Love Affair

It was a day of romance complete with handsome male models, racy love stories and lush desserts. Just the perfect setting for those who fancy those steamy romance novels with those eyebrow-raising covers. You know, the ones with titles like Passion's Slave and Savage Thunder and eye-catching covers of bare-chested, brawny heroes with scantily clad maidens in their arms. It was the brainstorm of Darlene Atta to transform the Lenni Fire Company hall in Middletown into a romance readers' haven on Saturday.

From the start, Bryan Edwards and Myla Friedman didn't belong together. She was born in New York City, one of her father's four children. She was raised by her father, an insurance executive, and stepmother in a comfortable home not far from Princeton. She graduated from a private high school. Her friends say she was shy and seemed too busy to socialize. He was born in Philadelphia, also one of four children, and lived at different times with different family members.

I remember when I was a little boy, and then a young man, what it was like to feel totally connected to the idea of America, not just to the fact of its existence but also to its aspirations, to what it meant. And we knew, whether we were critical or not, that America meant that in society with all its problems, and in its commerce with all its sins, and in its government with all its blunders, America could be, with appropriate effort and consistency, the finest and most excellent answer to the question, "How can people live together and honor freedom and justice and opportunity?"

"A Man in Love," a drama starring Peter Coyote and Greta Scacchi. Written and directed by Diane Kurys. Running time: 108 minutes. A Cinecom release. At the Ritz Five. It's always a bad sign when a movie's minor characters interest you more than its leads. Such is the case with "A Man in Love," the new trilingual love story from the French director Diane Kurys ("Peppermint Soda," "Molotov Cocktail," "A Man in Love"). Long after we've concluded that actors Steve Elliott and Jane Steiner (played by Peter Coyote and Greta Scacchi)

Roberto Rossellini's 1961 film Vanina Vanini, now having its local premiere, is the bridge between the director's overheated romances and his later, undercooked, "teaching films" coolly exploring the lives of Louis XIV and the Medicis. Freely adapted from Stendhal's epic essay Love and his story Italian Chronicles, the schizophrenic Vanina Vanini palpitates with melodramatic passions that are frequently interrupted by clipped, ideological monologues. As a result, its hot-blooded characters have a recurring case of political shivers.

More than 50 years later, they remain the standard. Aficionados say their names with relish and reverence. Duesenberg. Cord. Auburn. Those fast, sleek, luxurious, technically advanced touring cars of the late 1920s and the 1930s are the epitome of the American love affair with the automobile, the classics of classic cars. That affair was renewed last Sunday at the Franklin Mint on Route 1 in Middletown Township, as Duesenbergs, Cords and Auburns were the centerpieces of the mint's third annual antique automobile festival.

Two conspicuously unconventional productions opened on Broadway this week, giving a sluggish theater season a dose of adrenalin. The Gospel at Colonus, which opened last night at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, is a celebrated mixture of gospel music and Greek tragedy that has already traveled the international circuit. Philadelphia saw it at the American Music Theater Festival in 1985. M. Butterfly, which opened Sunday at the Eugene O'Neill, is David Henry Hwang's play about an improbable man-to-man love affair, starring John Lithgow and staged brilliantly by John Dexter.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at the reaction to Princess Diana's death - long lines of mourners in cities throughout the world, heads of state fighting back tears as they expressed condolences, television anchors summoned from their vacations to authenticate the significance of the event. I had, after all, spent the previous two weeks in Wales and England and she had been on the front page of the English papers every day I was there. Every move she made, it seems, was newsworthy to the Brits.

On Super Bowl Sunday 2002, Ellen Gartner fell in love with a long-forsaken lady. Gartner's kids were 4 and 6 at the time, old enough to stay with their dad as she went with friends to see a show. She was sitting in the backseat of a car when she saw the object of her affection for the first time, though she had probably passed the place 100 times before. Through bare trees, and at the end of a long drive, she spied Federal-era brick and Victorian scalloping on a mansard roof, a graceful porch, and a spartan fieldstone center that seemed to reach back to Cheltenham Township's birth.

Can an aging sports stud whose anchorbabe fiancee is bigger than Oprah find true happiness with a wannabe singer engaged to marry a billionaire? Can a classic 1939 romance remade in 1957 and parodied to the point of tribute in a 1993 comedy find an audience in 1994? Stranger things have happened. In the '30s, Love Affair starred Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer as the star- crossed lovers on a transatlantic crossing. In the '50s, the remake boasted Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant.

Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Horsham sponsors its third annual film series aimed at engaging neighbors in discussion about environmental issues. Each movie delves into a different aspect of sustainability with a focus on how small changes can make a big difference to the world. All screenings are at the nonprofit Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler 19002. Tickets are $10 each. 215-345-7855 or amblertheatre.org/pennypack Doors open at 6 p.m. for a community expo, highlighting local organizations.

PARTY THERE HE IS The Miss America Pageant may have abandoned Atlantic City (for Las Vegas), but the annual "Miss'd America," drag pageant remains loyal to the city of its birth. Tomorrow, the raucous takeoff on the Miss A program returns for its third edition since its 2010 revival. Presented by the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance, Schultz-Hill Scholarship Foundation and Resorts Casino Hotel, the show at Boardwalk Hall will again be hosted by Carson Kressley of "Dancing with the Stars" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" fame.

Then Again By Diane Keaton Random House. 304 pp. $26 Reviewed by Carrie Rickey   Then Again , Diane Keaton's tasty if not exactly juicy memoir, is a double-take in more than one meaning of the expression. This volume, slender, wry, and eccentric as the Oscar-winning actress herself, collages the journal entries of her late mother, Dorothy, with her own memories of generation-defining films such as The Godfather , Annie Hall , Reds , and Something's Gotta Give . Intriguingly, the tribute from Diane to Dorothy contrasts the war bride and stay-at-home mom with the unmarried working mother surfing feminism's third wave.

Adam Gwon's chamber musical Ordinary Days benefits greatly from 11th Hour Theatre Company's signature charm. Joe Calarco, a director imported for the occasion of this Philadelphia premiere, uses the limited space of the Adrienne's Skybox to create an intimacy perfectly suited to this sweet and gentle show. The musical is sung through (that is, the narrative is conveyed entirely through song), and Eric Ebbenga accompanies the four good voices. Gwon's lyrics are more interesting and entertaining than his melodies, but we get a generous 21 numbers; outstanding among them are the lovely "Calm" and "Sort-of Fairy Tale.

HOW DO you solve a problem like Marilyn? Despite being dead for 49 years, Marilyn Monroe is one of the most enduring figures of popular culture in part because she was so freakishly charismatic. To behold her power, watch her in "All About Eve," one of her early screen roles. She's in the movie for about five minutes, but it's impossible to take your eyes off her, wresting focus from the always-formidable Bette Davis. Monroe is also one of celebrityhood's most enduring enigmas, her inner turmoil contradicting the facade of the blond sex kitten.

"LIKE CRAZY" tracks the imperiled, intercontinental romance of two young lovers. Anton Yelchin is Jacob, a soulful woodworker who falls hard for Anna (Felicity Jones), the British journalism major who sends him a comical mash note one day after class. And why not? Who wouldn't go weak in the knees after getting an unsolicited love letter from Jones, with her gorgeous green eyes and adorably shy smile that reveals a set of fantastically irregular British teeth? I haven't been this smitten since I saw Kate Beckinsale's overbite in "Cold Comfort Farm.

By Hillary Jordan Algonquin Books. 341 pp $24.95 Reviewed by Katherine Bailey In her second novel, When She Woke , Hillary Jordan imagines a totalitarian future world in which life is not worth living. Like The Scarlet Letter , it is a portrayal of an adulterer cast out by society. In many ways, it is a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 19th-century classic. And like Margaret Atwood's 1985 The Handmaid's Tale , it is an exploration of a society's subjugation of women.

DEAR ABBY: During this economic recession, may I offer a reminder to your readers who may have their homes on the market and available for showing? Someone entered my home during an open house and rummaged through my drawers. The thief made off with my cherished sapphire engagement ring, an emerald band and several other sentimental pieces. I'm ashamed for having underestimated people's dishonesty. I never assumed anyone would coldheartedly dig through my clothes and belongings to find hidden valuables - especially with a Realtor on-site.

LSU's Gabriel Mvumvure: The senior from Zimbabwe had a busy Saturday at the Penn Relays. He was part of the Tigers' winning 4x100 and 4x200 relays and also captured the men's 100 meters. For the moment, it marked the end of a five-year love affair with the Relays that began when he was running at Franklin Field with the foundation World Wide Scholarships for his country while in high school. "I love Penn Relays," he said. "The crowd is crazy. This is the biggest relay meet and that's why I like the word carnival they use because you can say this is not like a track meet.

EVERY SUCCESSFUL team seems to have one: a player for whom the fans just fall head over heels and who develops a cult following. Unlike the star or stars of the team, this is someone who labors in the shadow of the spotlight, quietly, effectively and - above all - with consistency. With an air of professionalism that never wavers, he is a hard worker, has leadership skills and is poised under pressure. Big hits scream off his bat in clutch situations. You never hear him complain.