Names and faces

— Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 63rd birthday onstage until nearly 2 a.m. Sunday, joined at the end by his hearty mom. Adele Springsteen danced and sang background to“Twist and Shout,” walking offstage with her son and his band at nearly 2. Her only concession to age was a pair of hastily made earplugs. She watched as her son cut a giant cake in the shape of a guitar, passing out pieces to some audience members. His show in the open-air MetLife Stadium was delayed three hours Saturday because of a downpour and worries about lightning. Thousands of fans clustered on indoor ramps waiting for the rain to stop. When it did, Springsteen and his E Street Band took the stage at 10:30 p.m. to the strains of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” a song they performed at midnight. They also covered Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” and it worked. “Thank you for your patience,” Springsteen told the audience. He said it had been a long time since he had performed on his birthday.

Brooke Astor was the immaculately dressed grande dame of New York City, a philanthropist, taste-setter and host extraordinaire, at ease with kings and queens and world leaders. She adored animals, especially dogs, flowers and books. Floral patterns and animal sculptures were decorative motifs throughout her two sumptuous homes: a 14-room duplex on Park Avenue and her country estate, Holly Hill, overlooking the Hudson River in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Sotheby’s is offering the contents of both homes, 901 objects in all, including European and Asian furnishings, Old Masters, Qing Dynasty paintings, tea sets, silverware, jewelry, a porcelain menagerie, more than 100 dog paintings - and even the uniforms of her domestic staff members - at a two-day auction today and Tuesday. Astor died in 2007 at age 105. In keeping with her wishes and life’s motto that “money is like manure; it should be spread around,” proceeds from the sale will go to the institutions and causes she supported. They include what she called the city’s crown jewels - the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Zoo, Central Park, plus the Animal Medical Center of New York, New York City’s public schools and charities in Maine. The collection is expected to fetch a total of $6 million to $9 million.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 09/24/2012

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