Well, You Can't Call It Typecasting

Marion Barry, Christmas angel? The D.C. Council member will don a "bad white suit" this weekend to play a prophet angel in "Xmas in Washington" at the Lincoln Theatre. The holiday musical, said playwright Gloria Hightower, revolves around two New Orleans families separated from their children during the Katrina evacuation who are saved by Barry's character and his band of rescuing angels. At one point the teenage angels bicker, and Barry complains he's got the blues, then start to sings "Stormy Weather."

Barry helped get a $115,000 grant from the city Department of Parks and Recreation for the three performances, said Hightower, and was asked to play the part of the angel who makes things happen. "We wanted this prophet to be realistic," she said.

No word if the former mayor will be driving himself to the theater -- U.S. Park Police detained him Saturday for driving too slowly, with a suspended license, although that turned out to be a D.C. government computer glitch. No wonder he's got the blues.

Snow: First Lady Considered Diagnosis 'No Big Deal'

More details emerged yesterday about Laura Bush's brush with skin cancer -- which was kept private for more than a month. Earlier this fall, the first lady, who's 60, noticed a growth about the size of a nickel on her right lower leg. Her doctor had her cover it with a bandage, and when it didn't heal in a few weeks, a biopsy was performed. Test results came back just before the midterm elections: squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common kind of skin cancer, often caused by youthful sun exposure.

Busy campaigning, the first lady waited until after the election to have the small malignant tumor removed under local anesthetic. "There was some discomfort," said spokeswoman Susan Whitson. "It didn't cause enough of a problem to disrupt her schedule."

The White House took some heat yesterday for keeping news of the malignancy, which was not life-threatening, under wraps. The rationale: Laura Bush is not an elected official; she thought "it's no big deal," said press secretary Tony Snow yesterday. "She's also had colds, she's had the flu, she's had stomachaches."

This was her first cancer diagnosis, although her mother, Jenna Welch, is a breast cancer survivor. Whitson said she didn't know if the first lady would have a scar, but "she's doing just great." Great enough to stand in two dozen receiving lines -- the Bushes hosted the final of 24 White House Christmas parties last night.

K-Fed's All Talk in the Wrestling Ring

Kevin Federline made a surprise D.C. appearance at Verizon Center during Monday night's WWE wrestling extravaganza to deliver two important messages:

 Don't listen to the haters -- K-Fed is going to whup WWE champ John Cena's butt when they face off in Miami on New Year's Day.

 "K-Fed" is dead! Call him Kevin Federline, a'ight?

Seems that while most of us were distracted by his crumbling marriage to Britney Spears, the backup dancer/wannaberapper/prodigious babydaddy has launched a fourth career. Federline engaged in a couple of staged spats with World Wrestling Entertainment earlier this fall; Monday was his first ring appearance since the big breakup.

He didn't fight, though -- just hurled promo trash talk at the 6-1, 240-pound champ. "The real Kevin Federline never backs down from a challenge . . . the real Kevin Federline takes pride in shocking the world," he said, stomping around in an untucked white shirt and jeans. "Make all your jokes because New Year's Day I'm the one who is going to be laughing. Oh yeah, Cena, my name is not K-Fed, it's Kevin Federline, bitch, and I want some and I'm gonna get some."

Crowd reaction: nonstop booing, except for a couple of gals up front who reached out for his hand. Oh, ladies . . .

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