Broadway stars Audra McDonald, Will Swenson wed

NEW YORK (AP) — Audra McDonald and Will Swenson have tied the knot, cementing a relationship between two of Broadway's best looking and talented stars.

According to a publicist for the bride, the couple married Saturday at their home in Croton-on-Hudson in New York. The bride's wedding dress was designed by Esosa.

McDonald is mother to daughter, Zoe Madeline, 11, and Swenson is father to two sons, Bridger, 11, and Sawyer, 8. The couple looks forward to their new life together as husband, wife and "wee posse of three," according to a statement.

McDonald recently won a record-tying fifth Tony Award in a revival of "Porgy and Bess" and Swenson was Tick in the "Priscilla Queen of the Desert."

The couple became engaged while on vacation in Puerto Rico last winter.

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Online: http://audramcdonald.net

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Big Bird wings it to 'Saturday Night Live'

NEW YORK (AP) — In a week when Big Bird was in the news, it seemed fitting to find him perched at the parody news report on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

But joining Seth Meyers at the "Weekend Update" anchor desk, the popular "Sesame Street" character declined to comment on presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's vow to cut federal funding for PBS. Explaining why, Big Bird said he didn't want to "ruffle any feathers."

He told Meyers how he had learned of being mentioned on Wednesday's debate. He said he'd gotten "a million tweets." From real birds, that is.

Since then, he said he was feeling very famous, standing tall above every other 8-foot talking bird.

In closing, Big Bird shared a joke befitting his childish sense of humor.

Question: Who like debates?

Answer: de-fishes.

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Millions of pints later, Oktoberfest closes

BERLIN (AP) — Munich's famed celebration of beer, the Oktoberfest, is drawing to a close after some 6.4 million visitors downed an estimated 6.9 million liter mugs of Bavarian brew — some 14.6 million pints.

Organizers said they were satisfied with this year's event, which opened Sept. 22 and ends Sunday — although visitor numbers were lower than last year.

Festival director Dieter Reiter says that's because the festival grounds were reduced to accommodate an agricultural fair which takes place every four years, news agency dapd reported. In 2011, the Oktoberfest drew some 6.9 million visitors, who downed well over 7 million liters.

The Oktoberfest draws visitors from across the world — many of whom try out traditional Bavarian dress. Reiter says: "Purely from a visual point of view, there are only Bavarians."

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Blaine goes for shock-factor with latest stunt

NEW YORK (AP) — Daredevil stuntman David Blaine lit up New York's Pier 54 on Friday for his latest high voltage feat.

The illusionist is scheduled to spend three days and nights standing in the middle of a million volts of electric currents streamed by tesla coils.

The stunt is called "Electrified: One Million Volts Always On."

"Electrified" also is being streamed on YouTube, thanks to computing company Intel. Viewing stations are located in London, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney. Viewers at the stations are able to control the coils.

The 39-year-old Blaine is wearing a chainmail bodysuit as a barrier between himself and the electric currents.

Blaine's past stunts include hanging upside down over Central Park, being buried alive and encased in a block of ice.

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Follow Nicole Evatt on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

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Calif. artist wins $200K at ArtPrize in Mich.

DETROIT (AP) — Adonne Khare's carbon pencil on paper drawing "Elephants" isn't just a massive display of the lumbering yet beautiful mammals. It's a long look — spanning across a 13-foot-by-8-foot canvas — at a part of her life.

Khare, of Burbank, Calif., was awarded the top cash prize of $200,000 late Friday at the fourth annual ArtPrize international competition in Michigan. Her piece was among entries by 1,517 artists from 56 countries and 45 states, whose work was displayed at venues across downtown Grand Rapids.

"The last year and half is documented in this story," she told The Associated Press in an interview Friday night. "The birth of my daughter, connections we all have with each other, loss, sickness, happiness, symbols of my history connected."

