Taking Names

King-size support

Renowned singer, songwriter and activist Carole King will lend her support on the Hill during an event designed to draw congressional attention to federal funding for the arts, Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m.

The program, jointly hosted by Americans for the Arts, in conjunction with the Congressional Arts Caucus, is taking place at the Capitol in room HC-7.

Miss King will perform some of her best-known songs; many from “Tapestry,” her 1970 groundbreaking multiple Grammy-winning album. Also speaking at the event will be Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts; and Rep. Christopher Shays, Connecticut Republican and Rep. Louise Slaughter, New York Democrat, who co-chair the Congressional Arts Caucus .

Give him a break

San Francisco Chronicle

Singing couple Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown enjoyed a sun-soaked break in the Bahamas recently, following a string of high-profile troubles.

The pair made their way to Paradise Island’s luxurious Atlantis casino and resort after Miss Houston’s release from a substance rehabilitation center and Mr. Brown’s stint in jail for parole violation.

Mr. Brown, 37, tells People magazine, “I just got out of prison, so I really need [a break].”

High art

Hitting newsstands Thursday: ARTnews magazine’s list of the 10 most expensive living artists.

Published in its Money issue, the list names: Lucian Freud, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Frank Stella and Cy Twombly (in alphabetical order). Each having achieved single work sales of $5 million or more, the artists were identified by ARTnews after interviewing auction specialists and dealers in the United States and abroad, and surveying auction results.

In the special issue’s lead article, senior staff writer Kelly Devine Thomas tells about the estimated $40 million that entertainment mogul David Geffen reportedly paid for a work by Mr. Johns, who commands by far the highest price of any living artist.

Today there is a waiting list to get a new work by Mr. Johns, who paints only about two a year and sells most of them for well over $1 million. Mr. Nauman’s sculpture “Henry Moore Bound to Fail” (1967), which sold for $9.9 million in 2001, is one of the 200 most expensive works sold by Christie’s and Sotheby’s since 1985.

Bad hair day

E! Online

Proving there is such a thing as bad publicity, “Apprentice” villain Omarosa has discovered there are drawbacks to being reality TV’s most reviled character.

The single-monikered saboteur (whose full name is Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth) has been cut from an upcoming Clairol commercial for Herbal Essences hair color.

According to a statement from Clairol, Omarosa shot a cameo for the company’s “Streaking Party” commercial series. But “after reviewing the film of all the possible endings,” the decision was made to give her the brush off.

Meanwhile, People magazine claims she was canned from four jobs during her time at the White House working for the Clinton administration. “She was asked to leave as quickly as possible, she was so disruptive,” said Cheryl Shavers, the former undersecretary for technology at the Commerce Department, where Miss Manigault-Stallworth worked for several weeks in 2000.

Fast Lane

Playbill.com

A new production of Simon Gray’s “Butley,” with Tony-winner Nathan Lane in the title role, will likely reach Broadway during the 2005-06 season.

The busy actor, who has been a steady presence on Broadway in recent seasons, starred in a Nicholas Martin-directed production of the play at Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company last fall.

“It’s just a matter of timing,” Mr. Lane told Playbill on-line columnist Harry Haun. “We’re aiming for fall of 2005.”

The Huntington staging began a month-long run last October, with Mr. Lane playing a literary professor who loses his wife and lover in the same day.

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports.