Channel Surfing: \'The Good Wife\' and the Art of the Truce

October 1, 2012, 12:30 am

By MIKE HALE

This season, the critics Mike Hale and Neil Genzlinger are checking out favorite shows and seeing how they hold up. Previous entries in this series include posts on “New Girl,” “NCIS” and “Scandal.”

“The Good Wife” is the only show on the broadcast networks at the moment that matches the cable channels when it comes to interlacing multiple story lines in each episode, and most weeks it beats them. Its Season 4 opener on Sunday night, “I Fought the Law,” was a good lesson in this kind of tapestry weaving, or flow charting or whatever you want to call it.

Entering the season with three main story lines in play - Kalinda versus her mysterious estranged husband, the Florricks (in an une asy truce) versus Mike Kresteva in the state's attorney's race, and Lockhart Gardner versus financial oblivion - the show adroitly reintroduced and advanced all of them.

Kalinda was finally tracked down by Nick, as we now know him (played by the British actor Marc Warren). Their dispute apparently is all about the money Kalinda stuffed in that gym bag last season, which she considers community property, so maybe Alicia can straighten it all out when she handles the inevitable divorce case. In the meantime, Kalinda and Nick had some maybe-makeup sex and disagreed at gunpoint over whether she was ready to move on.

That story tied into the Lockhart Gardner story: the shady Nick hired the firm to represent his tow-truck company as a way of cornering Kalinda, and the firm took him only because of the urgency of its $65 million debt. Kalinda also helped Alicia with the case of the week, in which Zach was arrested in a drug stop by an overzealous and, as it turned out, dishonest cop. That tied into the election story: the case against Zach turned into payback against Peter (something about police pensions) and when Alicia and Zach cooperated to win the case and embarrass the opposition, they didn't realize that it would create yet more enemies for Peter.

In addition to Nick, another important new character was introduced: Clarke (played by Nathan Lane), the court-appointed trustee now overseeing the business affairs of Lockhart Gardner. He realized Diane and Will's worst fears by announcing that a 30 percent staff cut would be required - something to look forward to next week - but also showed his integrity by forcing the mutinous David Lee to stay, realizing it was the only way the firm could survive.

Another character, an aggressive reporter preparing what threatens to be a takedown of Peter, will not be seen again for a while because of the neck injury the actress Kristin Chenoweth suffered while filming this episode. What was supposed to be a recurring role will be reduced, presumably along with its story line, though Ms. Chenoweth was able to return to film at least one more scene about seven weeks after the accident. A seed was planted indicating that the reporter knew about or suspected Alicia and Will's affair - which Alicia admitted before a grand jury - but if that is to be pursued in the near future, it will have to be without Ms. Chenoweth.

As the episode ended, so did's Will's six-month suspension from practicing law and Diane hurried to toast the moment with him. Alicia approached holding a bottle of Champagne, but when she saw Diane and Will - the show's one solid partnership - sharing the moment, she put down the bottle, smiled and walked away.

Please let us know in the comments what you thought of “I Fought the Law,” the arrival of Kalinda's husband, the introduction of Nathan Lane, the future of Lockhart Gardner and any other “Good Wife” thoughts you might ha ve.

Channel Surfing: \'Homeland\' and the Elusive Art of Exposition

September 30, 2012, 11:00 pm

By MIKE HALE

This season, the critics Mike Hale and Neil Genzlinger are checking out favorite shows and seeing how they hold up. Previous entries in this series include posts on “New Girl,” “NCIS” and “Scandal.”

The last time we had seen Carrie Mathison, she was strapped to a hospital table having her brain lightly fried. The first time we saw her Sunday night in the Season 2 premiere of “Homeland,” she was picking - vegetables. A little joke? I thought so, but then I have a morbid sense of humor.

Showtime's Emmy-winning drama, with its two Emmy-winning lead actors - Claire Danes as the bipolar Carrie and Damian Lewis as Carrie's antagonist and former (for now) obsession, Nicholas Brody - jumped right back into high gear. Carrie, who thinks she's done with the C.I.A. - she's now teaching English as a second language when she isn't gardening - is pulled back in when an “asset” she developed years ago in Beirut resurfaces. Brody is now a congressman with vice-presidential aspirations and thinks he can be a gentleman traitor - no more getting his hands dirty. He's pulled back in when the terrorist Abu Nazir contacts him through a journalist and instructs him to break into a safe at the C.I.A.

Carrie and Brody both remain trapped, though the terms have changed - Carrie, having lost everything, could stay away if she chose, but her love of the spy game draws her back; Brody, having gained (in improbable fashion) a fabulous new life, must stick with and compound his lies to protect himself and his family.

As Alessandra Stanley observed in her review of Season 2, now that the tightly wound plot of the first season has run its course, the show will inevita bly tilt toward more straightforward international-thriller territory - something potentially more ordinary.

The speed with which Carrie and Brody are yanked back into a new mystery plot, the huge changes in their lives having been barely touched on, was a sign of this. So was the occasional flat-footed piece of exposition. We didn't need Carrie's sister to tell her and us: “You say this is about patriotism, but we both know that's not the whole story. Part of you wants to do this.” The fierce smile on Carrie's face after she shook a tail in a Beirut market said it much better.

And some of the twists felt a little harder to swallow than events in Season 1 (as long as we ignore the whole midseason plot detour when Carrie and Brody had sex). Would a visitor, even a congressman, be left alone in the office of a deputy director of the C.I.A., and even if he was, would it be that easy to break into the safe? If Brody's daughter blurted out in front of a school ass embly that her congressman father was a Muslim, wouldn't the entire Internet know within 15 minutes?

But it's easy to nitpick when a show has set the bar as high as “Homeland” did in its first season. The performances are still exemplary, not just by the leads but also by Mandy Patinkin as Claire's C.I.A. mentor, David Harewood as the deputy director and Morgan Saylor as Brody's daughter. The combination of adult intelligence and crisp action is still pretty much unmatched on American television - it exposes a show like ABC's “Last Resort” for the video game it is.

Please let us know in the comments how you felt about the return of “Homeland,” and what you think Season 2 holds in store.

Channel Surfing: \'Revenge\' Reshuffles (and Tries New Haircuts)

September 30, 2012, 10:47 pm

By NEIL GENZLINGER

This season, the critics Neil Genzlinger and Mike Hale are checking out favorite shows and seeing how they hold up. Previous entries in this series include posts on “New Girl,” “NCIS” and “Scandal.”

The big surprise in Sunday night's season opener of “Revenge” â€" Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) is still alive! â€" was no surprise at all, since as she slowly made her way onto that doomed plane in the finale last season, she pretty much had “red herring” stamped on her. But ABC did have a few unexpected things to send our way in the Season 2 premiere: new haircuts for Daniel and Nolan.

Aside from that, though, the premiere felt a little disappointing: more like a reshuffling of last season's cards than a re-energizing. Since Season 1 ended, Daniel (Josh Bowman) has apparently gotten over Emily (Emily VanCamp) enough to hook up with Ashley (Ashley Madewke), the brothers Jack (Nick Wechsler) and Declan (Connor Paolo) have switched their responsible/irresponsible hats, and Victoria has struck some kind of bargain with the white-haired man.

There have been lots of hints about a monstrous conspiracy that would make the framing of Emily's father seem minor, but the premiere didn't tell us much more about it. The focus was on Emily's mother, whom we learned late last season might still be alive. We now know that she was committed to some kind of institution and disappeared, possibly with Victoria's help. More to come, no doubt.

But this was a set-things-in-motion episode more than a revelatory one. So let's talk about the hair. Every fan of this show knows that Gabriel Mann should have won the best-supporting-actor Emmy; without his Nolan, “Revenge” wouldn't be half as interesting.

Perhaps someone told him he wasn't buff enough to win an Emmy: when we first saw him Sunday night, he was in a boxing ring, toning up. But does he have the same appeal with the new, more staid haircut? Daniel, too, has been to the barber and is now looking less likeable and more businesslike, in keeping with the transformation being asked of his character. But Nolan is the key to this series. Is he less fun with the new do?

Oh, and also feel free to comment on whether Victoria should have stayed dead. Maybe that would have forced the writers to take the show to a new level. Sunday's premiere, at least, seemed to leave it more or less where it was.

Loved the clam-cam, though. And the flash-forward opening - the same gimmick used in Season 1 - was tasty. We were given an image of what appeared to be Jack's wrecked boat with a body inside, circa three months in the future, before the episode backed up to the s tart of the summer and things got down to business.

Winners Named for Dayton Literary Peace Prize

September 30, 2012, 5:30 pm

By JULIE BOSMAN

The novelist Andrew Krivak, who wrote “The Sojourn” (Bellevue Literary Press), and Adam Hochschild, the author of “To End All Wars” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), have won the 2012 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for fiction and nonfiction. The runners-up are Ha Jin, for “Nanjing Requiem” (Pantheon Books), and Annia Ciezadlo for “Day of Honey” (Free Press).

The awards were created in 2006 to honor writers whose work advances peace and promotes understanding. The winners, who were announced Sunday, each receive a $10,000 prize. They are to be honored on Nov. 11 in Dayton, Ohio.

Frank Gehry Joins Toronto Development

September 30, 2012, 5:39 pm

By CAROL VOGEL

David Mirvish, a former art dealer who is among the leading collectors, theater producers and real estate developers in Canada, has teamed up with Frank Gehry, the 83-year-old Los Angeles-based architect, to reimagine the downtown entertainment district of Toronto.