The competition, which began Sept. 19, awarded a total of $560,000 to artists of 16 installations. Winners were selected through public voting and panels of experts.

The 2012 event was the first year for the $100,000 Juried Grand Prize, which was awarded to a found-artifacts installation called "Displacement, 13208 Klinger." Items in the exhibit were collected over six days from a vacant Detroit home, which had the address 13208 Klinger, by Mitch Cope and his wife, Regina Reichert.

"There was 100 years' worth of items a family would have," Cope said. "We went through the house and grabbed all the things that were interesting that told the story of this house and the families that lived in it."

The couple runs Powerhouse Productions, a nonprofit that transforms and rebuilds vacant and abandoned structures in an effort to stabilize Detroit neighborhoods through art. Their winning installation — which features toys, tax receipts and about 25 televisions — was put together by the couple's Detroit-based company, Design 99.

An estimated 400,000 people visited the exhibits, making this year's ArtPrize the largest yet, according to organizers. More than 47,000 people cast over 412,500 votes.

"The only way to discover good ideas is to generate lots of them by lots of people, and the ArtPrize Awards are designed to be a catalyst that helps generate thousands of ideas," said Rick DeVos, founder and chairman of ArtPrize. "Our society needs more people to have ideas of all kinds, so we can make better things and make things better."

Khare said she leaned about the competition from a friend who had competed in it before. She called ArtPrize "completely life-changing."

"There are a lot of people and a lot of things going on," Khare said. "It's this conversation that takes over the community. I had school groups sit with me and we would talk about art."

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Online:

http://www.artprize.org

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'Sopranos' creator Chase premieres 'Not Fade Away'

NEW YORK (AP) — David Chase has returned with his first work since "The Sopranos" went black.

The director premiered his debut film, "Not Fade Away," at the New York Film Festival on Friday ahead of its red carpet gala Saturday. The '60s rock 'n' roll drama is his long-awaited follow-up to the venerated HBO mob drama he created and produced for six seasons.

The film is set around a suburban teenager (John Magaro) in New Jersey whose garage band aspires to be the next Rolling Stones, an ambition at odds with his traditional Italian father (former "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini).

In a press conference at Lincoln Center, Chase called the film, soundtracked by his favorite rock songs, "a compilation album."

"In 'The Sopranos,' one of my favorite parts of that — or maybe my favorite part of that whole thing — was putting the picture and the sound together, putting the music in," Chase said. "I wanted to continue that. I missed that once I was gone."

The film, which Paramount Vantage will release on Dec. 21, is about the revolutionary advent of rock 'n' roll, told not through its famous players but, as Chase said, from "the backstage" perspective — the regular suburban kids inspired and moved by its spirit.

"I don't want to get into this thing, like I'm bragging about the '60s," he said. "But the one thing I have to say: The music was great. ... Music was, at the time, a way into everything, at least for me and for a lot of people I knew, too. That's the way I first learned about art and poetry and fashion, humor, film. It all came from there."

The 67-year-old Chase has long aspired to make a feature film. His "Sopranos," which concluded in 2007, was imbued with movie-like storytelling that significantly raised the bar for television drama. "Not Fade Away," while of very different and more tender substance, shares many unmistakable elements of "The Sopranos," particularly the familiar swirl of family tension, pop culture, philosophy and suburban life.

Though Chase said the film is very personal to him, he insisted it wasn't autobiographical. Chase, like the main character, played drums as a youngster, but he refused to even label himself and his friends "a band."

"I never even bought a set of drums," said Chase. "I played on cardboard boxes and stuff. We never got out of the basement."

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Online:

http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012

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Contact Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

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Report: Obama campaign outpacing Romney's in ads

NEW YORK (AP) — A new report finds that President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has run more than twice as many TV ads in nine key states as has the campaign of his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.

The Nielsen Co. said Friday that Obama's campaign had run nearly 230,000 ads in Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire from the beginning of the year through early September, compared with about 87,000 for Romney. All are considered battlegrounds this year, with both candidates competing heavily in those states for votes.

