Tattle: Old is new on Broadway: Evita's returning

AT SOME POINT, with the way things are going in the mainstream entertainment world, the only new movies, TV shows and plays are going to be remakes of old movies, TV shows and plays.

Our latest case in point: "Evita" is returning to Broadway.

It will be the first new production of the Tony Award-winning musical since its 1979 New York debut, and Ricky Martin is going to star.

He will not be playing Evita.

The show's producers announced yesterday that Argentine actress

Elena Roger will get the marquee role, which she played on the London stage in 2006.

Martin will play Che, the play's narrator.

The revival of "Evita" is scheduled to open in spring 2012. Michael Grandage will direct, with choreography by Rob Ashford.

Look who's making a movie

Newt Gingrich may rail against the corruptive forces of Hollywood, but the former House speaker is getting into the movie business.

Gingrich - a former Baptist who recently converted to his wife's religion, Catholicism - is in Poland promoting a documentary he co-produced on Pope John Paul II's role in defeating communism.

Although Poles love John Paul II, Gingrich said yesterday that his film, "Nine Days that Changed the World," is still needed to remind young Poles, secular historians and people worldwide of John Paul's anti-totalitarian convictions. The film, which will be screened at American universities this fall, is also being translated into Chinese and Spanish in hopes it will inspire people in Cuba and elsewhere, Gingrich said.

"We believe the pope's message of freedom through faith and his principle that no government can get between you and God is a principle that is relevant in every country, for every person around the world," Gingrich said at a Warsaw news conference.

How about, no government can get between you and your freedom to believe - or not -

in God?

* In a most interesting pairing,

country-music star Toby Keith will celebrate Independence Day with the Boston Pops.

Liberty Mutual, the event's sponsor, announced yesterday that Keith will join conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops for the annual Fourth of July concert and fireworks show on the banks of the Charles River.

The "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular," hosted by Craig Ferguson of "The Late Late Show," will be televised nationally on CBS.

What better way to celebrate American independence than by bringing an Oklahoman to perform in Boston for a show hosted by a Scotsman (who's now an American citizen).

A call from a King

A spokesman for longtime TV yakker Larry King said yesterday that the talk-show host's wife, Shawn, is recovering after an apparent prescription-drug overdose last month in Utah.

Last month? CNN sure missed the boat on that one.

Emergency medical workers were called to Shawn King's home in Provo on May 28. Her father, Karl Engemann, dialed 9-1-1 after finding Shawn, 50, in her bed, breathing but not responding when he tried to wake her. This is according to a transcript of the emergency call, which was released through an open-records request yesterday.

Officers who responded to the call found several prescription bottles, including sleep aid Ambien (what do you need Ambien for when you're married to Larry King?) and anti-anxiety medication. Both had been filled within 10 days but were empty, according to a police report. It also said there was a handwritten note that indicated she had taken the pills intentionally.

But Engemann told the 9-1-1 dispatcher that he thought that Shawn may have taken too much medication for anxiety or depression, but that he did not suspect it was a suicide attempt.

Another note, however, expressed Shawn's desire to be buried in Utah, police said.

The Kings filed for divorce in April, but Larry released a statement through his spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, saying "reports that we have fought are absolutely false."

"Our marriage is still together, and I am staying very close to our children, who we love immensely," Larry said. "We shall go through this difficult time intact as a family."

Tattbits

* Kids really do take after their

parents.

The eldest daughter of Al and Tipper Gore, Karenna, has been separated from her husband, Andrew Schiff, for a couple of months.

Two friends of the family who spoke on condition of anonymity say the couple is seeking counseling.

Karenna is 36. Andrew is 44. They married in 1997 and have three young children.

Al and Tipper announced just last week that they were separating amicably after 40 years of marriage.

* According to Life & Style, The

Situation of "Jersey Shore" would like to chat up Jennifer Aniston and thinks she's "very pretty."

Jen thinks the Situation . . .

Wait, who's the Situation?

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com.