MIRACLE WORKERS
It'll be a very merry Christmas for Elizabeth
Perkins, who'll play the Maureen O'Hara role in John Hughes' remake
of Miracle on 34th Street, scheduled for release in December. Dylan
McDermott (In the Line of Fire) and Sir Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park) costar as the lawyer and Kris Kringle, respectively,
and, contrary to rumors, Hughes will not cast a boy in the Natalie
Wood role. Instead, the part of the Santa-doubting Susan will go to Mrs. Doubtfire's 6-year-old Mara Wilson. ''You don't screw around with National Velvet and you don't screw around with Miracle on 34th
Street,'' says Perkins, who's glad Hughes is sticking to the script.
''There was a vulnerability in the original. Little boys are trained
not to believe in certain things.'' — Melina Gerosa
FACING REALITY
Who knew that Ethan Hawke could sing? On the
soundtrack to his recently released Reality Bites, the actor
unleashes a venomous, gravelly vocal on the song ''I'm Nuthin''' that's
earning him professional respect. ''His voice has such a nice, earthy
quality,'' says Juliana Hatfield, who features the actor in her video
for ''Spin the Bottle,'' which is also on the Bites soundtrack. But
Hawke won't be following such other golden throats as Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, and Eddie Murphy by making an album. ''I've played music
a long time-but not very well,'' says the humble Hawke. ''I just sing
very late at night for very few people.'' — Bronwen Hruska
THE BEAT GOES ON
Just call him the toastmaster general. Every
time you look, it seems as if U2's Bono is making another
freewheeling speech to honor a heavyweight in the music biz — Bob
Marley at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony and Frank Sinatra at last week's Grammys. But where's Bono coming up with that loose,
jazz-inflected prose? (He called Sinatra ''a man more connected than
the Twin Towers.'') Credit cult writer (and subject of the film Barfly) Charles Bukowski. Bono sheepishly admits the connection:
''Bukowski is a hero of mine, that's true. I hate when people spot
things like that.'' Other inspirations? ''There was a similar substance
involved,'' the singer deadpans. ''Alcohol.'' — Jeff Gordinier
NEXT OF KIN
Sony Music's post-Grammys bash at New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art was the site of a family reunion between Bruce Springsteen and his long-lost cousin, Robert Zerilli. The
owner of New York's Veniero's cafe, Zerilli had never met his famous
kin — the families had drifted apart — until that night. He was serving
up cannoli when Springsteen walked by and caught his eye. ''Bruce
shook his head and said, 'Cousin. How ya doing?' There was a
connection there,'' says Zerilli, 31, who once sat backstage at a
Springsteen concert with aunts Dora and Ida, the sisters of the Boss'
mother. The rocker was equally thrilled to run into his cuz. ''He's a
Zerilli. That's great. It's my family,'' Springsteen said with pride.
Any chance of the two making music together? ''My wife says I carry a
tune pretty well,'' said Zerilli. Bruce smiled and said, ''Yeah, we'll
see.'' — Jessica Shaw
STICKY SITUATION
In the May
release Clean Slate, Dana Carvey is upstaged by a Band-Aid. The
actor sports an adhesive bandage on his neck throughout the comic
thriller, though it's not part of the plot and Carvey's character
never explains why it's there. Is it the mark of an eccentric costume
designer? Or did Carvey nick himself shaving every day for three
months? When he was quizzed by crew members throughout the
production, Carvey refused comment. "Dana was wearing it for good
luck," a spokeswoman for the actor now explains, "but he doesn't want
to talk about it." Guess he's just superstitious. — Rebecca
Ascher-Walsh
