`SONNY & CHER' MUSICAL WAS BONO'S BABY ALL THE WAY.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Even as the hoopla surrounding Cher's ``Remembering Sonny'' CBS TV special Wednesday continues, work is quietly moving forward on the musical Sonny Bono instigated with Broadway in mind - and which he was shepherding at the time of his death.

``Sonny & Cher,'' written by his longtime friends and TV producers Chris Bearde and Allan Blye and musical director Earl Brown, is on its way to a tryout run, says Bearde.

Sonny reunited Bearde and Blye, who hadn't worked together in years, to pen the book and lyrics - and last December, Bono flew to L.A. from D.C. to see a run-through of the finished musical.

Bearde now tells us, ``We've just looked at the tape of the run-through for the first time. We couldn't bring ourselves to do it before.

``We had been flying high because it really went well, and Sonny was congratulating us, saying, `You did it!' Then, two weeks later, he was killed. And a week after that, we got his notes on the run-through!''

Bearde explains that Bono had written the notes ``on an envelope and given them to his press secretary in Washington, who sent them to us. He was very complimentary and had great suggestions, and we've been rewriting, using Sonny's notes.'' He adds, ``We kind of paraphrased Sonny and Cher's lives and made it a fable to make it work as a musical.''

Bearde and Blye are currently looking for a director for the project and expect to start its tryout run in Southern California within the next few months.

A new deal is in progress with Bono's estate. ``We're making sure that Mary and the kids are given what they should be given, that the money flows where it should. Sonny will definitely have a credit on the project.''

And Cher? ``She's never been involved. This is a project Sonny brought to us.''

Remembering

So very much has been said and written about Frank Sinatra in recent days, but there's one personal memory we'll never forget. It was in 1962, and he was being interviewed for this column in Las Vegas. Asked why he didn't write his autobiography, he paused a moment, looked very pensive and then said, ``That will never happen because I'm not proud of too many things I've done.'' And it never did happen, although older daughter Nancy wrote a sanitized book about his life in the '80s, and younger daughter Tina produced a Frank Sinatra miniseries.

The industry eye

``Suddenly Susan'' creator Clyde Phillips has just made a movie deal with Avenue Pictures for his hot, new, first novel, ``Fall From Grace.'' He's already put together his wish list of leading ladies for the picture. It includes Jodie Foster, Rene Russo and Holly Hunter. It doesn't include his ``Suddenly Susan'' star, Brooke Shields.

``Brooke's too young,'' says Phillips, who points out that the heroine of his noir thriller ``is a woman in her late 30s - a homicide inspector at the San Francisco police department. She gets involved in a huge case, the brutal murder of a socialite. A love affair has ended, she is lonely, that clouds her judgment, and she makes some mistakes.''

Certainly some will say, ``Just like a woman - letting her personal life interfere with her job.'' But Phillips says, ``What happens to her can happen to anyone in touch with her - or his - feelings.'' His goal is to create a film franchise for such a character ``like Tom Clancy has done with his Jack Ryan books.'' Phillips will not only write the screenplay for the big-screen version of ``Fall From Grace,'' he'll serve as a producer of the feature.

More industry eye

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who has Angela Bassett and Patrick Stewart lined up for her big-screen version of ``X-Men,'' could be close to signing an actor for the lead role of Wolverine. She says she knows who she wants and that ``he wants the part'' but that she doesn't want to name names until things are signed and sealed. Bryan Singer will be directing the 20th Century Fox movie version of the cult comic strip that is being targeted for a December production start.

Here comes the sun

Add ``Heat Wave'' to the ever-lengthening list of big- and small-screen fare obsessed with global disasters. Beginning production June 15, the UPN movie has a massive nuclear storm on the sun that sends a blob of superheated gas and magnetic energy hurtling toward Earth. Lawlessness prevails as things heat up, and everyone wonders how many people can survive the cataclysm - if any.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Cher

Written without her

(2) Angela Bassett

Choice for `X-Men'

(3) Jodie Foster

Wanted for detective serial