COURT JESTERS
Malibu’s Kelsey Grammer hit the tennis court to help pal David Foster raise $100,000 for his MusicCares Financial Assistance Fund at the opening event of the Mercedes Benz Cup. The annual “Night at the Net” fundraiser at UCLA serves up lots of laughs as well as professional tennis.
After a VIP cocktail party sponsored by MusicCares, guests made their way to UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center and settled into their seats, joining a sellout crowd of 7,000. Every year, funnymen like Robin Williams and Billy Crystal team up with the world’s top pros for a tennis experience that is like no other.
This year’s match had Grammer, “Saturday Night Live” alum David Spade, Greg Kinnear and Matthew Perry, rotating in and out with powerhouses Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
With their off-the-cuff quips, wacky lobs, lopsided serves, long shots, dinkers and drops, the stars of “Just Shoot Me,” “Fraiser” and “Friends” made for an evening as entertaining as their popular sitcoms.
“How would you like it?” queried Agassi, whose serves top 100 miles per hour.
“Oh, about 45 and right in the middle,” Grammer replied.
“I don’t think it will make it there at 45,” answered Agassi.
For the most part, the pros took it easy on the celebrity partners. But the stars did manage to get in a few good shots. When Perry missed his first serve, Spade quipped from the sidelines, “You serve like a girlie little girl.” But Perry aced his opponent the second time around, to which Spade replied, “An angry little girl.”
The stars sat through some final points while Sampras and Agassi took some real shots. It was close, but team Spade came out on top, winning the game 21-20 and laughing all the way.
DALI HIGH
Meantime, lovers of prolific surrealist Salvador Dali got a fascinating eyeful of cropped torsos, melting clocks and oversized insects at the opening night kickoff of the artist’s exhibition at UCLA. Art enthusiasts joined Dr. Stephen Cederbaum for a sneak peek at the show, while helping raise money for the university’s School of Medicine. The gallery walls were filled to the brim with oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints, sculpture and tapestries, which made up the largest Dali exhibit ever shown in Los Angeles.
THE PLAY’S THE THING
Locals like Donna Mills and Ed Begley Jr. have been among those making the theater rounds these days. From glitzy productions like “Contact” at the Ahmanson, to the Black Box Theater’s hysterical one-woman show, “Note to Self,” to the lavish “La Bayadere,” the curtains are calling to keep you cool during the dog days of summer.