Showbiz411

Three time Oscar winner Meryl Streep has given $1 million to New York’s- and Joe Papp’s — Public Theater. The announcement was made last night at the Public as they unveiled their $8 million-plus renovation. Streep gave the money in memory of her pal Nora Ephron, and in honor of the Public’s good works. She got her start there and has been a loyal member of their repertory for the 40 or so years, appearing in many productions. The Public is on a big fundraising drive. On October 24th, Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway is putting on a show in Joe’s Pub at $300 a ticket. She and her friends will be performing songs from “Cabaret.” Meryl is a mensch, that’s for sure. She didn’t even tell her publicist what she’d done. Bravo! Her statement read: “I give this gift in honor of the founder of The Public Theater, my friend and mentor Joseph Papp, and in remembrance of one of the theater’s Board members and greatest supporters, my friend Nora Ephron.”

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.