The buzz is growing for The TomKat Project, a bare-bones stage show running through April 24 at the Playground Theater in Chicago. Scientology watcher Tony Ortega let his readers know about it this morning and Tribune theater critic Nina Metz has just given the production a “Genius” rave:

It matters very little that Brianna Baker bears no meaningful resemblance to either Oprah Winfrey or Cruise attorney Bert Fields; she inhabits both with real skill and technique. This might be the best Winfrey impression I’ve seen, one that doesn’t overplay its hand but perfectly embodies her vocal tics and regal self-regard.

The Brandon Ogborn script sources media coverage of Cruise and Holmes from 1998 through 2012 to skewer celebrity journalism as much as it does Scientology. Ortega’s tipster, Synthia Fagen, says that Ogborn has told her there may be some interest from Comedy Central. [Editor's note: Please see reader comments below.]

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In the media this week, there’s something going on in reaction to the release of Lawrence Wright‘s book about Scientology that also occurred last year when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorced, and separately when a Vanity Fair cover story outlined that whole business with Nazanin Boniadi.

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Our good friend Tony Ortega sums it up this way:

For those of us who watch Scientology closely, and have for many years, most of the [Lawrence Wright book-related] articles that have popped up in recent days seem to be gasping over things that have been known or written about for many years…

We would argue that for much of the public, the word [about Scientology] was already out long before today’s publication of Wright’s book. (Look at the reaction, for example, when on Monday The Atlantic magazine ran a paid church advertorial at its website extolling the virtues of Scientology leader David Miscavige. Even though there was nothing really wrong with The Atlantic taking the church’s money for an ad, the public denunciation of the magazine was so swift and loud, The Atlantic caved and took it down.)

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One measure of a true Hollywood scoop is when network morning shows subsequently come knocking. Such was the case this week with Matthew Belloni’s juicy THR Esq. sharing of a threatening letter sent by Tom Cruise’s attorney Bert Fields to National Enquirer parent co. American Media.

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Will the quick divorce settlement reached between high-powered attorneys for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes put an end to the epic bad press run shrouding the Church of Scientology? Only time will tell.

For now, it remains a full-fledged PR nightmare. Per ex-Scientologist Marty Rathbun’s latest blog post, Inside Edition yesterday ran a Jim Moret report during which L. Ron Hubbard’s former personal chef Sinar Parmen said he was forcibly prevented three different times from leaving the church’s sprawling Gold Base compound in San Jacinto. He also vouched for the existence of a prison-like portion on the grounds know as “The Hole:”

In the same post, Rathbun also links to an ABC 7 profile by Marc Brown of a Southern California couple’s experiences with the church and August 2006 escape by Tanja Castle from the Hemet/San Jacinto HQ.

When this particular civil lawsuit was originally leveled in 2009, Tom Cruise’s lawyer Bert Fields called the accusations made by plaintiff Michael Davis Sapir “absolute garbage.”

Nevertheless, in the wake of Katie Holmes’ divorce filing, such a lawsuit is suddenly fair media-game. And so, Celebuzz has today published exclusive snapshots of the original court documents and stacked them alongside a thousand and one Church of Scientology Cruise news items:

“In or about the mid 1990s,” Sapir claimed in the lawsuit, “Cruise visited Pellicano’s office for the purpose of listening to wiretaps.”

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Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan caught a curious piece of reporting from the current issue of OK!. It seems despite reports of Katie Holmes fearing for her safety from Scientologist tails in the wake of her breakup with Tom Cruise, she somehow found it in her heart to hang out with her estranged hubby on his birthday today. Funny how they were able to dig up that incredibly implausible nugget of info today and still find a way to get it into print… last week. You don’t think they… made it up do you?

The big news in Hollywood this morning is the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes after five years of marriage. People magazine broke the story with a statement from Holmes’s lawyer Jonathan Wolfe:

This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family. Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.

Holmes’s fans by and large were not thrilled with her relationship with the effusive Scientologist, particularity after the notorious couch jumping incident. Fans launched a “Free Katie” campaign, and in 2008 the protest group Anonymous joined the cause, calling Holmes a “victim” of the Church of Scientology. “We’re trying to highlight the fact that her image is being used to promote this money-making racket,” one Anon member explained “It is the most damaging cult out there.”

But public interest in the Katie Holmes liberation movement hard largely dissolved, until news broke this morning. Message boards at the Free Katie website are seeing more action than they have in years.

While Holmes is likely locked into one hell of a non-disclosure agreement, we’re holding out hope that in her golden years she comes out with a tell-all book on what has to be one of the creepiest romances Hollywood has ever produced.

There are countless examples in Hollywood of a successful film or TV project being rejected by the studios or networks before eventually going on to find a moment in the sun. But in the case of The Kennedys, this is also what happened with Reelz Channel’s PR campaign for the 2011 Primetime Emmys. The total of ten received by the Greg Kinnear-Katie Holmes drama is all the more impressive given the fact that awards season rookie Reelz was forced to do the campaigning themselves.

“We were turned down by some of the biggest [Emmy] PR firms in Los Angeles,” Reelz CEO Stan Hubbard (pictured) tells FishbowlLA via telephone. “We were basically told that we’d embarrass ourselves if we ran an Emmy campaign.”

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Guillermo del Toro will be making an appearance at the upcoming Los Angeles Film Festival–signing on to become guest director for the event. His role will entail selecting a film that inspired him as a young filmmaker and then leading a conversation about the movie and its influence.

Del Toro will also close out the festival on June 26th by holding the world premiere of his latest horror film Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The film is based on the 1973 telefilm of the same name, which del Toro apparently believes is the “scariest TV production ever made.” The new film stars Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison and was written by del Toro.

More info here.

Previously on Fishbowl LA: LA Film Festival Announces Lineup

Interesting bit of synchronicity for trailblazing media watchdog GossipCop.com. The same week that TV Guide Network announced it is developing a new show based on the outlet, Star magazine has been forced to issue a major apology (and charity donation) to actress Katie Holmes, for a story first debunked by the website. On the cover of the January 20th issue, Star equated her fondness for Church of Scientology e-meter treatments to a serious drug addiction.

Certainly, Star and its glossy ilk get stuff wrong all the time. But it’s not every newsstand-day that a $50 million (now settled) lawsuit forces one of these mags to eat celebrity crow by teasing a subsequent apology on the very same cover. In bold white letters across the top of this week’s issue, the American Media publication declares: “Star Apologizes to Katie Holmes – Inside”

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