RHYMIN' SIMON DEEP INTO BROADWAY PROJECT.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

What's Paul Simon been up to? He's deep, deep, deep into work on what appears likely to become his first Broadway musical.

Simon is collaborating with Pulitzer Prize-winner Derek Walcott on ``Capeman,'' which will have rhymin' Simon doing what he's been loving to do best in recent years - cross-cultural musical pollination. His ``Capeman'' will feature Puerto Rican salsa, Latino Pentecostal music, doo-wop and early '60s-style pop in keeping with the story's setting. It's drawn from the real-life saga of Puerto Rican New Yorker Salvador Agron, who was imprisoned in 1960 for a gang-related slaying. Simon will co-produce with Jimmy Nederlander Jr.

Home again: Jack Lemmon finally has headed home, with production of ``My Fellow American'' with James Garner behind him at long last.

Jack still is showing the marks of the injury he suffered when he ran afoul of a frightened horse on the ``Fellow American'' set. He feels he owes his life to the second assistant director, who noticed that the animal had spooked and threw himself against the horse so it didn't come down full force on Jack. Lemmon suffered enough so that he couldn't work for several days - and several weeks later still has marks of discoloration on the leg that bore the brunt of the horse's hoof.

He enjoyed working with Garner - a lot - but reportedly is feeling exhausted from the movie-making experience.

Thanks, but no thanks: Bill Cosby and Elizabeth Hurley have decided not to take part in the TV critics press tour that begins next week at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pasadena. Hurley stars in Turner's coming ``Salome'' TV movie, and Cosby, of course, is returning to the series scene in CBS' ``Cosby'' sitcom, and it seems neither wants to be subjected to a bombardment of questions from more than 100 members of the press.

The best-laid plans: Now that it looks like ``The Double'' will be one of those movies that doesn't get made, John Goodman could well end up making appearances on some of the early episodes of ``Roseanne'' for fall.

After John Travolta bowed out of ``The Double,'' and Isabelle Adjani soon followed suit, Goodman was told last week to pack his bags and go home.

There is still no deal for him to return to ``Roseanne,'' on which he co-starred for years. And they're still six weeks from the start of fall production. However, insiders now tell us that, with the unexpected window in his schedule, Goodman is expected to return to ``Roseanne'' - at least part-time.

The waiting game: Doug McGrath, director and writer of the screen adaptation of Jane Austen's coming ``Emma,'' anxiously is waiting to see if moviegoers' love affair with the 19th-century novelist has abated.

``It's something I ask myself constantly: Are we too late in the game, the caboose on the Jane Austen Express? On the other hand, we have to be helped by the fact that so many people were introduced to her work with `Sense and Sensibility.' No one could see something so wonderful and still have fears that Jane Austen's work is stuffy or too arty.''

McGrath is well aware that he can't count on the players (Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Alan Cumming, Ewan McGregor, Jeremy Northam, Greta Scacchi, Juliet Stevenson, Polly Walker and Sophie Thompson) serving as box-office lure. He said that Miramax is counting on word-of-mouth to do the trick.

McGrath is convinced that ``Emma'' will boost Paltrow into the big time. The actress from ``Seven'' and ``Flesh and Bone,'' best-known to many as Brad Pitt's love, gets a chance to broaden her range in the lovely ``Emma.'' ``She sings, she dances, she is allowed to show off a wide range of emotions,'' says McGrath. ``No studio will have to wonder what Gwyneth is capable of after this.''

Something special: Octogenarian actress Fay Wray, who made film history with her portrayal in the original 1933 ``King Kong,'' is delighted she's being included in the new IMAX film ``Special Effects.'' She's also thrilled she's been involved in the approval of clips from the 63-year-old movie for the new film. Wray, who was not expected to attend the Los Angeles premiere of ``Special Effects'' last night at the California Museum of Science and Industry, predicts major success for the film, which will open this weekend in theaters across the country.

MEMO: The Celebrities column appears Monday through Friday.