San Francisco Symphony’s East Coast Tour Is Canceled as Labor Talks Break Down

The San Francisco Symphony has announced that negotiations over a new contract with the musicians have broken down with the players’ rejection of a federal mediator’s proposal for a cooling-off period. As a result, the orchestra’s East Coast tour, which was to have included concerts at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday and Thursday as well as concerts in Newark and Washington on Friday and Saturday, has been canceled.

The musicians went on strike on Wednesday, mainly over wage issues, the current average salary being $165,000, and rehearsals and concerts were canceled at its home, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, day by day through the weekend. What were called marathon bargaining sessions, meanwhile, proved fruitless. Brent Assink, the orchestra’s executive director, said on Sunda that management was “ready to resume bargaining” with the players, though “collectively, we need a few hours of sleep.”

Funny or Die Makes a Steve Jobs Movie

Justin Long in an advertisement for the film “iSteve.”

LOS ANGELES â€" Techies have been keeping a hot eye on dueling Steve Jobs biopics, one an indie starring Ashton Kutcher and the other, written by Aaron Sorkin, in the works at Sony, which made “The Social Network.”

But it turns out there was also a joker in the deck nobody knew about: Funny or Die, the comedy Web site, said over the weekend that it had made its own Jobs movie â€" “iSteve” â€" and planned to unveil it online on April 15. A biopic poking fun at biopics, “iSteve” stars Justin Long (“New Girl,” “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story”) in the title role. At 60 to 75 minutes, the movie is the longest project to date for Funny or Die, which generally features bite-sized videos.

“In true Internet fashion, it’s not based on very thorough research â€" essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page,” said Ryan Perez, who wrote and directed “iSteve.” “It’s very silly. But it looks at his whole life.”

Making fun of Mr. Jobs, the Apple co-founder who died in 2011 and who is considered a deity by many people (at least in the tech world), is a risky proposition, even if done gently. But Allison Hord, who produced “iSteve,” said the tone was such that “even the harshest fanboy critics will be able to laugh with us.”

In addition to Mr. Long, the movie stars James Urbaniak as Bill Gates and Michaela Watkins as Melinda Gates. Jorge Garcia plays Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple and is working with Mr. Sorkin on his film, an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s best-selling Jobs biography.

“We were kicking around the idea of making a fake Steve Jobs movie trailer, and as often happens in a writers’ room, the joke kind of escalated,” said Ms. Hord, who is known for producing Funny or Die’s “You’re So Hot” videos starring Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Mr. Perez’s Funny or Die work includes a parody of “Zero Dark Thirty” in which Navy SEALs try to coax Osama bin Laden out of a closet with a puppy and a pizza (and ultimately discover they are talking to a mop). Mr. Perez said he wrote the 81-page script for “iSteve” in three days; it was taped in five.

“We might not be the best, but we will be the first,” he joked.

“Jobs,” Mr. Kutcher’s film, had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was scheduled for release in theaterson April 19. On Friday its distributor, Open Road Films, scrapped that plan, saying it did not have enough time to mount a proper marketing campaign; a new release date was not announced. Mr. Sorkin’s film is still in the early stages of production.

A Low-Carb, Low-Budget Cooking Show, Fiercely Seasoned

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times Jaime Montalvo Jr.’s alter ego Soraya Sobreidad whips up fiercely healthy Puerto Rican cuisine in a public-access cooking show filmed in Mr. Montalvo’s apartment in Queens.

Television cooking shows, with their globe-trotting superstar chefs, are no longer humble small-studio affairs. But there is one glamorous-in-its-own way program that gleefully bucks the trend. It is filmed in the cramped apartment kitchen in Jackson Heights, Queens, and airs on public access. Its star is a trim, sassy drag queen named Soraya Sobreidad who preaches the gospel of healthy Puerto Rican cuisine.

At a taping the other day for “Soraya Sobreidad’s ‘FIERCE’ Cooking Show,” Ms. Sobreidad, who had woken that morning as Jaime Montalvo Jr., 53, a loan specialist with a goatee and graying hair, strutted about the frame in high heels and zebra-striped jacket.

“This is the super sexy, super fabulous, and super desirable Soraya Sobreidad,” she said to the camera, brushing a stray strand of hair (black, the day’s wig color) away from her face. “Welcome to my kitchen. Welcome to my show.”

With that, the diva began demonstrating a recipe for gluten-free empanadas.

Actual viewership is unknown because neither Nielsen nor Time Warner Cable, the biggest provider of the city’s public-access channels, reports local ratings. But the show, which began online in 2008, is available in more than a million households via Queens Pub! lic Television, which began broadcasting it 14 months ago, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network, which picked it up in December. Mr. Montalvo proudly points to the more than 96,000 views the show’s Youtube videos have racked up and says he receives fan mail every week.

To Soraya’s fans, the show may be a campy good time, but Mr. Montalvo says that Soraya and her healthy cooking methods changed his life.

Growing up Puerto Rican, Mr. Montalvo says, meant a steady diet of rice and beans, fried steak, pernil and mayonnaise sandwiches, and flan. As a younger man he weighed 220 pounds.

When he was 30, diabetes started appearing in family members. Mr. Montalvo knew something had to change, but he did not want to end his affair with Puerto Rican cuisine. It was around then that he had a viion that called itself Soraya Sobreidad (the last name is a playful variant on the Spanish word for sobriety, sobriedad).

Soraya inspired Mr. Montalvo to quit smoking. She helped him develop a set of alternative ingredients in his cooking, substituting whole grains for white flour and turkey for beef, eliminating sugars, adding flaxseed meal to the masa-based dough for pasteles.

Mr. Montalvo lost 90 pounds. He did not start to fully embody Soraya and dress in drag, though, until 2008, when she gave him the idea to start the show. As a gay man, Mr. Montalvo said, it took him time to embrace “this feminine energy.”

