California license is all set for next month – and her lawyer is none too happy about it.
J. Michael Flanagan claims Spears is being treated more harshly than similar offenders, saying she should simply be able to pay a $10 fine and avoid criminal prosecution.
Because the violation is a misdemeanor, Spears is not required to attend the trial.
Dressed for succession?
Democratic first lady hopeful Michelle Obama, praised for her “classic and confident” look, is among People magazine’s annual list of best-dressed women, announced Friday.
Others making the cut include Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Fergie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna and Heidi Klum.
Blood of the lamb
The ex-husband of televangelist Juanita Bynum – they divorced after a parking lot fight between them landed him in jail – is taking his search for a new wife to the Internet.
Thomas W. Weeks III, who runs a church near Atlanta, said the 10-episode series will be available starting Tuesday on his Web site.
Excerpts available Friday included Weeks, 41, discussing with aides what he should look for in his third wife.
They conclude she should be at least 25 years old, but “with special exemptions for 21 and up if they are classy,” Weeks says.
“This woman has to be very discerning, and very intimate, and very social and very sensual,” he says, adding: “She can’t be ugly.”
John must be getting hungry
Elizabeth Edwards, asked whether she has forgiven her husband, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, for his extramarital affair: “I don’t want to feed the monster, if you don’t mind.”
The birthday bunch
Actress-comedian Anne Meara is 79. Actress Sophia Loren is 74. Actor Gary Cole is 52. Actress Kristen Johnston (“3rd Rock From The Sun”) is 41. Singers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson (Nelson) are 41. Rapper Yung Joc is 26.