out and about
Updated: April 23, 2009, 8:40 am	Share    Print    Email

Filming of "Royal Pains" on Main Street in Southampton this past Fall. Photo by Aaron Boyd

Southampton - Seems like it's that time of the year again. The Snowbirds are winging back from the balmy Southern climes, houses are being aired out; pools are getting cleaned and some "Royal Pains" will soon be on our doorstep. But for these "Pains" I will gladly roll out the red carpet. Heck, I'll even drive the welcome wagon. I am referring, of course, to the "Royal Pains" - the TV pilot shot here last summer on Main Street in Bridgehampton and along First Neck and Halsey Neck Lanes in the estate section of Southampton.

Well, USA Networks green lighted the series and already location scouts are combing the East End for the right settings for this series which follows a former city doctor, Hank Lawson, who flees the political pressure of big city hospitals for the bucolic Hamptons to set up a "concierge" style practice treating the upper crust in their posh mansions. I am thrilled to report that cutie pie, Mark Feurstein, named one of People Magazine's 'Most Beautiful People of 2003' will star in the comedy. That means he'll be shopping in our stores, strolling the beach and grabbing a nosh at one of our favorite local hangs. Of course since the shoot will run for a month or two, he will probably have his wife with him.

Fortunately for our local economy, cool dudes, screenwriter and director Jace Alexander decided that if you are making a movie about a medical practice in The Hamptons, you should shoot, well, in The Hamptons. Toronto has lots of mansions but no surf and Malibu is, well, Malibu.

Mark Feurstein will star in the new "Royal Pains" comedy to be broadcast on USA Network. Photos by Patrick McMullan.com

In case you didn't know Jace is real royalty, albeit of another kind - theater royalty. His mom is Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Alexander, former head of the National Endowment of the Arts; dad is Robert Alexander, founder and director of The Living Stage, and stepfather is the much lauded director and producer Ed Sherrin. Not that Jace hasn't made his mark. The triple threat - actor, director and producer - has starred in numerous TV series, films and on stage. He originated the role of Lee Harvey Oswald in the workshop production of the Stephen Sondheim musical "Assassins" at Playwrights Horizon. He has also directed dozens of TV shows from "Law & Order" to "Rescue Me" and even did an episode of "Lipstick Jungle" with East Ender Brooke Shields.

Now, even the cloistered monks in the Himalayas know that the world's most famous Kabbalista, Her Madge-sty Madonna Louise Ciccone took a spill, properly attired in jodhpurs, riding jacket and helmet of course, from her horse at fashion photographer Steven Klein's Bridgehampton farm. Maybe Madonna is planning a bid for the Hampton Classic this August. Her friend Steven certainly has the connections to get her on the slate. You might remember that he did the very cutting-edge poster for last year's Classic which was prominently featured in Vered's East Hampton gallery. I do hear that Madge is still on a property buying binge. Now that she has secured her own double-width mansion New York home with all the bells and whistles, on East 81st between Lexington and Third Avenues, she is reportedly searching for a country property, a horse farm to be more precise, like her 1,200 acre spread in jolly old England. Where she can ride like a proper Englishwoman, I guess.

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi will participate in the Nature Conservancy's project to bring natural materials to fashion.

Another Hamptonite spilling all over the media is the multi-faceted fashion designer, reality show star, and creative director of Liz Claiborne, savior to the masses in search of quality designer goodies that didn't mean missing a mortgage payment - the one and only Isaac Mizrahi.

Yes, Isaac has been working for over a year with Alaskan fisheries turning salmon skins, a waste product, into salmon leather which he has used to create a floating, shimmering cocktail dress and pair of sexy high heels. His creation is part of an extraordinary project undertaken by The Nature Conservancy which collaborated with 10 visionary designers from the worlds of fashion, industrial and furniture design.

Each designer focused on a natural material from a specific place where the Conservancy works to create beautiful, sustainable objects of art and design. The exhibition features designs by Yves Béhar, Stephen Burks, Hella Jongerius, Maya Lin, Christien Meindertsma, Abbott Miller, Mizrahi, Ted Muehling, Paulina Reyes for Kate Spade and Ezri Tarazi. Among the creations featured in the exhibition are the fashions by Mizrahi utilizing salmon leather; precious jewels by Muehling made with farmed black pearls and vegetable "ivory" and Reyes for Kate Spade's innovative handbags made with sustainable woods, cotton and jipijapa, a fiber made of palm leaves.

Painter, author and talk show host Lois Wright spent a year living with the eccentric ladies of "Grey Gardens."

On May 13, The Nature Conservancy and the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will host an exclusive preview reception celebrating the premiere of this extraordinary exhibition, "Design for a Living World," a traveling exhibition featuring objects created by the prominent designers and made from sustainable, natural materials at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York where it will stay on display through early January 2010. The reception will benefit the vital programs of the Nature Conservancy.

I recently told you about Michael J. Fox's new book "Confessions of an Incurable Optimist" and now I'm delighted to share the news that it has become the basis for an ABC-TV special slated to air May 7. Michael - having been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease over a decade ago - which pretty much cut out his acting career, has every reason to be a pessimist, and insists that the last 10 years have been his happiest. In the one-hour special about the nature of optimism, Michael explores science and his own personal experiences. For his show, Michael visited the Himalayan country of Bhutan which he says is unusually committed to the well-being and happiness of its citizenry.

Meanwhile, wife Tracey Pollan is scoring major kudos for her role in the recent made-for-TV movie about the murder of tourist Natalee Holloway in which she played Natalee's mother Beth. This is one family that does not sit back and feel sorry for itself. A life lesson for all.

Speaking of TV movies, I have to give a grateful shout out to East Hampton's Henry Schleiff who brought the compelling and frightening story of Irena Sendler, a true heroine of the Holocaust to the small screen. Henry, who virtually created Court TV and numerous other successful formats, is now at the helm of The Hallmark Channel which produced "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" that aired this weekend. It tells the story of Irena Sendler, a social worker who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested by the Nazis for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto. Marvelous performances by Anna Paquin as Irena and Marcia Gay Harden make this a sure-fire Emmy contender.

Martha Stewart has released a new book "The Encyclopedia of Crafts."

Another reason to stay in this past cold, rainy weekend was to catch Michael Sucsy's splendidly done "Grey Gardens." Drew Barrymore's transformation into Little Edie Beale was jaw-dropping. She and Anna Paquin are shoo-ins for both Emmy and Golden Globe consideration - ditto Jessica Lange and the amazingly talented Sucsy. Congrats for all for doing justice to these East Hampton icons.

Speaking of GG, Lois Wright, painter, author and long-time LTV talk show host spent a year living with the eccentric ladies of "Grey Gardens" which is chronicled in her book "My Life at Grey Gardens" and which shows a collection of paintings depicting the Edies, their cats and the dilapidated mansion at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park on April 29.

During Fashion's Bridal Week, two East End designers really stood out - Nicole Miller and Vera Wang. Nicole, eschewing her passion for prints, created a collection of figure-hugging asymmetrically cut gowns that had real flair. Vera, who cut her teeth in the fashion biz doing one of a kind bridal gowns, came through once again with lush fabrics and elegant designs sure to make any girl feel like a princess.

Martha Stewart has a new book out, "The Encyclopedia of Crafts." It's gorgeous and totally impractical for me. If I have a copy, I will only feel guilty for not making my own placemats or whipping up window treatments for my bare windows. But those of you so inspired by the domestic goddess and her handiwork will love it!