::: George Christy ::: From the Beverly Hills Courier

Collared in rosebuds, Bentley the Golden Retriever, on a lease with his handler Amy Penney, joined the groomsmen in the bridal party during the wedding of Jordan Davids to musicologist Nathan Duvall Ð Bentley being the newlywedsÕ best friend whoÕs known to sleep with them. JordanÕs the artist daughter of Hollace Davids, the dynamo senior v-p of special projects for Universal Pictures, and producer Paul Davids. PaulÕs film, The Sci-Fi Boys, is nominated for the Saturn AwardÕs best DVD, and heÕs now finishing his revolutionary documentary Jesus in India with producing partner Anil Kumar. With Rabbi Denise Eger of Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood officiating, Jordan and Nathan were wed during a late Saturday afternoon in the capacious Beverly Hills estate of producer Steve Stabler, who escorted Amanda Hill. Friends and relatives flew in from Chicago, Boston, New York, as well as from New Zealand (Lord of the Rings and King Kong art director Dan Hennah and wife Chris). After months of planning those only-a-mom-knows-how-many-details for more than 200 guests, Hollace hosted a Sunday brunch with Paul for the out-of-towners at their Los Angeles residence. And then took off for the New York premiere of Georgia Rule, directed by Garry Marshall about three generations starring Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan. This is the film that prompted Morgan Creek producer Jim Robinson to spank Lindsay in a letter ordering her to stop midnight partying and quit making excuses about not being able to show up for work. Florist Chris Matsumoto, whoÕs relocated from Culver City to downtown L.A., designed the chuppah (canopy) of coolwater roses, hydrangeas, snowballs, white orchids and peonies, under which, in the Hebrew tradition, the bride and groom are formally bonded. Jordan, a beauty whose art work has been acclaimed in Paris, wore Spanish designer PronoviasÕ gown with its cathedral train of ivory silk and Valenciennes lace. And Nathan, we learned, introduces and produces new musical acts on film and television commercials. ÒI love the sexiness of his voice on the telephone, he tells captivating stories, washes the dishes, keeps the house clean, loves order and makes lists, cooks, is strong and listens to me,Ó Jordan sighed as they shared thoughts during the ceremony about their love for one another. While Nathan acknowledged that Jordan is the best thing that ever happened to him, would never be cynical, and he promised to forgive. Groomsman Dwain Morris-Irvin, who befriended Nathan when they discovered during their bachelorhood that they were nuts about Jimi HendrixÕs music, served as toastmaster. A PhD research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center specializing in ParkinsonÕs disease and brain tumor research, Dwain introduced best man Gary Balekjian and others during the dinner prepared by ItÕs Our PartyÕs Terri Aronson. At our table we caught up with Mary Micucci of Along Came Mary, Classic Party RentalsÕ Cheryl Evanoff, ELSÕ Lys and John Chuck who credited Robin Gray with the elegant lighting and who only the day before designed the lighting for the Republican debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Assisting Hollace was Allison Jackson, who for many a season was our popular special events v-p at Paramount and who was leaving this week for the Cannes Film Festival to supervise event logistics and VIP services for Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen and sister Jody Allen and their Vulcan Productions team. TheyÕll be entertaining on their yacht, also Allison is arranging for them to attend the hot parties planned by Chopard, AmFAR, Vanity Fair, as well as the big premieres. Producer Jerry Weintraub will host a cast party on May 22nd on his Cannes yacht for his Oceans Thirteen cast, and two days later the filmÕs premiere will benefit Not on Our Watch which supports relief efforts in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan. A charity that George Clooney has long championed. On the day of the North American premiere in Los Angeles, Jerry, George, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt will cement their handprints and footprints in front of MannÕs Chinese Theatre. We learned that Sherry Lansing and Billy Friedkin will be in Cannes for a Directors Fortnight screening of BillyÕs 1980 film, Cruising, which starred Al Pacino as an undercover police detective cruising for a killer of gay men. We caught up with Judy Levy of Levy Pazanti, the firm renowned for smoothly organizing hundreds of fundraising events (her sister is partner Ellen Pazanti), and Judy offered that the late Universal-MCA mogul Lew Wasserman was her mentor Ð Òtold me never to lie, youÕll have an easier life not having to remember.Ó She added that Edie Wasserman is fine, and hosts occasional screenings at her Beverly Hills hacienda Ð EdieÕs raised millions in behalf of the Motion Picture and Television Home. Daughter Lynne resides between Washington and Beverly Hills, and LynneÕs son Casey Wasserman, an investment banker, owns the Los Angeles Avengers football team and presides over the charitable Wasserman Foundation. Focus FeaturesÕ Carlotta Florio had returned from another cross county drive with husband Ed Johnson (they commute between New York and Los Angeles) in their Volkswagon Beetle, which gets 45 miles to the gallon. ÒOur gas bill for the entire trip was $240, also gas is cheaper between the coasts.