At Toronto Film Festival, Works of Hope and Despair

TORONTO â€" There is a fine line between inspiration and emotional annihilation. And two movies at the Toronto International Film Festival â€" both with performers who will be an inevitable presence in the race for a best actress Oscar â€" walk it in very different ways.

“Gravity,” which Warner Bros. has been showing here, after a warm reception at the Venice film festival, features Sandra Bullock in the loneliest of circumstances. She plays an astronaut, Ryan Stone, who is stuck in outer space, all alone, when the space shuttle that got her there is destroyed in a bizarre, but believable, orbital accident.

The film has only two featured actors, Ms. Bullock and George Clooney. And Mr. Clooney disappears fairly early in the film, so there is no question as to who has the leading role.

Ms. Bullock’s challenge is to survive, with no resources but her own wit and will. Obstacles arise, some internal, some external. But she struggles to escape annihilation, and therein lies the heart of a frankly inspirational film.

“August: Osage County,” by contrast, is cluttered with actors. Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Ewan McGregor, Julianne Nicholson and Chris Cooper all join the cast. But the show belongs to its two leading ladies, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Save for a minute or two, nobody is ever alone in this film. Rather, the performers, and especially the two leads, as a drug-addicted mother, Ms. Streep’s Violet Weston, and her ferocious daughter, Ms. Roberts’ Barbara Weston, engage in nonstop emotional warfare that might be described as a collision between “Steel Magnolias” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

The characters, members of a fractured family on the plains of Oklahoma, are doing their best to annihilate each other.

But hiding in all of it is a whisper of inspiration, and a struggle to survive that is every bit as real as Ms. Bullock’s.

One film is cosmic; the other is down-to-earth. One pits woman against the elements; the other, woman against woman against woman, plus some men. Which better captures the current mood is now for the audience, and Oscar voters, to decide.

Video: Ricky Gervais Discusses ‘Derek’

Ricky Gervais, the comic actor and writer, will discuss his career, including his new show, “Derek,” with Dave Itzkoff, a culture reporter for The Times, beginning at 7 p.m. Monday as part of the TimesTalks series. “Derek” will have its United States premiere on Netflix on Thursday.

Video: Ricky Gervais Discusses ‘Derek’

Ricky Gervais, the comic actor and writer, will discuss his career, including his new show, “Derek,” with Dave Itzkoff, a culture reporter for The Times, beginning at 7 p.m. Monday as part of the TimesTalks series. “Derek” will have its United States premiere on Netflix on Thursday.

‘Rocky’ Casting Is Announced for Broadway

Matthew Murphy Andy Karl

Andy Karl, a Broadway actor who has shown a knack for musical comedy (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” “Legally Blonde”) and romantic warmth (“9 to 5,” “Wicked”), will star as Rocky Balboa in the $15 million boxing musical “Rocky” that is set to begin performances at the Winter Garden Theater in February, the producers announced on Monday.

The theater actress Margo Seibert, who has worked regionally and will star in the Off Broadway musical “Tamar of the River” this fall, will make her Broadway debut in “Rocky” as Adrian, the painfully shy love interest of the title character. “Rocky,” which opened last fall with a world premiere German-language production in Hamburg, has music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Tony Award winners for “Ragtime”) and a book by Thomas Meehan (a Tony winner for “Annie,” “The Producers” and “Hairspray”). The Tony nominee Alex Timbers (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” “Here Lies Love”) will direct, as he did in Hamburg.

The original Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone, is producing the musical - which generally follows the plot of the first “Rocky” movie - with Stage Entertainment USA, an arm of a major theater producing company in Europe. Mr. Karl is currently appearing on Broadway in “Jersey Boys” as the latest actor to take on the role of Tommy DeVito. “Rocky” previews are to begin on Feb. 11, and an opening night is scheduled for March 13.

Federal Officials Return Looted Artifacts to Afghanistan Ambassador

The United States returned six ancient artifacts, five of them made of gold, to the government of Afghanistan Monday after federal authorities seized them as part of an investigation into the looting of cultural antiquities.

During a ceremony in Washington, officials from the Department of Homeland Security’s customs enforcement division said the items were seized more than two years ago from cargo shipped to Newark Liberty International Airport and destined for a business suspected of dealing in looted artifacts.

They declined to name the company, but said it remains the subject of an investigation. The officials said investigators for the department’s New York El Dorado Task Force, which looks into financial crimes, had pursued leads in London, Dubai and the New York metropolitan region.

The items were returned to Ambassador Eklil Hakimi during a ceremony at the Afghan Embassy and included three fifth century B.C.E. golden foil appliqués depicting horned antelopes; two coiled gold ornaments from the 17th century, together weighing about a pound; and a 12.75-inch-high Roman wine pitcher carved in metal and dated between the fifth and eighth centuries C.E.

While federal officials have made a visible show of seeking artifacts looted from Iraq after the United States-led invasion in 2003, they have also been on the lookout for looted Afghan antiquities. This was the fourth repatriation since 2005 involving such objects. Previous items include eight Bronze Age artifacts from 2,000 B.C.E. that had been looted from tombs and sold in the United States; and two coins estimated to be more than 2,000 years old.

Officials said the specific location of the looting and its timing were still being investigated.

Italian Documentary Takes Top Prize at Venice Film Festival

“Sacro GRA,” a film by the Italian director Gianfranco Rosi about the unique characters living around Rome’s ring road, became the first documentary to win the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. It was the first year that nonfiction films were admitted to competition, and the first time an Italian director had won since Gianni Amelio for “The Way We Laughed” in 1998.

The film, which features drag queens, paramedics, and an impoverished aristocrat among its subjects, focuses on people living on the margins, on the periphery of Rome, whose historic landmarks are never shown in the film.

Writing in Corriere della Sera, the critic Stefania Ulivi said that the film “picks up where Paolo Sorrentino left off in ‘The Great Beauty,’” that director’s new film about elegant, decadent Rome.

