Around The Arts

'V-Day Harlem' deemed a success\nNEW YORK -- Tears mixed with laughter as an all-star cast of black, Hispanic and Asian performers staged a version of "The Vagina Monologues" at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem.\nSalma Hayek, Rosie Perez, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Lynn Whitfield, rapper Eve, and several other artists took part in "V-Day Harlem," a benefit Saturday to raise awareness about violence against women.\n"Tonight, we begin to heal the women of Harlem, and all of the women of the world," said Perez, who along with Hamilton, worked to bring the event to Harlem.\nThe actress read passages from Eve Ensler's hit stage show. The dramatic and comedic performances were interspersed with performances from Eve, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Denyce Graves, the Eddie Torres Latin Dance Company and R&B singer Amel Larrieux.\n"I feel so honored that women of color feel my words," said Ensler, who is white, as she embraced Perez and Hamilton.\nAmong the celebrities in attendance were Cynthia Nixon, of HBO's "Sex and the City," and actor Edward Norton, Hayek's boyfriend.\nProceeds from the evening's performance were to go to several black, Hispanic and Asian women's anti-violence organizations.\nHollywood's Nash will keep his home\nWEST WINDSOR, N.J. -- John Nash, whose life was chronicled in the Oscar-winning movie "A Beautiful Mind," will get to keep his home.\nState and local officials rejected a plan to condemn the property where Nash has lived for 30 years with his wife, Alicia, and their son.\n"That's wonderful," Mrs. Nash told The Times of Trenton days after returning home from the Academy Awards, where "A Beautiful Mind" won for best picture.\nOfficials had considered several proposals to move a bridge, one of which would have required obtaining the Nashes' property and tearing down the home.\nState transportation officials said Thursday they would not seek to destroy the home. They told township planners they wanted to keep the bridge where it is and widen it.\nThat might mean more traffic going by the Nash home, but Mrs. Nash said that "doesn't bother me nearly as much as losing the house."\nSelena still celebrated\nCORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Seven years after Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla was murdered, thousands of fans still flock here to see her statue, grave and the South Texas home where she was raised.\n"The impact that Selena's death had on people of all ages is just phenomenal," said Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla.\nSelena was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar on March 31, 1995, at a Corpus Christi motel. Saldivar, former president of Selena's fan club, was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence.\nSelena had five CDs on the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy Award in 1995 for her album, Selena Live.