'Mercury Count' Speeds Piven's Broadway Exit

Jeremy Piven is bailing on Broadway because of a high mercury count, and it doesn’t sound like David Mamet is buying the excuse, Variety reports. “My understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer,” said Mamet, who wrote Speed-the-Plow. The popular play, a show-business satire no less, opened Oct. 23 and runs through February.

"The good news is that some really great actors will be helping out and stepping in, which to me is a sign of great heroism and friendship," Mamet said, without naming names.
(More Speed-the-Plow stories.)