In accepting the award on Saturday, Mr. Rosi said that he had never expected to win. He added that he had once thought of the road only as a way to get to the airport, before he began to look more closely.

The film’s title is a pun on the Italian word for the holy grail, a commentary on the difficult lives of those living on the outskirts of the Italian capital. Mr. Rosi’s earlier work includes “Boatman,” a documentary about India, and “Below Sea Level” (2008), about people living below sea level.

The jurors of the Venice Film Festival gave the Silver Lion for best director to Alexandros Avranas for “Miss Violence,” a film about a young girl who commits suicide as a result of sexual abuse, and the Jury Prize to “Jiaoyou” by the Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang.

The versatile Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope won for best screenplay for “Philomena,” directed by Stephen Frears and starring Judi Dench and Mr. Coogan, and the director Noaz Deshe won the award for best debut film for “White Shadow,” about albinos in Africa.

The award for best actor went to Themis Panou for his performance in “Miss Violence” and best actress went to Elena Cotta, for hers in “Via Castellana Bandiera,” the first film directed by the theater director Emma Dante, about an intense showdown between two women on a Palermo street. 

Sept. 9: Where the Candidates Are Today

Planned events for the mayoral candidates, according to the campaigns and organizations they are affiliated with. Times are listed as scheduled but frequently change.

Joseph Burgess and Nicholas Wells contributed reporting.

Event information is listed as provided at the time of publication. Details for many of Ms. Quinn events are not released for publication.Maps of all campaign events since April »

Events by candidate

Albanese

Carrión

Catsimatidis

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

Quinn

Thompson

Weiner

Group event

John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

9 a.m.
Accompanied by State Senator Andrew Lanza and State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the candidate visits the Arrochar Friendship Club, on Jerome Avenue in Staten Island.

12:30 p.m.
Arrives a few hours after Mr. Lhota, but just in time for bingo at the Mount Loretto Friendship Club. Senator Andrew Lanza joins the candidate, on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island.

2 p.m.
With the Kings County Republican chairman, Craig Eaton, and the Republican district leader Gladys Pemberton by his side for much of the afternoon, the candidate starts off by introducing himself to diners at Perry’s Restaurant, on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn.

2:30 p.m.
The trio â€" Mr. Eaton, Ms. Pemberton and the candidate â€" then look for senior citizens down the road on Nostrand Avenue at the Kings Bay YMHA Community Center and the Carmine Carro Community Center.

3 p.m.
Still appearing with Mr. Eaton and Ms. Pemberton by his side, the candidate tours the Avenue U business district in Brooklyn. The starting point is Brennan & Carr, an eatery on Nostrand Avenue.

7:30 p.m.
Sponsors another concert featuring Jay Black, a mainstay of his campaign, with an appearance by Constantine Maroulis, at Town Hall, on West 43rd Street in Midtown.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

8:45 a.m.
Greets parents and students on the first day of classes, at P.S. 58 on Smith Street in Brooklyn.

12:30 p.m.
Greets voters at 74th Street and Broadway, on the Upper West Side.

3:30 p.m.
Greets voters at West 181st Street and Fort Washington Avenue, in Washington Heights.

5:30 p.m.
Keeping his itinerary shorter than some of his rivals, Mr. de Blasio concludes his day by greeting voters at East 116th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem.

John C. Liu
Democrat

7:45 a.m.
While his wife, Jenny, handles four campaign events on her own, the candidate begins his day by dropping their son Joey off for his first day of school at a public school, on the Upper West Side.

8:15 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the West 135th Street subway stop on Lenox Avenue in Upper Manhattan.

11 a.m.
Visits senior citizens at the Eastchester Senior Center, on Burke Avenue in the Bronx.

11:25 a.m.
Heads over for some more shmoozing with senior citizens at the Bay Eden Senior Center, on East 229th Street in the Bronx.

12 p.m.
Takes in his third meet-and-greet with senior citizens at the R.A.I.N. Parkchester Senior Center, on Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.

12:15 p.m.
Squeezes in a fourth visit with senior citizens for the day, this time at the William Hodson Senior Center, on Webster Avenue in the Bronx.

12:45 p.m.
Joins supporters in Washington Heights for a get-out-the-vote rally his campaign is running at 1787 Amsterdam Avenue in Upper Manhattan.

1:45 p.m.
Heading south, he then joins supporters at his campaign’s get-out-the-vote rally, at West 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Upper Manhattan.

3 p.m.
Makes time to endorse Ari Kagan, another Democrat on tomorrow’s ballot. Mr. Kagan, a local district leader who has ties to the borough’s Ukrainian community, hopes to succeed term-limited Councilman Michael Nelson as Brooklyn’s representative from the 48th district. News conference takes place at Winly Seafood Restaurant, on Avenue U in Brooklyn.

4 p.m.
Attends yet another, but far from the last, get-out-the-vote rally organized by his campaign, this one at Chatham Square in Lower Manhattan.

5 p.m.
Reconnects with his wife, Jenny, as they greet evening commuters at the subway station near Brooklyn Borough Hall on Court Street in Brooklyn.

6 p.m.
Heads over to Central Brooklyn for a get-out-the-vote event that his campaign is throwing at La Caye, on Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.

7 p.m.
Races to the Bronx for one more get-out-the-vote rally that his campaign has lined up, this one at Fordham Plaza on Third Avenue.

8 p.m.
Concludes his day by greeting voters at the corner of 225th Street and Broadway in the Bronx.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

10:45 a.m.
Visits the Mount Loretto Friendship Club, a few hours before Mr. Catsimatidis arrives (and before the bingo begins!). Brings Councilman Vincent Ignizio and Assemblyman Joe Borelli with him to the club, on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island.

8:30 p.m.
Visits the community room of the Lindenwood Alliance, Fairfields Arms Coooperative at 88th Street on Howard Beach, Queens.

Christine C. Quinn
Democrat

7:15 a.m.
Begins what her campaign bills as a final 24-hour push to woo voters, by greeting morning commuters at the 137th Street subway stop on Broadway in Upper Manhattan.

