NAMES
Levine to have surgery
Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine expects to undergo surgery at the beginning of next week to remove a kidney, BSO spokeswoman Bernadette Horgan said. Levine will miss the symphony's summer season at Tanglewood to have the procedure, necessitated by an uncomfortable, pressure-causing cyst. Horgan said the conductor's brother, Tom Levine, updated the BSO yesterday, explaining the maestro underwent numerous standard tests in the past few days and spoke with his doctors about the best surgical procedures. The surgery couldn't happen right away, due to the shortage of staff at New York hospitals on weekends, Tom Levine said. (No one has disclosed which hospital is treating Levine.) The hospital will keep the conductor for about four days. Then he's expected to recuperate at home for about six weeks in preparation for the BSO's fall season opener. Assistant conductor Julian Kuerti will do the Tanglewood honors tomorrow afternoon in a concert featuring pianist Peter Serkin.
Sambora's sweet 49th
Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora celebrated his 49th birthday a day early on stage at the Garden Thursday night, as Jon Bon Jovi led the audience in a rousing "Happy Birthday" chorus. Fancy Boston bakery Sweet did the cake honors, whipping up (on last-minute order) a tower of chocolate cupcakes, frosted with some rockin' purple and silver metallic icing. Of course, it's already a tender YouTube moment.
Big Papi, DMC to rap
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and Darryl McDaniels (the DMC of the legendary Run-DMC) are making sweet music together. DMC, who rocked the house at Josh Beckett's charity Beckett Bowl Thursday night, recently told WAAF's Greg Hill, a.k.a the Hill-Man, "Me and Papi is doing a record. It's gonna be crazy." DMC said he and Ortiz hang out, and the Sox star's favorite Run-DMC hit is "It's Tricky." (Nice taste, Big Papi.) DMC didn't, however, reveal when the rap will drop. "We're workin' on that, like, right now," he said.
Looking out for those who look good
A new bill is proposing more work visas be doled out to fashion models. According to a recent piece in The Economist, catwalkers and high-tech workers currently compete for the same in-demand temporary work visa for those in specialized occupations - the H-1B. There used to be plenty to go around, but in 2004, the government pulled back. Anthony Weiner, a New York congressman, aims to make it all better by reclassifying models into their own category, meaning 1,000 models could strut their stuff on US runways, compared with the mere 349 allowed in 2007. According to the money mag, the bachelor congressman has been accused of using the bill to score himself good-looking dates. He claims he's just looking out for New York's fashion industry. That said, not every model is struggling - folks like Gisele Bundchen are reportedly eligible for O-1 visas, reserved for those with "extraordinary ability." Like looking really hot in a bikini?
Two Herald sportswriters leave for WEEI.com
A new venture at WEEI.com has lured away two key sports reporters from the Boston Herald, the website announced yesterday. NFL analyst Michael Felger and Boston Red Sox beat writer Rob Bradford will join WEEI.com next month as the site aims to create "useful and entertaining" content, said Tim Murphy, general manager of WEEI.com. Bradford will be the site's editor and will also contribute columns. Felger will no longer host "The Mike Felger Show" on ESPN 890, but he is expected to keep his duties with He's got his game face on
Mike Lowell spent yesterday afternoon at Fenway, but baseball wasn't on the agenda. Instead, he played sports of the backyard variety with "Life is good" guys Bert and John Jacobs. Helping the brothers gear up for their July 19 charity fest - The World's Greatest Backyard Athlete competition on the Boston Common - Lowell tried hard to toss a Frisbee from home plate to the Monster. "He at least got to the outfield, but he was nowhere near the Monster," reported Jim Delaney, of Activate Sports & Entertainment. Lowell's posse was a little hesitant to hit the field, but the he egged them on. "He said, 'This is my office. C'mon out!' " The third baseman followed up his Frisbee antics with a little bocce and Wiffle ball. "Bocce is not his sport," Delaney said. "But he can crack a Wiffle ball."
Back in the sing of things
In 2006, singer and Brookline native Coby Brown was on his way up, with a performance on Ellen DeGeneres's talk show, a John Lennon Songwriting Contest award, and an album in the works. Then a rare form of cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, forced him to spend a year undergoing chemo and surgery. He only performed once during treatment, he said, and "I wrote and wrote and wrote." (And watched the Red Sox at his LA home.) Now cancer-free, Brown will sing the national anthem at Fenway tonight. He'll also ride 84 miles in the upcoming Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he was a patient. And his album's coming out this fall. In other words, he's back on his way. "It was incredible to me to be standing on the field," the singer said, after his sound check (above) yesterday. "It was surreal."
Camping out with 'Annie'
It was no hard-knock life for kids from the Reagle Players Musical Theatre Camp, who got to hang with "All in the Family" star Sally Struthers (right) after the Thursday premiere of "Annie," which runs at the Waltham theater through July 19. Struthers plays Annie's nemesis, the orphan-hating Miss Hannigan, but she was able to keep her character in check during the Q&A with campers. "One of the campers asked the question, 'Is it easy to be mean?' " said Joseph Mullin, assistant to executive producer Bob Eagle. But with Struthers, the evil's all an act, he assured. "She's hysterical. She's the nicest person."
Piano (young) man
Charlie Albright (right), a 19-year-old pianist who studies at Harvard and the New England Conservatory with Wha Kyung Byun (in a ridiculously prestigious program that admits only about five kids per year), will head Down Under next week to compete in the Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia. "I'm very nervous," Albright admitted, about facing 35 other master pianists. "This is the first really big international competition I've done." But Albright, who came east last year from tiny Centralia, Wash., has tickled the ivories since the tender age of 3, and he rose from a pool of 240 to make the cut for Australia. He's been busy preparing and memorizing four hours of music - a little Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt - for the marathon, two-week-long competition. "I just go in and try to have fun," he said. The competition begins July 17.
Monique Walker of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 