out and about
Added: June 20, 2007, 11:23 am	Share    Print    Email

If you thought things seemed a little quiet with The Summer Colony set last week it's because scores of the East End's art mavens and preservationists had hopped over to Venice for a host of parties, lavish balls, art openings and, of course, the Biennale which brings the top artists together in a whirlwind of gondola grid lock. Beth DeWoody, Patricia Patterson, Bettina Zilkha, Alice and Paul Judelson, Tom Quick, Prince Dimitri, polo player Peter Brant and wife Stephanie Seymour, Jana Bullock, and Adam Lindeman and his fiancé Amalia Dayan partied in the great palazzos at a slew of fetes for Venetian Heritage with Sir Elton John and hubby David Furnish, Princess Michael of Kent and perennial international best dressed lister Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes. Local gossip scribe R.Couri Hay and photographer Patrick McMullan were there to make sure that every word and movement were recorded for posterity!

Charles and Bonnie Evans. Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

While they were brushing up on their Italian, socialite Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos and her real estate developer husband Paul Kanavos stayed close to Southampton as they are reportedly going to contract to buy a brand new Joe Farrell built 11,500-square-foot mansion on more than two and a half acres on Captain's Neck Lane for some $17 million. Of course, it has all the bells and whistles that are the hallmark of Farrell's magnificent spec houses: steam room, sauna, wine cellar, media room, apartment sized closets, two butler's pantries etc.etc.

Mr. Kanavos certainly knows a thing or two about luxe living as he is the founder and C.E.O. of Flag Luxury, which has developed, among other things, the Temenos Anguilla St. Regis Resort. World class properties in world class locations the company's motto is apparent with such holdings as The Ritz-Carlton South Beach, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa, Jupiter, an 18-acre site to be master planned on the Las Vegas Strip, the first Jack Nicklaus-designed planned championship golf course in New York City, and The Ferry Point Park Golf and Conference Center.

Sir Paul McCartney didn't make an appearance on the local scene but he did show for an intimate Highline Ballroom concert in New York to promote his new Starbucks backed CD. Paul was in rare and relaxed form, even joking about his new status as a single man. The audience included Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Van Zandt who led the crowd in a rousing "Happy Birthday" to the former Beatle McCartney who turned 65 this week.

Everything's Comin' up Roses for Quogue's multi Tony Award winning Arthur Laurents. The veteran director will direct his own icon "Gypsy," which will run from July 9-29 as part of the "Encores" series at City Center. Tougher than nails Patti LuPone will star as the ultimate stage mother/dragon Mama Rose and Laura Benanti will portray Louise, the Gypsy Rose Lee character. Triple Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines will star as Herbie.

Mel Brooks is taking a lot of heat for having had Cloris Leachman audition for the role of Frau Blucher (which she created in his original film) in his new musical, Young Frankenstein he's prepping for Broadway. Word got out that the creative forces deemed Cloris too old! For any actress, especially one of such great comedic gifts as Leachman, those are fighting words. Through her PR rep, Cloris challenged Brooks to three rounds in the boxing ring to see who would be left standing. Expect to hear more in this new Broadway dust up.

Super hot director Diane English, who put Murphy Brown on the map and crossed swords with right wing politicos over the single mother character, will reunite with the hot show's star East Hampton's Candice Bergen for a re-make of Clare Booth Luce's 1939 classic, The Women. Diane's now in seventh heaven as finally after 10 years she's got the project off the ground

The bitchy tone of Luce's play lent itself perfectly to the original film that starred Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and others. Even though the property has always been catnip to actresses, insiders felt the film was a dated period piece and would be difficult to remake. English, who went through several false starts and watched actresses come and go, simply would not give up and now she'll start shooting the $20,000,000 production with her all female cast that in addition to Candy will include Annette Benning, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Debra Messing. In the original film NO men appeared, not a single one - even the dogs and horses shown were all females!

Another East Hamptonite famed for his comedic roles, Nathan Lane, will be honored at The Trevor Project's Harmony, Heart & Humor Gala this week at the Hudson Theatre. Malcolm Gets, Gilbert Gottfried, John Glover, Tim Gunn, and Christopher Sieber are all taking part in the salute to The Producers star.

It's wedding bells for Newsday Culture editor John Habich and his partner pharmaceutical heir Andrew Solomon, the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. The Anglophile Solomon has selected Althorp, the childhood home and final resting place of the ill-fated Princess Diana, as the site for the nuptials. The 500-year-old estate on 14,000 acres will set the stage for a gay wedding sure to equal if not surpass the Sir Elton John and David Furnish extravaganza.

No stranger to living large, Solomon already owns one of the largest private mansions in Greenwich Village the setting for fundraisers for numerous social justice organizations the pair have hosted. He recently purchased an old Astor estate on the Hudson River.