8:10 a.m.
Greets parents and students on the first day of classes, at P.S. 199 on the Upper West Side.

8:45 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the 72nd Street subway station, on the Upper West Side.

9:45 a.m.
Greets more Upper West Side parents and students at P.S. 333 Manhattan School for Children, on 93rd Street.

12:10 p.m.
Meets with small-business owners, alongside Representative Joe Crowley, beginning at 82nd Street and 37th Avenue in Queens.

Some of Ms. Quinn’s events may not be shown because the campaign declines to release her advance schedule for publication.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

7 a.m.
Kicks off his second 24-hour, five-borough tour, with 23 scheduled appearances, with a sentimental stop at his childhood home on 768 Putnam Avenue in Brooklyn.

7:45 a.m.
Greets parents, teachers and students at P.S. 262 in Brooklyn, where Mr. Thompson’s mother taught third grade for over 30 years.

8:45 a.m.
Meets with members of the Transit Workers Union, on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn.

9:40 a.m.
Huddles with leaders of the Campaign Against Hunger about their needs and problems they face, at 2010 Fulton Street in Brooklyn.

10:20 a.m.
Tours small businesses along Flatbush Avenue, toward Bedford Avenue, in Brooklyn.

11:30 a.m.
Meets students at Medgar Evers College-CUNY, on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

12:15 p.m.
Joins supporters and friends for a campaign-sponsored rally outside City Hall, in Manhattan.

1:45 p.m.
Greets voters at Jetro Cash and Carry, a wholesale supply business for the grocery and food-service business that operates on East 149th Street in the Bronx.

2:35 p.m.
Meets with the firefighters of Engine House 60, on East 143rd Street in the Bronx.

4 p.m.
Stops by the Great Hall Store at Yankee Stadium, on East 161 Street in the Bronx.

4:30 p.m.
Meets with E.M.S. workers, at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center on East 149th Street in the Bronx.

6 p.m.
Attends a get-out-the-vote rally, outside Applebee’s Restaurant on East 117th Street in East Harlem.

7:45 p.m.
Meets with small-business owners, starting at St. Nicholas Avenue and 181st Street in Washington Heights.

9:15 p.m.
Leads a walking tour of small businesses in Jackson Heights, starting with La Pequeña Colombia Restaurant, on Roosevelt Avenue.

10:15 p.m.
Meets with campaign supporters at Gaby’s Pizza, on Hillside Avenue in Queens.

11:10 p.m.
Greets voters, at Lindenwood Diner in Brooklyn.

12:15 a.m.
On his first stop of Tuesday morning, meets with workers of the Madelaine Chocolate Company, on Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

1:15 a.m.
Holds a moment of silence at the 9/11 Memorial-Rockaway Tribute Park on the Beach Channel Drive in Queens.

2 a.m.
Attends an anti-gun-violence candlelight vigil in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one week after a 1-year-old boy was shot and killed in his stroller in this neighborhood.

3:30 a.m.
Drops in on bakery workers at Beigel’s Bakers, at Waverly Avenue in Brooklyn.

5 a.m.
Receives blessing from Bishop Victor A. Brown and supporters, at the Staten Island Ferry’s terminal on Bay Street in St. George. The pastor is associated locally with the Mt. Sinai United Christian Church in Tompkinsville and recently became an overseer of the churches, ministers and chaplains in New York State who belong to the World Council of Independent Christian Churches.

7 a.m.
Casts his vote, at P.S. 242 on West 122nd in Harlem.

7:30 a.m.
Ends his 24-hour, 23-event sweep of the five boroughs back in Harlem, where he greets commuters at the 125th Street subway station, on Lenox Avenue.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

8:15 a.m.
Greets morning commuters at the 149th Street-Grand Concourse subway station, in the Bronx.

9:45 a.m.
Helps his campaign kickstart a “Get Out the Vote” effort from the Gun Hill Playground, on Magneta Street and Holland Avenue in the Bronx.

10:45 a.m.
Concludes his “Keys to the City” tour with a discussion of his plan to transform health care in New York, outside Mary Immaculate Hospital in Queens.

11:15 a.m.
Visits senior citizens at the Clearview Senior Center, the first of three senior centers he is scheduled to visit in Queens between now and the primary.

11:45 a.m.
Moves on to the Selfhelp at Austin Street Senior Center, the second of three senior centers in Queens he plans to visit today.

12:15 p.m.
Then, he heads over to the Theodora Jackson Adult Center, the third of three senior centers in Queens he has plans to visit before the primary.

2:30 p.m.
Joins supporters at his campaign headquarters as they operate a phone bank with voters, at 597 Fifth Avenue in Midtown.

5:45 p.m.
Greets evening commuters at the Utica Avenue subway stop, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

7:50 p.m.
Hosts his fourth hourlong town-hall-style meeting via telephone on issues important to New Yorkers, open to registered Democrats.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

7 a.m.
Greets morning riders of the R train, accompanied by his wife, Lorraine, at the 77th Street subway stop in Brooklyn.

12:30 p.m.
Visits senior citizens at the St. Frances Cabrini Senior Center, on 86th Street in Brooklyn.

4 p.m.
Greets afternoon commuters, with his wife, Lorraine, by the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan.

Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Independent

11 a.m.
Calling on Latino voters to realize their political power, the candidate, who is running as an Independent, joined his Democratic mayoral rival, the Rev. Erick Salgado, and State Senator Rubén Díaz, Assemblyman José Rivera and other community leaders, as they set aside their political affiliations at a news conference outside City Hall. The group is seeking to encourage stronger Latino voter participation in response to a Quinnipiac University poll suggesting that a traditionally low Latino voter turnout will be even smaller this year. New York City has nearly 900,000 registered Latino voters but Latinos constituted only 16 percent of voters who turned out on Election Day in 2009 to choose a mayor.

2:30 p.m.
Mr. Carrion greets students and parents on the first day of school at P.S. 85 in the Bronx.

