Scene & Heard

+ Sarasota’s bourgeois beckoned for J. Lo film
The Internet has been a-Twitter with news that Jennifer Lopez is shooting a movie this week at the Ringling Museum.

And, yes, it’s true — hundreds of Sarasotans will be in it.

The movie, “Parker,” is a thriller based on a series of crime novels by writer Donald Westlake. Directed by Oscar winner Taylor Hackford (“Ray”), it stars Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte and Michael Chiklis.

Last week, R.J.’s Casting and Unique Casting Partners issued a call for 200 extras available for filming Sept. 28 to Sept. 30 at the Ringling Museum’s Cà d’Zan mansion.

Sloppy 20-somethings, however, need not apply.

According to the missive, the movie wants only “high-end, wealthy, Palm Beach-types, ages 30 to 70” for a swanky fundraiser scene.

And, if that’s not specific enough, it goes on to suggest that extras show up in “full-length ball gowns with coordinating fancy jackets. Shawls, purses that are clutches or small shiny handbags are great. Any undergarments — Spanx, strapless bras — nude and black — should be brought.”

Got that?

Don’t show up thinking there will be Spanx to spare. Even big-budget action flicks have to tighten the belt somewhere.

+ Lakewood Ranch rocker records second album
When singer/songwriter Matt Facciolla gets on a writing streak, watch out.

The musician penned 47 songs for his latest album, “Second Chances,” which is slated for release in January. No wonder it took him a year-and-a-half to finish the project.

Facciolla, the former lead singer of the Electric Bushman, a Buffalo, N.Y.,-based band that in the 1990s opened for the Gin Blossoms and Jewel, is going the extra mile to make sure this album, his second as a solo artist, gains serious traction.

Earlier this year he flew home to Buffalo to mix his tracks at the Goo Goo Dolls’ studio. This month, he went to Atlanta to master the album at Rodney Mills Masterhouse, a mastering engineer who has worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam, to name a few.

You can catch Facciolla at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at The Loft Ristobar. When he played the venue in February (with Dan Toler, former guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, and Mike Logan, former harp player for Queenie and the King Bees) it was to a packed house.

+ Puppets open the Van Wezel season
Bad news: The New York Pops has canceled its December show at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall due to “unforeseen economic and logistical challenges.”

Good news: “Stuffed and Unstrung,” the salty adult-only puppet show by the Henson Alternative is still scheduled to open the fall season Wednesday.

Even better news: The hall has replaced its worn-out, 40-year-old seats with contour-padded, steel-supported seats from the same company that furnished the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.

Using a grant from the Selby Foundation, the Van Wezel selected a five-person committee to test the quality and suitability of several seat companies before settling on Seating Concepts, which has also cushioned the rears of patrons at Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

According to a press release issued last week by the Van Wezel, the new seats are 20 to 22 inches wide and have serpentine springs, recessed cup holders, mahogany armrests and aubergine fabric. (Aubergine, by the way, is a fancy way of saying purple.)

So, get your tickets now. Who needs the New York Pops when you’ve got mouthy Muppets and a soft purple place to land?

HOT TICKETS
‘Jack and the Enchanted Beanstalk’: This popular children’s yarn, adapted by FST’s favorite kids-at-heart, Beth Duda and Adam Ratner, is up now through November in the Gompertz Theatre. “Jack” kicks off the 20th season of FST’s annual Write-A-Play program. For tickets, call 366-9000 or visit floridastudiotheatre.org.

Ballet luncheon with Matthew Hart: British ballet choreographer Matthew Hart chats with former prima ballerina Margaret Barbieri at the Friends of the Sarasota Ballet’s monthly luncheon. Join Hart and Barbieri from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 3, at Michael’s On East, as they discuss the American premiere of Hart’s “Tchaikovsky’s Ballet Fantasy,” which opens Sarasota Ballet’s 21st season Oct. 28, at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets to the luncheon are $35. Reservations are required. Call 758-3911.