The biggest disparity was in Ohio.

Obama's campaign ran just over 51,000 ads in the state compared to nearly 17,500 for Romney. No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio, and recent polls show Obama ahead there.

Wisconsin, the home state of running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, is the only state where Romney has edged the president in ads.

Nielsen said Romney's campaign had run 1,952 ads there compared to 1,391 for Obama.

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'GMA' weathercaster Sam Champion planning marriage

NEW YORK (AP) — "Good Morning America" weather anchor Sam Champion is tying the knot.

ABC News says Champion and his boyfriend, Rubem Robierb, are engaged to be married later this year. Champion tweeted on Friday he's "never been happier" to share a bit of personal news.

ABC says Champion and Robierb met through mutual friends in Miami, where Robierb lives.

Champion joined ABC News in 2006. Before that, he spent 18 years at New York City television station WABC.

Robierb was born in Brazil. He's a fine-arts photographer who shows his work in Miami, Atlanta, New York and Santa Monica, Calif.

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Mel Brooks to receive AFI life achievement honor

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It'll be springtime for Mel Brooks when the American Film Institute presents him with its highest honor, the Life Achievement Award.

The writer and director of comedy classics including "The Producers," ''Blazing Saddles," ''Young Frankenstein" and "History of the World: Part I" will receive the award at a gala tribute next June, AFI announced Friday.

The 86-year-old Brooks is the 41st recipient of the honor, which has gone to Hollywood legends including Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman. He's one of only 14 people to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.

The AFI ceremony will air in late June on TNT and Turner Classic Movies.

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Online:

http://www.afi.com/

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Boston man named 1st 'Price Is Right' male model

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Boston man has won an online competition to become the first male model in "The Price Is Right" history.

The long-running CBS game show said Friday that viewers had chosen Rob Wilson from among a trio of finalists who also included Clint Brink and Nick Denbeigh.

Wilson begins his weeklong stint alongside the ladies on Oct. 15.

The contest was announced in August. Hundreds of he-man hopefuls showed up at the open call in Los Angeles, where they had a chance to strut their stuff for the show's producers and the female models the show is well known for.

The show has been on the air since September 1972.

"The Price Is Right" is hosted by Drew Carey. It airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

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Study finds rise in gay characters on network TV

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV is at its highest-ever level in the season ahead, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The total on cable television is also going up.

The 17th annual "Where We Are on TV" report, released Friday, found that 4.4 percent of actors appearing regularly on prime-time network drama and comedy series during the 2012-13 season will portray lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters. That is up from 2.9 percent in 2011, which saw a dip in what had been a growing annual trend.

The study reviewed 97 scripted TV programs scheduled to air in the upcoming season on the broadcast networks, counting a total of 701 series regular characters. The study found that 31 of them are LGBT characters.

ABC has the highest amount, with 10 out of 194, or 5.2 percent, of their regular characters identified as LGBT.

After leading last year, Fox ranks second with six LGBT characters out of 118 total series regulars, or 5.1 percent.

CBS was saluted as much improved, with four out of 142 LGBT series regulars, or 2.8 percent, up from 0.7 percent last year. Among CBS's new fall series is "Partners," a comedy about two childhood friends and business partners, one of whom is gay and in a relationship. The network's lineup represents "an authentic and conscious effort by CBS to improve its diversity," the study said.

Regular gay and lesbian characters on what the study termed "mainstream" cable television has also risen this season to 35, up from 29 last season.

Among those networks, Showtime leads with 12 LGBT characters. The study also cited HBO, FX, Adult Swim, ABC Family, MTV, Syfy and TeenNick.

The HBO drama "True Blood" remains cable's most inclusive series, featuring six LGBT characters.

On broadcast TV, male characters (64 percent) continue to outweigh female characters (36 percent, including the transgender character Unique on "Glee").