5 p.m.
Introduces himself to commuters at the nearby Fordham Road subway stop, on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx.

Erick J. Salgado
Democrat

11 a.m.
Calling on Latino voters to realize their political power this election season, Mr. Salgado joins his Independent mayoral rival Adolfo Carrión, State Senator Rubén Díaz, Assemblyman José Rivera and other community leaders, as they set aside their political affiliations at a news conference outside City Hall. The group is seeking to encourage stronger Latino voter participation in response to a Quinnipiac University poll suggesting that a traditionally low Latino voter turnout will be even smaller this year. New York City has close to 900,000 registered Latino voters but Latinos constituted only 16 percent of voters who turned out on Election Day in 2009 to choose a mayor. 

Readers with information about events involving the mayoral candidates are invited to send details and suggestions for coverage to cowan@nytimes.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @cowannyt.

Topping Off With Public Art in Chelsea

In the High Line spirit of re-purposing, a former Getty filling station in West Chelsea will become the site of a temporary public art program starting Sept. 16.

The first show at the station, located at 239 10th Avenue (at West 24th Street) â€" near the popular promenade that was once an abandoned railway - will be “Sheep Station,” featuring the work of the surrealist sculptor Francois-Xavier Lalanne, who died in 2008.

The exhibition, which runs through October 10, will include 25 of the artist’s wooly sheep - or “Moutons” - made of epoxy stone and bronze.

The show was conceived by Paul Kasmin, an art dealer who represents the Lalanne estate, and Michael Shvo, a real estate developer and collector. Mr. Shvo’s company purchased the Getty station in the summer, working with Victor Homes, and will turn it into luxury residences. The developers plan to present public art during the project’s construction and will eventually incorporate similar projects into the building.

Voigt Bows Out of ‘Tristan und Isolde’ in Washington

Deborah Voigt has withdrawn from the role of Isolde in the Washington National Opera’s production of “Tristan and Isolde,” saying that the “unique challenges” of the role compelled her to bow out.  The 53-year-old soprano, who decided to leave the show a little more than a week before the curtain goes up, has been replaced by Iréne Theorin, a Swedish soprano.

Ms. Theorin will perform on Sept. 15, 18, 21 and 24. Alwyn Mellor, a British soprano, will sing the final performance, on Sept. 27 in the Wagner opera, which opens the season at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

“Returning to a role that I love but haven’t sung in a number of seasons, and encountering its unique challenges, has caused me to reconsider keeping it in my repertoire,” Ms. Voigt said in a statement about Isolde released by opera officials this weekend.  “I’m very disappointed that I feel compelled to withdraw from this production, but am very happy to continue my association with WNO both this season and into the future.”

Francesa Zambello, the opera’s artistic director, said in a telephone interview on Monday that she and Ms. Voigt had several post-rehearsal discussions about the difficulties of the Isolde role. The women have had a professional relationship and friendship for about 25 years, Ms. Zambello said, and spoke honestly about the difficulties of maintaining a peak performance.  After one such conversation on Friday, she and Ms. Voigt agreed that Ms. Voigt would withdraw, she said.

“We decided it was the best idea to have the courage and conviction to do this,” Ms. Zambello said. “I respect her as an artist for doing this.”

“Oh God, it’s a killer,” she said of the Isolde role. “In the repertoire for women, this and Brünnhilde are the most difficult Wagnerian roles. It’s a marathon role - you start the opera and finish the opera, at almost six hours. It has enormous vocal demands and great acting demands.”

She added: “I think the window of years people can sing these kinds of parts is not long. It takes a long time to get there and nature comes back to get you. Women are lucky if they get a good 10-year run with these big parts like Brünnhilde and Isolde.”

Ms. Voigt will remain at the company as the artist-in-residence with its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

With Ms. Voigt‘s departure, Ms. Theorin was her first choice for the role, Ms. Zambelllo said. Ms. Theorin made her National Opera debut as Brünnhilde in “Siegfried” in 2009, Ms. Zambello said. She also worked with Ms. Theorin on the final two parts of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle for Washington National Opera.

Ms. Mellor is making her Washington National Opera debut in this production. She sang the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner’s earlier this year at the Opéra National de Paris and at the Seattle Opera.

Voigt Bows Out of ‘Tristan und Isolde’ in Washington

Deborah Voigt has withdrawn from the role of Isolde in the Washington National Opera’s production of “Tristan and Isolde,” saying that the “unique challenges” of the role compelled her to bow out.  The 53-year-old soprano, who decided to leave the show a little more than a week before the curtain goes up, has been replaced by Iréne Theorin, a Swedish soprano.

Ms. Theorin will perform on Sept. 15, 18, 21 and 24. Alwyn Mellor, a British soprano, will sing the final performance, on Sept. 27 in the Wagner opera, which opens the season at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

“Returning to a role that I love but haven’t sung in a number of seasons, and encountering its unique challenges, has caused me to reconsider keeping it in my repertoire,” Ms. Voigt said in a statement about Isolde released by opera officials this weekend.  “I’m very disappointed that I feel compelled to withdraw from this production, but am very happy to continue my association with WNO both this season and into the future.”

Francesa Zambello, the opera’s artistic director, said in a telephone interview on Monday that she and Ms. Voigt had several post-rehearsal discussions about the difficulties of the Isolde role. The women have had a professional relationship and friendship for about 25 years, Ms. Zambello said, and spoke honestly about the difficulties of maintaining a peak performance.  After one such conversation on Friday, she and Ms. Voigt agreed that Ms. Voigt would withdraw, she said.

“We decided it was the best idea to have the courage and conviction to do this,” Ms. Zambello said. “I respect her as an artist for doing this.”

“Oh God, it’s a killer,” she said of the Isolde role. “In the repertoire for women, this and Brünnhilde are the most difficult Wagnerian roles. It’s a marathon role - you start the opera and finish the opera, at almost six hours. It has enormous vocal demands and great acting demands.”

