The ‘Boy Friend’ is back

New York — Julie Andrews is coming back to “The Boy Friend.”

The actress made her Broadway debut in 1954 in Sandy Wilson’s spoof of the giddy 1920s musical comedy, and now she is directing a revival of the show.

Andrews is overseeing a production that will open next summer at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and then travel the country

The Goodspeed version will play July 15-Sept. 24, 2005, in Connecticut and then tour, beginning in Wilmington, Del., followed by Boston; Greenville, S.C.; Hershey, Pa.; East Lansing, Mich.; Chicago; Green Bay, Wis.; and St. Paul, Minn. More cities will be announced later.

American idolatry

St. Louis — Tents and long lines marked the landscape outside the Edward Jones Dome as some 10,000 “American Idol” hopefuls showed up to audition for the Fox television show.

On Sunday, contestants processed Saturday were to perform for about 30 seconds. From that pool, about 360 singers were expected to go before executive producers Monday. From there, the field will be cut to about 120.

Celebrity judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson will pick about 30 singers Wednesday to compete against other finalists in California.

The fourth season of “American Idol” will debut in January.

Everybody’s favorite princess

Los Angeles — Anne Hathaway has been surprised by the range of fans won over by her 2001 hit “The Princess Diaries.”

While the story of an awkward teen transformed into royalty appealed heavily to young girls and their moms, male crowds also liked it, Hathaway said. Even businessmen.

“The movie showed on planes it seems like forever,” Hathaway said in an interview last week with The Associated Press.

“Businessmen in particular got to see it that way, which is not the typical audience for the film,” the 21-year-old actress said. “But they would come up to me and say, ‘I saw your movie on an airplane and really liked it.”‘

Hathaway and co-star Julie Andrews reprise their roles in “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement,” which opens this week.