Bette Midler Will Bring One-Woman Show to Los Angeles

Sue Mengers is coming home.

Bette Midler will play the brazen Hollywood superagent in a three-week run of “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers” at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, the theater announced on Wednesday.

In the solo show, written by John Logan and directed by Joe Mantello, Ms. Midler plays Mengers in the twilight of her reign as one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. She died in 2011.

The show was a big Broadway hit this spring, recouping its $2.4 million investment in just eight weeks of performances, a rare feat for a play. It marked Ms. Midler’s first time on Broadway in 40 years.

Miley Cyrus Hits No. 1

It may not have been “Harlem Shake,” but the popularity of Miley Cyrus’s latest music video has helped her reach No. 1 on Billboard’s singles chart. Ms. Cyrus’s song “Wrecking Ball” made headlines last week for racking up 19.3 million views in its first 24 hours on the video service Vevo, which most people view through YouTube.

Thanks to a change in Billboard’s chart methodology this year to incorporate YouTube views in the United States, “Wrecking Ball” jumped to No. 1 from No. 22. The song was played 36.5 million times on streaming services last week â€" 92 percent of them on YouTube â€" and it sold 477,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, bumping Katy Perry’s “Roar” to No. 2 after a two-week run at the top.

With the music industry squarely in its all-important fall season, when record companies put out their highest-priority releases, the albums chart this week is filled with new titles. At the top, Keith Urban’s “Fuse” (Capitol Nashville) and the Weeknd’s “Kiss Land” (XO/Republic) were separated by fewer than 3,000 sales. “Fuse” sold 98,000 copies to reach No. 1, and “Kiss Land” 95,000. (SoundScan’s publicly reported numbers are rounded.)

Down the chart, the rapper 2 Chainz’s latest, “B.O.A.T.S. II #metime” (Def Jam), opens at No. 3 with 63,000 sales, and the singer Janelle Monáe bows at No. 5 with 47,000 sales of “The Electric Lady” (Bad Boy). In fourth place is Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” (Capitol Nashville), which sold 53,000 copies in its fifth week out.

Injured ‘Spider-Man’ Actor Blames Equipment Malfunction

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

Daniel Curry, a young actor who was badly injured last month while performing in the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” has filed court papers contending that his accident was due to malfunctioning equipment in the show, and not to human error, as the show’s producers have maintained.

The legal filing in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday seeks to halt any effort by the producers to alter or destroy a computerized stage lift until his experts can examine, photograph, and test the equipment to prepare for a possible civil complaint, which the performer is now considering, according to one of his lawyers, Elias N. Fillas. The lift was elevating Mr. Curry to the stage when the accident took place. The lawyers are also requesting any contracts and other paperwork related to the lift, and any internal production reports about the accident. The Daily News first reported the legal filing.

The court papers include the most specific information to date about Mr. Curry’s injuries; he sustained fractured legs and a fractured foot, and has had surgeries and amputations as a result. In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Mr. Fillas declined to describe the amputations or comment on Mr. Curry’s recovery, other than to say he remains at Bellevue Hospital.

The injury occurred at the Aug. 15 performance of the musical when Mr. Curry, an ensemble cast member who was one of the nine Spider-Man dancers, found his foot caught in the lift and then pinned when a trap door closed on it. He was immediately taken to Bellevue.

The day after Mr. Curry’s accident, the show’s technicians concluded that the computer-controlled scenery had been working properly and was not the cause of the injury, according to a spokesman for the “Spider-Man” producers. The spokesman, Rick Miramontez, said human error was to blame, though he emphasized that the producers were not pointing the finger at Mr. Curry and that multiple people were involved in executing the scene where Mr. Curry was injured.

But the legal papers contend that Mr. Curry sustained “severe and permanent bodily injury as a result of a lift machine that malfunctioned.” The filing did not cite evidence, but included a statement from Mr. Curry that the computerized lift was supposed to operate “without any maneuvering on my part.”

Reached on Wednesday, Mr. Miramontez said in a statement: “Everyone at ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ is extraordinarily concerned with Daniel’s well-being. The producers have done an extensive internal investigation and are confident that the production and its equipment were in no way responsible for the unfortunate incident.”

