RIALTO CHATTER: Pascal On Piven, Moss Moves On

Adam Pascal now starring in RENT at the Pantages in L.A. was caught by the TMZ cameras and gave the gossip news site his thoughts on Jeremy Piven using "sushi to bail on his Broadway play SPEED-THE-PLOW -- calling Piv's excuse "crap" and total bull" which you can watch by clicking here.

Piven who has been back in New York due to his Equity hearing, took a date to see Will Ferrell in "You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush", Thursday night.

Also in the audience Thursday night was his former 'PLOW' co-star, Elisabeth Moss, with her fiancé, Fred Armisen. The New York Post's Page Six reports that "Moss was less than thrilled to see Piven and made an obvious show of turning her back as she passed him". To read the Page Six scoop click here.

Actors' Equity Association could not reach a ruling in the hearing involving Jeremy Piven, so now both sides will be headed to arbitration reports.

The two sides released an official statment on the matter, "A grievance hearing was held today in accordance with the Equity-League Production Contract regarding the matter of Jeremy Piven and Speed-the-Plow. Following the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, a panel of five League representatives and five Equity representatives met and heard the positions of the parties. The League and Equity representatives were unable to reach a unanimous decision. The Producers have the right, as a next step, to proceed to arbitration."

Piven appeared in person before the grievance committee of Actors' Equity to defend his claim that high levels of mercury in his bloodstream, brought on by a passion for sushi, forced him to abandon the Broadway revival of David Mamet's "SPEED-THE-PLOW."

Adam Pascal made his Broadway debut playing the HIV-positive rock guitarist "Roger" in the ground-breaking new musical, Rent. His performance in Rent was called "the golden-voiced, meditative soul" of the show and earned him a Tony nomination, a Theater World award, and an Obie Award. He went on to originate the role of "Radames" in the Elton John and Tim Rice musical Aida and play "Emcee" in the final Broadway performances of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. Eventually, he ventured into the world of film to appear in SLC Punk, School of Rock, Temptation and reprised his role in the film version of Rent, directed by Chris Columbus. In 2000 Pascal returned to his rock roots with a solo recording contract on Sh-K-Boom Records. He released two solo rock albums, Model Prisoner - for which he wrote 10 of the album's 12 songs - followed by Civilian, inspired by his children and the effects 9/11 had on his family and the world. In 2006, he formed the band, "Me and Larry" with fellow musician Larry Edoff. The two musicians began composing and performing original material and reworked Broadway songs in small venues throughout the US which led to Pascal winning the 2007-2008 Golden Icon Award for Best Small Venue Concert. The band's first CD, Blinding Light, was released in May 2008 on Pascal's own label.