Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Mandy Patinkin sounds delighted with the world and full of energy —despite the fact he's been keeping up a pace that would frighten many. For instance, last week, he says, "I finished a concert in Chicago with Nathan Gunn and my son Gideon — singing with him is my favorite thing in the world. I did that on Wednesday in Chicago. Then I flew back to North Carolina to shoot 'Homeland.'"

He's referring to the Oct. 2-debuting Showtime drama, in which he plays Claire Danes' CIA boss and mentor. "We finished the seventh episode Thursday night, started the eighth one Friday," he says.

From there, he says he had a weekend commitment in Toronto "to do my Yiddish concert, which has about 30 minutes of pop at the end of it." Then it was back to North Carolina series production. "We keep shooting 'Homeland' 'til November 10, then I have about three days off before starting the Patti-Mandy concerts," he says.

He'll be reuniting with his fellow vocal great and "Evita" Tony winner Patti LuPone — Che and Eva, together again! — for their highly-anticipated Nov. 16-Jan. 13 stand at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. After that, he and Patti will be taking their show on the road.

Chatting on the phone, he makes it clear he's excited about the "Homeland" scripts that deal with an American soldier who is rescued after having gone missing for nine years (Damian Lewis) and whom Danes' character begins to suspect is under al-Qaeda influence. "You can't wait to get hold of the next one to find out what is going to happen," he says.

He's glad to return to Showtime, where he has a happy history, including "Dead Like Me." And Patinkin says the short, 12-episode cable season was an attraction for him as well.

"It's far more friendly in terms of being able to do other things. I can continue my concert life, which is very important to me. I can keep my two worlds floating there without exhausting myself," he says. "You book a year ahead of time in the concert world, which is why I've had so many to do while we're in production — and they've been great about working around them all," he says of his "Homeland" producers. Next year, however, he says he'll schedule concerts around the series' shooting schedule.

Patinkin tells us, "I'm in my car right now, and I'm on my way to the woods to take a hike. I hike and hour and a half a day. I have 10 to 12 hours of concert material to keep in the forefront of my mind, so I review it while I'm hiking. I vocalize out loud, sing the whole thing to the trees. It's my favorite thing. If I can make it through the vocalizing while I'm hiking, I know I can do it onstage."

Of course, he's had to contend with the weather in Charlotte. The hurricane snuffed plans he had to go to a family wedding, and there've been times he had to do his vocal work while on an elliptical trainer in a nearby gym.

"But clearly, I prefer being outside," he reports.

"It's been more than 100 degrees out through most of July and August. At first it was really difficult, but then I really got into it. It's so hot, you just have to give in. I'd go on these hikes and be drenched when I came back, like I just got out of a lake. Then I'd stretch and shower and — I've never felt better. I just love it here!"

REMEMBERING: Phillip Rhys tells us that when he first read the script for "The Space Between" — which is being shown in a special Sept. 11 presentation on USA cable — he had no idea what the movie was about.

"The opening scene has Melissa Leo working in the airport, boarding the plane, then you hear the sound of Islamic prayers, and you see a man and boy praying. You think, 'Oh, I know what is going to happen — when in fact, that doesn't happen at all.

"The script was fabulously written by Travis Fine. He was a successful actor — he was in 'Girl, Interrupted,' 'The Thin Red Line,' a bunch of movies. Then, he left the business and became a commercial airline pilot. He wasn't flying the day of 9/11, but he was speaking to his captain about what that day was like, and he said, 'My God, Travis. When you're told that any aircraft flying will be shot down, you can't believe it.' Immediately from that, he had a line in his head: 'Are we in L.A. yet?' And from that, he wrote the movie."

Rhys plays the father of the boy who winds up in the care of Leo's flight attendant character, as they're stranded in a strange city because of the grounding of all flights. For the British-born actor, 2011 will go down as a watershed year, professionally, as he also has a role in Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," due for Christmas time release — and is in "Wilde Salome," a film written by, directed by, and starring Al Pacino.

"He kind of did something like this with 'Looking for Richard,' an examination of the piece," reports Rhys of Pacino's experimental documentary, in which Jessica Chastain plays the title character. "He did 'Salome' a number of years ago and recorded the performances. Then we were out in the Mojave desert and staged the scenes. Salome danced, John the Baptist's head was chopped off. You know, the play was banned in its day. Oscar Wilde had to write it in French, the Brits were so against all of the stuff in it. Even for today's audience, it challenges people's preconceived ideas about sexuality and desires. It makes for great drama."

FROM TUBE TO SCREEN: It's clear that well over a year after its final episode aired, interest in a "24" feature film remains high — very high.

Former show-runner Howard Gordon told TV critics this summer that talks were definitely underway, and Keifer Sutherland and others have said that it's all a matter of getting the right script together. (Fox has already turned one script down.)

Mary Lynn Rajskub took to Twitter to address the matter — again - for questioning fans the other day, tweeting, "I still have not heard anything about 24 movie. I would love to see 24 on big screen, not sure if it will happen." Mary Lynn is busy as a regular on CBS's new "How To Be A Gentleman" sitcom, and Kiefer has "Touch" — in which he'll play a former journalist whose wife was killed in the 9/11 attacks — coming up in mid-season.

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.

COPYRIGHT 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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