MUSIC/DANCENureyev Estate Sale: The contents of Rudolf...

MUSIC/DANCE

Nureyev Estate Sale: The contents of Rudolf Nureyev’s Paris home will be auctioned by Christie’s in London on Nov. 20 and 21 in a sale expected to earn the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation about $3 million, possibly to be used to establish a Paris memorial to the late dance great. Offered in the sale are jewelry, paintings, antique dresses and textiles, furniture and trinkets, as well as several of Nureyev’s personal dance mementos, including 25 pairs of ballet shoes and his costumes from such productions as “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Giselle.” A January sale of contents from the dancer’s New York apartment brought $7.9 million, double the pre-auction estimate.

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Musicians Threaten Strike: Just before their televised season-opening gala concert at Avery Fisher Hall Wednesday night, New York Philharmonic musicians voted 93-3 to authorize a strike over a contract dispute centering on wages and pensions. Although neither side expected an imminent walkout, a union spokeswoman described the musicians’ and managements’ positions as “still far apart” with no new negotiation sessions scheduled. The musicians’ old contract, which expired after Wednesday’s concert, provided a minimum salary of $72,800 with an annual pension of $40,000. The musicians say their pay should be brought in line with such ensembles as the Boston Symphony, whose players earn $80,000, and the Chicago Symphony, whose musicians are paid $78,500.

TELEVISION

Late-Night Friends?: While HBO continues work on its TV movie version of the late-night talk show wars between Jay Leno and David Letterman, two other rival talk hosts, CBS’ Tom Snyder and NBC’s Conan O’Brien, have been maintaining a public friendship, often complimenting each other in media interviews. The geniality continued Wednesday night when Snyder used his “Late Late Show” pulpit to congratulate O’Brien on the second anniversary of his program “Late Night,” noting that O’Brien has “persevered” and “improved” despite the initial skepticism heaped on his show. Said Snyder: “As we both said one time, there are 255 million [viewers] in this country and we would be delighted to split [them] between us.”

MOVIES

Reiner to Tackle Evers’ Story: Castle Rock Entertainment confirmed Thursday that director Rob Reiner (“When Harry Met Sally . . .,” “A Few Good Men”) plans to begin filming this spring on a movie about the 30-year effort to bring the killer of civil rights activist Medgar Evers to justice. The movie, to be produced by Fred Zollo (“Mississippi Burning,” “Quiz Show”) and tentatively titled “Free at Last,” centers on efforts by Mississippi Dist. Atty. Bobby DeLaughter and Evers’ widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, to convict Ku Klux Klan member Byron De la Beckwith for the 1964 murder (he was finally found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 1994).

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Eszterhas’ Latest Writing: Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas took out an ad in Thursday’s Variety addressed “To . . . women” and criticizing MGM, the studio distributing his controversial film “Showgirls,” for its marketing campaign, targeted to men. Eszterhas paid $3,800 for the full-page ad which he said he hand-typed (complete with typos). He defends the film, set in the Las Vegas world of nude lap-dancing, for its excesses saying he does not condone the victimization of women shown in the film but wanted to present it as an impetus for change. “I implore you not to let . . . either misguided, fast-buck advertising . . . or politically-correct ax-grinding influence your feelings about ‘Showgirls,’ ” he writes, urging women to see the movie, which opens today. “I implore you to form your own conclusions.”

QUICK TAKES

The Rolling Stones will release their first interactive CD-ROM this fall on Virgin Records, featuring music from the band’s double-platinum album “Voodoo Lounge.” Users will explore a sprawling plantation complete with courtyards, bathrooms and a Voodoo Lounge bar, and mingle with characters including band members. . . . Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr’s daughter was discharged from a Boston hospital Wednesday after undergoing successful surgery to remove a brain tumor. Lee Starkey, 24, underwent the four-hour operation Saturday and her doctor said the tumor, a rare but potentially curable type called ependymoma, had been completely removed. Starkey will now undergo radiation therapy. . . . Music executive Stephen Popovich, who says he brought CBS Records and singer Meat Loaf together, has filed a $100-million lawsuit against the record company, now a division of Sony, claiming that the company intentionally understated sales of Meat Loaf’s 1977 “Bat Out of Hell” album to defraud him of royalties. . . . ABC has renewed Brett Butler’s sitcom, “Grace Under Fire,” for two years, running through the 1997-98 season.