She added: “I think the window of years people can sing these kinds of parts is not long. It takes a long time to get there and nature comes back to get you. Women are lucky if they get a good 10-year run with these big parts like Brünnhilde and Isolde.”

Ms. Voigt will remain at the company as the artist-in-residence with its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

With Ms. Voigt‘s departure, Ms. Theorin was her first choice for the role, Ms. Zambelllo said. Ms. Theorin made her National Opera debut as Brünnhilde in “Siegfried” in 2009, Ms. Zambello said. She also worked with Ms. Theorin on the final two parts of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle for Washington National Opera.

Ms. Mellor is making her Washington National Opera debut in this production. She sang the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner’s earlier this year at the Opéra National de Paris and at the Seattle Opera.

Manhattan Theater Club to Stage New Fierstein Play on Broadway

Charles Sykes/SYKEC, via Associated Press Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein, who won Tony Awards for best play and best actor in 1983 for his landmark gay drama “Torch Song Trilogy” but has mostly written musical scripts since then, has a new play coming to Broadway for the first time in nearly 30 years. “Casa Valentina,” a ’60s-era portrait of a Catskills vacation resort where heterosexual men would dress up and act as women, will begin previews on April 1 at Manhattan Theater Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater and open on April 23, the theater company announced on Monday.

The Tony-winning director Joe Mantello (“I’ll Eat You Last,” “Take Me Out”) will stage the play, which is inspired by the Chevalier d’Eon resort (also known as Casa Susanna) and actual events. Casting for the ensemble work will be announced later.

Mr. Fierstein most recently wrote the books for the Broadway musicals “Kinky Boots” and “Newsies” and was nominated for Tonys for each. He also won Tonys in 2003 for best actor in the musical “Hairspray” and in 1984 for best book for “La Cage aux Folles.” The last new play by Mr. Fierstein had produced on Broadway was “Safe Sex,” which ran for less than a month in 1987.

According to Monday’s press announcement from Manhattan Theater Club, the play’s setting “was paradise for these men - white-collar professionals with families - to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when faced with the opportunity to become an official organization, these ‘self-made women’ had to decide whether public recognition would help them gain a place in open society or spell their own personal disaster.”

Manhattan Theater Club is producing the play in association with Colin Callender, Robert Cole, Frederick Zollo and the Shubert Organization, who helped Mr. Fierstein develop it.

Manhattan Theater Club to Stage New Fierstein Play on Broadway

Charles Sykes/SYKEC, via Associated Press Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein, who won Tony Awards for best play and best actor in 1983 for his landmark gay drama “Torch Song Trilogy” but has mostly written musical scripts since then, has a new play coming to Broadway for the first time in nearly 30 years. “Casa Valentina,” a ’60s-era portrait of a Catskills vacation resort where heterosexual men would dress up and act as women, will begin previews on April 1 at Manhattan Theater Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater and open on April 23, the theater company announced on Monday.

The Tony-winning director Joe Mantello (“I’ll Eat You Last,” “Take Me Out”) will stage the play, which is inspired by the Chevalier d’Eon resort (also known as Casa Susanna) and actual events. Casting for the ensemble work will be announced later.

Mr. Fierstein most recently wrote the books for the Broadway musicals “Kinky Boots” and “Newsies” and was nominated for Tonys for each. He also won Tonys in 2003 for best actor in the musical “Hairspray” and in 1984 for best book for “La Cage aux Folles.” The last new play by Mr. Fierstein had produced on Broadway was “Safe Sex,” which ran for less than a month in 1987.

According to Monday’s press announcement from Manhattan Theater Club, the play’s setting “was paradise for these men - white-collar professionals with families - to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when faced with the opportunity to become an official organization, these ‘self-made women’ had to decide whether public recognition would help them gain a place in open society or spell their own personal disaster.”

Manhattan Theater Club is producing the play in association with Colin Callender, Robert Cole, Frederick Zollo and the Shubert Organization, who helped Mr. Fierstein develop it.

Toronto Report: The Rebirth of Matthew McConaughey

Evan Agostini, via Invision, via Associated Press Matthew McConaughey at the Toronto International Film Festival.

TORONTO â€" One of the great stories right now in movies is the resurrection of Matthew McConaughey. His transformation from a lazily uncommitted prop in throwaways like “Fool’s Gold” to one of the most appealing actors working in American film today began a few years ago, with the likes of “Bernie” and “The Lincoln Lawyer,” and continues with “Dallas Buyers Club,” which had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, this fine movie tracks another rebirth, that of Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician who, beginning in the mid-1980s, became n accidental AIDS activist.

A lot has already been made of Mr. McConaughey’s physical transformation to play the part (he dropped almost 40 pounds), and the chatter will only increase when the movie opens on Nov. 1. When you first see Ron, his shoulders are stooped and rolled forward, and it looks as if his body is collapsing, caving in on him like a piece of decaying fruit. He’s wearing sunglasses that hide eyes that are always looking for the next angle, and he has a handlebar mustache that rides a smile that can’t help but regularly, perhaps habitually, turn into a smirk. Perched on his head is a white cowboy hat, that enduring symbol of virtue. It’s a hat that Ron eventually grows into in a story of a man waging a battle on two inexorably twinned fronts: his ravaged body and newly wakened conscience.

Before long, the unrepentantly homophobic Ron has learned that he has the same disease that has felled the recent headliner Rock Hudson and that he has 30 days to live. The doctors (Jennifer Garner, Denis O’Hare) are regretful, but nothing can be done. Ron, who has the heart of a true hustler (he runs the illegal gambling at the local rodeo), starts working any angle he can, including back-alley doses of AZT he gulps like candy. Between slugs of booze, he also begins investigating other options, putting in hours at the local library, where he reads about possible cures. He ends up in Mexico, where he meets a doctor (Griffin Dunne) who’s exploring unconventional possibilities, including drugs not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Soon enough, Ron begins smuggling those drugs into the United States and selling them to other people with H.I.V. and AIDS, and he enters into an entrepreneurial partnership with a drag queen, Rayon (an equally skeletal Jared Leto). Mr. Vallée, whose movies include “The Young Victoria,” puts a lightly comic spin on Ron’s underground exploits - at one point he disguises himself as the world’s sleaziest priest - that goes a long way to ensuring that the heartache in “Dallas Buyers Club” never interrupts the nice, breezy flow. That makes this fundamentally desperate story go down more easily, though there’s something disconcerting about how this ghastly chapter in American history, with its multitudes of dead and government inaction, has been so neatly packaged.