The plans, to be unveiled Monday, include three 80- to 85-story residential towers with shops at street level, above. The complex will feature a 60,000-square-foot museum to showcase Mr. Mirvish's vast collection of abstract art, including works by Frank Stella, David Smith, Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. There will also be space for the public learning center of OCAD University, including galleries, studios, seminar rooms and a lecture hall. The project is expected to take four to seven years to construct.

Mr. Gehry, who is from Toronto, has worked there before; he renovated the Art Gallery of Ontario, which reopened in 2008.

“It is very special for me to be able to work in Toronto, where I was born, and to engage the neighborhoods where I grew up,” Mr. Gehry said.

\'Rebecca\' Faces Broadway Postponement

September 30, 2012, 2:56 pm

By PATRICK HEALY

An executive involved with the Broadway musical “Rebecca” said on Sunday that the show would be postponed because its lead producers were unable to close a $4.5 million gap in its $12 million budget. One of the lead producers, Ben Sprecher, planned to meet with the show's creative team on Sunday afternoon and then inform cast members and make a public announcement. The executive who disclosed the postponement spoke on condition of anonymity because Mr. Sprecher wanted to make the public announcement. The executive said Mr. Sprecher still hoped to mount “Rebecca” on Broadway someday.

\'Hotel Transylvania\' Leads Weekend Box Office

September 30, 2012, 12:19 pm

By BROOKS BARNES

Pent-up demand for a new animated movie and a long and lively marketing campaign powered Sony's “Hotel Transylvania” to No. 1 at North American theaters over the weekend. The film, which cost at least $85 million to make, outperformed expectations to take in about $43 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. (An elated Sony e-mailed reporters on Sunday morning to announce “a monster hit on our hands!!!!!!”)

“Looper,” an R-rated action movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, was second, with an estimated $21.2 million in ticket sales; Sony distributed this movie, a collaboration between Endgame Entertainment and China's DMG Entertainment that cost ab out $30 million to make. “End of Watch” (Open Road) was third, taking in about $8 million, for a two-week total of $26.2 million. Clint Eastwood's “Trouble With the Curve” (Warner Brothers) trundled along in fourth place, taking in about $7.5 million, for a two-week total of $23.7 million. Fifth place went to “House at the End of the Street” (Relativity), which sold about $7.2 million in tickets, for a two-week total of $22.2 million.

Also notable over the weekend: “Pitch Perfect,” a Universal Pictures comedy, took in a huge $5.2 million in 335 theaters ahead of its wider release on Oct. 5; and Walden Media's “Won't Back Down,” an education reform drama starring Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal, bombed, selling about $2.7 million in tickets in wide release.

\'Peter and the Starcatcher\' To Close in January

September 28, 2012, 5:10 pm

By ROBIN POGREBIN

After flying from downtown to Broadway and winning five Tony awards, “Peter and the Starcatcher” will close, the producers announced on Friday.

Written by Rick Elice and directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, the show - which imagines an origin story for Peter Pan and his Neverland pals - will deliver its final performance at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on January 20. It will have played 18 previews and 320 performances on Broadway; it moved there after an acclaimed run at New York Theater Workshop Off Broadway last spring.

Christian Borle won a Tony for his over-the-top comic role as the pirate Black Stache in the play. Other awards were for the show's lighting, costumes, sound, and sceni c design.

The show had never been a bestseller on Broadway; in recent weeks, audience capacity ranged from 62 percent to 78 percent. For the week ending Sept. 23, “Peter and the Starcatcher” grossed $294,536.

A national tour for the show will begin in August in Denver.

A \'Downton Abbey\' Prequel in the Works

September 28, 2012, 3:12 pm

By ROBIN POGREBIN

How did the distinguished Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley, hook up with the American Countess Cora? Did he marry for love or her inheritance?

Stay tuned. “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes is writing a prequel which recounts how the couple first met, the BBC reported Friday.

While currently writing in book form, Mr. Fellowes said at the Bafta Screenwriters' Lecture series, a TV adaptation is expected.

Now in its third season, the period drama has been a huge hit for ITV, and the broadcaster is interested in extending its success, the BBC said, though some lead characters may leave the show at the end of the current series.

The spinoff drama would feature a pair of younger ac tors in the roles - currently played by Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern -and would be broadcast after the end of “Downton Abbey.” The prequel may also take the drama to America, where “Downton Abbey” is equally popular.

Norton To Publish Philip Roth Biography

September 28, 2012, 3:19 pm

By CHARLES MCGRATH

W.W. Norton & Company will publish the previously announced authorized biography of Philip Roth, the press announced on Thursday.

The press won the rights to the book, to be written by Blake Bailey and tentatively titled “Philip Roth: The Biography,” at auction. Mr. Bailey is the author of biographies of Richard Yates, John Cheever, and, forthcoming, Charles Jackson, who wrote “The Lost Week-End.”

Norton also announced that it had purchased a memoir by Mr. Bailey, “The Splendid Things We Planned,” which it plans to bring out in 2014. A publicist said the memoir was acquired earlier and was not part of a two-book deal. She would not disclose what Norton had paid for the biography.

Matt Weiland, the senior editor who acquired the book, said in an e-mail: “Like so many others, I've devoured Roth all my reading life â€" oh the vitality, the electricity! - and I revere Blake Bailey's biographies of Yates and Cheever. Who could resist the combination? Not me.”

\'Honey Boo Boo\' Has the Ratings, if Not the Critics

September 28, 2012, 3:01 pm

By ADAM KEPLER

When TLC's reality series “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” made its debut in August, it was met with such derision by some television critics, that it seemed like the title should be changed to “Look Out! Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.”

But now, some two months later, it is clear that viewers would not heed such a warning.

According to Nielsen data, the series, which follows a 7-year-old beauty pageant queen, Alana Thompson, a k a Honey Boo Boo, and her family, has averaged 2.4 million total viewers. What's more impressive, however, is the show's performance among 18- to 49-year-olds, the demographic deemed most important by advertisers.

On Wednesday night, it was the highest-rated cable show in that category, easily beating out the No. 2-ranked show, the season premiere of “South Park” on Comedy Central. Such a feat was typical of “Honey Boo Boo's” eight-week run, when it either won or shared the top Wednesday cable ranking in that category six times. That included the Aug. 29 episode, which drew more adults between 18 and 49 than Fox News's coverage of the Republican National Convention, and the Sept. 5 episode, which tied CNN's coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

This week, TLC ordered more episodes of the series, as well as three holiday specials to air around Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a move that will surely draw more ire from critics, and just as likely be welcomed by viewers, who have found that they cannot look away.

Museum Tower in Dallas Says It Is Trying to Solve Glare Problem

September 28, 2012, 2:23 pm

By ROBIN POGREBIN

The 42-story glass-skinned condominium in Dallas known as Museum Tower, which is sending a harsh reflective glare into the nearby Nasher Sculpture Center, addressed the issue in a paid letter printed in Friday's Dallas Morning News.

“Since construction began, much has been reported about sunlight reflection from Museum Tower's glass surface,” the letter said.

“It's not uncommon for bold projects like Museum Tower to encounter an unexpected issue or two, and they are invariably solved,” the letter continued. “Our number one priority is finding the best solution to the reflection issue.”

The tower has been sending excessive light into the Nasher's galleries, burning the plants in the center's garden and blinding visitors with its glare.

In response to Museum Tower's letter, the sculpture center â€" which was designed by Renzo Piano and whose director is Jeremy Strick - put out a statement. “The Nasher Sculpture Center is pleased to see that the Museum Tower owners have publicly acknowledged that there are design issues in their building that are causing damaging sunlight reflections throughout the Dallas Arts District and that the problem must be solved,” the center said.

“We continue to work diligently with the representatives of Museum Tower and are confident that a design solution exists that will eliminate the reflections throughout the neighborhood,” it added.

Graphic Books Best Sellers: A Justice League of Scientists

September 28, 2012, 1:30 pm

By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES

In all my years of reading comics, I never thought that one of my favorite characters would be the real-life physicist Richard P. Feynman. I learned quite a bit about him last year, when I read the biography “Feynman,” published by First Second. As I said then, “much of the science went over my head, but the story was always captivating as were the scenes from his everyday life.”

Mr. Feynman has come back to my reading list in the form of “The Manhattan Projects,” which enters our softcover list at No. 8. This is volume one of an on-going series written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Nick Pitarra. It asks the question: “What if the research and development department created to produce the first atomic bomb was a front for a series of other, more unusual, programs?” The characters, including Einstein, Feynman and Oppenheimer, are like a Justice League of Science â€" and they are dealing with aliens, doppelgangers and more â€" and, from the first reading, I'm not quite sure they are always on the side of angels. Sign me up for more!

As always, the complete best-seller lists can be found here, along with an explanation of how they were assembled.

Book Review Podcast: The Great Disconnect

September 28, 2012, 1:26 pm

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Podcast Archive

Listen to previous podcasts from the Book Review.

In The New York Times Book Review, Mark Lilla reviews “I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism” by Charles R. Kesler. Mr. Lilla writes that he needs help in understanding the conservative view of the president, whom he sees as “a moderate and cautious straight shooter.” Mr. Lilla continues:

But more than a few of our fellow citizens are loathing themselves blind over Barack Obama. Why? I need a level-headed conservative to explain this to me, and Charles R. Kesler seems an excellent candidate. An amiable Harvard- ­educated disciple of the conservative philosopher Leo Strauss, an admirer of Cicero and the founding fathers and Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. and Ronald Reagan, he teaches at Claremont ­McKenna College and is the editor of The Claremont Review of Books, one of the better conservative publications.

