If you're wondering why you haven't been seeing much of Vanessa Redgrave or Mandy Patinkin in recent months (well, that's not completely true -- Patinkin performed his one man show at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Dec. 9), the reason might be because they are in New York filming Lulu on the Bridge.

The feature film, billed as a "romantic mystery," is written and directed by Paul Auster (who is best known for scripting Smoke).

Stage and screen star Willem Dafoe has just joined the cast, it was reported in the Dec. 15 Variety. The film also stars Harvey Keitel and features Mira Sorvino. Lulu on the Bridge is the story of a jazz saxophonist (Keitel) whose life is forever changed when he is hit by a stray bullet.

Dafoe will be returning to the stage once shooting is completed in The Wooster Group's House/Lights (based on Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights), going to NY in late January. Dafoe is a founding member of the experimental theatre company and recently starred in their version of O'Neill's The Hairy Ape.

It's unknown what Patinkin will be doing next. Although he was originally scheduled to star in a musical version of Captains Courageous at Manhattan Theatre Club in the spring, rumors have been circulating that Patinkin dropped out of the project. A theatre spokesperson told Playbill On-Line on Dec. 15 that at this time "nothing is confirmed" regarding Captains Courageous and that the production may not, in fact, be done at all this season. -- By Rebecca Paller