Tangled up in flu? Remember the bird flu? We enjoyed that one, as we’ve always been suspicious of those sneaky chickens—they’re so … changeable. Anyway, for those who believe in such things, there will be free flu shots at Gotham Hall today. Good luck, folks! Meanwhile, it’s been just over a year since the lovely and talented Adrienne Shelly was murdered in the West Village. Her husband, Andy Ostroy, helped set up the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which supports artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors through scholarships and grants. Tonight will be the inaugural fund-raising gala at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, where actors such as Matt Dillon, Edie Falco, Mary-Louise Parker, Ally Sheedy and Gina Gershon will read Ms. Shelly’s screenplay, The Morgan Stories, as Fisher Stevens directs. Further south, those folks who can’t stop telling fascinating stories about themselves gather for “The Moth Ball,” as the Moth celebrates its 10th anniversary with a dinner and party. Due to be in the hizzo: Lauren Ambrose (We miss Six Feet Under on a daily basis. Come back, Claire!); wacky director Darren Aronofsky and his wife, Rachel Weisz; Jimmy Breslin (whom we’re obsessed with); hot Irish whiskey Gabriel Byrne; cranky but natty editor Lewis Lapham; and stage-strider Julia Stiles. How on earth did Moby get himself uninvolved in this one? Lastly, Broadway singer-actress Daphne Rubin-Vega will be honored with the William F. Passannante Award at nursing home Village Care of New York’s 30th Anniversary benefit. The lovely Ms. DRV, who originated the role of Mimi in Rent on Broadway (but did not, thankfully, participate in that sad imitation of a movie!) told us that she grew up on Bedford Street and has a longtime connection to Village Care. “It’s a place I always remember, from my father being there after he broke his hip, when he went in kicking and screaming,” she said. “He’s macho, he didn’t want to be in any rehabilitational facility. But he ended up being very glad he was treated there.” Ms. Rubin-Vega then reminisced about the characters to be found in Greenwich Village before it was colonized by Marc Jacobs: “When I was about 12 years old, there was this guy, we used to call him Shakespeare; he dressed in Harlequin garb, with a goatee and sort of like handlebar mustache. A total nutjob! Somewhere I heard that he was actually an heir to an estate—like the Kelloggs or something.” If only we hadn’t spent the 80’s wearing T-shirt clips in Texas! Finally, Ms. Rubin-Vega informed us that she is also in the Sex and the City movie. She would not tell us how it ends, because “I don’t want to get sued and fired!” But she did mention that she and SJP and Mr. Big go way back: “Chris Noth owns a club called the Cutting Room that my band and I play at often. We had an album that came out last year, and we had our record release party there. And Sarah Jessica’s brother was in the original cast of Rent!”
[Adrienne Shelly Foundation, N.Y.U.’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org; “The Moth Ball” gala, Capitale, 130 Bowery, 6:30 p.m., www.themoth.org; Legends of the Village, N.Y.U.’s Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, 6 p.m., www.vcny.org]
