NEW YORK (AP) – The first lines spoken by Julia Roberts in her Broadway debut were drowned out by applause at an eagerly awaited preview of “Three Days of Rain.”

The play, which started previews Tuesday and opens April 19 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, is Roberts’ first major project since the birth of her 16-month-old twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel.

A prop tomato fell onto the floor during the preview, making a noise that prompted laughter from the actress, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Appearing in Richard Greenberg’s 1997 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Roberts plays a woman unraveling the truth behind her father’s death, and in the second act, plays the woman’s mother.

Roberts co-stars with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper. The actress didn’t take a solo curtain call, instead sharing the spotlight with the two actors, the Post reported.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Kevin Federline, aka Britney Spears’ husband, is the proud father of another baby – his debut hip-hop album, “Playing With Fire.”

The expected release date is August, said a spokeswoman for FYI Public Relations, which is promoting the album.

“The inspiration and meaning behind the title, “Playing With Fire,” is self-explanatory,” the 28-year-old Federline, known to some as K-Fed, said in a statement Tuesday.

“I’m excited about this album and am looking forward to continuing my promotional club tour in support of it and seeing the firsthand reaction of my fans listening to my songs for the first time,” he said. “My album is sure to set the dance floors across the world on fire!”

His first single, the critically slammed Brazilian groove “PopoZao,” was released earlier this year through Yahoo Music Unlimited.

Federline and Spears have a son, Sean Preston, who was born in September. He also has two children with his former girlfriend Shar Jackson.

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On the Net:

http://www.kevinfederline.com

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LONDON (AP) – It’s not unusual for Tom Jones to meet Queen Elizabeth II – but being knighted was something special.

The 65-year-old singer, a coal miner’s son from the Welsh town of Pontypridd, received the honor Wednesday at Buckingham Palace.

Jones, known for hits including “What’s New Pussycat” and “It’s Not Unusual,” said he had met the British monarch “six or seven times, maybe more,” starting with a royal charity performance in 1966.

“I love seeing the queen and I have always been a royalist,” Jones said. “She is lovely and she still is lovely.”

Jones, who was accompanied by his son, daughter and granddaughter, said receiving the knighthood was “just tremendous.”

“When you first come into show business and you get a hit record, it is the start of something,” he said. “As time goes on, it just gets better. This is the best thing that I have had. It is a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling.

“Sometimes you just can’t believe it, you think you have been dreaming.”

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On the Net:

http://www.tomjones.com/

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Britney Spears’ songwriters have accused a South Korean pop composer of plagiarism and are seeking damages, a music publisher said Wednesday.

Universal Music Publishing Korea, the company that handles South Korean copyrights for Spears’ music, said her songwriters had complained that “Get ya,” performed by Lee Hyo-lee, sounded similar to a song they wrote for the 24-year-old pop singer titled, “Do Something.”

“Get ya” was the lead song on Lee’s second album, which was released last month. Spears released “Do Something” in February 2005.

Kevin Cho, general manager of Universal Music Publishing Korea, said Spears’ songwriters claim the Korean track had been “partially plagiarized” and the company sent their complaint to Lee’s composer, Kim Do-hyun.

Cho said they were seeking a settlement of undisclosed terms, but hadn’t yet received a response from Kim’s side.

Kim has said he was influenced by the Spears’ song, but denied copying directly from it. He wasn’t immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Lee, whose sexy style has earned her prominent appearances in advertising campaigns, is staging a comeback this year with a return to live performances.

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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Prince Harry has completed a military exercise on Cyprus, British military officials said.

“As part of the (officers’) commissioning course, he was on the island for the exercise,” British military spokesman Capt. Crispin Coates said Wednesday.

Some 200 officer cadets, including Harry, 21, took part in “Spring Victory” at the British sovereign base of Episcopi, western Cyprus, Coates said.

Former colonial ruler Britain maintains two military bases on Cyprus, which gained independence in 1960. The other base is at Dhekelia in eastern Cyprus.

Prince Harry is third in line to the British throne, after his brother, Prince William, 23, and father, Prince Charles, 57.

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TORONTO (AP) – Pamela Anderson has added her name to the growing list of celebrities speaking out against Canada’s annual seal hunt, which just got under way.

Anderson, who hosted Sunday’s Juno Awards, Canada’s largest music awards, has asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Harper turned down a similar request by French film legend Brigitte Bardot, who traveled to Ottawa last week to protest the hunt.

The seal hunt has attracted plenty of celebrity protesters this year, including Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills, who called the cull “a stain on the character of the Canadian people” and urged the government to turn to ecotourism in the region.

British singer Morrissey said he won’t include Canada on any tours until the seal hunt ends.

“As a proud Canadian who frequently travels abroad, I am alarmed that people are starting to see Canada as a country more beholden to a pack of greedy hunters and to the sealskin “fashion’ whims of a few countries than to the massive international outcry against the hunt,” Anderson said in a letter faxed to Harper’s office late Monday.

“One of the biggest problems facing the U.S. government is appearing aloof about its own hostile behavior; I’d hate to see that happen north of the border too.”

Anderson is a native of British Columbia in western Canada.

The actress said she’s collected thousands of signatures on an online People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals petition protesting the annual hunt, which opened Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

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