AfterElton Briefs: Meryl Streep Plays a Horror Icon, Gwyneth Does Prince, "Glee" Announces Tour Dates, and More!

Happy 28th Birthday to out actor/singer Jim Verraros

• Congratulations to Aslie Pitter, who helped found one of the UK’s first gay football teams, and received an MBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace today.

• I hit the roof when I found out the NBC was remaking Prime Suspect  for American TV, since no one could ever hope to replace Dame Helen Mirren in the role of Jane Tennison. Now comes word that Maria Bello is in talks to take the role and while I still think the whole idea is doomed, I'm intrigued by that possibility. Maria is an underrated actress, and should have scored Oscar noms for The Cooler and A History of Violence.

• The Glee Summer Tour kicks off May 21st in Las Vegas, with Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Mark Salling, Dianna Agron, Naya Rivera, Heather Morris, Harry Shum, Jr., Chord Overstreet and Darren Criss. I probably should have just said "everyone but Jane and Matthew."

• Speaking of Glee (as we rarely do), The Spurf is reporting that when Gwyneth Paltrow returns to the show next month, she'll perform ... oh dear ... the Prince classic "Kiss."

• Below you can see the first promo pic from The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. Oscar nom #17 awaits.

• Reviews are pouring in for Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, and it's pretty brutal. My favorite - "The second act, taken all in all, is basically how I’ve always imagined the Björk–Matthew Barney honeymoon: lots of atavistic rock-moaning, lots of 40-story phallic symbols, lots of bees.”

• Big congrats to Cynthia Nixon and her partner Christine Marinoni. The pair are celebrating the birth of their baby boy, Max Ellington Nixon-Marinoni.

• Lady Gaga has tweeted the cover of the "Born This Way" single. Life is so strange. Destination unknown. Just sayin'.

• Screw you, Dallas Morning News.

• GLAAD has launched its People of Color Media Training Institute, to "develop a group of passionate and visible leaders to speak in national media outlets about issues that impact the lives of LGBT people and their families."

• I don't watch One Life To Live anymore, so I can't comment on this article about last week's questionable humor on the show.

• Speaking of soaps, a few days ago I mentioned that As The World Turns had won the Writer's Guild Award for Daytime Serial, and I joked that they had won it for "lamest way to kill off a beloved character." Well, guess what? I was right! Our pal LoveLure confirms that the storyline that the show submitted was Reid's death and aftermath.

• Finally, below you can see a moving CBS Sports tribute to Brendan Burke. Hearing his teammates talk about what he meant to them is simply heartbreaking.

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