The full Book Review is here.

The Sweet Spot: Sept. 28

September 28, 2012, 12:58 pm

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

In today's episode, David Carr and A. O. Scott discuss the turmoil that art and speech can create in the world.

Lennon Art Show Will Benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels

September 28, 2012, 12:03 pm

By ROBIN POGREBIN

About 100 limited-edition drawings by John Lennon will be on view in a free exhibition that starts next week in Soho.

The show, “The Artwork of John Lennon,” at 130 Prince Street, is presented by Yoko Ono, Bag One Arts and Legacy Productions will benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels, a nonprofit organization that delivers meals to the homebound elderly. It runs October 5-9 In honor of what would have been Lennon's 72nd birthday, on Oct. 9.

Ms. Ono, Lennon's widow and also an artist, has presented an exhibition at various sites in New York for more than a decade. The exhibition in SoHo will feature artwork that Lennon created from 1964 to 1980, the year he was killed, including three never-before see n pieces. Some work will also be on sale. While the exhibition is free, a $2 donation at the door is suggested.

This Week\'s Movies: Sept. 28

September 28, 2012, 11:45 am

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

This week, the New York Times critics look at the futuristic thriller “Looper,” the education drama “Won't Back Down” and the Thai drama “Headshot.” All of this week's reviews can be found here.

Brooklyn Academy of Music and Nets\' Owner\'s Charity Join in Three-Year Partnership

September 28, 2012, 11:21 am

By ROBIN POGREBIN

Creating a cultural exchange between the United States and Russia, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund have announced a three-year partnership.

Called the TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today, the alliance is to begin next year with a range of performing arts, literary, and film events.

Programming will include a series of contemporary Russian films for BAMcinématek; a visiting Russian author as part of BAM's Eat, Drink & Be Literary series; a Brooklyn public art project by a Russian visual artist; and performances by the Philadelphia-based dance company Illstyle and Peace Productions. The partnership will also feature visits by a prominent American au thor and a program of contemporary American films in two Siberian cities: Krasnoyarsk, where the fund is based, and Novosibirsk.

Subsequent programs for the second and third years of TransCultural Express will also include theater and dance. Founded in 2004, the fund is a private charity started by the Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, who is the owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and his sister, Irina Prokhorova, that supports and develops culture in Russia.

Channel Surfing: \'Scandal\' in an Election Year

September 27, 2012, 11:24 pm

By NEIL GENZLINGER

This season, the critics Neil Genzlinger and Mike Hale are checking out favorite shows and seeing how they hold up. Previous entries in this series include posts on “New Girl” and “NCIS.”

Fans of ABC's “Scandal” went into the second-season premiere Thursday night waiting for two questions to be answered. The first, after the cheesy cliffhanger that ended last season, was pretty straightforward: What was Quinn's real identity? Answer: She had been working in Olivia's office under a false name and was wanted in a bombing that killed her boyfriend and six others.

The second question, though, was more thematic, and the answer was more shocking: Given that this season will coincide wit h a real-life election, would the show's writers somehow turn from Clintonesque sexcapades to story lines reflecting the current presidential contest? Boy did they, unleashing a vicious, thinly veiled dig at - Michelle Obama?

The episode included a scene in which President Grant (Tony Goldwyn) and the first lady (Bellamy Young) ended up in a shouting match after a press conference in which she surprised him by all but declaring war on a foreign country.

“Your opinion doesn't matter,” the president bellowed. “You're the first lady. Your job is to plant gardens and decorate rooms and let them blog about your clothes. You're ornamental, not functional.”

Take that, real-life first lady, on the off chance that you were thinking of becoming more politically involved during the campaign.

Anyway, Quinn (Katie Lowes), now revealed to be Lindsey (or, for all we know, Lindsay), was the recipient of some exceedingly swift justice. The prosecutor (Jo shua Malina) was finishing up his opening statement in her trial before the episode was 10 minutes old. And Olivia (Kerry Washington) saved Quinn/Lindsey/Lindsay from the gallows with one of those one-sided phone calls to Someone Really Powerful that are a cliche in these types of shows. Suddenly the judge declared the evidence against Quinn to be insufficient and that was that.

Just who was on the other end of that call is, no doubt, something that we'll be left guessing about for a while. In any case, as we found out at the episode's end, the whole Quinn saga still has a ways to run because both Olivia and Huck (Guillermo Diaz) had a hand in creating her fake identity in the first place. Ah, the intrigue.

The episode's secondary story seemed a bit lazy, involving a Rhode Island congressman, a single man, who was caught on tape having sex with a woman, also single, in his office. The crime here was, what, misuse of government furniture? Anyway, Olivia gave him a somewhat elementary lesson in spin control and, as usual, problem solved.

Ms. Young's first lady, who (better throw in an “apparently” here, given how manipulative these folks are) is pregnant, seems poised to assume a larger role in the series, which may not be the best idea. Is it just me, or are both the character and the actress rather off-putting and unconvincing?

The episode did leave us pondering which is more cynical, timing a pregnancy to win re-election or timing a war to win re-election? But maybe it's more to the point to ask - and feel free to chime in here - whether this show, full of sex and far-fetched plotlines, will feel more relevant or increasingly irrelevant as the country focuses on the serious business of choosing a real-life president.

Flea Market Renoir May Have Been Stolen

September 27, 2012, 4:55 pm

By PATRICIA COHEN

A flea market shopper who seemed to have snagged the deal of the century by paying $7 for what is apparently a Renoir worth more than $75,000 may have bought stolen goods, The Washington Post reported. The sale of the painting, “Paysage Bords de Seine,” scheduled for this Saturday at the Potomack Company in Alexandria, Va., has been postponed as the F.B.I. conducts an investigation.

According to papers uncovered by a Washington Post reporter, the painting had been on loan to the Baltimore Museum of Art as early as 1937. Museum officials subsequently said documents showed that the Renoir was stolen in November 1951, soon after its owner, Sadie A. May, died and bequeathed her art collection to the mu seum. The auction house had checked the Art Loss Register, the world's largest private database of stolen and lost art, before putting the painting on sale, but it was not listed. The museum had been paid $2,500 by its insurance company for the painting.

Elizabeth Wainstein, the auction house's owner, said in a statement: “Potomack is relieved this came to light in a timely manner as we do not want to sell any item without clear title.”

Doreen Bolger, the museum's director, said officials there had only seen photographs of the painting now held by the auction house. But, she said, “We're assuming that it is an original.”

Theater Talkback: The Temperature on the \'Beach\'

September 27, 2012, 3:54 pm

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

I emerged from the final performance of “Einstein on the Beach” on Sunday exhilarated and exhausted, elated and with a distinct feeling of relief. The four and a half hours spent in contemplation of this elusive but entrancing opera was without question among the most memorable theatrical experiences I've had in the past few years.

Above all I was struck by the intense commitment required of the performers involved, from the chorus to the principals to the musicians. Even the stagehands are active participants in “Einstein.” By coincidence I met Helga Davis, one of the principal performers, a few days later, and decided to find out just what the experience of performing the Phillip Glass-Rob ert Wilson opus was like from the inside.

How did you come to be involved in the project?

I worked with Bob on a piece 10 years ago, “The Temptation of St. Anthony,” and I immediately felt like I had found a kind of artistic home, one that housed all of who I am as a performer. I was anxious to find another project, and he would call me to sing something from time to time. But when I finally got the call about the auditions for “Einstein,” I had just torn my rotator cuff. I didn't tell anyone, because I know how much of his work is physical, about specific movement. I was determined. Luckily at the audition I wasn't required to do anything that I couldn't do. I had the surgery and four months later was in rehearsal.

How does working on a Robert Wilson production differ from working on a more traditional stage project?

It's precise. It's formal. There is nothing taking place by accident. But for me this work is the perfect vehicle to channel my own particular neuroses. In my apartment, everything I have is exactly where I want it. If I have a vase turned this way, it's because I want it that way. I am attuned to that kind of precision.

Wilson's work wouldn't seem to allow a lot of personal interpretation. Some actors might find that constricting.

What's been interesting is that whenever people I know see the show, they come back and tell me they do see something of me in this work. And yet it doesn't have anything to do with my interpretation of it. Maybe there's work in which you show yourself from the outside, whereas this is a very interior work. Even if I'm doing exactly what someone else has done, my interior world is there, influencing it.

You can tell a Wilson actor in a way that you can tell a Grotowski actor. When you see them enter a space, or turn their head, all of who they are is somehow contained in that movement. It isn't confining. I feel it en gages the performer even on a cellular level. Everything is concentrated in one gesture, one walk across the stage. All of that actor's presence is in each particular movement.

The text is mostly streams of numbers or phrases that seem nonsensical. But you're reciting these words for long stretches of music. How do you manage to memorize the material when it lacks the usual connective tissue of logic or narrative?

That was the hardest part for me. There's nothing for you to grab on to in the way that we need logic to communicate. There's nothing. It was maddening. I would say the text while washing the dishes, while walking, cooking, anything. I would just keep saying it out loud. I recorded it in an MP3.

