Linda Lavin

To legions of fans, Mary Tyler Moore will always be Mary Richards and Laura Petrie, no matter how hard she tries to separate herself from those beloved icons of TV yore and Nick at Nite. And she does try. In her latest role, Moore is barely recognizable as a tormented adult with the mind of a child in Sunday's Family Channel movie, "Stolen Memories: Secrets From the Rose Garden." Moore's willingness to submerge identity and glamour is admirable.

Beyond Baroque Old Venice City Hall, 681 Venice Blvd.; (310) 822-3006. Admission: $6 non-members, $3 members, students & seniors. Readings Friday evenings. * Nov. 1: Harold Brodkey. Chateau Marmont 8221 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; (213) 472-4533. Poetry Society of America, West readings: The Act of the Poet. Free admission. Actors select their own programs; poets read from their own works. * Oct. 27: Helen Shaver, Alberto Rios. * Nov. 17: Joe Spano, Timothy Steele. * Dec.

Four West Coast premieres, including a new play by the Tony Award-winning book writer of the musical "James Joyce's The Dead," will be part of the Geffen Playhouse's 2002-03 season. Opening the season will be David Eldridge's "Under the Blue Sky," Sept. 18-Oct. 20. Set in Britain, where it was produced at the Royal Court Theatre, it consists of three interconnecting plays about the after-hours affairs of three pairs of teachers. The U.S. premiere is slated for June in Williamstown, Mass.

"Me and My Girl," and "Les Miserables," two lavish British musicals, topped the list of 1987 Tony award nominations for Broadway's best, the American Theater Wing announced today. "Me and My Girl," the story of a Cockney scamp who rises in society, picked up 13 nominations, while "Les Miserables," a retelling of the Victor Hugo novel, captured 12.

In alphabetical order: "Bitter Women," Cast Theatre. Lisa James' staging of Justin Tanner's Silver Lake singles comedy was as funny and heartfelt as the author's. "Broken Hearts," Cornerstone Theater. This hyper-multiculti company loves L.A. and expresses it with a wry sense of humor. "Cabaret," Wilshire Theatre. Directors Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall transformed a familiar show and a seldom-used theater into theatrical shock waves. "Children," Pacific Resident Theatre.

In alphabetical order: "The Adding Machine," Sacred Fools Theater Company. Roaring '20s parable about a zero named Zero added up nicely in Lauren Hollingsworth's staging. "Aliens in America," Tiffany Theater. Sandra Tsing Loh talks about her father, and other beloved conundrums, in lovely, funny solo polished to a sheen by director David Schweizer. "Collected Stories," Geffen Playhouse.

In the 1950s and '60s, she was the curvy Mouseketeer, the girl next door, America's sweetheart and a growing boy's dream date. And although her perky innocence may be out of style, it has never been tarnished by scandal--something of a marvel in the current climate of celebrity tell-all and expose.

NEW YORK --  “Clybourne Park,” Angela Lansbury and a play about a dysfunctional family were among those overlooked when Tony Award nominations were announced here Tuesday morning.   Although Bruce Norris' “Clybourne Park,” the Pulitzer Prize-winner about race and real estate, received a best play nomination and enthusiastic reviews, it failed to dominate the Tony announcements, picking up just three top nominations, as well as a fourth for scenic design. The show received the Laurence Olivier Award for best new play when it opened in London.

To their doting father, they're his long-awaited twins. To scientist Patrick Steptoe, they are a landmark in test-tube babies. Schoolteacher Mary Wright first gave birth to a test-tube daughter in London in October, 1985, then gave birth to her second on Wednesday. Both were from embryos that had been fertilized and frozen at the same time but thawed and implanted in Wright separately.