Ms. Rowling Drops a Hint
J. K. Rowling describing herself as “euphoric” and “devastated” after 17 years of writing seven novels devoted to the adventures and travails of the boy wizard Harry Potter, tantalized millions of fans by hinting that one day she may return to the magical realm of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Reuters reported. In an interview with the BBC, Ms. Rowling said: “I think that Harry’s story comes to quite a clear end in Book Seven. But I have always said that I wouldn’t say never. I can’t say I will never write another book about that world, just because I think, ‘What do I know, in 10 years’ time I might want to return to it.’ But I think it is unlikely.” Meanwhile, thousands of fans have signed a petition urging the author to keep the series going after the publication of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on July 21. Despite speculation that Harry might die in the novel, the Waterstone’s book chain, which established the petition, said his demise would be no obstacle to further adventures. “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famously killed off Sherlock Holmes, yet brought him back after years of demand from his fans and publishers,” said Wayne Winstone of Waterstone’s. “Couldn’t the same happen for Harry Potter?” But at least one person said he was happy that the series is ending. Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays Harry on screen, described himself in an interview in the August issue of Details as “the only kid in the world who doesn’t want an eighth Harry Potter book.”
New Musical
From ‘Les Miz’ Team
A world premiere musical from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the creators of “Les Misérables” and “Miss Saigon,” and a team of collaborators including the Oscar winner Michel Legrand and Jonathan Kent, will cap the inaugural season of the Theater Royal Haymarket Company, which begins in September in London. With Mr. Kent, the former joint artistic director of the Almeida Theater, as its director, the new company will begin by presenting William Wycherley’s Restoration comedy “The Country Wife,” from Sept. 27 through Jan. 12. Edward Bond’s black comedy “The Sea” will follow, from Jan. 17 through April 19. And the final production, from May 6 through Nov. 1, will be “Marguerite,” starring Ruthie Henshall. Inspired by the romantic Alexandre Dumas novel “La Dame aux Camellias,” “Marguerite” is set during World War II in occupied Paris, where the beautiful and notorious mistress of a high-ranking German officer attracts the love of a musician half her age. The book is by Mr. Boublil, Mr. Schönberg and Mr. Kent, the music by Mr. Legrand and the lyrics (from Mr. Boublil’s original French) by Herbert Kretzmer of “Les Misérables.”
Museum Salutes
The Museum of the Moving Image will honor Tom Cruise at its annual fund-raising black-tie dinner, to be held on Nov. 6 at Cipriani 42nd Street. Rochelle Slovin, the museum’s director, said in a statement: “Tom Cruise is one of the premier American actors of his generation. Working with the great directors of our time — Paul Thomas Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Michael Mann, Stanley Kubrick, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and now Robert Redford — Cruise has given us indelible characters and performances.” The evening will include remarks by friends of Mr. Cruise and scenes from his films.
WCBS-FM Goes
Back to the Future
WCBS-FM made it official yesterday. As anticipated, Jack is out and oldies are in, beginning on Thursday. And some of the disc jockeys associated with the good oldies days of Motown, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Billy Joel, Frankie Valli and others are coming back. Dan Taylor will be host of a morning show from 6 to 10 on the station (101.1 FM). Bob Shannon will return as host of the midday program, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Broadway Bill Lee will be the host of drive time, from 3 p.m. to 7. The Jack format, a looser variation of the traditional oldies format, was introduced over protests on June 3, 2005, and ended 35 years of oldies. It will be available on-air on CBS-FM’s HD 2 channel and online at ilikejack.com. Intended to attract the younger listeners prized by advertisers, it cost the station more than half its audience share and nearly 30 percent of its advertising revenues.
Greece Battles
Antiquities Thieves
Giorgos Voulgarakis the culture minister of Greece, said yesterday that the country was planning new legislation to choke the multimillion-dollar international traffic in stolen and bogus antiquities, Agence France-Presse reported. This month Greece will introduce a measure to ensure closer cooperation between archaeologists and the police to combat “one of the most lucrative criminal activities in the world,” he said. Other legislation would create a special unit to track stolen items abroad and repatriate them; permit telephone taps on suspects; and impose prison terms on manufacturers of fakes. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who secured the return last year of four ancient works from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, has made the return of artifacts a priority.
‘60 Minutes’ Powers CBS
CBS once again earned the title of most-watched network on Sunday night, while two “Family Guy” repeats gave Fox the lead in the 18-to-49 demographic. Nielsen estimated that CBS was dominant most of the night in total viewers, beginning at 7 p.m. with a rerun of “60 Minutes” (8 million), and later with “Cold Case” at 9 (7.1 million) and “Without a Trace” at 10 (7.3 million). At 8, the Sunday premiere of CBS’s “Big Brother” attracted 5.9 million viewers, finishing No. 2 in the time slot behind the second half of NBC’s “Dateline,” on the poisoning of Alexander V. Litvinenko, which averaged 5.1 million viewers from 7 to 9. “Family Guy” at 9 (5.9 million) and 9:30 (6.3 million) drew the night’s best ratings among adults 18 to 49. Fox also led the 8 p.m. hour in the demographic, with repeats of “The Simpsons” at 8 (5.2 million) and “American Dad” at 8:30 (4.7 million). BENJAMIN TOFF
Footnote
Lance Bass and Ashley Spencer, are joining the cast of “Hairspray” at the Neil Simon Theater. Mr. Bass, a member of the boy band ’N Sync, will appear from Aug. 14 through Jan. 6 as Corny Collins, host of the dance program at the heart of the musical. From July 24 through Oct. 28, Ms. Spencer, a runner-up in the reality television show “Grease: You’re the One That I Want,” will portray Amber Von Tussle, the archrival of the heroine, Tracy Turnblad.