But for a long time it didn't work, and I really couldn't understand how I could possibly memorize this work. Then a funny thing happened: when we got into rehearsal, the language got attached to movement, and suddenly I didn't have any problem at all. Con necting the text to the body was the key. I still have trouble just saying the text, but if I do the movement I can reel it off easily.

Audiences and actors are used to looking for concrete meaning in theater works, and specifics of character. Did you conceive of your various roles in the show as specific characters?

The best piece of direction that Bob gave me, which was also the most liberating thing any director has said to me: “Just say the words.”

That's very much like what George Balanchine would tell his dancers when they would ask about the meaning of a movement or work: Just do the steps.

Bob said the moment you as a performer ascribe meaning to the words, you alienate the audience because they may not agree with your interpretation. You want to leave the door open for each person to have their own experience of the language. I feel like I'm playing jazz, like I'm Charlie Parker.

From the audience's perspective, Bob often says, “W hat you see should help you hear, what you hear should help you see.” The audience shouldn't have to choose between the two.

So in the scene set in the back of the train, when you're in period attire, you're not portraying anyone in particular. Anthony Tommasini thought the characters might be intended to represent Einstein and his wife.

I would say the less Greg and I try to make it Einstein and his wife the more it can be. Someone else thought it was Abe Lincoln. But that's what we want. You in the audience get to make those people into whoever you want them to be. Our work is to engage the audience in that way.

I love that scene. It was the thing I was the most terrified of doing because I thought, we don't do anything, nothing happens. It's 18 minutes long. I don't have any internal story going on â€" I don't want to give away too much, but the key for me was to make it look like something is always about to happen, and then it finally does.

Just on the physical level, I imagine this is one of the more challenging things you've done.

The thing that's great is I get to eat everything I want. We burn up so much energy. By the end of a run there will be people whose pants are too big. People think it's simple to stand there. Not at all. There's movement in stillness. Bob said once that someone said to him, “Nothing happens in ‘Einstein.' ” He said, “Until you try and do it.” I know exactly what he means.

How do the rewards of doing a piece like this differ from the rewards of performing more traditional pieces of music or theater?

I wouldn't say it's more or less rewarding. But I get something from this work that I take to my other work. It's a kind of rigor, a way of being specific and not casual in my speech, to pay attention, to listen.

Those are things that I take with me in everything that I do, and I'm very grateful for that. I know how to bring my full concentration to whatever task or text or new thing I have in front of me. This work has been like a boot camp into that kind of discipline.

If you saw “Einstein on the Beach” during its run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, it's probably impossible not to have some thoughts about it. Please feel free to share yours here. Does it warrant its excessive length? Did you, like Ms. Davis, feel the absence of traditional narrative allowed the audience to engage with the piece on its own terms? Or were you confused of confounded?

A Theater Celebrates 50 Years With 50 New Films

September 27, 2012, 3:17 pm

By ERIK PIEPENBURG

To celebrate its 50th season, Baltimore's Center Stage has commissioned a series of 50 short films, written by 50 established and emerging playwrights, starring well-known stage and screen actors directed by the indie filmmaker Hal Hartley (“Henry Fool”).

Starting Friday and continuing through Nov. 6, the night of the presidential election, a new group of films will debut weekly online and on screens in the theater's lobby. The first video, released today as a preview, was written by Anna Deavere Smith (“Let Me Down Easy”) and features the actor Stephen McKinley Henderson playing a principal drafting a letter to parents about a school tragedy.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, a year into his job as th e theater's artistic director, said the “My America” project was born out of his own desire to find out “what this country wants to be and where it's heading.”

“I asked myself, what do I really know about this country?” said Mr. Kwei-Armah, a native of London. “How will I find out about what this country wants to be and where it's heading? I should ask writers. I trust them. I trust that they will show me the crack between the black and the white notes.”

Of the approximately 60 writers who were approached, 55 said yes, and the theater whittled that number down to 50. Writers were given only a few parameters. They had to answer the question “What is my America?” They could write only monologues that were about three minutes in length. (Ms. Deavere Smith's runs longer.) That's it.

Playwrights turned in dark comedies, light dramas, and even a musical. Rajiv Joseph (“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”) wrote a piece about an elderly man who thinks back on his life during a visit to Roosevelt Island. Lydia R. Diamond (“Stick Fly”) wrote a comedy about a writer who is asked to write a monologue for a theater. Other participating playwrights include Christopher Durang (“Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them”), Quiara Alegría Hudes (“Water by the Spoonful”), Neil LaBute (“reasons to be pretty”), Thomas Bradshaw (“Job”), Samuel D. Hunter (“A Bright New Boise”) and Lynn Nottage (“Ruined”).

When it came time to choose the performers, the playwrights suggested actors who they felt would best interpret their work. Working with a casting director, the theater recruited a stable of theater regulars, including Tracie Thoms, Carrie Preston, Terry O'Quinn, Bobby Cannavale, Kathleen Chalfant, Jefferson Mays and Kristine Nielsen. Mr. Kwei-Armah said the casting process went easier than anticipated.

“Nearly every actor said yes immediate ly,” he said.

Mr. Hartley shot the films in New York and Los Angeles over the course of about three weeks. Mr. Kwei-Armah said all the participants were paid “a token couple of dollars,” and several people donated their money back to the theater. The entire project cost about $50,000, which came from donations made by the theater's subscribers and patrons.

Mr. Kwei-Armah said his goal for the project was to create “state-of-the-nation plays” that would act as “an archive of a moment in America's history.”

“Within the realms of theater we are here not just here to narrowly entertain,” he said. “We are here to say this is who we are, to take a pulse of the nation.”

Now that he's seen all the films, what did Mr. Kwei-Armah feel in that pulse?

“We are a country that is about introspection, a country deciding what tomorrow will look like, what it should look like and negotiating how to get there,” said Mr. Kwei-Armah. “Mo st of the writers have expressed an anxiousness to renegotiate the principles that are America.”

New Theater Award at Columbia to Honor Kennedy

September 27, 2012, 1:02 pm

By PATRICK HEALY

A $100,000 theater award, recognizing a play or musical inspired by American history, is being established at Columbia University in honor of the Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the university and one of Mr. Kennedy's sisters, Jean Kennedy Smith, announced on Thursday.

Ms. Smith, a former United States ambassador to Ireland, said in an interview that she was inspired to create the award by memories of her brother breaking into song, though the melodies were usually Irish rather than show tunes. Among her siblings, she said, he was the closest thing to a performer.

“And he also had a deep love of history, in the Senate and in his personal life,” she said of Mr. Kennedy, who died in 2009. “So I tho ught this could be a unique prize that would recognize the importance of history, music and theater.”

For the last two years Ms. Smith worked with the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”) working out details of the award. They tried to answer a couple of questions - How should we define history? What makes a prize worthwhile? - by consulting historians (Robert Caro, David McCullough) and holding salon discussions in Ms. Smith's apartment and elsewhere with A. R. Gurney, David Henry Hwang, Richard Nelson, Lynn Nottage,Wallace Shawn and others.

“We came to find we'd ventured into a prime area of controversy in the field of history by trying to develop parameters for it,” Mr. Kushner said in an interview. “The prize's mission statement ended up with a broad definition of history, but we're still hoping for some tasty controversy about whether and how the winning works are inspired by American history.”

According to a statement from Ms. Smith and Columbia, the award will go to a stage work that “enlists theater's power to explore the past of the United States, to participate meaningfully in the great issues of our day through the public conversation, grounded in historical understanding, that is essential to the functioning of a democracy.”

To broaden the prize's value beyond cash, Mr. Kushner and Ms. Smith worked with Columbia on an educational component: The Columbia University Libraries will collaborate with prize recipients to create online study guides related to the winning works, incorporating historical research and scholarly discussions.

The award - formally titled the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History - will be one of theater's most lucrative prizes. Its scope also makes it unusual.

“Most writing prizes are for excellence, period, but this is for a specific kind of excellence,” said Mr. Kushn er, whose plays and screenplays (including his coming film “Lincoln”) often explore historical themes.

The first recipient will be announced on Feb. 22, 2013, Mr. Kennedy's birthday. Plays and musicals that have inaugural professional productions in 2012 will be eligible for the 2013 prize.

Ms. Smith established the annual award with an endowment gift to Columbia; she declined to disclose the amount, but Mr. Kushner said it would be enough to cover the first six or seven years of the prize at least. He added they were working with Columbia and philanthropists toward raising a total endowment of $5 million.

Recipients will be chosen by a panel of judges from among five plays or musicals selected by nominators. The judges will be three playwrights; two musical theater writers; two scholars of literature, American history, or political science; and the president of Columbia.

Rarely Seen Rolling Stones Film Resurfacing in Expanded Form

September 27, 2012, 12:30 pm

By ALLAN KOZINN

With “Crossfire Hurricane” about to offer an expansive view of the Rolling Stones' 50-year history when it opens at the London Film Festival on Oct. 18, a more fine-grain look at an important moment in the group's early history â€" the rarely seen 1965 film, “Charlie Is My Darling” â€" is about to have a handful of screenings and a DVD release.

The film, commissioned by the band's manager at the time, Andrew Loog Oldham, and directed by Peter Whitehead, documents the group's trip to Ireland in September 1965. The band, still performing with its original lineup â€" Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts â€"  had released “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” as a si ngle in Britain a few weeks earlier, nearly three months after its American release. By the time the Stones visited Ireland the record was at the top of the British charts.

