The veteran stand-up comic/actress had long been rumored for a Broadway double-bill with Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg. That plan, however, was canceled when Goldberg launched her recent television sitcom. "I was disappointed," Rivers tells Drake, "because I think that would've been a great evening in the theatre with two funny women. I mean, we could've done the whole black-and-white thing — sold Oreo cookies in the lobby!"

Instead, Rivers may return to the New York stage with a play that she's written herself. "It's a four-character show," says Rivers, "about an incident that happened to me backstage before the Academy Awards two years. . . . Right now it's called Joan Rivers Theater Project, [but] I have a feeling the title will change."

A stand-up comic who rose to fame guest-hosting "The Tonight Show," Rivers also hosted her own talk show, "The Joan Rivers Show," for FOX-TV. She made her Broadway debut in Fun City in 1972 and later received critical acclaim when she stepped into the Neil Simon play, Broadway Bound. Although its run was brief, her work in Sally Marr — which she co-wrote — earned her a Leading Actress (Play) Tony nomination. Rivers, with daughter Melissa, is a regular contributor to the E! Entertainment Network.