"CIVILIZATION exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice," wrote the historian Will Durant many years ago.
I'M JUST asking -- when they rebuild Haiti's capital, wouldn't it be smart to rebuild it somewhere other than on top of that major earthquake fault? Port-au-Prince can rise again, but surely not on top of a fault line that is not going away!
IT TOOK the theater critic Michael Riedel to tell us that the adorable Antonio Banderas is coming back to Broadway in a version of "Zorba." Antonio played an Italian in the hit "Nine" and now he'll go all Greek on us. This is one of the nicest guys in the business. He has been associated with several "Z's," as in his movie "Zorro," where he undressed Catherine Zeta-Jones with his whip.
SPEAKING OF theater ... I recently sat down with the fabled movie queen Leslie Caron, who was out promoting her memoir, "Thank Heaven." Leslie told me many things, but one item slipped her mind. That she was off to Los Angeles and the Pasadena Playhouse to appear in A.R. Gurney's romantic warhorse "Love Letters."
When I did hear about this, I was also told that calls had been put in to Warren Beatty, Leslie's long-ago flame, to appear opposite her! Much phone-tag ensued and as of this moment the elusive Warren hasn't agreed. So, a leading man has yet to be chosen.
Next month, in Paris, Caron and Kristin Scott Thomas will appear in a production of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music." Leslie plays Madame Armfeldt, a role originally done by her old "Gigi" co-star Hermione Gingold.
And hear this -- if the Broadway revival of "Night Music" sticks around long enough, Caron would very much like to be first choice to replace Angela Lansbury, the current Madame Armfeldt. Of course, that depends on the indefatigable Angela, who is having a ball, and possibly looking at a sixth Tony Award!
KEVIN SPACEY, who the Brits call "the darling of the left-wing intelligentsia," is reported to be the first prominent American actor to play a role in a film made in China that is totally financed by the Chinese. It is titled "Inseparable." He will play "a mysterious American expat" and be directed in what is being called a black comedy by Dayyan Eng.
Kevin is also the executive producer of this film, which begins shooting in southern China this month.
Mr. Spacey is also the artistic director of the Old Vic.
I hope one of these days he'll return to the United States.
In writing about Kevin, the British press always sneers and describes him as a pal of Bill Clinton, as if there is something wrong with that!
HELEN MIRREN stood stock still to let the technicians of Madame Tussauds measure her from stem to stern for a statue to be installed in London.
You can see Helen there in April. They took more than 300 measurements of the famous star. Helen is nothing if not sentimental. She gave Tussauds' a black gown by Asprey, which she had worn to London's "Crime Thriller Awards" back in 2008.
Madame Tussauds is also unveiling their version of Michelle Obama. But they don't say whether they examined the first lady's body more than 300 times, or just made a guess at it.
IF YOU are a fan of Charlton Heston and "The Ten Commandments," you won't like the new findings in Egypt that seem to prove the pyramids were not built by slaves.
New tombs uncovered in Giza seem to show that free workers, along with local farmers sending 21 buffalo and 23 sheep every day to feed the 10,000 builders, built the pyramids. These same builders went on to raise their own tombs beside the pharaoh's pyramids and these workers' resting places are among "the most significant finds in the 20th and 21st centuries." The workers also signed the walls in a way to indicate they were not slaves.
WANT TO know what having a love affair with George Clooney might be like? I think the best example would be the adult, fascinating and unusual intimacy that George develops with his co-star, Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air."
Even if you don't care for the movie, which is all about a ruthless operator in a bad economy, you'll love the way George and Vera behave with one another. She is quite offbeat, nothing like the homegrown Hollywood Botoxed dolls we are used to. (Born in New Jersey, she is of Ukrainian descent, and was raised with strict values from her parents' homeland.)
RICKY GERVAIS is the new face of the current Hollywood award host genre. But he doesn't like Twittering, claiming it is an undignified thing for adults to be bothering with. Ricky says people just do it to "show off." He adds, "Since I don't need to make new virtual friends, it seemed a bit pointless." (We'll have more on Mr. Gervais and our take on the Golden Globes tomorrow.)
AS HER peers pursue their careers while picking up younger and younger men, here is the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones on her 65-year-old husband Michael Douglas.
"I know that young men are more unbiased, playful and firmer. There's no question about that, but they are also more selfish and narcissistic. This is why they never had a chance to go out with me."
This from the star of "A Little Night Music" currently on Broadway. Don't miss it!
END RAVE: Stephen Sondheim the composer of "Night Music" and countless other classics is also being celebrated nightly by Elaine Stritch at the Carlisle.
Friends, you can't get a seat for love or money for the rest of Miss Stritch's run, which ends on her birthday, Feb. 2. People are fighting, pushing and shoving, but there's no more room. What a hit!
(Direct all MAIL for Cal Thomas to: Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Readers may also e-mail Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.