Mr. Whitehead's brief was to capture the band onstage and off, so in addition to performances, he filmed interviews with the band members as well as jam sessions, clowning around, and hotel-room songwriting sessions with Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards. The film he produced, “Charlie Is My Darling,” ran only 35 minutes in its original form, and has barely been seen. Mr. Oldham re-edited the footage as a 50-minute film in the 1980's, but it too has had limited showings.

Now a new 65-minute version of the film, with a slightly expanded title, “Charlie Is My Darling â€" Ireland 1965,” will have its first screenings at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, with a repeat on Wednesday. It will also be shown as part of an evening in which the guitarist (and “Sopranos” star) Steve Van Zandt interviews Mr. Oldham onstage at the 92nd Street Y on Oct. 5. The new version, directed by Mich Gochanaur and produced by Robin Klein for ABKCO Films, draws on unseen footage filmed by Mr. Whitehead and is said to include the group's first stage performances of “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”

All three versions of “Charlie Is My Darling” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 6. For completists there will also be a box set that includes both the DVD and Blu-ray discs, two CD's â€" one with the soundtrack, the other with previously unreleased live recordings of 13 songs, taped during the band's September and October 1965 British tour â€" as well as a 10-inch vinyl version of the live material, a poster for the Stones' 1965 Belfast concert, a 42-page hardcover book and a limited edition cell from the film.

Atlanta and Chicago Orchestras Settle Labor Disputes

September 27, 2012, 12:18 pm

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

The musicians of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and their management have reached agreement on a two-year contract, and the board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has signed off on a new pact, already ratified by the orchestra, ending two labor disputes in the classical music world.

The Atlanta players had been locked out, but orchestra officials announced Wednesday night that an accord had been reached and that the season would start as scheduled on Oct. 4. In Chicago the orchestra said the musicians would receive raises amounting to 4.5 percent over three years and pay more for health insurance. Labor trouble is still simmering at the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Ensemble.

A Whitney Houston Tribute Concert and Broadcast

September 27, 2012, 11:57 am

By ALLAN KOZINN

Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Usher will be among the performers paying tribute to Whitney Houston, who died at 48 on Feb. 11, in an hourlong homage, to be televised by CBS on Nov. 16.

The show, “We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute to Whitney Houston,” will offer an overview of Ms. Houston's career, which spanned more than two decades during which she sold a reported 170 million recordings and videos, and won six Grammys and two Emmys. Included will be footage of several of her most memorable performances, as well as previously unseen concert footage, interviews and reminiscences by other musicians about Ms. Houston's work.

But some of the show's likely centerpieces will be new perform ances of songs associated with Ms. Houston, by Ms. Dion, Ms. Hudson, Usher and other artists, which will be recorded at a concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Oct. 11.

A compilation of 18 of Ms. Houston's hits, named, like the television tribute, for the most famous of them, “I Will Always Love You â€" The Best of Whitney Houston,” will be released by RCA on Nov. 13. It will include two previously unreleased recordings: “Never Give Up” and the duet version of “I Look To You” with R. Kelly that was recently released on iTunes.

Shades of Yesterday: New Vinyl Versions of Beatles\' Albums on the Way

September 27, 2012, 9:51 am

By ALLAN KOZINN

Though EMI put considerable effort into both the sound and packaging of the remastered Beatles catalogue in 2009, and then staked out a new market with its iTunes downloads in 2010, many fans of the group have argued that such newfangled ways of hearing the band are inauthentic â€" that the experience just isn't the same on anything but vinyl, the format on which the albums were originally released.

The arguments, heard regularly since the introduction of CD's in 1983, are familiar: many listeners find that music sounds warmer, more rounded and more natural on vinyl than in digital form, and you can't argue with their preferences for 12-inch-by-12-inch cover art over the shrunken booklets that come with CDs, or the on-screen versions sold with the downloads.

Vinyl enthusiasts will get their way on Nov. 13, when the Beatles' stereo catalog will be reissued both as a series of separate albums â€" the original LPs, using the original British track sequences, plus a two-disc “Past Masters” set that includes all the singles and other non-LP tracks â€" and as a box set that also includes a lavishly illustrated, 252-page, LP-size hardbound book by the BBC producer Kevin Howlett. The box will be a limited edition of 50,000 copies, worldwide.

The LPs will be pressed on audiophile quality vinyl, using a version of the cleaned-up masters prepared for the 2009 CD's, with the exception of “Help!” and “Rubber Soul,” which will use the remixed versions that George Martin, the group's producer, oversaw in 1986. The packaging will reproduce the original LP artwork, including extras like the cut-outs and the pink, white and red inner sleeve that came with “Sgt. Pepp er's Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the 24-page booklet that came with “Magical Mystery Tour” and the poster and portrait cards that came with the “White Album.”

The decision to use the digital masters may be contentious among collectors, who have been arguing for years that EMI should release a high-quality vinyl set made directly from the original analog masters prepared in the 1960's. The 2009 masters are digital copies of those recordings, and although they embody a few notable fixes â€" the repair of a dropout in the guitar part of “Day Tripper,” for example â€" they have been sent through a digitizing process that, some listeners feel, degrades the original analog sound.

The Beatles' mono recordings, which were also released on CD in 2009 â€" and which some listeners consider superior to the stereo versions, on the grounds that the Beatles were closely involved in their preparation â€" are to follow on LP in 2013.

Leonardo Stays Lost, Vasari Stays Intact

September 25, 2012, 2:55 pm

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

ROMEâ€"A project searching for a lost mural by Leonardo da Vinci behind a fresco painted by Giorgio Vasari in the Palazzo Vecchio, now Florence's city hall, has been suspended and the scaffolding that has covered the fresco for months will be dismantled this week.

Last November, a team led by Maurizio Seracini, the director of San Diego's Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology at the University of California, bored several holes into the Vasari work to allow an endoscopic probe to look for possible remnants of Leonardo's “The Battle of Anghiari,” commissioned by the Republic of Florence around 1503. The controversial decision to perforate the Vasari fresco, p ainted some 50 years later, led to objections from many conservators.

Earlier this summer local art authorities turned down a request to bore new holes to pursue the research, effectively shutting it down.
The project was backed by the National Geographic Society and had the support of Florence mayor Matteo Renzi.

The six points of entry for the probe, chosen by the Florentine restorers working on the project, were made in places where there was no original paint, but they did not correspond to points Mr. Seracini had been hoping to explore.

Nonetheless, in a statement issued last month, the National Geographic Society said that the data derived from the probes had encouraged the scientific team. “The results of the research support Seracini's theory that the lost Battle of Anghiari lies behind a wall built by Giorgio Vasari,” the statement said.

Reached by telephone in Florence, Mr. Seracini, who has searched for the Leonardo fresco for deca des, said the project had had to overcome many obstacles from the start. “And now we have lost an opportunity,” he said.

He said that he would soon submit the initial results of the research to a peer review.

Beach Boys Reunion to End This Week

September 26, 2012, 8:35 pm

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

The Beach Boys 50th anniversary reunion tour ends this week in London. Also apparently ending: the much-discussed detente between the founding members Mike Love and Brian Wilson.

Mr. Love, the frontman who still controls the Beach Boys brand name, announced earlier this month he would continue to tour this fall with Bruce Johnson and a back-up band. But he said the group would not include Mr. Wilson, who wrote many of the band's biggest hits. Al Jardine, another original member, and David Marks, who first joined the group in the 1960s, are also out.

“As we move on, Bruce and I look forward to performing live for Beach Boys fans everywhere,” Mr. Love said in a statement. He went on to s ay: “The 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band.”

Mr. Love and Mr. Wilson have feuded for decades, but they put aside their differences last fall to do a reunion tour, joined by the other three early members of the California surf-rock group. They played the Grammy Awards ceremony in February and have toured extensively since then, releasing a new album, “That's Why God Made the Radio” (Capitol), in June.

Then earlier this month, just before the group attended the opening of a exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, Mr. Love put out his statement.

Mr. Wilson told CNN at the time he was dismayed by Mr. Love's decision. “I'm disappointed and can't understand why he doesn't want to tour with Al, David and me. We are out there having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys.”

Since then, an online petition has been circulated urging Mr. Love to reconsider “in order to preserve the validity of ‘The Beach Boys' as a whole, and not as a ‘money-saving, stripped-down version.” So far, 2,710 people have signed.

The last concerts with the current lineup are scheduled for London's Royal Albert Hall on Thursday and Wembley Stadium on Friday.

It\'s Finally Pink on Top of Music Charts

September 26, 2012, 5:36 pm

By BEN SISARIO

This week on the music charts, Pink finally reaches No. 1 and “Gangnam Style” by the South Korean rapper Psy goes from viral-video status to genuine hit single (although it's video is still plenty viral).

Pink's new album, “The Truth About Love” (RCA), is her sixth, but despite having lots of hit songs over the last 12 years she has never before made it to No. 1. The album sold 280,000 copies in the United States in its opening week, according to Nielsen SoundScan - it was helped by plenty of television promotion and a $5 price at the Amazon MP3 store - and leads a wave of new releases on the chart.

No. 2 this week is “Cruel Summer” (G.O.O.D./Def Jam), a compilation featuring Kanye West along with R. Kelly, 2 Chainz, Pusha T and many others, which sold 205,000 copies. The Killers - apparently one of Mitt Romney's favorite acts, along with the Beach Boys and Garth Brooks - reached No. 3 with its new album, “Battle Born” (Island), selling 113,000.