While cast members in Broadway musicals routinely suffer minor injuries, “Spider-Man” has had a number of serious accidents. Soon after the show began performances in November 2010, another ensemble dancer, Christopher Tierney, sustained broken ribs and other internal injuries when he fell 20 feet from a stage platform because his safety tether was not properly attached. The actor who stepped in for Mr. Tierney, Joshua Kobak, said he went on to suffer injuries, and filed a $6 million lawsuit against the equipment provider and other companies. One of the show’s lead actresses, Natalie Mendoza, quit early on after she sustained a concusion when she was hit in the head by a rope. Her successor, T. V. Carpio, was injured on the set as well.

Anatomy of a Scene: Video of ‘Prisoners’

Rain turns into snow in this scene from the drama “Prisoners,” featuring Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, whose daughter has gone missing and Jake Gyllenhaal as Loki, the detective on the case. In this video, the director Denis Villeneuve narrates a sequence where Loki follows Keller, considering him a suspect. Mr. Villeneuve discusses decisions around the scene’s gray and blue color palette, as well as how he relays the action of the scene from a distinct point of view.

Broad Art Museum in Los Angeles to Offer Free Admission

The Broad, the contemporary art museum being built by the billionaire collector Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, and which is scheduled to open late next year in Los Angeles, will be free to the public, Mr. Broad announced Tuesday.

The museum, being designed by the firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro, and now under construction on Grand Avenue near the Museum of Contemporary Art, will house the Broads’ collection of more than 2,000 works by some of the most prominent artists of the last several decades. Mr. Broad had considered at least two other sites for the museum, sparking a kind of civic competition in 2010 among city officials for the tourism the institution would generate. But he ultimately decided to locate the $140 million project in downtown Los Angeles, whose redevelopment he has long championed.

In addition to the building, the Broads are contributing $200 million for the museum’s endowment.

Smithsonian Director to Step Down

G. Wayne Clough, the director of the Smithsonian Institution and its sprawling network of museums and research centers, announced that he will step down from his position in October 2014. Mr. Clough, whose official title is secretary, has headed the billion-dollar institution since 2008, and said he is announcing his decision to retire now in order to give the Smithsonian plenty of time to find a successor.

A search committee for a new director will be headed by John W. McCarter Jr., the vice-chairman of the board of regents, the Smithsonian’s governing body.

“When I became secretary in 2008, I believed strongly that the Smithsonian had enormous untapped potential, especially in digital technology, to reach millions of people and serve as a resource for those who cannot visit Washington,” Mr. Clough said. “I am confident that with our initiatives underway in bioconservation, education, digitization and fundraising, this is the right time to announce my plans for next fall so that an orderly transition can begin.”

During his tenure, Mr. Clough appointed 10 new leaders for the Smithsonian institutions, including the National Zoo in Washington, the National Museum of American History, National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Natural History. He also oversaw construction begin on the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is scheduled to open in 2015.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who serves as the Smithsonian chancellor, said that Mr. Clough’s “enthusiastic embrace of the Smithsonian’s mission has earned the public’s admiration and support.”

Faith Healing on the Train

Dear Diary:

While I was riding the subway home after a delightful dinner with a visiting friend, the young woman seated opposite me noticed my cast and asked how I injured my leg. I replied that it was my foot that was injured and that I had fractured my fifth metatarsal.

She asked if she could say a healing prayer for me. I said if she thought that would help, sure, go ahead. She then asked if I would mind if she touched my foot and said a prayer right now.

After weeks of having subway riders ignore my cast and only begrudgingly giving me a seat if I asked them to, I was touched by her small act of humanity. Much to the delight or dismay of the other passengers, I extended my leg into the middle of the subway car to meet her hand. She held her hand on my foot through five subway stops.

I don’t know if it was the power of her prayer or the display of unexpected kindness, but my steps were a bit lighter walking home from my subway stop that night.

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.

Faith Healing on the Train

Dear Diary:

While I was riding the subway home after a delightful dinner with a visiting friend, the young woman seated opposite me noticed my cast and asked how I injured my leg. I replied that it was my foot that was injured and that I had fractured my fifth metatarsal.

She asked if she could say a healing prayer for me. I said if she thought that would help, sure, go ahead. She then asked if I would mind if she touched my foot and said a prayer right now.

After weeks of having subway riders ignore my cast and only begrudgingly giving me a seat if I asked them to, I was touched by her small act of humanity. Much to the delight or dismay of the other passengers, I extended my leg into the middle of the subway car to meet her hand. She held her hand on my foot through five subway stops.

I don’t know if it was the power of her prayer or the display of unexpected kindness, but my steps were a bit lighter walking home from my subway stop that night.