Compared with last year, African-American representation has grown from 9.9 percent to 12 percent, while Hispanic representation has decreased from 5.6 percent to 4.1 percent.

"It is vital for networks to weave complex and diverse story lines of LGBT people in the different programs they air," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "More and more Americans have come to accept their LGBT family members, friends, co-workers and peers, and as audiences tune into their favorite programs, they expect to see the same diversity of people they encounter in their daily lives."

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ABC is a unit of The Walt Disney Co.; CBS and Showtime are divisions of CBS Corp.; NBC and Syfy are part of Comcast Corp.; Fox and FX are units of News Corp.; HBO is a unit of Time Warner Inc.; MTV and TeenNick are part of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks.

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O'Reilly, Stewart tangle in mock debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — There were all the trappings of a high-octane presidential debate: the over-the-top declarations, the pre-practiced zingers and the schmaltzy appeals to America's truest values. But the presidential candidates were nowhere to be found.

In their place Saturday were two celebrity gabbers who have claimed their stakes to the polar opposite ends of the political spectrum: Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart. The political odd-couple came to Washington ready to tangle in an event mockingly dubbed "The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium."

Choice words not suitable for the faint of heart dotted the 90-minute exchange between the Fox News anchor and the star of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," who bantered aggressively but good-naturedly over birth control, President George W. Bush and the so-called "War on Christmas."

Stewart came prepped with a mechanical pedestal he used to elevate himself in the air, making the height-challenged comedian appear taller than the lanky O'Reilly when he wanted to drive a point home.

"I like you much better that way," O'Reilly quipped at one point as he gazed up at his ideological foe.

The political feud between the two caffeinated TV personalities dates back more than a decade. Much like family members who just can't resist pushing each other's buttons over Thanksgiving stuffing, Stewart and O'Reilly love to disagree, but appear to hold nothing against each other once the latest spat has run its course. The two have appeared on each other's programs since 2001, but the face-off Saturday at The George Washington University marked their first head-to-head debate.

Appearing wholly presidential in dark jackets and face makeup under a sign reading "Yum, this banner tastes like freedom," the two quickly turned to talk of government spending and the 47 percent of Americans that Republican Mitt Romney said in a video are dependent on government.

Stewart, defending government involvement in health care and social programs, said the U.S. has always been an entitlement nation.

"We are a people that went to another country, saw other people on it and said, 'Yea, we want that," Stewart said. "Have you ever seen 'Oprah's favorite things' episode?"

Asked who he'd like to see as president, O'Reilly dead-panned: "I'd have to say Clint Eastwood."

"Well why don't we ask him," said Stewart, mocking the Hollywood actor's widely panned speech in August at the Republican National Convention by getting out of his chair and staring at it while the crowd erupted in laughter.

In an apparent show of bipartisanship, Stewart even got on O'Reilly lap at one point. "And what would you like for Christmas, little boy?" O'Reilly said slyly.

"The display that you saw tonight is why America is America. Robust, creative, no holds barred," O'Reilly told reporters after the debate. "You can call it whatever you want, but you wouldn't see this in a lot of other countries. That's for sure."

Organizers said about 1,500 people attended the event, but the main audience was intended to be online, where the event was live-streamed for $4.95. On Twitter, viewers complained they missed the event when the video servers crashed. Organizers said video will be available for download and that those who experienced errors will be eligible for a refund.

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Lady Gaga wins LennonOno Grant for Peace

LONDON (AP) — Music superstar Lady Gaga will share a peace prize in memory of John Lennon to honor her work campaigning for equality for gay, lesbian and transgender people.

The American singer has been chosen along with four others — including Russian punk band Pussy Riot and the late writer Christopher Hitchens — to receive the biennial LennonOno Grant For Peace.

Gaga is expected to accept the award and a donation from Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Oct. 9 — the birthday of John Lennon and his son, Sean.