Carly Rae Jepsen, the Canadian singer whose “Call Me Maybe” was the inescapable song of the summer, opened at No. 6 with 46,000 sales of her new album, “Kiss” (604/Schoolboy/Interscope), and Grizzly Bear, a highbrow indie group from Brooklyn, opened at No. 7 with “Shields” (Warp), selling 39,000. Last week's No. 1, the Dave Matthews Band's “Away From the World” (RCA), fell to No. 4 with 62,000, a 77 percent drop.

On the singles chart, Maroon 5 holds at No. 1 with “One More Night,” but the biggest news on that chart is “Gangnam Style,” which rises nine spots this week to No. 2, with 301,000 downloads. The song, which Psy recently performed on the â €œToday” show - twice in one episode - has also passed a milestone of a sort. It has been seen nearly 285 million times on YouTube, surpassing the 271 million for “Call Me Maybe.”

Richard Rhodes Writes A Play About Reagan, Gorbachev and Nuclear Weapons

September 26, 2012, 4:23 pm

By FELICIA R. LEE

Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 24 books, has written his first play, and it spins off of his research into the history of nuclear weapons. Mr. Rhodes's “Reykjavik,” about the historic 1986 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in that city, will have a free staged reading on Thursday at 6:30 pm at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. Mr. Rhodes and several other experts in nuclear disarmament will appear at a panel discussion following the reading.

“Reykjavik” is a dramatic reconstruction of the two-day summit during which the world leaders almost reached agreement on the total abolition of their countries' nuclear weapons.The play uses the actual transcripts o f the Reykjavik meeting as well as the memoirs of both Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev. Tony winner Richard Easton will play the former American president and Jay O. Sanders will play his Russian counterpart. Tyler Marchant will direct the reading, which is produced by Primary Stages.

Mr. Rhodes was researching the Reykjavik files for the third of his four volumes of nuclear history, “Arsenals of Folly” (2007) and decided to convert the transcripts into a stage play. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for the first of those volumes, “The Making of the Atomic Bomb.”

The panel discussion will open with a video message from Mr. Gorbachev and will feature New York Times journalist Philip Taubman; Max Kampelman, an arms control expert; Roald Sagdeev, a science advisor to Mr. Gorbachev; Morton H. Halperin, an expert on foreign policy and civil liberties; and Mr. Rhodes.

The event is organized by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO), whic h is based in Vienna, Austria. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis by contacting Atawoba Macheiner at awoba.macheiner@ctbto.org or Pablo Mehlhorn at pablo.mehlhorn@ctbto.org

New Home for Barnes Foundation a Bright Shade of Green

September 26, 2012, 4:25 pm

By RANDY KENNEDY

Critics have differed on the merits of the new home for the Barnes Foundation, the world-class art collection that was relocated from a Philadelphia suburb to a downtown museum quarter this year after a long-running court battle. But at least one arbiter has now given the museum an unqualified stamp of approval.

The United States Green Building Council has awarded the new building, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, its highest rating under its LEED â€" Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design â€" system. The Barnes is the first major art institution in the country to achieve the designation, the council's “platinum” award.

“From diverting 95 percent of construction waste from landfills as it redeveloped this brownfield site to a building with anticipated energy savings of 44 percent over a traditionally designed equivalent, it's a marquee project not only for Philadelphia but the country,” the council's president and chief executive, Rick Fedrizzi, said.

Among other elements the museum, which opened in May, includes a vegetated roof, wood flooring reclaimed from Coney Island's boardwalk and a system designed to greatly reduce potable water consumption.

Anne Hathaway to Sing at Joe\'s Pub

September 26, 2012, 2:00 pm

By FELICIA R. LEE

Anne Hathaway will perform a one-night-only concert, “Perfectly Marvelous: The Songs of Cabaret with Anne Hathaway and Friends,” on Oct. 24 at Joe's Pub. The event is to celebrate the recent renovation of the Public Theater in Manhattan. Member tickets went on sale Tuesday and single ticket sales will go on sale next Tuesday.

Ms. Hathaway will sing tunes from the Broadway musical and film “Cabaret.”

The Public Theater's $40 million renovation of its building at 425 Lafayette Street, which houses Joe's Pub, will be officially unveiled Oct. 4 and celebrated throughout the month with a series of events, many of them free.  More information on the celebration and events, including the concer t with Ms. Hathaway, can be found at www.publictheater.org.

Producer Announces That \'Rebecca\' Rehearsals Will Start on Monday

September 26, 2012, 1:59 pm

By PATRICK HEALY

The producers of the troubled Broadway musical “Rebecca” notified cast members on Wednesday that rehearsals will begin on Monday morning, yet it remained unclear if the producers have closed the $4.5 million gap in the show's $12 million budget that they had deemed necessary for rehearsals to start.

The lead producer of “Rebecca,” Ben Sprecher, did not reply to phone and e-mail messages on Wednesday inquiring about rehearsals and the budget gap; a spokesman for the production also did not return messages.

Mr. Sprecher had said last week that he would not set a date for rehearsals until the $4.5 million had been deposited in the bank. He had previously canceled London and Broadway productio ns of “Rebecca” over the last 14 months due to financial problems; he then announced again for Broadway for this fall, but was forced to postpone rehearsals this month due to the budget gap.

He blamed it on the death in August of a major new investor, Paul Abrams, who was expected to provide $2 million and raise another $2.5 million. But in recent days the existence of Mr. Abrams has come into question: Mr. Sprecher disclosed that he never met or talked to Mr. Abrams, who was apparently a prominent South African executive who died of malaria, and no obituaries, death notices or other records for him or his business have surfaced.

“Rebecca” is based on a mystery novel by Daphne du Maurier (which was adapted for film in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock) and has proved a popular draw during its past productions in Europe. The directors of the Broadway edition will be Michael Blakemore (a Tony winner for “Kiss Me, Kate”) and Francesca Zambello (“The Little Merm aid”), and the choreographer Graciela Daniele (“Ragtime”) will oversee the musical staging.

Three cast members on Wednesday confirmed the rehearsal start date and said in interviews that they were hopeful the show would go on. One of them, Nick Wyman, who is also president of the Actors' Equity union, acknowledged that he wasn't certain if Mr. Sprecher had the $4.5 million in hand, but added that he could not imagine â€" after all the show's up and downs â€" that Mr. Sprecher would risk going forward without the money in place.

“No one has said the words to me that the money is in the bank, but I would bet on the show taking place,” Mr. Wyman said. “Does he have the money right now? I don't know. Will he have it by Monday morning? I bet he will. He has been confident that we'll have the money.”

Another cast member, Howard McGillin, said he and other cast members were excited to start rehearsals after a period of limbo.

“We all believe in ‘Rebecca,' and we were really, really happy to hear this morning that the show is finally moving forward,” Mr. McGillin said.

The brief e-mail to the actors about rehearsals, which was provided by a third cast member, was sent mid-morning from Tripp Phillips, the show's production stage manager. It simply said that rehearsals would begin Monday at New 42nd Street Studios, one of the busiest rehearsal facilities for Broadway musicals, and that more details about the schedule would be sent soon.

Revised dates for the start of previews performances and opening night for “Rebecca” have yet to be announced, though performances would likely begin in November.

Shani Boianjiu on Her New Novel and Women Soldiers in Israel

September 26, 2012, 12:00 pm

By JOHN WILLIAMS

Shani Boianjiu's first novel, “The People of Forever Are Not Afraid,” follows three young women friends before, during and after their mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Forces. Ms. Boianjiu, 25, spent two years in the IDF and later studied at Harvard. In a recent e-mail interview, she discussed the ways she's reflected in her characters, her sense of humor, whether she feels obligated to speak out about politics and more. Below are edited excerpts from the conversation:

Your novel features three central characters: Yael, Avishag, and Lea. Is one of them closest to representing your own experiences and reactions? Do all three reflect parts of you? Or are they entirely different from you?

Yael's job in the army most closely resembles my own, although her stories are certainly not my own. She is a joyful person who craves human connections and experiences, sometimes to a fault. I was a bit like her for a time in my life, though not while I was in the army. Avishag is the quietest of the girls and the saddest, and I think during my army days I was a mix between her and Lea - sad and in my own world like Avishag, and at other times cynical and superior like Lea. What was important for me was to create a friendship between the girls that I didn't have when I was in the army. In many ways I was creating each girl for the sake of the other two.   

Yael expresses fear to her mother about going into the army. Were you fearful going in?

I was not at all afraid when I joined the army. I joined the summer after I graduated high school. I had lost touch with all of my friends, and spent the few weeks before training worki ng at a boring manufacturing job. I couldn't wait for my draft date to come up. When the day came I was completely unprepared for the difficulties of boot camp. In retrospect I wish I had been worried. Maybe that would have made those first months easier for me.

There's a series of scenes, excerpted in the New Yorker, where Lea negotiates her treatment of a small group of Palestinian protesters. The moments are essentially comic, despite a very serious undertone. Was there unexpected humor in your own service?

My two years in the IDF were the funniest years of my life, but I have an odd sense of humor. I am always pleasantly surprised when other people say they recognize the humor in my written stories. The whole premise of the army is amusing to me - taking high school kids and dressing them up and giving them titles and responsibilities and regulations to adhere to.  

You're a young writer tackling a big subject with both gravity and humor. Did any pa rticular authors or books inspire or influence your treatment of things?

I initially liked Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried” because I found it so funny. Etgar Keret is almost always funny and serious at the same time. But most of the books and writers I love - I can't say that I write like them. I wish I could, but I just love to read them, and I pick up from them the little bit that I can.