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.

Emmys Watch: Morena Baccarin on ‘Homeland’

With her otherworldly aura, Morena Baccarin seemed a natural for science-fiction roles like Inara Serra, a 26th-century courtesan from the planet Sihnon in Josh Whedon’s “Firefly,” and Anna, the leader of the alien Visitors in “V” on ABC. But it is Showtime’s “Homeland” that has allowed Ms. Baccarin to run the gamut of human emotions. As Jessica Brody â€" the wife of a Marine turned terrorist â€" Ms. Baccarin’s character has morphed from a military widow, whose life is upended when her husband returns from the dead after eight years, to the spouse of a congressman with ulterior motives.

And as Season 2 ended, a newly separated Jessica watched reports of the bombing of the C.I.A. and realized she no longer knew the man she’d given herself over to. That roller-coaster ride paid off with an Emmy nomination, her first, for supporting actress in a drama series.

She’s one of several nominees from the series. They include Claire Danes, who stars as the analyst Carrie Mathison, and Damian Lewis, who plays that terrorist and now fugitive, Nicholas Brody.

In a recent phone interview Ms. Baccarin, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, reared in Manhattan and now lives in Los Angeles, spoke about her school days, great expectations and her newest role. These are edited excerpts from the conversation:

Q.

Last year Claire Danes and Damian Lewis won Emmys. You’re joining them as a nominee this year. How does that feel?

A.

I was totally surprised, and I don’t know why this year. Jessica had a more delineated arc in the second season, especially with Brody becoming a congressman, and we saw her ambition and her desire. We also saw the emotional strain that he brought to the relationship, and she got to have a little bit of backbone. It gave me the opportunity to really flesh out that character.

Q.

I’ve read that you and Claire knew each other as children.

A.

We went to junior high school together [now the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies]. A school for dorks, I used to call it. It’s like one of those specialized gifted education classes, and it was really awesome. And yeah, we were friendly to each other. We weren’t best friends, but we always joke that had we known we had the same bully, we would have become closer.

Q.

You then attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and studied drama at the Juilliard School. What expectations did you have for your career back then?

A.

I’d studied classical theater for four years and thought that’s what I would be doing. And of course I graduated to a very different business than what I thought it was. It used to be you got your start in theater, and that’s how you honed your craft and moved up from there. But when I was graduating, it was at a time when Broadway, especially, was really suffering, and people were stunt-casting or putting stars in roles so that they could fill seats. So I had a hard time getting roles when I first graduated. Kind of had a chip on my shoulder about it. [In retrospect] it was a great thing. I had to work really hard to be where I am. And I had to override a lot of preconceived notions of television and film. I started booking a lot of independent film and did a lot more plays. When I finally came to Los Angeles and ended up booking “Firefly” â€" that was my first TV show â€" I realized that it doesn’t matter what form your acting takes as long as you’re doing what you love, and it’s a rol that you can do something with that’s really juicy or that you believe in. It was a great awakening for me.

Q.

Season 3 of “Homeland” has its premiere on Sept. 29. What can we expect?

A.

It’s a much more introspective, emotional and dark season opening than we’ve had in a while. Everybody’s in a really [messed] up place after the end of the second season, when the C.I.A. blew up and we lost half our cast, and Brody’s now a fugitive. Everybody’s dealing with the repercussions, and our family in particular hasn’t fared too well. They’ve been dealing with the blowback and the media scrutiny, and it’s been emotionally harrowing. And that leads to more chaos and more turmoil.

Q.

Did you do research for your role as a congressman’s wife?

A.

It was pretty apparent in the script that she wasn’t comfortable in that role at first, that she liked the idea of it but was very trepidatious about what it encompassed. She let the vice president’s wife kind of lead her. So I decided not to do much research on what those women do because I wanted to feel like a fish out of water. And I think the writers did a good job. You see the the excitement she has when she has this opportunity to do this veteran fund-raiser. At the same time you see this fear. “How does this work? What am I doing here?” So for me it helped not knowing everything.

Q.

Does the shooting schedule allow you to take on any other projects? That said, I understand your newest role is that of mother.

A.

I did a film last year, a comedy, which was such a relief to do. And now my project is finding a crib, organizing onesies. [laughs] It’s kind of amazing what happens to my brain. I think I’ll need a few months off, then be back at it. I think my work will feed me as a person, which in turn will make me a better parent.

