Proving herself on Broadway

New York First Mary-Louise Parker. Then Jennifer Jason Leigh. Now Anne Heche will star in “Proof,” the Tony-winning drama about an enigmatic young woman and her relationship with her mathematical genius father.

Heche will make her Broadway debut July 2 in the play that opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre in October 2000 after an off-Broadway run at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

“Proof” won not only the 2001 Tony Award for best play, it also received the best American play award from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. A production starring Gwyneth Paltrow opened this month in London.

A bridge for memory lane

Hillsborough, N.C. James Taylor’s got a friend who wants to put his name on a bridge near a creek where he grew up.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will vote tonight on a resolution asking the North Carolina Board of Transportation to name a bridge after the singer. The bridge on U.S. 15-501 south spans Morgan Creek in Chapel Hill where Taylor grew up in a home overlooking the waterway.

Taylor even refers to a day spent “half a mile down Morgan Creek” in his song “Copperline” on his “New Moon Shine” album.

Survivors take up challenge

Lincoln, Neb. Several former “Survivor” cast members are coming together for an AIDS benefit.

More than 25 contestants from the hit CBS television show have committed to “Survivor Fest,” a benefit for Camp Kindle. The nonprofit organization benefits Midwest children who are directly or indirectly affected by the AIDS virus.

Participants in the July 13 event will include Rudy Boesch, Gervase Peterson and Jenna Lewis from the original “Survivor”; Amber Brkich and Michael Skupin from “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” Lex van den Berghe and Diane Ogden from “Survivor: Africa”; and John Carroll from “Survivor: Marquesas,” the finale of which aired Sunday night.

Actress fought eating disorder

New York In August 1997, when Jamie-Lynn Sigler was cast as Meadow Soprano, Tony’s teen-age daughter on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” she was a size 4 or 6. Nearly a year later, when shooting on the first season began, series creator David Chase didn’t recognize her.

Sigler had an eating disorder, she tells People magazine for its May 27 issue. The 5-foot-6-inch actress dropped from 120 pounds to 90.

“It’s hard to pinpoint when I went from exercising 20 minutes in the morning to exercising for four hours a day and not really eating. I would have two egg whites for breakfast, and lunch was a scooped out bagel and a Diet Coke. Dinner turned into a fat-free yogurt,” Sigler said.

Sigler recalls Chase telling her mother in June 1998, “What’s going on? We love her, but Jamie’s got a lot to do in this show, and she has to be physically able to handle it.”

Terrified that she’d lose the role, she gradually cut back on her exercise and increased her calorie intake. Now, at 21, Sigler says she sometimes still worries about what she eats, but she’s back up to 125 pounds.