You wrote the book in English, but your first language is Hebrew. How did that affect the prose? How do you think the book might read differently in English if it had been translated from Hebrew?

Writing in English was an accident, but I think it helped me, particularly as a young writer. Writing in English forced me to think carefully about every word I used. The words did not belong to me, so I had to work harder to make them belong in my stories.

You've said elsewhere, “When I write, I spend 90 percent of my time listening to music and jumping a round, and 10 percent of my time writing.” Is listening to music purely inspirational, or does some of the music's style seep into the writing style?

For me, music is not “purely inspirational” - it is in and of itself the motivation for writing. For me, every piece of my writing represents the music it could never quite become.

There are moments of violence in the book, but war is mostly in the background. Yet this is obviously subject matter that can be divisive, and I've seen online where people react to this as politics first rather than literature. Did you want the book to say anything in particular about the larger political situation?

It upsets me, when I see responses to my writing that are simplistic, and refer only to the unshakeable political convictions of the commenters. Strangely, I get responses like that from people who hold polar opposite views on the conflict. I have been accused both of being an IDF spokesperson and a hater of al l Jews. It upsets me whenever I hear empty, hateful language in regards to this conflict, not just when it is said in response to my writing. The proper thing for me to say is that the stories are not political, which they are not. And I did not set out to promote any political agenda when I wrote this book. But the truth is I think my work does inevitably have something to say about the current political situation, and the sad thing is I don't think the people who view my work only through a narrow political prism will get to learn what that is.

As someone who served, do you feel an obligation to speak about the political situation and its ramifications? Is it something you've considered writing about in nonfiction or memoir form?

I do not feel an obligation to speak about the political situation just because I served. My obligation is to the quality of my fiction, because I am trying to become a writer, whatever that means. Fiction writers from my region ofte n become the interpreters of this senseless conflict to the rest of the world. I don't know why that is necessarily so. Some writers take the task upon themselves in all its weightiness, others do so reluctantly. I have my own experiences, observations, and (ever-shifting) opinions, but right now I don't think that just because I write I should share my personal political thoughts outside of the context of my fiction. I don't judge writers who use their status as artists to express political concerns, but I just turned 25. In the future, if there is something I feel I am obligated to say and I know exactly how I want to say it, maybe then I'll say it.

Beyond the Runways, What\'s on in Paris

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\'NCIS\' Watch: How to Resolve a Cliffhanger

September 25, 2012, 11:30 pm

By NEIL GENZLINGER

The perennially popular CBS drama “NCIS” ended last season with the ultimate cliffhanger. Practically every major character was set up to be killed off as NCIS headquarters was bombed and the venerable Ducky (David McCallum) suffered a heart attack.

But within minutes of the start of the Season 10 premiere on Tuesday night, everyone had made an appearance, dazed or cut or breathing with difficulty but still with us. Mucking with success is not something Hollywood does cavalierly.

Some radical fans might have been hoping for a major-character death on the theory that a long-running show needs to shake itself up now and then. If nothing else, killing off a major player might get “NCIS,â € whose excellence has come to be taken for granted, buzzed about again, the way it was in Season 2 when it put a bullet into the head of a central figure, Kate, at the end of the wrenching “Twilight” episode.

But there was no such shocker Tuesday night; just more evidence of why this show endures: distinctive characters, skilled actors, an ability to mix humor into the gloomiest situations. Even as the rubble was still being searched after the bombing, there were Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo), trapped in an elevator, exchanging flirty wisecracks. (Is this the season those two get smoochy?)

There was a death eventually, however: the disturbed, bomb-making Harper Dearing (Richard Schiff), who began terrorizing the NCIS team last season and who blew up headquarters. Gibbs (Mark Harmon) put a knife into him late in the episode. But the end of Dearing's story arc seems unlikely to end the impact of his actions. This series has always clu ng to its most traumatizing moments, using them to deepen characters and letting them reverberate through subsequent episodes and seasons. It was news of the bombing that led to Ducky's heart attack, but Tuesday night there were suggestions that he wasn't the only member of the team who was dramatically affected. Nobody snaps at Gibbs the way Ziva did.

But will mere personality changes be enough to keep “NCIS” interesting? Or should some major character have paid the ultimate price Tuesday night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

\'New Girl\' Watch: A Season Premiere and a Balancing Act

September 25, 2012, 8:35 pm

By MIKE HALE

A lot of sitcoms these days involve characters struggling against economic or romantic or psychological limitations, but no comedy goes straight for the heart of melancholy quite like “New Girl,” which returned for its second season on Fox with two episodes Tuesday night. Focusing on a group of roommates caught halfway between Judd Apatow-style immaturity and full-fledged adulthood, it's an ode to vulnerability and confusion, a celebration of inappropriate choices and the fine art of tiptoeing around your friends' feelings.

It began last year, with much fanfare, as a vehicle for the klutzy charm of Zooey Deschanel, but as the first season progressed the focus of the show's fans and writers shifted to th e supporting character Schmidt (Max Greenfield), the loudest and showiest of the show's wounded-bird characters. That trend continued in Tuesday's season premiere, “Re-Launch”: the plot twist was Ms. Deschanel's Jess being fired from her teaching job, but the dominant story line was Schmidt's celebration of the removal of his “penis cast,” which he'd apparently been wearing since a bout of enthusiastic sex near the end of Season 1.

The balance “New Girl” strives for isn't easy to pull off, and “Re-Launch” was a middling effort. The Jess story line was familiar: after being laid off, she insisted on working as a “shot girl” at Schmidt's party and once again failed in the cutest, most wistful way possible, like Lucille Ball on Zoloft. Parker Posey livened things up with a guest spot as an aging cocktail waitress with a Ph.D. Mr. Greenfield got the funniest unprintable lines, while Hannah Simone didn't get much more than a walk-on as Cece, the girlfri end Schmidt dumped in a fit of lunatic insecurity in last season's finale.

(It says something about the dynamic of the show that the gorgeous, level-headed model Cece, the closest thing “New Girl” has to an adult character, fell for the cartoonishly needy and narcissistic Schmidt in the first place. Fans loved it, but there was something a little creepy about the combination of gooey romanticism and hot-for-teacher wish fulfillment.)

As usual the best moments were between Ms. Deschanel and Jake Johnson as her crush, Nick, the whiny bartender who gets away with monstrous behavior toward women because he's such a nice guy. Having insulted Jess by implying that she wasn't attractive enough to be a shot girl, he reassured her: “You're the nurse I want to wake up to after I have my stomach pumped. It's a different kind of hot. Still hot.”

Those two ended the episode in a typically rueful conversation about Jess's future, which Nick summed up by saying, m ore or less: “Life stinks, and then it gets better, and then it stinks again. And then it just - stinks.” It captured the point of view that both fuels, and threatens, the show's unusual comic vibe.

What did you think of the “New Girl” season premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Rascals to Reunite for Three Shows

September 25, 2012, 5:24 pm

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

Steven Van Zandt has been trying to persuade his musical heroes the Rascals â€" the influential white soul group known for hits like “Good Lovin' ” and “Groovin' ” - to reunite since the early 1970s.  But the four original members, who started the band as the Young Rascals in New Jersey in 1965, agreed to perform together only once since â€" at a private benefit concert in 2010.

Now Mr. Van Zandt, the actor, producer and longtime guitarist with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band,  has persuaded the Rascals to do a set of shows that will not only be the first concerts the quartet has performed together since the early 70s, but will also tell the group's history through archival footage, narration and dramatic film segments.

“It's a hybrid of a live concert and a Broadway show, through a mixed-media presentation of a theatrical event,” said Mr. Van Zandt, who is producing the shows. “The four original guys will be performing, as they would in a regular concert, with a couple other elements mixed in â€" their own narration of their story, the history of the Rascals, done on these big screens, and then segments of actors playing them at critical points in their career.”

The show will run for three nights, from Dec. 13 through 15, at the newly reopened Capitol Theater in Port Chester, N.Y. Mr. Van Zandt has started a fund-raising campaign on the Kickstarter Web site to help underwrite the production, although he intends to finance it himself even if no donations are raised.

Gene Cornish, the Rascals' guitarist, said the foursome had resisted reuniting for decades, despite several lucrative offers.  (Three members did a brief tour in 1988.)   But Mr. Cornish said they changed their minds after jamming at the 2010 Kristen Ann Carr Fund performance in New York City to raise money to fight cancer.  “It was a really an ‘aha moment,' ” Mr. Cornish, who is 68, said.  “We realized how much we missed playing together.”

Mr. Cornish said the band agreed at that point to play another group of concerts if Mr. Van Zandt, who arranged the benefit, could come up with a show concept that would be more meaningful that a simple reunion to make money.  He said he and the other band members - the keyboardist and singer Felix Cavaliere, the vocalist Eddie Brigati and the drummer Dino Danelli â€"  were bowled over by the script Mr. Van Zandt wrote for them. “I was just overwhelmed to read our legacy on printed paper,” Mr. Cornish said.

The Rascals, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, were one of the most popular blue-eyed soul groups of t he mid-1960s, emerging from the post-Twist bar scene in New York and New Jersey.