Emmys Watch: Morena Baccarin on ‘Homeland’

With her otherworldly aura, Morena Baccarin seemed a natural for science-fiction roles like Inara Serra, a 26th-century courtesan from the planet Sihnon in Josh Whedon’s “Firefly,” and Anna, the leader of the alien Visitors in “V” on ABC. But it is Showtime’s “Homeland” that has allowed Ms. Baccarin to run the gamut of human emotions. As Jessica Brody â€" the wife of a Marine turned terrorist â€" Ms. Baccarin’s character has morphed from a military widow, whose life is upended when her husband returns from the dead after eight years, to the spouse of a congressman with ulterior motives.

And as Season 2 ended, a newly separated Jessica watched reports of the bombing of the C.I.A. and realized she no longer knew the man she’d given herself over to. That roller-coaster ride paid off with an Emmy nomination, her first, for supporting actress in a drama series.

She’s one of several nominees from the series. They include Claire Danes, who stars as the analyst Carrie Mathison, and Damian Lewis, who plays that terrorist and now fugitive, Nicholas Brody.

In a recent phone interview Ms. Baccarin, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, reared in Manhattan and now lives in Los Angeles, spoke about her school days, great expectations and her newest role. These are edited excerpts from the conversation:

Q.

Last year Claire Danes and Damian Lewis won Emmys. You’re joining them as a nominee this year. How does that feel?

A.

I was totally surprised, and I don’t know why this year. Jessica had a more delineated arc in the second season, especially with Brody becoming a congressman, and we saw her ambition and her desire. We also saw the emotional strain that he brought to the relationship, and she got to have a little bit of backbone. It gave me the opportunity to really flesh out that character.

Q.

I’ve read that you and Claire knew each other as children.

A.

We went to junior high school together [now the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies]. A school for dorks, I used to call it. It’s like one of those specialized gifted education classes, and it was really awesome. And yeah, we were friendly to each other. We weren’t best friends, but we always joke that had we known we had the same bully, we would have become closer.

Q.

You then attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and studied drama at the Juilliard School. What expectations did you have for your career back then?

A.

I’d studied classical theater for four years and thought that’s what I would be doing. And of course I graduated to a very different business than what I thought it was. It used to be you got your start in theater, and that’s how you honed your craft and moved up from there. But when I was graduating, it was at a time when Broadway, especially, was really suffering, and people were stunt-casting or putting stars in roles so that they could fill seats. So I had a hard time getting roles when I first graduated. Kind of had a chip on my shoulder about it. [In retrospect] it was a great thing. I had to work really hard to be where I am. And I had to override a lot of preconceived notions of television and film. I started booking a lot of independent film and did a lot more plays. When I finally came to Los Angeles and ended up booking “Firefly” â€" that was my first TV show â€" I realized that it doesn’t matter what form your acting takes as long as you’re doing what you love, and it’s a rol that you can do something with that’s really juicy or that you believe in. It was a great awakening for me.

Q.

Season 3 of “Homeland” has its premiere on Sept. 29. What can we expect?

A.

It’s a much more introspective, emotional and dark season opening than we’ve had in a while. Everybody’s in a really [messed] up place after the end of the second season, when the C.I.A. blew up and we lost half our cast, and Brody’s now a fugitive. Everybody’s dealing with the repercussions, and our family in particular hasn’t fared too well. They’ve been dealing with the blowback and the media scrutiny, and it’s been emotionally harrowing. And that leads to more chaos and more turmoil.

Q.

Did you do research for your role as a congressman’s wife?

A.

It was pretty apparent in the script that she wasn’t comfortable in that role at first, that she liked the idea of it but was very trepidatious about what it encompassed. She let the vice president’s wife kind of lead her. So I decided not to do much research on what those women do because I wanted to feel like a fish out of water. And I think the writers did a good job. You see the the excitement she has when she has this opportunity to do this veteran fund-raiser. At the same time you see this fear. “How does this work? What am I doing here?” So for me it helped not knowing everything.

Q.

Does the shooting schedule allow you to take on any other projects? That said, I understand your newest role is that of mother.

A.

I did a film last year, a comedy, which was such a relief to do. And now my project is finding a crib, organizing onesies. [laughs] It’s kind of amazing what happens to my brain. I think I’ll need a few months off, then be back at it. I think my work will feed me as a person, which in turn will make me a better parent.

