At Shamrock Fest, Crowe Plays 'Blues' for a Green Crowd

Now and again, one of those unlikely-sounding celebrity rumors actually does pan out. Buzz started building a week ago that Russell Crowe might -- just might-- make a surprise cameo at Saturday's Shamrock Fest concert at RFK. The speculation was stoked by Celt-rock cognoscenti hip to the actor/bar-band singer's friendship with Canadian folkies Great Big Sea and aware that Crowe is hunkered down in D.C. for a month filming the political thriller "State of Play."

But not even the music festival organizers had a clue if it would actually happen -- until the star's entourage showed up several minutes into GBS's 9 p.m. set. And then at the encore, Crowe walked onstage. With the band he performed Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and an Irish ballad. And everyone pretty much went nuts. Fans said Crowe was looking kind of hirsute, with longish hair. How'd he sound? Forgot to ask!

Myers's Rallying Cry: More Women, More Power!

So, Dee Dee Myers: This new book of yours, "Why Women Should Rule the World" -- how much of it is about Hillary?

"Very little!" the first female White House press secretary insisted after we pressed our way through the mob at a party in her honor Saturday, the palatial Foxhall home of Clinton buds Ron and Beth Dozoretz packed tight with every face you have ever seen on a Sunday morning news show.

The book is actually part-memoir, part call-to-arms, Myers said -- "I believe more women in public life is a good thing" -- and despite the fact her ex-boss's wife happens to be an applicant for leader of the free world, she hasn't even endorsed Clinton. (Her sister, Betsy, is COO of Barack Obama's campaign, as it happens.) So, again: It's really not about Hillary? "My book's a year late," she explained. "It wasn't even supposed to be timed to the election cycle."

As for that title, "it's meant to be tongue-in-cheek. It's not anti-male. As you know, I love men!" she told the crowd, adding shout-outs to her dad, her son, and writer husband Todd Purdum. Still -- timely title, huh? "Of course, I get asked about it in every interview," she told us. "Hey, that works!"

Juggling Roses and Torts, the Life of a Bachelorette

Ah, the old "studying for the bar" excuse! That's what Denise Gitsham told her fellow associates at D.C. mega-firm K&L Gates when she vanished for most of January and February. In fact, she was one of the 25 women running the roses-and-hot-tubs gantlet on the new "The Bachelor," premiering on ABC tonight.

D.C. natives-turned-California-gals made the finals the past two seasons of the reality romance show, but Gitsham, 30, is a genuine Washington type -- a Bowdoin grad and marathon runner who came here via the Bush 2000 campaign, landing jobs in the White House correspondence office and the Justice Department before enrolling at Georgetown Law. ABC wouldn't let Gitsham talk, but a friend says she's "very good about keeping her private life private." (But will she make out on camera?)

Also good about: multitasking. Seems Gitsham actually managed to study for the bar during filming -- and took the exam last month.

SORRY, YOU'RE NOT ON THE LIST

One in an occasional series of dispatches from parties you should have crashed.

Event: Friday's celebration of " August Wilson's 20th Century" 10-play cycle.

Site: Kennedy Center's stark Atrium, made into a cozy "family dinner" spot with drapes, low lights, etc.

VIPs: Student-loan mogul Catherine Reynolds (who gave $1 million for the month of staged readings), Rep. John Lewis, Tony Williams, Eric Holder, Don Graham, Billy Martin.

Bar: Open, natch.

Menu: Short ribs, sweet potatoes, collard greens by Harlem soul-food landmark Sylvia's.

Onstage drama: Vignettes from each play performed by Wilson vets. (Look, it's Leslie Uggams!) "I want them to get a taste of August Wilson, then get the whole meal," said director Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

Offstage drama: Another star falls! Flu-struck Lou Gossett, Jr., himself a last-minute replacement for Charles S. Dutton, bowed out of "Fences" Friday; sub John Beasley had just two days to prep for last night's opening.

Swag: A box set of Wilson's plays.