Jill Scott plans her perfect Philly date

PHILLY'S OWN Jill Scott likes not being Jill Scott, if only for a little while.

She hits the big screen tomorrow in "Baggage Claim," playing Gail, the cheeky best friend to Paula Patton's lovelorn flight attendant who doesn't realize that love might not require a boarding pass.

Saucy Gail is quite different from songstress Scott or even the Jill Scott who has inhabited other roles, like Precious in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" or Sheila in "Why Did I Get Married?"

But playing across a spectrum of characters means bringing out her creative spirit.

"The more people forget about the person that they see in concert, and forget about the whole Jill Scott thing for a while, that's my dream. It's just more creative," Scott told me. "I just want you to forget, which is why I did the episode of ['Law & Order: Special Victims Unit']. She was a horrible person, but I loved every second of it. I loved her because she was not Jill Scott, no way."

"Baggage Claim" is Scott's first romantic comedy, but she's a scholar of the romance genre, name-checking titles like "Mo' Betta Blues" and "The Notebook" throughout our convo. She giggled, "I really like 'Love, Actually.' "

If Scott got her own romantic comedy, she has her first Philly date all planned out. "I would take them walking through Old City. There's cobblestones so you get a chance to lean on the arm," Scott said, devilishly. "There's a lot of information on the street, there's beautiful churches to walk into, great restaurants. It's casual, unplanned. And if it's not going well, I can get on the bus and go the hell home."

But who's her rom-com leading man?

"Idris Elba, all day, the whole day," Scott said without skipping a beat.

Comedian Chris Tucker will host the Marian Anderson Award gala this year, honoring Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. Tucker is no stranger to Philly after filming "Silver Linings Playbook" in the area.

To send Gordy up in style, Boyz II Men, Kool & the Gang and "The Lion King" actor Cody Wise (who hails from Philly) will all perform for the legendary record exec. In addition, Smokey Robinson and Sound of Philadelphians Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will pay tribute.

The gala takes place Nov. 19 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased at kimmelcenter.org or by calling 215-893-1999.

Gordy was announced as this year's Marian Anderson honoree back in June. The Marian Anderson Award is given to "artists and individuals whose body of work has improved the world beyond the power to entertain." Past recipients include James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby and Richard Gere (who will return to Philly next month when he starts filming "Franny").

Our own Streetgazer, Big Rube Harley (that's his stellar work over to your right) will be a guest chef at Supper (926 South St.) this Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m. Harley will serve up his classic fried chicken, while Supper executive chef and owner Mitch Prensky will opt for his pastrami fried chicken, plus all the fixin's. For $30, you get sides, apple pie, sweet tea and beer courtesy of Heineken. A portion of the proceeds benefit Kenny Gamble's Universal Cos.' schools.

* Bassist Flea, best known for his plucking with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, checked out the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and instagrammed of a photo of a reproduction of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (that would be a urinal for those who skipped art history). Later, Flea took the stage wearing a Temple basketball jersey at the Liacouras Center with his new band Atoms for Peace, which includes Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

* Here's a celeb I don't get to write about often: Nikola Gruevski, the prime minister of Macedonia, stopped by Legal Seafoods at Philadelphia International Airport and dined on a Greek salad, fisherman's stew and mussels. His wife, Borkica, had a Caesar salad. His eight security-staff members didn't go so healthy: They all enjoyed burgers.

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