As it happens, even the story of a white straight man’s struggle against inaction and bigotry took forever to get into production. In 2002, an item in Variety announced that the writer Guillermo Arriaga was attached, Brad Pitt was interested and Marc Forster might direct. Mr. Pitt, who appears interested and subsequently uninterested in every male role in the industry, was soon replaced in press tidbits by Ryan Gosling, with the director Craig Gillespie tagging alongside. Mr. McConaughey’s name entered the mix in 2011, along with that of Mr. Vallée. The movie was originally at Universal and, in one of those full-circle ironies, is being released by a division, Focus Features.

“It’s not exactly the movie that studios are throwing money at these days,” Mr. McConaughey said in The Los Angeles Times in 2011. Yet now the studio that once rejected the movie will certainly reap its rewards.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 9, 2013

An earlier version of this post referred incorrectly to the agency that approves drugs for market in the United States. It's the Food and Drug Administration, not the Federal Drug Administration.

In an earlier version of this post, the name of the film's director was misspelled in one instance. As correctly noted elsewhere, he is Jean-Marc Vallée, not Jean-Marc Valleé.

Detroit Institute of Arts Amends Policy on Donations

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times Graham Beal, the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The Detroit Institute of Arts, whose world-class collection has become a target for creditors seeking billions of dollars in Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy case, said it planned to amend its policy for accepting donations of art, to try to provide an extra layer of legal protection against forced sales of work for purposes other than acquiring new art.

“We are inserting into our deed of gift a line stating that from any sale of the work, the proceeds can only be used to buy more art,” the museum’s director, Graham Beal, told The Art Newspaper.

The amendment does not change the museum’s own practices about sales of art. Like all art museums around the country that are accredited members of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the museum uses money from the de-accessioning of pieces in its collection only to buy new art, a longstanding museum convention.

But unlike most art museums around the country, which are owned by nonprofit corporations that hold a collection in trust for citizens, the institute is owned by Detroit, as is much of its collection. The city’s emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr, has said he has no intention to sell pieces from the collection to satisfy creditors, but he has added that the city must know the value of all its assets and that his office has hired Christie’s auction house to appraise many of the major pieces of the institute’s collection. Michigan’s attorney general issued a formal opinion in June stating that the collection, though owned by the city, is held in charitable trust for the people of Michigan and cannot be sold.

On a Bright Morning, New York Students Head Back to School

Lugging backpacks, wiping away tears, high-fiving friends not seen in a while, children across New York’s five boroughs flooded into freshly cleaned and decorated classrooms as the nation’s largest school system marked the first day of the academic year.

Arriving by bus, subway, car and on foot, about 1.1 million children filled the city’s 1,700 schools on a cheerfully bright Monday morning. Whether the weather helped brighten moods was hard to tell. For the older children, the rituals were mostly familiar â€" lining up with classmates, shoving overstuffed school bags into lockers and making it to their first class on time.

For younger children, kindergartners and first graders in particular, the first day could a bit more foreboding â€" a reluctant, perhaps weepy goodbye with mom or dad and then suddenly finding themselves amid a group of strangers who were now their classmates.

But whatever the circumstances, it is almost a cliché that the first day of school is punctuated by a sense of optimism and of possibility.

In Toronto, Saving Harvey Weinstein a Seat

TORONTO â€" “You are welcome to sit anywhere that says ‘The Weinstein Company,’ as long as it doesn’t say ‘Harvey Weinstein.’”

So said the Toronto International Film Festival volunteer who was guarding the reserved seats at a Sunday-night screening of the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert film “12.12.12,” which is being released by the Weinstein Company â€" inevitably, as Mr. Weinstein helped organize the concert, and gets almost as much screen time as Paul McCartney.

It’s hard to imagine anyone with enough chutzpah to sit in Mr. Weinstein’s seat. But nobody would sit there for long, one suspects.

Seven minutes before Sunday’s premiere screening, Mr. W himself was out on Yonge Street, a foot from the red carpet, buffed and beaming. He didn’t look like a man who had been up all night, fending off competitors and buying up distribution rights to “Can a Song Save Your Life?,” a festival darling that was herded into the Weinstein fold on Sunday.

That gives the company eight films at the festival, where it was supposed to start with five, but added an eleventh-hour screening of one title, and acquired two more in the last week or so.

Mr. Weinstein may not have an Oscar front-runner here. The conventional wisdom â€" usually unreliable at this early stage â€" has been giving that distinction to “12 Years a Slave,” from Fox Searchlight.

Still, Mr. Weinstein has been running in front of the rest.

Sunday night found him onstage at the Winter Garden, where he was honored by the festival’s Mavericks program and where he introduced “12.12.12.”

“What I’m really amazed by is how young I looked, and how old these two looked,” Mr. Weinstein said of his appearance in the film. He was ribbing James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, and John Sykes, the president of Clear Channel, two executives who joined him onstage, and in producing the charity concert.

The film itself was a grand celebration of New Yorkiness, with some New Jersey-ness thrown in. It mingled performances from the benefit with backstage glimpses of Mr. McCartney (who was supposed to have joined Mr. Weinstein on Sunday, but scratched), Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and dozens of other who joined in raising at least $50 million for storm victims through the concert last December.

As for the discussion that followed, it was more about the self-described Type A-ness of Mr. Weinstein and his fellow moguls.

“We are like brothers from different mothers” Mr. Sykes said, explaining how three executives who usually get their own way managed to keep from getting in the way of each other.

