Sharon Aide to Help Market 'Munich' in Israel
Steven Spielberg has hired one of the top strategic advisers to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to market "Munich," his new film about Israel's retaliation for the Palestinian attack on its team at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Reuters reported. Eyal Arad, who was heavily involved with the recent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, said yesterday that he was promoting the film in Israel, where it has already stirred fierce debate. "This market is an important market," he said. "We are talking about a film that has generated a lot of interest here, and naturally that sort of interest can entail some negative reactions as well as positive reactions." Mr. Arad has already arranged a screening in Tel Aviv for the widows of two of the 11 slain Israeli athletes; the film's producer and screenwriter also attended. "Munich" opens in limited release in the United States on Friday and in Israel on Jan. 26.
U2, Seen by Three Million, Tops the Tour Roster
U2 was easily the top-grossing act on tour in 2005, with more than $260 million in receipts, Billboard reported. The group's "Vertigo" tour had 90 sellouts and was attended by three million people through Nov. 15. The Eagles also had one of the biggest tours of their career, with almost $117 million in grosses from 77 concerts. Neil Diamond played to just over a million fans and took in $71 million, and the country star Kenny Chesney reported $63 million in receipts and crowds of 1.1 million, an attendance figure beaten only by U2, Billboard said. Two other country acts scored well: Toby Keith grossed nearly $32 million from 62 concerts, and the group Rascal Flatts took in $26 million from 83 shows. The Rolling Stones are believed to have done very well with their "Bigger Bang" tour that began in August, but they are not expected to report grosses until the conclusion of the tour next year.
Insight on an Early Text
The Rabula Gospels, the first dated Christian manuscript, has been shown at an academic conference in Florence to have been repainted. Pigment tests and scientific analyses of the illustrated manuscript have revealed that the illustrations of A.D. 586 were repainted after it entered the Medicis' Laurentian Library in the 16th century, where it remains today. The oversized book, originally produced in a Syrian monastery, includes the first dated pictorial representation of the Crucifixion. Tests revealed, among other things, that in the repainting, Jesus's curly red hair was restyled as black and straight. The findings were presented at a conference this month at the Max Planck Institute organized by Gerhard Wolf, director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, and Massimo Bernabò, who teaches at the University of Pavia, in Italy. Mr. Bernabò said the discovery would force scholars to re-evaluate this significant monument of early Christian art and subsequent attitudes toward it. ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
'Band' Draws for MTV
At the end of the first season of "Making the Band 3," the MTV reality show in which Diddy auditioned women across the country for a pop group, he was so unimpressed with the candidates that he decided to begin the search again. In the second season, which ended Dec. 8, the hip-hop entrepreneur took a more active role, and the results were better and he was able to choose five women for the band. The finale drew an audience of 4.58 million and was the fourth most-watched cable program of the week that ended Dec. 11. In the young demographics that MTV courts - 18 to 34, 12 to 34 and 12 to 17 - the show was No. 1. That week, MTV also had the premiere of another season of "The Real World/Road Rules Challenge," in which former cast members of the channel's flagship reality series compete for money and prizes. In the first episode, Jo, from "The Real World: San Francisco," left because people were getting drunk and having sex. (She must not have watched previous seasons.) Among adults 18 to 34, the episode ranked third for the week, behind "Making the Band 3" and a football game on ESPN. KATE AURTHUR
New Dylan Musical
"The Times They Are a-Changin'," a new musical headed for Broadway, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp based on songs by Bob Dylan, will be about a low-rent traveling circus run by one Captain Arab and the longings of his son, Coyote, for the world outside the family business, according to a tantalizingly brief announcement by the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, where the show is to have its world premiere next month. Another character in the show is Cleo, a young animal trainer in the circus who is exploited by Captain Arab but loved by his son. Dylan fans' ears will perk up at the references to the songs "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" ("I yelled for Captain Arab/ I have yuh understand") and "Ballad of Hollis Brown" ("Way out in the wilderness/ A cold coyote calls"), but no other details of the plot were revealed. The show is to star Michael Arden ("Big River") as Coyote, Jenn Colella ("Urban Cowboy") as Cleo, and Paul Kandel ("The Who's Tommy," "Titanic") as Captain Arab. It begins Jan. 25 and runs through March 5.
On Broadway and Off
"Stuff Happens," the David Hare docudrama about the Iraq war, will have its New York premiere at the Public Theater, where previews are to begin on March 21. Daniel Sullivan will direct. ... Exit "Sweet Charity," enter "The Wedding Singer." No sooner had "Sweet Charity" announced its closing on Dec. 31 than "The Wedding Singer" announced that it would be moving into the vacated Al Hirschfeld Theater. The new musical, based on the 1998 film with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, will feature Stephen Lynch and Laura Benanti, above, under the direction of the Tony Award winner John Rando ("Urinetown"). It is to begin previews on March 30 and open April 27 after its premiere in Seattle on Jan. 31. ... "The Right Kind of People," the new play by Charles Grodin that sends up a fashionable Fifth Avenue co-op board, will open at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters on Feb. 9 after previews, which begin on Jan. 24. ... "Indoor/Outdoor," a new romantic comedy by Kenny Finkle about life and love as seen through the eyes of a cat, will be opening Off Broadway on Feb. 2 at the DR2 Theater on East 15th Street. Said to be the first commercial move from the Summer Play Festival, it will be directed by Daniel Goldstein and its cast will include Mario Campanaro, Brian Hutchison, Emily Cass McDonnell and Keira Naughton.