Ó Carlotta noted that among the films that Focus Features is releasing this year is Evening, based on the Susan MinotÕs novel Òwith a talent-driven castÓ that includes Meryl Streep, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave and daughter Natasha Richardson and the London theatreÕs Dame Eileen Atkins, who several years ago at age 70 was propositioned by 28-year-old Colin Farrell, and who politely told Colin that his advances were Òtotally inappropriate.Ó Also on the Focus Features agenda is Ang LeeÕs Lust with an Asian cast. JordanÕs brother Scott, an editor on Borat and now editing HBOÕs Flight of the Conchords (cq), was among the groomsmen and NathanÕs sister Gretchen was a bridesmaid. Among the many were grandparents Frank Goodman and Fran Davids, HollaceÕs loyal assistant Carol Huston, Buffy Shutt and Peter Robinson, Craig Kornblau, Belinda Melendez, Bette Einbinder, Greg Sucherman, Ant FarmÕs Mike Greenfeld, Alyssa Grayson, Teresa Johnson. And the environmentally-conscious newlyweds requested that Òin honor of our marriage, please take home and plant a gingko biloba, a shade tree from this tiny pot with instructions for re-potting. Join us and be one in a million planting trees!Ó Is Porgy and Bess an opera, an operetta, or a musical? Does it matter? Not really, when you have extraordinarily rich voices gracing the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the Los Angeles OperaÕs production of George GershwinÕs masterpiece set in Charleston, South CarolinaÕs Catfish Row. Opera favorite Francesca Zambello directed this rewarding production, and on opening night we were privileged to hear Kevin Short as the sturdy Porgy, Morenike Fadayomi as sexy Bess who runs off with SportinÕ Life, played by Jermaine Smith in a showstopping performance with his singing and acrobatic dancing to It AinÕt Necssarily So. Angela Jackson as Serena breaks hearts with My ManÕs Gone Now, and Lester Lynch stands out as the tricky Crown, with other singers alternating on different nights in the leading roles, and those Gershwin classics such as Summertime linger with you after leaving the theater. A long ways away from 1926 when George Gershwin read Dubose HeywardÕs novel Porgy, and by 1935 completed 700 pages of music. A 1935 Broadway run at the Alvin Theatre studiously avoided that worrisome word opera, with Gershwin dying two years later. Historians acknowledge that Porgy and Bess may be the only opera inspired by 1920s and 1930s jazz that survived beyond World War II. Glamour girls sashayed during the unveiling of the $5 million flagship Escada Boutique in the Beverly Wilshire, with Wolfgang Puck seducing the palates of the crowd with the nonstop passing of his hors dÕoeuvres of smoked salmon pizza, lobster rolls, stuffed baby artichokes with shrimp, mini cheeseburgers, filet mignon tartare, tomato tart tatin. Even the thinnest models were unable to resist. Hilary Swank, who most likely received a fee (and why not?), hosted the evening with the handsome, 36-year-old Italian-born creative director Damiano Biella, the Munich-based CEO Frank Rheinboldt, Escada USAÕs president and COO Lawrence DeParis. Floating through the shadowy boutique were Naomi Watts, Maria Bello, Angela Bassett, Geena Davis, Sophia Bush, Sanaa Lathan and others (as seen on these pages), with VogueÕs Andre Leon Talley flying in for the weekend. If you havenÕt heard about Bob HoflerÕs The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, itÕs time to pick up a paperback and read a crackerjack perspective on HollywoodÕs Henry Willson, who not only launched Rock but Robert Wagner, Clint Walker, Lana Turner, Natalie Wood, Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue, Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun. The paperback edition contains Òmore juiceÓ about RockÕs marriage to Phyllis Gates, who was WillsonÕs secretary, and BobÕs now researching a biography of Òbaby mogulÓ impresario Allan Carr, who gave us Grease, was a hotshot party host, famed for his caftans and smart as a whip. Prior to being senior features editor for Variety, Bob served as the trade paperÕs theater reviewer, and during his return visit from New York, we asked for recommendations on whatÕs best on Broadway. He loved LoveMusik, about the monogamous Kurt Weill and the sluttish Lotte Lenya Ð Òunmissable, complex, and I hand it to director Hal Prince who pulled amazing performances from Donna Murphy as Lenya and Michael Cerveris in the role of the composer Weill, whose songs are threaded throughout the evening.Ó He praises Jerry Mitchell, the director-choreographer of Legally Blonde starring Laura Bell Bundy in a breakthrough performance, and reminds that Reese Witherspoon didnÕt sing and dance in the film version. ÒJerryÕs the star-engine of that show, a huge crossover hit for adults and young people.Ó Bob found Frost/Nixon with Frank Langella and Michael Sheen Òvery good, even though some of itÕs made up,Ó and the musical adapted from Franz WedekindÕs Spring Awakening is better than Rent with its rock songs of love, angst and sexual repression expressed in modern style. ÒA tour de force is Christine EbersoleÕs performance as the two Edith Beales in Grey Gardens. Worthy of a Tony!Ó Auditioning so far to replace Don Imus on CBS Radio are our popular syndicated KABC broadcaster Larry Elder, KTLKÕs Stephanie Miller, WPATÕs Michael Smirkonish of Philadelphia, along with others in line for this powerful spot.