Today, Mr.-Montalvo-as-Soraya seems entirely at home in front of the camera, an inexpensive Flip camcorder operated by his upstairs neighbor, Rebecca Ulloa.

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times Soraya extolled the virtues of non-stick cooking spray as an upstairs neighbor, Rebecca Ulloa, operated the Flip camcorder.

Episodes are emphatically unscripted adventures in which he muses on the importance of “looking fierce” for your man, teaching recipes like “Soraya Sobreidad’s Papi Lickin’ Spicy Chicken Wings!” and “Diva Delicious Red and Sexy Beans!” while tossing wisecracks at Ms. Ulloa.

During a recent filming, Mr. Montalvo paused to berate Ms. Ulloa for talking too much and drawing attention away from Soraya. On the wall, a Felix the Cat clock wagged its tail. The apartment was filled with cheetah-skin printed carpets and pillows. “We’re going to stick to Soraya’s mission,” Mr. Montalvo said, “which is low fat, high fiber, and as healthy as possible.”

“God bless Bety Crocker,” he said, displaying a box of gluten-free Bisquick. Ms. Ulloa zoomed in. “Keep the focus on Soraya,” Mr. Montalvo snapped. Today’s empanadas would be made with turkey, Mr. Montalvo announced, with flaxseed meal added to the gluten-free flour to boost fiber content and applesauce filling in for oil and eggs.

Mr. Montalvo prepared the dough - yellow and pocked with flaxseeds - and started to knead.

“Honey,” he said to the camera. “When you’re a woman, and you have a man, or if you’re a woman and you’re partner is another women - doesn’t matter - you should look good all the time, honey. Right”

“It’s hard,” interjected Ms. Ulluoa.

“I don’t want to hear it,” said Mr. Montalvo, who had spent the morning gluing on eyelashes, shaving, and slipping into tight leggings. “If anyone knows it’s! hard, So! raya knows it’s hard, honey.”

The pan erupted in a sizzle as Mr. Montalvo dropped in the first empanada. “There’s a party going on in Soraya’s kitchen!” he cried. Soon the finished empanadas glistened on a plate. Grease marks were minimal. Mr. Montalvo tossed on bell peppers and blueberries and asked Ms. Ulloa to take the first bite. She gave him the camera.

“It’s hot now,” he cautioned as she bit in. “It’s hot like Soraya. Be careful.”

Ms. Ulloa enjoyed the patty. “There’s no difference,” she said. “I feel like I’m in Puerto Rico on the beach. Like I just bought this from …”

“Go ahead, keep going,” Mr. Montalvo urged.

“There’s no difference, Soraya,” Ms. Ulloa said again, with a full mouth.

“Keep flattering me,” Mr. Montalvo said. “I live for this.”

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times Soraya is always ready for her close-up, honey.

The Soraya Sobreidad show airs in Manhattan on the third Sunday of each on MNN4. In Queens, it airs at least four times a month on QPTV, on channels 34, 79, and 56. It does not have a consistent slot, but viewers can consult their channel line up.

Disney’s ‘Oz’ Keeps Lead at Box Office

“Oz the Great and Powerful” continued to cast a spell on moviegoers over the weekend, while another magician â€" “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” â€" essentially arrived to a chorus of boos. “Oz” (Disney) took in an estimated $42.2 million at theaters in the United States and Canada, for a strong two-week total of $145 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data.

Halle Berry turned out a larger-than-expected African American audience for “The Call” (Sony), which placed second, with about $17.1 million in ticket sales; the film cost only $15 million to make. Steve Carell’s “Burt Wonderstone” (Warner Brothers) was a disappointing third, taking in an estimated $10.3 million. This film, which received dismal reviews and a C-plus score from audiences in exit polls, cost $32 million to make. Warner has now released five box-office duds in a row, including the enormously expensive “Jack the Giant Slayer,” which was fourth for the weekend, taking in about $6.2 million, for a three-week total of $53.9 million. “Identity Thief” (Universal) was fifth, selling $4.5 million in tickets, for a six-week total of $123.7 million.

A Crowded Venue for Justin Timberlake

If you want to know how far the South by Southwest Music Festival has strayed from its anti-corporate, indie rock roots, you need only consider this: One of the most popular shows on the final night of the festival was Justin Timberlake, playing a concert sponsored by Chevrolet to promote the newly revamped Myspace Web site.

When Mr. Timberlake arrived at the Coppertank Events Center at 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, the place was packed to capacity with more than 750 fans and fire marshals had ordered the organizers to turn people away at the door. The city had ringed the front of the center with fences and barricades. Dozens of police were on hand for crowd control, including a mounted unit. Many in the crowd had been waiting for three hours or more.

Wearing a hipster hat, a jacket and a T-shirt with a tuxedo design, Mr. Timberlake ripped through an pulsating hour of his slick rhythm & blues, doing a mix of older hits and songs from his new album, “The 20/20 Experience,” which will be on Tuesday. He was backed by a 16 piece band, which he dubbed the Tennessee Kids, playing at a decibel level that could be felt physically.

The set included several hits from his last album in 2006, among them “FutureSex/LoveSound” and “What Goes Around…/…Comes Around.” But he also sang much of the polished new album, including the love song “That Girl” and the sexy come-on “Suit & Tie,” which was released as the first single.

The party was intended to publicize the relaunch of Myspace, a venture in which Mr. Timberlake has invested. But it is also part of a larger media blitz to re-establish Mr. Timberlake, 32, as a pop idol, a role he had relinquished in recent years to pursue acting and designing clothes. Since the start of the year, he appeared on the Grammy Awards, hosted “Saturday Night Live,” and did a week of performances on “Late Night with Jimm! y Fallon.”