I find it remarkable when performers bounce directly from one L.A. stage experience to another, particularly actors who _ it's fairly clear _ could probably cash a much more substantial paycheck in another medium. I figure their agents must undergo corronaries. "You're doing what? Again?"

Laurence Fishburne ("The Matrix") did the L.A. stage bounce it last year when he went from "Without Walls" at the Mark Taper Forum to "Fences" at the Pasadena Playhouse. Now you know why he did it: two pretty amazing parts, and the man figures to have plenty of healthy film opportunities still waiting for him once the final curtain rings down on the stage gig.

Now I notice that Vicki Lewis, the redheaded former star of "NewsRadio" is set to appear both in "They're Playing Our Song" currently at the El Portal Theatre, followed quickly thereafter by David Mamet's "Squirrels" (Yes, I feel your "Huh?" I'd never heard of it either) at the Miles Playhouse. It opens March 23 (www.squirrelsbymamet.com).

Now, Lewis is a creature of the stage. She's been on Broadway, and in a Reprise! show or two (Most recently "City of Angels"). She's also been in a bunch of movies: "Pushing Tin," "Godzilla" and a bunch of TV. Our old friend IMDB has her listed as appearing in the upcoming flick "Out of Omaha" and the TV movie "The Last Day of Summer."

Here's wishing Ms. Lewis and her perhaps aghast representatives all the best.