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Getting reacquainted

By SHARON FINK
Published December 4, 2005

There should be no doubt why Oprah Winfrey decided to suppress for one night her belief that she's the only person David Letterman shouldn't do his "Dave thing" on.

Her Thursday appearance on his show - her first in 16 years - was to promote that night's opening of the Broadway musical version of The Color Purple, into which she has sunk more than a million dollars as a producer.

(Not that Winfrey wasn't looking long-term, too. A fan campaign is under way to get her nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.)

Winfrey's Letterman segment ended with him escorting her to The Color Purple's theater, which happens to be right across the street from where Letterman does his show. There, Winfrey mingled with a crowd whose star power ranged from megabright (Quincy Jones) to dollar-store night light (David Hasselhoff). But such a crowd was expected for the most anticipated show of the season.

Winfrey's influence is so strong that she got mentioned in several of the reviews ("And how bad could it be, anyway, if Oprah Winfrey thinks it's cool?" Peter Marks wrote in the Washington Post ). She wasn't enough to get the show universal raves - mixed reviews cited too much plot and too fast a pace but a talented, energetic cast - but she is enough to put the emphasis on the good and ensure a successful run.

And these Oprah moments helped it get started.

-- Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 4, 2005, 01:18:20]