Richard Johnson: Jane Seymour’s busy NYC day — pitching ‘Horses’ novel, singing with Malibooz band
NEW YORK — Jane Seymour has good reason to perform with The Malibooz at Parkside Lounge on Thursday. She’s dating the band’s co-founder, John Zambetti.
The “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” star will be onstage at the Lower East Side club at 11 p.m. with her guitar-playing beau, who started the band in 1964 with his high school classmate Walter Egan.
It will be a long day for Seymour. At 1:30 p.m. she’s hosting a party at The Polo Bar with author Christy Cashman to celebrate the publication of “The Truth About Horses.”
Seymour has optioned the book to turn it into a movie.
“I was reading it on an airplane, and I was crying so much the flight attendant had to bring me more napkins,” Seymour told me. “My lawyer read it and cried.”
Cashman, who spent nine years writing the novel, has ridden horses all her life and breeds them, too.
Seymour has ridden for many roles and even rides side-saddle. When she met Queen Elizabeth II, her majesty thought she was a competitor.
Though there may be a role for Seymour in the movie, her main focus is to be faithful to the book.
“What we really need is to find a way to go through terrible pains and challenges,” Seymour said. “I needed this book right now.”
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Restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson — who owns Red Rooster in Harlem and Hav & Mar in Chelsea — just opened Metropolis at the World Trade Center.
Samuelsson teamed up with international food festival producer Herb Karlitz to host Harlem EatUp! on Thursday at the Alhambra Ballroom on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
The honorees were TV host/producer Tamron Hall and Harlem-born artist D-Nice of “Club Quarantine” fame.
The event kicked off a series of events that herald the return this spring of the festival Samuelsson launched in 2014 with Bill Clinton.
“The community met a lot of challenges over these past few years, and while things still aren’t easy, we are eager to share Harlem’s renowned hospitality, incredible culture and amazing eats,” Samuelsson told me.
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Mark Kostabi unveiled eight large paintings devoted to Italy in the dining room of Shelly Fireman’s legendary restaurant Trattoria Dell’Arte.
Each painting features Kostabi’s iconic faceless figures enjoying the good life in famous Italian cities.
Kostabi and Fireman’s collaboration goes back to 1992 when Fireman first asked Kostabi to create a painting featuring an Italian nose for the restaurant’s “Gallery of Noses.”
Since then Fireman has bought over 150 Kostabi paintings for his homes and restaurants, including Trattoria Dell’Arte, Redeye Grill, Fiorello’s and Bond 45.
Art aficionados on hand included City Councilman Erik Bottcher, producer Steve Garrin, painter Verdiana Patacchini and Anthony Haden-Guest.
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Flowerpowerdaily.com’s Jill Brooke liked the flowers in a restaurant and wondered who designed them. That led her to Carlos Franqui and his company, Floratorium.
Brooke consults for the Salon Art + Design show at the Park Avenue Armory, and now, because of her, Franqui is designing the entrance to next weekend’s show.
“He and his team are New York heroes as well as being uber talented,” says Brooke.
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Hospitality guru Richie Romero — a partner in Sushi by Bou, Nebula and a dozen other venues — is suing Discover Bank for $1 million.
Romero accuses Discover of treating him like a criminal when he was, in fact, a victim of identity theft.
Even though the police identified and received a confession from the thief who opened the fake credit card, Richie says Discover continued to pursue him for repayment and ruined his credit, costing him multiple business deals. Romero refused to roll over. He filed a lawsuit asserting that Discover was willfully blind to clear evidence of identity theft.
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Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, are both fans of Spanish artist Pejac, who will make his U.S. debut with a solo exhibition at 18 East 50th St. on Thursday.
The show features 19 original works using gold leaf and pyrography, where he uses a torch to burn the canvas.
One painting features a nod to Monet’s “Water Lilies,” disrupted by shark fins.
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Dakota Johnson will be honored at Audrey Gruss’ Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s luncheon Nov. 14 at the Plaza.
The “Fifty Shades of Grey” star has spoken openly about her struggles with depression since her teenage years.
“Sometimes I panic to the point where I don’t know what I’m thinking or doing. I have a full anxiety attack. I have them all the time anyway, but with auditioning it’s bad.”
Johnson is set to star in the Spider-Man spin-off “Madame Web” with Emma Roberts and Sydney Sweeney opening in February.
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