Mr. Weinstein â€" who was dressed in black, and looked less like a maverick than a guy who owned the herd â€" contributed to his own legend with some tales about the way Type A guys like himself get things done.

One story involved the actress Kristen Stewart. Mr. Weinstein described having persuaded her to accept an offer from a Middle Eastern prince, who said he would make a large contribution to the Sandy relief effort if she would speak with him.

“How much?” Ms. Stewart asked, according to Mr. Weinstein.

He checked with the prince, who proposed a figure, which Mr. Weinstein promptly raised to $500,000.

The money was delivered in advance, in cash, said Mr. Weinstein.

Mr. Dolan locked it up in Madison Square Garden, he said. “And Kristen sits with the guy for 15 minutes.”

As long as she didn’t sit in Mr. Weinstein’s seat.

In Toronto, Saving Harvey Weinstein a Seat

TORONTO â€" “You are welcome to sit anywhere that says ‘The Weinstein Company,’ as long as it doesn’t say ‘Harvey Weinstein.’”

So said the Toronto International Film Festival volunteer who was guarding the reserved seats at a Sunday-night screening of the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert film “12.12.12,” which is being released by the Weinstein Company â€" inevitably, as Mr. Weinstein helped organize the concert, and gets almost as much screen time as Paul McCartney.

It’s hard to imagine anyone with enough chutzpah to sit in Mr. Weinstein’s seat. But nobody would sit there for long, one suspects.

Seven minutes before Sunday’s premiere screening, Mr. W himself was out on Yonge Street, a foot from the red carpet, buffed and beaming. He didn’t look like a man who had been up all night, fending off competitors and buying up distribution rights to “Can a Song Save Your Life?,” a festival darling that was herded into the Weinstein fold on Sunday.

That gives the company eight films at the festival, where it was supposed to start with five, but added an eleventh-hour screening of one title, and acquired two more in the last week or so.

Mr. Weinstein may not have an Oscar front-runner here. The conventional wisdom â€" usually unreliable at this early stage â€" has been giving that distinction to “12 Years a Slave,” from Fox Searchlight.

Still, Mr. Weinstein has been running in front of the rest.

Sunday night found him onstage at the Winter Garden, where he was honored by the festival’s Mavericks program and where he introduced “12.12.12.”

“What I’m really amazed by is how young I looked, and how old these two looked,” Mr. Weinstein said of his appearance in the film. He was ribbing James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, and John Sykes, the president of Clear Channel, two executives who joined him onstage, and in producing the charity concert.

The film itself was a grand celebration of New Yorkiness, with some New Jersey-ness thrown in. It mingled performances from the benefit with backstage glimpses of Mr. McCartney (who was supposed to have joined Mr. Weinstein on Sunday, but scratched), Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and dozens of other who joined in raising at least $50 million for storm victims through the concert last December.

As for the discussion that followed, it was more about the self-described Type A-ness of Mr. Weinstein and his fellow moguls.

“We are like brothers from different mothers” Mr. Sykes said, explaining how three executives who usually get their own way managed to keep from getting in the way of each other.

Mr. Weinstein â€" who was dressed in black, and looked less like a maverick than a guy who owned the herd â€" contributed to his own legend with some tales about the way Type A guys like himself get things done.

One story involved the actress Kristen Stewart. Mr. Weinstein described having persuaded her to accept an offer from a Middle Eastern prince, who said he would make a large contribution to the Sandy relief effort if she would speak with him.

“How much?” Ms. Stewart asked, according to Mr. Weinstein.

He checked with the prince, who proposed a figure, which Mr. Weinstein promptly raised to $500,000.

The money was delivered in advance, in cash, said Mr. Weinstein.

Mr. Dolan locked it up in Madison Square Garden, he said. “And Kristen sits with the guy for 15 minutes.”

As long as she didn’t sit in Mr. Weinstein’s seat.

Toronto Video: Brad Pitt on ’12 Years a Slave’

TORONTO â€" The red carpet was rolled out for the period drama “12 Years a Slave” here, with several cast members attending a gala screening on Friday. They included the star of the pre-Civil War drama, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays a free New Yorker who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South, and Brad Pitt, who also served as a producer of the movie. In this video from the Toronto International Film Festival, Mr. Pitt spoke about working with the British director Steve McQueen to make a film about American slavery.

New York Today: Teachable Moment

Neal Boenzi/The New York Times The magical place where gronwups go to vote.

Across the city, children go back to school today. They’ll see old friends and new teachers, lockers and blackboards.

But what are those big gray metal things?

Those are old-style voting machines, children.

On Tuesday, grownups will file into them to vote in primaries for mayor, comptroller and other offices.

(They will use lever machines because officials were concerned that new scanning ones could not handle primaries followed by runoffs.)

“The machines are in the building,” said Ronald Landry, a teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side. “The kids sometimes ask about that.”

“We explain that even though it’s not the general election, it’s when the political parties pick,” Mr. Landry said.

At Bronx High School of Science, teachers might question students about which candidates are running, said David Colchamiro, an assistant principal.

He added: “You’ll get some blank stares, and that becomes kind of a nice ice-breaker for fact that there is going to be a primary.”

Here’s what else you need to know for this election eve Monday.

WEATHER

Perfect back-to-school weather: sunny with a high of 76, though it will cloud over in the evening.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit:: O.K. so far. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads:: No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

- The last Democratic poll, possibly, of the primary comes out at 8 a.m.

- Christine C. Quinn greets parents at three schools and hits the airwaves: on WCBS-AM (880) at 8:30 a.m., MSNBC at 11 a.m., and WOR-AM (710) at noon.

- William C. Thompson Jr. embarks on a 24-hour marathon, meeting transit workers in Coney Island, firefighters in the Bronx and chocolate-factory workers in Rockaway Beach, among others.

- The Republican front-runners, Joseph J. Lhota and John A. Catsimatidis, visit the Mount Loretto Friendship Club in Staten Island, though not at the same time.

