South O' the Highway This Week: May 8, 2015
Amagansett resident Scarlett Johansson hosted Saturday Night Live for a fourth time last weekend, appearing as a sports reporter, a flight attendant and other characters. Johansson has been making the media rounds to promote her new movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which opened to record crowds over the weekend.
Tickets for the final concert at Nassau Coliseum, featuring South Fork Piano Man Billy Joel, reportedly sold out in five minutes. Joel will close out the Coliseum on August 4.
Amagansett resident Paul McCartney contributed an original piece of art to “Five by Seven: Small Works, Big Artists,” an exhibition and auction benefiting the Hayground School in Bridgehampton. The exhibition will be held at New York’s Ricco Maresca Gallery. The auction, held this past Thursday, featured more than 300 works of art on sale for $150 each. Other Hamptons artists and celebrities donated pieces to the event, including Alec Baldwin, Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, Bob Balaban, Barry Sonnenfeld, April Gornik and Toni Ross.
The cast of Bay Street Theater’s world premiere production of The New Sincerity has been announced. Bob Balaban will direct Teddy Bergman, Peter Mark Kendall, Justine Lupe and Elvy Yost in this new comedy by Alena Smith.
Hamptons regular Barbara Walters was celebrated by Sarah Lawrence College this week. After donating $15 million to her alma mater to establish the Barbara Walters Campus Center, the news legend was honored with Barbara Walters Day on Wednesday. As part of the festivities, Walters hosted a journalism class with select students.
Water Mill’s Kelly Ripa will receive the Excellence in Media award during the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards at New York’s Waldorf Astoria this Saturday, May 9. Said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement, “For over a decade, Kelly Ripa has greeted millions of viewers with messages of acceptance and inclusion. By sharing inclusive stories with her audience and loudly voicing support for her LGBT friends and fans, Kelly is helping to drive acceptance forward.”
By design: Renowned California designer Brogan Lane opened her new showroom in Sag Harbor last week. Designer Nicole Miller, her family —including Rhodesian ridgeback Godzilla—and their gorgeous Sag Harbor home are featured in the May issue of Coastal Living magazine. Shelter Island resident and famed designer Jonathan Adler will once again create the race T-shirt for the Shelter Island Run. The race will be held on June 20 at 5:30 p.m. and will draw such heavyweights in the running community as Meb Keflezighi, who won the Boston Marathon in 2014.
On the small screen: The Very Fairy Princess, a bestselling picture book series by Hamptons residents Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, will soon be an animated preschool TV series. The mother-daughter authors are partnering with Nelvana Enterprises, a leading international producer and distributor of children’s animated content. The series will debut next year. ABC’s Hamptons-set Revenge has been canceled after four seasons. The series, which started with strong ratings and a phenomenal first season, never fully recovered from its uneven second season. The show concludes on May 10 with the ominously titled episode “Two Graves.” Check out our Weekly Hamptons Revenge Recap archive to catch up with the story. Southampton foodie Rachael Ray will return to the Food Network this August with Rachael Ray’s Kids Cook-Off. The popular show features kids competing in challenges designed to test their culinary skills.
Jimmy Fallon lunched with his wife at Zach Erdem’s 75 Main in Southampton last week. Rumor has it that a major celebrity wedding will be held at 75 Main soon but, as always, Erdem’s lips are sealed.
East Ender Katie Couric was recently appointed to the Aspen Institute’s Board of Trustees. The Institute, based in Washington, D.C., fosters leadership and works to provide a nonpartisan outlet for dealing with critical issues. Said Robert Steel, the Institute’s Chairman, in a statement, “her unique set of experiences will be of immense value to our board and to the future success of the Aspen Institute.” Couric, currently a Yahoo News Global Anchor, will serve a three-year term.
South Fork foodies Anthony Bourdain, Ina Garten and Martha Stewart received top awards during the James Beard Foundation’s Book, Broadcast and Journalism awards ceremony last week.
Congratulations, Jennifer Lopez! The Water Mill resident and American Idol judge took home Radio Disney’s “Hero Award” in a ceremony held at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre last Saturday. Lopez received the honor for her work with the Boys & Girls Club of America.
Good hair days ahead: Southampton’s Brooke Shields stars in a new infomercial for Wen Hair Care, for which she became a celebrity ambassador earlier this year. Shields has been friends with Chaz Dean the brand’s founder for 20 years. Joel Warren and Edward Tricomi have announced that the Warren-Tricomi East Hampton salon at 64 Park Place has been completely renovated and will re-open this month.
Partnering with Lifetime Brands, Inc., South Fork designer Elie Tahari unveiled a new dining and entertaining line last week. Tableware and glassware motifs were inspired by Manhattan and the Hamptons and named for specific locations, including Montauk’s Navy Beach. Four-piece place settings will range in price from $80 and $220. The line will be available for purchase this fall.
Love will be in the air this weekend, May 8 and 9, when Hamptons celebrities Pia Lindström and Terrance Fiore appear in A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters at St. Ann’s Church in Bridgehampton. Three-time Tony award winner, Tony Walton directs. Tickets are only $25 and include a wine and cheese party with the stars. Funds raised from the event benefit East End Hospice, Dominican Sisters and Maureen’s Haven. Sponsored by The Corcoran Group.
The 2015 Tony nominees have been announced. Hamptons regular Terrence McNally is nominated in the Best Book of a Musical category for The Visit (late composers Kander and Ebb are also nominated); Hamptonite Bradley Cooper is up for Best Leading Actor in a Play for the titular role in The Elephant Man, while The Affair star Ruth Wilson is nominated for Best Leading Actress for her work in Constellations. The 69th Tony Awards, hosted by Broadway icons Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, airs on June 7 on CBS. Congrats to all the nominees!
RampShot inventors Josh Bonventre and Kevin Texeira visited the Dan’s Papers offices in Southampton last week. Without question this new party sport involving balls and small nets, ramps and whacky bounces will be the hottest item on the beaches this summer. Our editors played a match and let’s just say…hilarity ensued.
Sports talk show host, CBS Sports Radio golf correspondent and author Ann Liguori will host her 17th Annual Ann Liguori Foundation Charity Golf Classic on May 18 at Friar’s Head in Riverhead. Ann recently covered her 17th Masters and this past February placed second in the celebrity division of the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Invitational in Palm Springs.
Recently South O’ the Highway noted that Wölffer Winemaker Roman Roth had celebrated his 50th birthday. Turns out Roth was actually turning just 49 years young. THE BIG ONE awaits. A friend of Roth’s was shocked to learn that he’s not 39 again, while a co-worker contended that Roman is only 27. It appears he’s also working on something new at the former location of The Cuddy in Sag Harbor.
Dan’s Papers Police Blotterist (Blotterati?)and Resident Composer Dan Koontz will perform with East End Bob Dylan cover band The Complete Unknowns on keyboard in a special performance at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York on Memorial Day, May 25.
Wine & Spirits Magazine recently named Macari Vineyards’ 2013 sauvignon blanc the “best of the year” in a bind taste-test panel that included 274 wines of the same varietal. Macari is located in Mattituck on the North Fork.
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