New York Today: 7 Million Miles

Michael Nagle for The New York Times Sometimes the city seems like a sea of blue bicycles.

Updated 6:21 a.m. | Seven million miles seems like a pretty good distance.

It’s the equivalent of 15 round trips to the moon.

It is also, city officials said yesterday, how far people have ridden on Citi Bikes since the bike-share program made its debut on Memorial Day.

Despite early snags and complaints about those racks taking up parking spots, the blue bikes seem to have become part of the streetscape.

Other stats: riders have taken 3.35 million trips on the bikes. Nearly 300,000 memberships have been sold.

As impressive as the figures are, cycling advocates say they could be a lot better.

“Moving forward the number we want is zero,” said Paul Steely White, the head of Transportation Alternatives. “As in zero New Yorkers with a Citi Bike station farther than a short walk away.”

Here’s what else you need to know for Wednesday.

WEATHER

Like yesterday. Sunny, high of 72. Same tomorrow and Friday.

A person could get used to this. But don’t: the weekend is looking rainy.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit [6:21] New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor trains from Jersey Avenue station delayed or canceled because of overhead wire problem. Subways O.K. so far. Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads [6:21] No major delays. Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect today, though not Thursday or Friday.

COMING UP TODAY

- Joseph J. Lhota greets commuters at Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s subway stop on 77th Street this morning.

- The mayor announces the results of an investigation into the sale of illegal guns.

- Alec Baldwin speaks at the opening of a show of historic photos of Little Italy. 6 p.m. at 263 Mulberry Street. [Free]

- A talk at the Tenement Museum on how immigrants have shaped the city. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- A parade of dogs at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine marks the opening of an exhibition of photographic portraits, “Dog Bless You.” 6 p.m. [Free, B.Y.O. dog]

- Hear short-story writers discuss their craft, or read your favorite short story at an open mic, ahead of the Brooklyn Book Festival, at the Old Stone House in Park Slope. 8 p.m. [$5 suggested donation]

- Linda Ronstadt speaks at the 92nd Street Y. 8 p.m. [Ticket info]

- For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

IN THE NEWS

- Bill de Blasio leads Joseph J. Lhota by more than 40 points in a new poll. [New York Times]

- The Board of Elections, meanwhile, does not know when it will finish counting votes from last week’s primary. [New York Times]

- Non-living wages: more than a quarter of families in city homeless shelters include at least one employed adult. [New York Times]

- The Bank of Iran held a 40-percent secret stake in an office tower near Rockefeller Center, a federal judge ruled. Prosecutors are trying to seize the building in what they say would be the “largest-ever terrorism-related forfeiture.” [Gawker]

- A fatal stabbing in Queens is being investigated as a hate crime after the suspect told detectives the victim blew kisses at him. [New York Times]

- A 23-year-old has been charged in last month’s hate-crime attack on a gay couple outside a Chelsea movie theater. [CBS New York]

- Tickets for the best seats at New York’s first Super Bowl will cost $2,600 â€" more than twice as much as ever before. [Wall Street Journal]

- Mayor Bloomberg has gotten 37 percent richer in the last two years, according to the Forbes 400 list. [Village Voice]

- Anthony Weiner takes a turn as political commentator on NY1. [Daily News]

- Jerry Seinfeld called the Mets game on TV last night. It didn’t help. They fell to the Giants 8-4. [The Big Lead]

- The Yankees’ playoff hopes dimmed further as they lost to last-place Toronto 2-0. [New York Times]

- Counting the seconds until Mayor Bloomberg leaves office? So is this Web site.

AND FINALLY…

On this date in 1851, the first edition of The New-York Daily Times was published. It cost one cent and was the ancestor to what you are reading now.

The city was full of news back then.

The new fountain in Washington Square, the paper reported, “gets on toward completion with moderate speed.”

A woman in bloomers was spotted on Sixth Avenue.

Two murderous Frenchmen were to be executed in the City Prison yard. A man was run over by an ice cart on Spring Street.

But it was the strangely Henry-Jamesian weather story, or lack thereof, occasioned by the breaking news of President Fillmore’s speech in Boston, that really caught our eye.

“The weather was the theme upon which we hinged an item for our morning edition,” the editors wrote, “but we have been forced to forego the infliction of it upon the public, by the proceedings of the Boston Jubilee, which our special correspondent has forwarded us. Never mind, the President cannot always be lionizing through the country, and as soon as he returns home we shall endeavor to do this important subject full justice.”

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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

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