Ono said in a statement Friday that while Gaga is "one of the biggest living artists of our time" she is also an activist whose album "Born This Way" altered "the mental map of the world."

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Meryl Streep donates $1M to The Public Theatre

NEW YORK (AP) — Meryl Streep has donated $1 million to The Public Theater in honor of both its late founder, Joseph Papp, and her friend, the author Nora Ephron.

The announcement was timed to Thursday's unveiling of the nonprofit's $40 million face-lift to its 158-year-old headquarters in Astor Place.

Streep has performed for the Public for decades, starting in 1975 and including "Henry V" in 1976 and "Mother Courage and Her Children" in 2006. This summer, she played Juliet opposite Kevin Kline as Romeo in a benefit reading of "Romeo and Juliet" in Central Park.

Ephron, who died in June, directed Streep in her portrayal of chef Julia Child in 2009's "Julie & Julia." And Streep played a version of Ephron herself in 1986's "Heartburn."

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Online:

http://www.publictheater.org

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Giants, 49ers, yachts, fests: SF braces for crowds

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An unusual convergence of sporting and entertainment events in San Francisco this weekend promises to bring up to a million extra people into the densely populated bayside city.

The influx could eclipse the city's own population of about 800,000.

The weekend will include the opening games of the San Francisco Giants division playoffs, a San Francisco 49ers game, the annual Fleet Week celebration featuring the Blue Angels and the America's Cup World Series yachting races.

Add to that mix a highly popular bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park and street festivals in North Beach and elsewhere and it has the makings for jam-packed streets and transit challenges, even as the city's economy gets a boost.

James Go, 25, who works in San Francisco but lives in nearby Daly City, said he usually comes into San Francisco on weekends, but was planning to stay away this weekend.

"The population is going to double. It's not worth it," he said, as he took a break on Friday from work at a downtown office building.

City officials say they are prepared for the crowds. The city has activated its emergency operations center and the police department has limited time off and reassigned officers from administrative and investigative assignments to the street.

"We are up to this challenge," Mayor Ed Lee said at a news conference on Tuesday. "We have departments working around the clock to make sure these things are managed well."

City officials are strongly encouraging people to bike, walk or use public transportation or taxis.

The city's Municipal Transportation Agency will run extra service, particularly along the waterfront where crowds are expected to gather for Fleet Week and America's Cup events. There will also be extra taxis on the street, according to Ed Reiskin, head of the MTA.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit Agency, which runs trains through the city to other parts of the Bay area, will run longer trains.

"This is like the World Series of transportation for us," Reiskin said at Tuesday's news conference. "We're ready for it ...your job is to leave your cars at home."

Warnings are also being issued for San Francisco Bay, where endangered humpback whales have been recently spotted. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association wants boaters to watch for the whale's blow to avoid collisions.

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Elvis among new balloon shapes at New Mexico event

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A giant Elvis, an ice cream cone and a child in a wheelchair are among the new shapes set to take to the sky at an annual hot-air balloon festival in New Mexico that's expected to draw more than 700,000 visitors from around the globe.

The 41st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is scheduled to begin Saturday with the launch of hundreds of hot-air balloons.

Fiesta officials hope for better weather at this year's nine-day affair after wind and rains sidelined balloons for a few events last year, cutting attendance by around 100,000 visitors.

Still, organizers last year were able to break a world record by sending up 345 balloons at one time.

"There were some things we just couldn't control," director Don Edwards said. "But we still tried to put on a good show."

Officials aren't planning to break any records this year, but more than 550 pilots have signed up to fly balloons at the fiesta, Edwards said. That's slightly higher than in most years, he said..

Last year, the event drew slightly more than 700,000 spectators. That was down from 800,000 visitors from 2010, officials said.

The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies in the area Saturday and Sunday, with winds up to 12 mph.

