Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Elliott: McMillen, Sykes, Bass, Aiken in Gay Prom Episode of 'DDD'/'Lemonade Mouth' a Hit, Sequel Now a Shoo-In

Constance McMillen — who was all over the news last year as the central figure in a firestorm of controversy, when her high school in Itawamba County, Miss., refused to allow her to bring her girlfriend to the school prom — will appear in a forthcoming episode of "Drop Dead Diva" that's been dubbed the gay prom episode.

That is the word from "DDD" star Brooke Elliott, who tells us McMillen pops up as a bailiff in the July-airing episode, in which Elliott's crusading attorney character is representing a "client who wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend. They're in a committed relationship, but the school won't allow same-sex couples to go together."

Out stars Wanda Sykes, Lance Bass and Clay Aiken all appear in the segment as well.

"I think it's great," says Elliott. "I think we do it in a way that, hopefully, is not preaching to people but is a reflection back of what is happening in our society right now and what we as a group are going through."

Season 3 of "Drop Dead Diva" launches June 19 with an armada of interesting guest-star names including Paula Abdul returning as Elliott's voice of reason (that's right), LeAnn Rimes, Kathy Griffin, Wendy Williams, Mario Lopez, Amanda Bearse, Tony Goldwyn, Howard Hesseman, Sharon Lawrence, Faith Prince, Jennifer Tilly and Louis Van Amstel. The latter, you may recall, was "Drop Dead Diva" co-star Margaret Cho's dance partner on "Dancing With the Stars" — and Elliott says the two had a great time reuniting to perform together again.

The season opens with an episode that includes a musical dream sequence choreographed by "So You Think You Can Dance's" Keith "Tyce" Diorio. It also gave Broadway veteran Elliott ("Taboo," "Wicked," "Beauty and the Beast") a chance to exercise her pipes.

"The voice you'll hear is mine. It was a complicated song. I hope people will like it," she says.

Of course, Elliott has more than enough to do playing the character of a shallow model who died and then, in an accident of cosmic cross-wiring, wound up sharing the plus-sized body of a brilliant, socially conscious lawyer.

The role "is a challenge every day.

With it all, "Drop Dead Diva" continues to be a show widely praised by critics — particularly for Elliott's seamless performance — yet undiscovered by many viewers. She observes, "You can drive yourself crazy spending too much time thinking about things that you can't control. I'm focused on my job and doing a good job with this character."

Naturally, she is hoping that "Diva" will draw bigger viewership this coming season — and points out that people can catch up by watching the Season 2 DVD that just came out this week. Of course.

TRY, TRY AGAIN: With the Disney Channel's "Lemonade Mouth" movie attaining the distinction of being the No. 1 original television movie of the year among kids and tweens, it looks like the hoped-for sequel is a shoo-in.

"We hope so; we really want to do it," says producer Debra Martin Chase. That's also good news for the new collection of young stars in the movie.

Interestingly, Chase tells us that Nick Roux, who does a memorable turn as a rival band member in the flick, almost didn't make it in.

"We brought Nick in five times. There was a feeling in some circles that he might be too old" to play a high schooler. But the handsome 20-something actor, who is managed by none other than Blake Lively's mom, changed his look to try again.

"I said, 'Have him come in with his hair down like Justin Bieber,' and he did, and he wore baggy pants and sneakers." And he got away with acting younger.

Besides her new Disney Channel franchise, Chase is the long-time producing partner of Whitney Houston, and she tells us they have another project in the pipeline.

"I can't talk about it yet, but Whitney and I are planning something, hopefully for later this year."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: A Sept. 7 start date has been set for the Adam Arkin-Ethan Embry feature, "Insecurity," about a pair of security experts who decide to beef up business by robbing houses themselves — but run into major complications when they find a duffel bag full of money.

Scottish star Robert Carlyle ("Trainspotting," "The Full Monty," "Angela's Ashes," etc.) will be tapping into his inner rock star for "California Solo," in which he'll play an aging rocker who lives in Los Angeles but faces deportation back to Scotland after he's stopped for DUI. The movie's described as being full of Brit pop and L.A. cultural references and pathos. We'll see.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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