After they topped the Billboard singles chart with a cover of the R&B song “Good Lovin' ” in 1966, they had a string of Top 20 hits in the late 1960s, among them “Groovin' ” in 1967 and “A Beautiful Morning” in 1968. They also wrote the civil rights anthem “People Got to Be Free” after the 1968 assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

By the time the group broke up in the early 1970s, the Rascals had earned a reputation as a principled band on civil rights issues. The band always demanded that a black act appear on the bill with them at their concerts, a stance that cost them some dates in the South.

The show, titled “Once Upon a Dream,” will feature lighting and visual elements designed by Marc Brickman, a veteran who most recently did Roger Waters's “Wall” tour.  Tickets go on sale on Sept. 28.

Juan Luis Guerra Tops List of Latin Grammy Nominations

September 25, 2012, 4:17 pm

By LARRY ROHTER

The veteran Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra leads the list of contenders for this year's edition of the Latin Grammy awards, picking up six nominations on Tuesday. In the song of the year category, Mr. Guerra even ended up competing against himself, with two of his compositions vying for that honor. The Mexican brother-sister pop duo Jesse& Joy followed with five Latin Grammy nominations, while the Colombian rocker Juanes, Guatemala's Ricardo Arjona and the Brazilians Caetano Veloso and Ivete Sangalo were among the artists getting four.

Most of Mr. Guerra's nominations came in connection with his collaboration with Juanes on the latter's “MTV Unplugged” CD, which was nominated for album of the year. Mr. Guerra does not perform on that record, but he produced and arranged it, and co-wrote with Juanes “Azul Sabina,” a track that was nominated both for record of the year, which covers performances, and song of the year, which has to do with compositions. He also got two nominations for “En El Cielo No Hay Hospital” (“In Heaven There Are No Hospitals”) from an album of religiously themed songs aimed at the Christian music market.

Overall, “Juanes MTV Unplugged” was nominated for five Latin Grammys, a total matched by Jesse & Joy's “Con Quien Queda el Perro?” (“Who Gets the Dog?”). Other contenders for album of the year come from a variety of genres, ranging from the mainstream pop of Mr. Arjona's Independiente” to the jazz of “Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You),” Arturo Sandoval's tribute to his fellow trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie, and the Brazilian tropicalia of “Especial Ivete, Gil e Caeta no,” a collaboration featuring Mr. Veloso, Ms. Sangalo and Gilberto Gil.

The Latin recording academy also designated Mr. Veloso as its “person of the year” for 2012, which is a kind of career recognition award. That and the other Grammys will be presented in Las Vegas on Nov. 15 in an awards ceremony that will be televised on Univsion. The number of artists competing for recognition at the event will be higher than in the past because in each of the four main general categories (best album, song, recording and new artist) the number of nominees this year doubled to 10.

Paul Taylor to Receive Bessie Lifetime Achievement Award

September 25, 2012, 3:30 pm

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

The choreographer Paul Taylor will receive a lifetime achievement Bessie, the nickname for the New York Dance and Performance Awards, Dance/NYC, which helps produce the award ceremony, said on Tuesday. Alice Teirstein, the founding director of the Young Dancemakers Company and a longtime faculty member at the Fieldston School, will be honored for service to the dance field. The ceremony will be held on Oct. 15 at the Apollo Theater, hosted by Elizabeth Streb and featuring performances by the Trisha Brown Company and Souleymane Badolo. Presenters include Marina Abramovic, Ron Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Archie Burnett, Bebe Neuwirth, Charles Reinhart, David Thomson, and Wendy Whelan.

A New Choreographer for \'Hands on a Hardbody\'

September 25, 2012, 3:00 pm

By ERIK PIEPENBURG

The Broadway choreographer Sergio Trujillo (“Memphis,” “Jersey Boys”) has taken over musical staging duties on the coming Broadway show “Hands on a Hardbody” from Benjamin Millepied, the producers of the show announced.

Mr. Millepied, a ballet choreographer known for his work on the movie “Black Swan,” said in a statement last week: “Regrettably, my schedule for this coming spring is shaping up to be busier than I'd anticipated and I won't be able to continue with the show, but I'm thrilled to have been involved with a great new musical.” A spokesman for the show said Mr. Trujillo will create entirely new choreography for the production.

Inspired by the 1997 documentary of th e same name, “Hands on a Hardbody” is about a group of people in Texas who participate in a contest that requires them to keep at least one hand on a brand new truck in order to win it. The show features a book by Doug Wright, a Pulitzer Prize winner for “I Am My Own Wife”; lyrics by Amanda Green (“Bring It On: The Musical”), music by Trey Anastasio of the band Phish and Ms. Green; and direction by Neil Pepe, who staged the 2008 Broadway revival of David Mamet's play “Speed-the-Plow”and is the artistic director of the Atlantic Theater Company.

“Hands on a Hardbody” had its premiere in May at the La Jolla Playhouse. In his review Charles Isherwood said the show “strikes a fresh, topical note for American musical theater by training a compassionate eye on the struggles of the lower-middle classes.” Of the dancing he wrote: “It seems a bit perverse to hire an internationally renowned dance-maker such as Mr. Millepied to create the sparse choreogr aphy; I would like to have seen more.”

Last weekend the L.A. Dance Project, a company Mr. Millepied founded along with the composer Nico Muhly and other artists, made its debut in Los Angeles, where Mr. Millepied lives with his wife, the actress Natalie Portman. Mr. Millepied retired as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet in 2011.

A theater, a cast and run dates for the Broadway run of “Hands on a Hardbody” are still to be announced.

In Paris, an Exhibition Dedicated to Hair

September 25, 2012, 3:04 pm

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

PARIS - Hair, as the song from the musical goes, can be long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty, oily, greasy, fleecy.

It also can be shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen, knotted, polka-dotted, twisted, beaded, braided, powdered, flowered, confettied, bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied.

At the Musée du Quai Branly here, hair is just about all of these things, and even more. A new exhibition, “The Art of Hair: Frivolities and Trophies,” which opened last week, celebrates the universal importance of hair in art, fashion, style, ritual, sexuality, religion and culture, from antiquity to today.

Among the 280 objects on display are many of the kind you'd expect at an art museum: paintings, photographs and sculptures. And the Quai Branly is the Paris repository for the indigenous art of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, so the exhibition also includes native American scalps, Ecuadoran shrunken heads, Peruvian mummified trophy heads and about 100 objects from the museum's permanent collection, including masks, jewelry, talismans, clothing and weapons made or decorated with human hair.

The opening rooms focus mainly on Western art and artifacts, juxtaposing blonds, brunettes and redheads to show the evolution of stereotypes attaching to each: blonds as angels, saints and mothers; brunettes, as their opposites-adventurers and sex symbols; redheads as drama queens.

Enormous color photographs of dark-haired actresses Ava Gardner and Gina Lollobrigida, their lips slightly parted, their makeup heavy, their cleavages showing, hang in the same area as white marble busts of French roya lty and Charles Cordier's bronzes of African and Chinese figures with coiffures that qualify as works of art themselves. Nearby is a series of paintings and photographs of redheads and blonds, the latter including a very young Jane Fonda with her hair in a half-pageboy, half-flip, looking like a sorority sister.

The stereotypes don't always hold: in one blown-up photograph, a very young and blonde Brigitte Bardot looks neither saintly nor angelic nor maternal as she is about to kiss a very young Alain Delon.

And hair, this show demonstrates, can be simultaneously virginal and sensuous. A 14th century French stone sculpture of Mary Magdalene, her eyes closed, her hands folded in prayer, is caressed and enveloped in hair that flows down to her feet.

“Hair has no fixed meaning,” said Yves Le Fur, the exhibition's curator. “It can show the norm and the anti-establishment, conformity and anti-conformity, seduction and repulsion, freedom and repression. It' s the only human material that can be shaped and distorted as you wish.”

Multimedia slide shows and short films illustrate the paradoxes and cultural divides. One slide show presents long-haired men-a street person, Albert Einstein, a young man in dreadlocks, a 1960s hippie-and men and women with shaved heads: a monk, a breast cancer survivor, a prisoner, a body builder, a skinhead, an American soldier, a Japanese warrior.

Other images and short films capture connections between hair and loss. A photo dating from the late 19th century or early 20th century of a Malagasy widow shows her long hair unkempt and flying in the wind; a widow in Madagascar did not wash for a year after the death of her husband, to avoid attracting potential suitors.

One of the most poignant objects is a hairpiece of three beautiful blonde curls held together by a white satin bow and set in a simple frame. It was cut from a young woman named Emma when she entered the Carmelite or der. André Malraux bought the object at a Paris flea market and gave it to a friend for his twentieth birthday.

Hair is associated with punishment in a short, silent black and white film clip made during the liberation of France, in which French women, their heads shaved for allegedly having had sexual relations with Germans, are paraded in public.

The mood of the exhibition shifts in the exclusively non-Western rooms, where hair is used in clothing, body decoration and religious and cultural rituals. The integration of women's long hair in Chinese tribal capes made of sheep's and yak's wool helped guarantee a dense natural weave that made the cape nearly impermeable. Wigs in Papau New Guinea were made of human hair with feathers, in sub-Saharan Africa with mud, vegetal fibers, pigments and bark as well as human hair.

A 20th century Madagasgar necklace of fabric, horn, wood, pearls, shells and hair offers a touch of whimsy: The pendant is a small wooden h ead decorated with human hair and wearing a hat and sitting peacefully in an animal horn. The figure seems to be smiling.

See More Photos.

“The Art of Hair” continues until July 14, 2013; an audio guide for the exhibition can be downloaded at www.quaibanly.fr.