- In the comptroller’s race, Scott M. Stringer is on Hot 97 at 10 a.m. and attends a picnic for the elderly in Brooklyn.

- In the public advocate race, Daniel Squadron campaigns with Senator Charles E. Schumer.

COMING UP TODAY

- Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly speaks about terrorism at a Council on Foreign Relations breakfast.

- Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan and many more show today at Fashion Week. [See Live Stream]

- Attention drivers: new speed cameras installed near schools go into effect.

- Start your day with a broken obelisk: The Museum of Modern Art’s sculpture garden is free, 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

- How will you stay in shape without children to chase all day? The city offers dozens of free fitness classes in the parks. Here’s the schedule.

- Time to get those winter crops in the ground: the parks department offers a workshop on fall planting at 49 Chambers Street near City Hall. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P. requested]

- Two cartoonists, Anne Emond and Josh Bayer, explain how they do it at the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium at the New School at 7 p.m. [Free]

- A singing, dancing “Broadway Blessing” service at 7 p.m. at the Little Church Around the Corner on 29th Street marks the start of the new theater season. [Free]

- The brief Bryant Park square-dancing season kicks off, so promenade while ye may, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. [Free]

IN THE NEWS

- Bill de Blasio maintains a commanding lead in a poll released Sunday. [Wall Street Journal]

- Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis begged to differ on issues large (Syria) and small (kittens on  subway tracks) at their final debate. [New York Times]

- New York City Opera, strapped for cash, might cancel most of its season. [New York Times]

- The governor is not endorsing anyone in the primaries for mayor or comptroller. [Daily Intel]

- The city seized a record 1,000 unlicensed cabs last month. [New York Post]

- Strange facial hairdos abounded at the Coney Island Beard and Mustache Competition. [Gothamist]

- Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka to win her fifth United States Open.

- Suddenly, it’s football season. Jets beat Bucs 18-17. Giants lose to Cowboys, 36-31.

- In baseball, Yanks beat Red Sox 4-3. Mets beat Indians 2-1.

Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.

New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon.

What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, e-mail us at nytoday@nytimes.com or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday.

Find us on weekdays at nytimes.com/nytoday.

New York Today: Teachable Moment

Neal Boenzi/The New York Times The magical place where gronwups go to vote.

Across the city, children go back to school today. They’ll see old friends and new teachers, lockers and blackboards.

But what are those big gray metal things?

Those are old-style voting machines, children.

On Tuesday, grownups will file into them to vote in primaries for mayor, comptroller and other offices.

(They will use lever machines because officials were concerned that new scanning ones could not handle primaries followed by runoffs.)

“The machines are in the building,” said Ronald Landry, a teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side. “The kids sometimes ask about that.”

“We explain that even though it’s not the general election, it’s when the political parties pick,” Mr. Landry said.

At Bronx High School of Science, teachers might question students about which candidates are running, said David Colchamiro, an assistant principal.

He added: “You’ll get some blank stares, and that becomes kind of a nice ice-breaker for fact that there is going to be a primary.”

Here’s what else you need to know for this election eve Monday.

WEATHER

Perfect back-to-school weather: sunny with a high of 76, though it will cloud over in the evening.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit:: O.K. so far. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads:: No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

- The last Democratic poll, possibly, of the primary comes out at 8 a.m.

- Christine C. Quinn greets parents at three schools and hits the airwaves: on WCBS-AM (880) at 8:30 a.m., MSNBC at 11 a.m., and WOR-AM (710) at noon.

- William C. Thompson Jr. embarks on a 24-hour marathon, meeting transit workers in Coney Island, firefighters in the Bronx and chocolate-factory workers in Rockaway Beach, among others.

- The Republican front-runners, Joseph J. Lhota and John A. Catsimatidis, visit the Mount Loretto Friendship Club in Staten Island, though not at the same time.

- In the comptroller’s race, Scott M. Stringer is on Hot 97 at 10 a.m. and attends a picnic for the elderly in Brooklyn.

- In the public advocate race, Daniel Squadron campaigns with Senator Charles E. Schumer.

COMING UP TODAY

- Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly speaks about terrorism at a Council on Foreign Relations breakfast.

- Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan and many more show today at Fashion Week. [See Live Stream]

- Attention drivers: new speed cameras installed near schools go into effect.

- Start your day with a broken obelisk: The Museum of Modern Art’s sculpture garden is free, 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

- How will you stay in shape without children to chase all day? The city offers dozens of free fitness classes in the parks. Here’s the schedule.

- Time to get those winter crops in the ground: the parks department offers a workshop on fall planting at 49 Chambers Street near City Hall. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P. requested]

- Two cartoonists, Anne Emond and Josh Bayer, explain how they do it at the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium at the New School at 7 p.m. [Free]

- A singing, dancing “Broadway Blessing” service at 7 p.m. at the Little Church Around the Corner on 29th Street marks the start of the new theater season. [Free]

- The brief Bryant Park square-dancing season kicks off, so promenade while ye may, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. [Free]

IN THE NEWS

- Bill de Blasio maintains a commanding lead in a poll released Sunday. [Wall Street Journal]

- Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis begged to differ on issues large (Syria) and small (kittens on  subway tracks) at their final debate. [New York Times]

- New York City Opera, strapped for cash, might cancel most of its season. [New York Times]

- The governor is not endorsing anyone in the primaries for mayor or comptroller. [Daily Intel]

- The city seized a record 1,000 unlicensed cabs last month. [New York Post]

- Strange facial hairdos abounded at the Coney Island Beard and Mustache Competition. [Gothamist]

- Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka to win her fifth United States Open.

- Suddenly, it’s football season. Jets beat Bucs 18-17. Giants lose to Cowboys, 36-31.

- In baseball, Yanks beat Red Sox 4-3. Mets beat Indians 2-1.

Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.

New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon.

What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, e-mail us at nytoday@nytimes.com or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday.

Find us on weekdays at nytimes.com/nytoday.