Disney executives are all "Hakuna Matata" over this AP story: The Broadway musical The Lion King is now Broadway's highest-grossing show, beating out the all-time gross from The Phantom of the Opera last week. more ›

Broadway’s blackout grew blacker still Sunday night when talks between the stagehands’ union and producers broke down again. Around 9pm, after two days of negotiations averaging about 12 hours a day, the league of producers reached the end of their patience. A spokesman for the union, Local One, issued a statement saying that “producers informed Local One that what Local One offered was not good enough, and they left.” This despite the intervention of Disney’s... more ›

Just like Factory Girl, Across the Universe, the $45 million hippie, trippy love story set to the music of 35 Beatles songs, is going through some rough times. Seems the director Julie Taymor and the studio are battling it out. more ›

New York City still can't enough of Wesley Autrey's subway heroics. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg awarded him with the city's highest honor, the Bronze Medallion, and said:

Wesley's astonishing bravery - saving a life in the face on an oncoming subway car - is an inspiration not just to New Yorkers, but the entire world. His courageous rescue of a complete stranger is a reminder of how we are surrounded by everyday heroes in New York City, and I am deeply honored to recognize one of them today.

I'm not looking at this like I'm the hero, cause the real heroes are the young men and women that are fighting in Iraq now. What I did is something that any New Yorker should do, you know what I'm saying, if you see somebody in distress, do the right thing.

Incase you woke up this morning thinking you'd like to buy something totally impractical with your rent money, then have we got good news for you. Designer Bob Mackie joins up with Christie's to auction off his "scene-stealing" fashions. They've been draped over stars like Sharon Stone, Carol Burnett, Cher, Brooke Shields, Sir Elton John and Diana Ross, and his costumes have been in some of the most popular Broadway shows. Now you can own a piece of it all, and of course if you're free at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon, we're sure you can afford it as well. So loosen up the purse strings, make funny hand gestures and bid away on a dress that Cher once sweat in as Christie's and Julien's present . . .Costume & Couture [from the Private Archives of Bob Mackie]. more ›

Kelly Ann Martin, Forensics Files Senior Producer more ›

The NY Times spoke to the employees of hotels where delegates are staying:

A woman who works in the laundry at the W, who gave her name only as Mrs. Kelly, no relation, reported that the delegates' linens were "very, very clean." At the Park Central on West 56th Street, Martin Benjamin, a building engineer, said the delegates from Idaho, Kansas and Maryland were not putting any undue strain on the plumbing system.

Today, August 31, has been designated as the other big (as opposed to Sunday's march) protest, with non-violent, civil disobedience protests organized throughout the city by A31. And that some worry that the protests will erupt into violence. The Daily News sent reporter Kelly Burke "undercover" to learn more about the machinations of protest groups:

For a week, I slept in my clothes. I hung around lower East Side anarchist cafes... I...chatted with a dreadlocked punk painter and her slacker beau, both from Brooklyn, to deflect suspicion. Individuals introduced themselves on a first-name-only basis. Many had monikers like Brush, Willow and Skate.

With protesters downtown marching to their hearts content, members of the Republican National Convention were watching Broadway shows, with plenty of protection from the NYPD. Hours before delegates were to leave a NY Times sponsored screening of The Lion King, demonstrators, police, and busses were outside the New Amsterdam Theater. Republicans all over New York? New Amsterdam indeed. more ›