“Entourage” star Jeremy Piven started rehearsals this week on another show about the inside world of show-business, only this time it’s on a Broadway stage.

Piven is starring in a revival of David Mamet’s play “Speed-the-Plow,” billed as a “scathing portrait of the film industry and the people who are willing to sell their souls for sex, fame and fortune.”

“It’s an incredibly timely piece. It’s actually more true today even than when he wrote it,” Piven told reporters at the start of the second day of rehearsals on Tuesday.

“We did a reading yesterday and I was surprised yet again how powerful and funny this piece is,” said Piven, looking a little-bleary eyed before the morning rehearsal.

The cast also includes Elisabeth Moss, star of the hit TV show “Mad Men” and familiar to many as the president’s daughter in “West Wing.” She is reviving a role played by Madonna in the last Broadway production of the play 20 years ago.

The third major role is taken by Raul Esparza, the only one of the three who has trod the boards on Broadway before.

Piven starred in the off-Broadway play “Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute in 2004 but this will be his Broadway debut.

Previews start on Oct. 3 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and opening night is Oct. 23. 

PICTURE: Reuters/Mike Cassese (Actor Jeremy Piven arrives at special presentation screening of ‘RocknRolla’ at Toronto International Film Festival, 4 Sept. 2008)

NEW YORK - It seemed a strange time for a shave. After the main set and before the encore at The Police’s last ever concert, Sting sat down in a barber’s chair backstage and relaxed as two women shaved his face, first with electric razors then with a blade. The moment was filmed and beamed to a giant screen above the stage. 

Why, you might ask? Media commentators in the past week have been less than kind about his salt-and-pepper beard that was showing serious signs of grey — and age. Sting was quoted on Monday as saying “The ladies love it,” but perhaps something changed his mind.

Check him out before and after — here’s a photo taken early in the show on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, and then click on this link to see the official video of the encore — after the beard was shaved.

You can read the Reuters report on the band’s last concert together here.

PICTURE: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

MOUNT UNION, Pa. - From Woodstock to Glastonbury, summer music festivals have long been heaven for kids wanting to get in trouble a long way from home.

Creation is different. One of the biggest Christian music festivals in the United States, it has a dress code (no bare bellies for girls, shirts to be worn at all times by both sexes) and alcohol and drugs are strictly off limits.

Click here to see the Reuters story about the festival and an audio slideshow.

Amy Grant , a pioneer in Christian music who made a surprise appearance at Creation last month, said most of the 70,000 people attending the festival listen to secular as well as Christian music. She attended the Bonnaroo festival as a fan herself.

“I loved it and I thought I can’t believe there’s nobody here singing about Jesus,” she said.

“Creation is unique in that it’s all bands and people who sing about faith so you’re having this unbelievabably earthy experience out in the middle of nature and connecting with the Creator,” she said.

She was a pioneer on the Christian music scene in the 1980s and 1990s but after a divorce and a move into the mainstream, Grant admits she “fell off the map” for a while.

She stepped back into the limelight at Creation, making a surprise appearance with Hawk Nelson, a band whose members are around half her age.

Her appearance raised eyebrows among some in the crowd who said there were mixed feelings towards an artist seen as having abandoned Christian music for a time.

But Grant, 47, said she didn’t feel like it was a “return to the fold,” and the only reason she felt nervous before going on stage was that she hadn’t been touring for a while.

“I didn’t really feel out of the fold,” she told Reuters in an interview.  “I don’t think there’s a 15-year-old out there that had that impression and I didn’t have that impression.”

PICTURE: Reuters/Mike Segar

Network Video, an Australian video retail company,  has come up with its list of the best and the worst move pick up lines.

Here’s the best…

1. ”We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors. I love you. You … complete me.”- Tom Cruise to Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire, 1996

2. ”Marry me, and I’ll never look at another horse.” - Groucho Marx to Margaret Dumont in A Day at the Races

3. ”I want to take care of you.” “Good … ’cause I really need to be taken care of.”
- Billy Bob Thornton to Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball

4. ”I want all of you. Forever. Every day.” - Ryan Gosling to Rachel McAdams in The Notebook

5. ”Mind if I get drunk with you?” - Clark Gable to Jean Harlow in Red Dust

6. ” I know what I want, because I have it in my hands right now. You.” - Gerard Butler to Hilary Swank in Ps I Love You

7. ”You came back to this bar to see me tonight, didn’t you?”"What if it wasn’t you I came here to see tonight?” “Well, ya’ got lucky.” - Paul Newman and Charlotte Rampling in The Verdict

And here’s the worst…                                                                            

1. ”You’re 38 and you look it” - Aaron Eckhart to Helena Bonham Carter in Conversations With Other Women

2. ”I appreciate this whole seduction thing you’ve got going on here, but let me give you a tip: I’m a sure thing.” - Julia Roberts to Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.

3.  “Are you stalking me? Because that would be super” - Ryan Reynolds to Tara Reid in Van Wilder.

4. ”I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes.”- Nathan Fillion to Kerri Russell in Waitress

5. “You think I’m gorgeous … you want to kiss me … you want to hug me … you want to love me … you want to smooch me … ” - Sandra Bullock to Benjamin Bratt in Miss Congeniality

6. “You were hoping for a goodnight kiss?”"No, you know. I’ll tell ya, I was hoping to get goodnight laid…” - Matt Damon and Minnie Driver in Good Will Hunting

7. “Would you like to have breakfast with me?” “Sure, fine.” “Shall I phone you or nudge you?” - Mary Mcdonnell and Stephen Tobolowsky in Sneakers

What do you think was the best — or the worst — movie pickup?

Jessica Alba has laid down a challenge — can you outstare her? Millions have tried to beat the actress since she joined a competition on video sharing Web site iBeat You (www.ibeatyou.com) about two weeks ago.  She uploaded a video of herself staring into the camera without blinking for 1.5 minutes and submitted it to a “longest stare” competition. So far the video has received over 3.8 million views on YouTube. Why did she do it? Might have something to do with fact that the Web site was co-founded by her husband Cash Warren. The site is one of a number where people can compete against anyone in anything using photos, video and text.