Starry Night for ‘Private Lives’

If the scenario sounds familiar, it is: A much-married 50-something British actress/author/perfume spokeswoman performing Noel Coward’s “Private Lives.�

But this time around, it’s the redoubtable Joan Collins, not Elizabeth Taylor, and the production (which landed at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills Tuesday night) was lauded with a starry opening-night reception hosted by the West Hollywood restaurant Orso.

(Despite a bronchial infection, Collins had spent the afternoon conducting interviews and demonstrating her ability to perform the splits on “Arsenio�).

Arriving at the party, she stepped from a white limousine to the predictable photographic panic on the sidewalk. Inside, the guests gave her an ovation as she made her way to her table.

The opening-night crowd included Collins’ co-star, Simon Jones, and actors Tyne Daly, Estelle Getty, Marion Ross, Rita Moreno, Roger Rees, Barbara Rush, Phyllis Diller, Michele Lee, Zelda Rubinstein, Lisa Pelikan, Juliet Mills and Maxwell Caulfield and Joanne Carson.

“Dynasty� creator Esther Shapiro appeared at the party.

As for Collins’ novelist sister, the equally redoubtable Jackie Collins, she had tickets for the next night, after which there would be another gala reception, this time at Chasen’s.

“If I do another play,� said actress Collins, “it will be a new play. I love doing comedy. I want to do a Neil Simon play. Are you listening, Neil? Write me a play!�

Asked if the “Private Lives� engagement on Broadway is a done deal, Collins sighed. “Nothing is a done deal, darling,� she said, “until you do it.�

Collins and the man in her life, Robin Hurlstone, stayed apart when cameras were in the vicinity.

Only after the cameras disappeared did the two sit down to eat together. All the photographers, however, missed the shot of the evening: The star tucking her Visa card into her decolletage.