Ronald Perelman and Claudia Cohen. Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

Sarah Jessica Parker fans are holding their breath ever since SJP hinted on Entertainment Tonight that there might be a reunion of the Sex in The City gals saying that she was "hopeful and excited" about a movie deal on the hot show. But her costars seem less sure that the film will ever happen. Kim Catrall admitted she hadn't seen a script for the film, adding for emphasis: "I don't even know if it is going ahead." Cynthia Nixon told gossip doyenne Cindy Adams that no one was even sure if the deal had been signed and she had no knowledge of any starting date for the project.

Some polo fans are going to have a hard time choosing which handsome player to root for but not me, I just can't wait til that sexy Nacho Figueras comes back to Bridgehampton next month. I am told he will have a little competition as David Walentas has signed the world's top ranking player Adolpho Cambiaso to the Two Trees team. He'll be playing in all the Mercedes Benz matches this summer and will no doubt be hanging around the tents. He's cute but not as cute as my Nacho!

$500 sneakers? To run in after you've gobbled your $100 a pound lobster? Yep, thanks to socialite dj and entrepreneur Nick Cohen, boyfriend of Keith Richard's daughter model Alexandra Richards. They're called U.E.S. short for Upper East Side where Cohen lives and feature 18kt. gold laces. Jeff Goldstein at trendy Blue & Crème is offering them for the stylish cocktail party set as that get trashed in clubs! So far, few takers. I can't imagine why.

There's lots of news on the local media beat. Veteran announcer Paul Sidney of WLNG will be inducted into the New York Broadcasters Hall of Fame after 43 years of helming his program. Paul's on the scene broadcasts from a wide variety of Hamptons events have made him part of local history. WVVH TV host Lois Wright celebrates 20 years of her popular talk show on which she profiles a diverse cast of Hamptons' characters. And Brian Cosgrove, a longtime staple with his eclectic morning show on WEHM, has joined the WLIU team with his own daily program this week giving us yet another reason besides Bonnie Grice and Ed German to keep our dial set to 88.3, my favorite public radio station.

We lost two major figures on the social scene in less then a week, Charles Evans aka Mr. Lucky, and gossip guru Claudia Cohen.

Over 1,000 mourners turned out for the funeral service for much respected and well liked film producer and former head of fashion house Evan-Picone, Charles Evans of Quogue who died last week at the age of 81. Evans started the fashion company in 1949 which quickly one of the most well known labels in the country.

After selling it to Revlon, he followed his brother Robert Evans into the film business producing such films as Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, nominated for ten Oscars. He also produced "Showgirls" and helped with "The Kid Stays in the Picture," a 2002 documentary about his brother, Robert, whose credits include "Chinatown" and "Urban Cowboy. A noted philanthropist, he and his wife, famed model Bonnie Pfeiffer, were active on the Hamptons and New York social scenes.

Bonnie noted, "Charles was known to friends and family alike as Mr. Lucky, but truly we really were the lucky ones to have had Charles in our lives. He had everything, and more, and he included all of us in his crazy happiness. As Mrs. Lucky, I was especially blessed that Charles chose to share his love and wonderful world with me for nearly 7 years. He was my love. He was my life".

Among those at Temple Emmanuel were David Koch, Donald Trump, Richard Meier, Ali McGraw, Gerald Schoenfeld, and the Prince of Hanover.

Just days ago Claudia Cohen, an ex-Mrs. Ronald Perelman and regular gossip correspondent on The Regis & Kelly Show passed away from ovarian cancer. The former Page 6 editor was the author of her own "I, Claudia" column for many years before latching on to the Revlon magnate. They remained surprisingly good friends and Ron was clearly distraught at the services which attracted scores of those who loved and/or feared her including: former Sen. Al D'Amato (who once had a very serious relationship with Claudia), Ellen Barkin, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Jon Bon Jovi, Lorraine Bracco, Graydon Carter, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Diane Von Furstenberg, Bryant Gumbel, Frank and Kathy Lee Gifford, Rudy and Judith Giuliani, Matt Lauer, Penny Marshall, Richard Meier, Ian Schrager, Lori Singer, Liz Smith, Donald and Melania Trump, and Barbara Walters.

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You have the stories and we hope you will share them with Jennifer and our readers each week! So next time Barbara Walters or Sarah Jessica Parker stops in your store, Jay Z or Alan Alda grabs your peaches, and Kathy Hilton or Vera Wang give you a howdy do, let us know and Jennifer will share it with our readers. Got a juicy bit to dish? Just send a quick email to ispy@hamptons.com, call 631-734-2393, or fax 631-734-2385.