Total Pageviews

A Hushed Mariachi Band

Victor Kerlow

Dear Diary:

I am sitting on the No. 1 train smushed between strangers when a four-man mariachi band jumps on the car in full regalia at 50th Street.

They instantly spot a couple with a baby sleeping in a stroller in the middle of the car and pause to look at each other, and then remain standing and smiling in silence. One of the musicians makes eye contact with me and whispers, with a wide grin, “Sleeping baby.”

At 59th Street, the next stop, they jump out to run onto the next car to begin their rousing set. Several of us tipped them anyway for nearly playing, and respecting the baby’s sleep.

Read all recent entries and our updated submissions guidelines. Reach us via e-mail diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary.



A New Spider-Man on Broadway

Justin Matthew SargentGary Gershoff/WireImage Justin Matthew Sargent

Justin Matthew Sargent will be the next actor to don Spider-Man’s costume on Broadway in the musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the producers announced on Sunday.

Mr. Sargent previously played the aspiring musician Drew in “Rock of Ages” from March 2012 to July of this year. His first performance as Spider-Man and his alter ego, Peter Parker, will be on Monday night. He replaces Reeve Carney, who has starred in the role since the production opened in 2010 and announced his departure back in July. It was expected that Mr. Carney would make the announcement official after his final performance on Sunday night and introduce Mr. Sargent during the curtain call.



‘Murder for Two’ Finds a New Home

Brett Ryback, left, and Jeff Blumenkrantz in the musical Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Brett Ryback, left, and Jeff Blumenkrantz in the musical “Murder for Two” at the McGinn/Cazale Theater.

The new musical comedy “Murder for Two,” which drew praise from theater critics this summer at Second Stage Uptown, will transfer to another Off Broadway space, New World Stages, with performances resuming Oct. 23, the producers announced on Sunday.

In the show, Brett Ryback plays a police officer investigating a murder, and Jeff Blumenkrantz portrays a collection of prime suspects. It was a box-office hit for the nonprofit Second Stage before closing in late August; the New World Stages outing will be a commercial production.

A spokesman for the producers declined to provide the capitalization amount for the musical at New World Stages. The producers are Jayson Raitt, Barbara Whitman, Steven Chaikelson and Second Stage Theater. “Murder for Two” has music by Joe Kinosian, lyrics by Kellen Blair and a book by the two men; the director is Scott Schwartz. Performances are scheduled to run through Jan. 5.



‘Murder for Two’ Finds a New Home

Brett Ryback, left, and Jeff Blumenkrantz in the musical Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Brett Ryback, left, and Jeff Blumenkrantz in the musical “Murder for Two” at the McGinn/Cazale Theater.

The new musical comedy “Murder for Two,” which drew praise from theater critics this summer at Second Stage Uptown, will transfer to another Off Broadway space, New World Stages, with performances resuming Oct. 23, the producers announced on Sunday.

In the show, Brett Ryback plays a police officer investigating a murder, and Jeff Blumenkrantz portrays a collection of prime suspects. It was a box-office hit for the nonprofit Second Stage before closing in late August; the New World Stages outing will be a commercial production.

A spokesman for the producers declined to provide the capitalization amount for the musical at New World Stages. The producers are Jayson Raitt, Barbara Whitman, Steven Chaikelson and Second Stage Theater. “Murder for Two” has music by Joe Kinosian, lyrics by Kellen Blair and a book by the two men; the director is Scott Schwartz. Performances are scheduled to run through Jan. 5.



Toronto Video: Errol Morris on ‘The Unknown Known’

TORONTO â€" In his latest feature, the veteran documentary filmmaker Errol Morris points his camera at Donald Rumsfeld. “The Unknown Known” is a film-length interview with Mr. Rumsfeld, a longtime official in Washington who served as defense secretary under the George W. Bush administration. By asking difficult questions, Mr. Morris tries to gain a better understanding of the man and the decisions he made throughout his career. Mr. Morris brought the film here after it premiered in Venice, and in this video, he discusses why he decided not to interview others for the film and instead focused solely on his subject.



‘Insidious: Chapter 2’ Has Strong Start

Patrick Wilson in a scene from Matt Kennedy/FilmDistrict Patrick Wilson in a scene from “Insidious: Chapter 2.”

In a brute display of the continued box-office power of micro-budgeted horror movies, “Insidious: Chapter 2” (FilmDistrict) sold an estimated $41.1 million in tickets at North American theaters over the weekend, one of the strongest results ever for a September release. Blumhouse Productions spent about $5 million to make the movie, which was directed by James Wan and starred Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson. To compare, the first “Insidious,” made for about $1.5 million and released in April 2011, took in $13.3 million over its first three days and went on to sell $97 million in tickets worldwide.

Second place for the weekend went to “The Family” (Relativity), an R-rated Robert De Niro vehicle that cost about $30 million to make and took in $14.5 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. The rest of the top five were all holdovers. Vin Diesel’s “Riddick” (Universal Pictures) sold about $7 million in tickets, for a two-week total of $31.3 million. “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (the Weinstein Company) chugged along in fourth place, taking in $5.6 million, for a five-week total of roughly $100 million. The comedy “We’re the Millers” (Warner Brothers) was fifth, with estimated ticket sales of $5.4 million, for a six-week total of $131.6 million.



Popcast: ‘Money,’ ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and the Blurred Lines of Song Ownership

Barrett Strong, a pianist and singer, was the first to record the song “Money (That’s What I Want).”Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times Barrett Strong, a pianist and singer, was the first to record the song “Money (That’s What I Want).”

This week, Larry Rohter, a culture reporter for The Times, talks to host Ben Ratliff about two potentially precedent-setting music-copyright cases in recent news, involving the bid to recapture rights by the authors of “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “Y.M.C.A.” They also discuss the matter of Robin Thicke vs. the heirs of Marvin Gaye over the rhythmic feel of “Blurred Lines” vis-à-vis “Got To Give It Up.”

Will there be a new understanding of who should control and profit from the last century of pop music? And aside from how the law may become reshaped in favor of older songwriters, what does it mean for the creative process of newer songwriters in a time of a different kind of borrowing and adapting?

Listen above, download the MP3 or subscribe in iTunes.

RELATED

Larry Rohter on the rights battles surrouding “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “Y.M.C.A.”