A week in the entertainment industry

All entertainment, even if its heart beats to the rhythm of Baywatch and its soul is doomed to go straight to video, wants, deep down, to be perceived as art. And the art of making art, as Stephen Sondheim observed, is putting it together. In preparing this photo essay, we discovered the truth in those words. Putting it together can mean sewing the seams of a Muppet costume, or connecting strips of film until they become Apollo 13. But making entertainment also means taking things apart — even if the weapon is just a pair of scissors used to cut a hole in Cindy Crawford’s jeans — or blowing things up: Check out the rubble on the new James Bond set. On the following pages, a typical week in the most atypical lives.

Clueless in California
”If this movie doesn’t make tons of money, there’s something wrong with the world,” says Alicia Silverstone, sporting one of her 60 costumes for this summer’s comedy Clueless, in which her character tries to better humanity — or at least its fashion sense. The 18-year-old Aerosmith video icon plays a Hollywood control freak with impeccable taste who lures classmates into her bathroom for makeovers. ”It’s a Fast Times at Ridgemont High for the ’90s,” Silverstone says (which isn’t surprising since Amy Heckerling directed both films). ”It’s got Heathers‘ attitude, and a touch of Gone With the Wind.”

MONDAY

One Giant Leap For Moviekind
For every summer of thrills, there is a winter of tedium. At a Connecticut studio, director Ron Howard splices footage from Apollo 13. The film, with Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon, tells the true tale of an aborted lunar trip. As Howard polishes off his own mission, his emotions are mixed: ”Feeling good about the movie, but feeling sad about coming to the end of the experience.”

Pretty Much In the Can
Brad Sullivan cancans, and Jean Louisa Kelly and former New Kid on the Block Joe McIntyre sing out at a New York rehearsal for the film The Fantasticks. The musical, which has run Off Broadway for 34 years, is currently being shot in Arizona, far from Hollywood’s fast track. ”The only way to make it for under $10 million is to have no cellular phone bill,” says director Michael Ritchie.

A Literary Cop-Out
Florida-based mystery writer Edna Buchanan grills Miami’s finest about a shoot-out after cruising in a squad car to research her next novel, Act of Betrayal. ”Violence, comedy, sex, tragedy — it’s all there,” she says. ”Even if it’s some minor offense, you learn more about people riding around in a police car than anywhere else.”

Sister Act
Sister Souljah cracks crabs, gases up her van, and cradles her 18-month-old son during a grueling cross-country tour to flog her collection of relationship anecdotes, No Disrespect. The Souljah Train made stops in 22 cities before returning to New York. Of her sisterly speechifying, Souljah says: ”I’m trying to get men to understand and appreciate the impact their actions have on women’s lives. That’s my topic in 1995.”