Winds faster than 11.5 mph, less than three miles visibility and clouds below 1,500 feet would postpone or cancel any launch of balloons. However, winds vary near the Fiesta Park launch site because some are blocked by the Sandia Mountains. Officials determine whether balloons can be launched by measuring wind speeds at the site.

Making its first appearance at the event this year is the Spain-made "Shining Star" balloon, which is shaped like a child sitting in a wheelchair reaching for a star. Other balloons set to make their fiesta debuts include "Simba the Lion," ''Cosmo the Astronaut" and "Little Fireman," a balloon shaped like a fire helmet.

Officials said this year's event will have more activities for the balloon pilots, with chances of winning a horseback-riding trip in New Mexico's Sandia Mountains or a whitewater rafting trip on the Rio Grande.

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Online:

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta: http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

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Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras

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Meryl Streep donates $1M to The Public Theater

NEW YORK (AP) — Meryl Streep has donated $1 million to The Public Theater in honor of both its late founder, Joseph Papp, and her friend, the author Nora Ephron.

The announcement was timed to Thursday's unveiling of the nonprofit's $40 million face-lift to its 158-year-old headquarters in Astor Place.

Streep has performed for the Public for decades, starting in 1975 and including "Henry V" in 1976 and "Mother Courage and Her Children" in 2006. This summer, she played Juliet opposite Kevin Kline as Romeo in a benefit reading of "Romeo and Juliet" in Central Park.

Ephron, who died in June, directed Streep in her portrayal of chef Julia Child in 2009's "Julie & Julia." And Streep played a version of Ephron herself in 1986's "Heartburn."

"Meryl is as great a citizen as she is an actor," said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the theater. "Joe Papp founded The Public in the belief that great theater belonged to all the people. It means an enormous amount to us that the greatest actor of our time supports that mission."

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Cheers for Ali at literary ceremony in NY

NEW YORK (AP) — Muhammad Ali owned the night without saying a word.

The boxing great was the guest of honor Thursday night at the 4th annual Norman Mailer Center benefit gala, which benefited the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, named for the late author. An old friend of Mailer, whose classic "The Fight" was an account of Ali's stunning defeat of then-heavyweight champion George Foreman in 1974, Ali was in attendance to watch the first ever presentation of the Muhammad Ali Ethics Award. The $10,000 writing prize for college students is co-sponsored by the Mailer center and the Muhammad Ali center.

In his prime, Ali would have been saved for last Thursday. But he has suffered for decades from Parkinson's disease and ceremony organizers decided to bring him on first in case he didn't have enough energy to last the night. The 70-year-old Ali was not simply introduced, but unveiled.

Master of ceremonies Alec Baldwin moved from the front of the ballroom at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan to a small, curtained platform on the side as he recited Mailer's very personal list of true geniuses: Charlie Chaplin, Fidel Castro, poet Ezra Pound, and, best of all, Ali.

As Baldwin led the black-tie audience in a chant of "Ali! Ali! Ali!," the curtain was drawn and there sat Ali in a wide armchair, mute and expressionless, but handsomely dressed in a tuxedo and white shirt. Attendees were moved, and unnerved, as Ali looked on impassively like an aging monarch while Baldwin, Oliver Stone and Dick Cavett praised him and shared memories of the clowning, rhyming champ.

A brief clip from Cavett's talk show was screened, showing Ali and rival boxer Joe Frazier jokingly lifting the lightweight Cavett in the air. The ceremony program featured an old picture of Ali, teeth gritted in mock determination, as he arm wrestled with Mailer.

Ali was helped to his table after the Ethics prize was given, Baldwin returned to the front and honorary awards from the Mailer center were handed to historian Robert Caro, novelist Joyce Carol Oates and the widow of publisher Barney Rosset, who died earlier this year. Ali stayed until the end. According to Mailer center president Lawrence Schiller, he was a fan of Oates, who has written often about boxing, and wanted to hear her speech.

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