Patti Smith to perform at Abu Dhabi Art

Plus: Woody Harrelson to host Saturday Night Live for first time in 22 years; Sharon Stone to play US vice president in new TV show; Armin van Buuren picks rising EDM stars for new TV show; X-Man Gambit to get solo movie; Women directors in spotlight at Kolkata Film Festival; and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Melissa Fumero improvised her way to starring role

Patti Smith will perform at the opening night of Abu Dhabi Art. Alain Locard / AFP
Powered by automated translation

Rock royalty is coming to Abu Dhabi Art, with Patti Smith due to perform an hour-long show during Tuesday's opening night. It's understood the 67-year-old singer-songwriter, who in addition to her music career is a respected poet and visual artist, will perform Killer Road, a conceptual work in which she reads the final poems of Velvet Underground collaborator Nico, accompanied by musical soundscapes. While Smith's performance is open to invitees only, it will be filmed and screened three times during Abu Dhabi Art, as part of the Hours and Colours programme, at the Plaza on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 7pm each night. Smith performed the work on October 27 at London's Union Chapel alongside the Soundwalk Collective, during which she read 11 poems by Nico. – The National staff

Cheers star Woody Harrelson to host Saturday Night Live

Former Cheers star Woody Harrelson, whose career has been boosted of late with roles in the smash-hit HBO TV drama True Detective and The Hunger Games movies, is to host the long-running American comedy series Saturday Night Live for the first time in 22 years. He will be the guest presenter on the November 15 episode, which will also have Kendrick Lamar as the musical guest. It will be Harrelson's third time hosting SNL – his previous appearances were in 1989 and 1992 when the TV sitcom Cheers was at its hight of popularity. Harrelson's next movie, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is due for release on November 21. – The National staff

Sharon Stone to star as US vice president

Sharon Stone is set to star as the vice-president of the United States in a new drama series. Entertainment Weekly reports that cable TV channel TNT has ordered 10 episodes of Agent X, which will star Stone as America's first female VP, who discovers that she has a secret weapon available to battle security threats to the country – John Case, aka Agent X, the ultimate secret agent, the latest in a long line dating back to the founding fathers, who handles the jobs that are out of the reach of traditional law enforcement and security services. The pilot episode was written by The Bourne Identity's William Blake Herron and the show is expected to debut late next year. – The National staff

DJ Armin to pick new EDM talent

Superstar DJ Armin van Buuren, who will play the Formula 1 after-race concert at the du Arena on November 21, will be featured next weekend on a new TV music series, CNN Ones to Watch. The show highlights the rising stars of creative talent who are set to be the next big names in the arts and culture, and the second episode is dedicated to electronic dance music (EDM), the world's fastest-growing musical genre, which is estimated to be worth more than US$6billion (Dh22bn) a year. Dutch DJ van Buuren, voted the world's number one DJ a record five times, is this episode's 'master', who chooses two artists he believes have the potential to become global stars in the dance music world. And he believes Moldova and Argentina are the places to watch. The Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, is home to Augustin and Matias – aka Heartbeat – who are fast building a reputation as one of the hottest prospects on the DJ scene. His second choice is 21-year-old Andrew Rayel from Moldova. The second episode of CNN Ones to Watch airs nine times on CNN International between November 7 and 12. Visit www.cnn.com/onestowatch for timings and more details. – The National staff

X-Man Gambit to get his own movie

With the recent announcements of long-term plans from Marvel for its Avengers-related movies and DC Comics for its own blossoming Justice League movies, not to mention Spider-Man sequels and spin-offs, a Fantastic Four reboot and the X-Men sequel Age of Apocalypse, you might have thought we were reaching big-screen superhero saturation. Not so fast. It was recently revealed that quirky X-Men supporting character Deadpool is getting his own movie, starring Ryan Reynolds, and now Deadline has confirmed long-standing rumours that Channing Tatum is set to star as Cajun X-Man Gambit, one of the most popular characters from the comics, who can give any object an explosive burst of power and use it as a weapon – with his favoured option being a deck of playing cards. Both Deadpool and Gambit appeared in 2009's poorly received X-Men Origins: Wolverine but will be rebooted for the new films. - The National staff

Women directors in the spotlight at Kolkata Film Festival

Fifteen films by women directors from around the world will compete for the top jury award at the 20th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival, which begins next Monday. There will also be a section focusing on cinema from Arab nations. In total, 137 films from 60 countries are screening, including 31 from India. “It will be bigger and better,” says Kiff director Yadab Mandal. “This year onwards, we will start competitive segments. For the 20th edition, the award theme is international women directors. We received 72 entries from across the world, out of which we have selected 15 which will be screened and will be in running for the Royal Bengal trophy.” - IANS

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star improvised to land star role

Melissa Fumero, who plays Detective Amy Santiago on Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine, can remember the first time she had to ad-lib with co-star Andy Samberg – it was during her screen test for the role. "They just kind of threw it at me as the last thing to do. I didn't have time to freak out, I just went for it," Fumero said. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is set in a New York police precinct. Now in its second season, the series won a Golden Globe last year for best TV comedy, and Samberg won best comedy acting honours. Fumero said performing comedy had always been "a secret dream" and a role on an ensemble show such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine had been very high on her "actor bucket list". She was previously a regular cast member on the former ABC soap opera One Life to Live, where she met her husband, actor David Fumero. She said that's where she learnt how to handle unrealistic storylines, play comedy in high-drama situations and work with different personalities and directors. Fumero also credits the soap opera with making her feel comfortable with last-minute directions and script changes. "It's a roller coaster and a speeding train when you're on a soap opera, so everything after that feels kind of slower," she said. But for every soap opera grad who has gone on to Hollywood success, there are those who can't get an audition. "I know so many actors that I'm still friends with from One Life that are really talented actors and some of them are really funny and they have a hard time getting auditions," she said. "They have a hard time being seen for things outside of that 'soapbox."' Fumero hopes she's a reminder that soap stars are serious actors. "There is a little part of me that hopes it sort of opens the minds of other people in the industry to maybe not be so quick to judge someone because they have a soap opera on their resume." - AP